CLIMATE OF NEW CALEDONIA--SCENERY--NATURAL
PRODUCTIONS--ANIMALS--FISHES--NATIVES--THEIR MANNERS AND
CUSTOMS--DUELLING--GAMBLING--LICENTIOUSNESS--LANGUAGE.
Ere I proceed on my long journey, I must pause for a little to
describe more particularly the country, which I am about to quit,
perhaps for ever, and the manners of its savage inhabitants. The
climate of New Caledonia is exceedingly variable at all seasons of the
year. I have experienced at Stuart's Lake, in the month of July, every
possible change of weather within twelve hours; frost in the morning,
scorching heat at noon; then rain, hail, snow. The winter season is
subject to the same vicissitudes, though not in so extreme a degree:
some years it continues mild throughout. These vicissitudes may, I
think, be ascribed to local causes--proximity to, or distance from the
glaciers of the Rocky Mountains, the direction of the winds, the
aspect of the place, &c. Fort St. James is so situated as to be
completely exposed to the north-east wind, which wafts on its wings
the freezing vapours of the glaciers. The instant the wind shifts to
this quarter, a change of temperature is felt; and when it continues
to blow for a few hours, it becomes so cold that, even in midsummer,
small ponds are frozen over. The surrounding country is mountainous
and rocky.
Frazer's Lake is only about thirty miles distant from Fort St. James
(on Stuart's Lake), yet there they raise abundance of vegetables,
potatoes and turnips, and sometimes even wheat and barley. The post
stands in a valley open to the south-west,--a fine champaign country,
of a sandy soil; it is protected from the north-east winds by a high
ridge of hills. The winter seldom sets in before December, and the
navigation is generally open about the beginning of May.
Few countries present a more beautiful variety of scenery than New
Caledonia. Stuart's Lake and its environs I have already attempted to
describe, but many such landscapes present themselves in different
parts of the country, where towering mountains, hill and dale, forest
and lake, and verdant plains, blended together in the happiest manner,
are taken in by the eye at a glance. Some scenes there are that recall
forcibly to the remembrance of a son of Scotia, the hills and glens
and "bonnie braes" of his own poor, yet beloved native land. New
Caledonia, however, has the advantage over the Old, of being generally
well wooded, and possessed of lakes of far greater magnitude;
unfortunately, however, the woods are decaying rapidly, particularly
several varieties of fir, which are being destroyed by an insect that
preys on the bark: when the country is denuded of this ornament, and
its ridges have become bald, it will present a very desolate
appearance. In some parts of the country, the poplar and aspen tree
are to be found, together with a species of birch, of whose bark
canoes are built; but there is neither hard wood nor cedar.
Such parts of the district as are not in the immediate vicinity of the
regions of eternal snow, yield a variety of wild fruit, grateful to
the palate, wholesome, and nutritious. Of these, the Indian pear is
the most abundant, and most sought after, both by natives and whites;
when fully ripe, it is of a black colour, with somewhat of a reddish
tinge, pear-shaped, and very sweet to the taste. The natives dry them
in the sun, and afterwards bake them into cakes, which are said to be
delicious; for my own part, having seen the process of manufacturing
them, I could not overcome my prejudices so far as to partake of a
delicacy in whose composition filth formed so considerable an
ingredient. When dried, the cakes are placed in wooden vessels to
receive the juice of green fruit, which is expressed by placing
weights upon it, in wooden troughs, from which spouts of bark draw off
the liquid into the vessels containing the dry fruit; this being
thoroughly saturated, is again bruised with the unclean hand, then
re-formed into cakes, and dried again; and these processes are
repeated alternately, until the cakes suit the taste of the maker.
Blue berries are plentiful in some parts of the district; there is a
peculiar variety of them, which I preferred to any fruit I ever
tasted; it is about the size of a musket-ball, of a purple colour,
translucid, and in its taste sweet and acid are deliciously blended.
The district is still rich in fur-bearing animals, especially beavers
and martens, which are likely to continue numerous for many years to
come, as they find a safe retreat among the fastnesses of the Rocky
Mountains, where they multiply undisturbed. This is the great beaver
nursery, which continues to replace the numbers destroyed in the more
exposed situations; there is, nevertheless, a sensible decrease in the
returns of the fur since the introduction of steel traps among the
natives: there are also otters, musk-rats, minxes, and lynxes. Of the
larger quadrupeds bears only are numerous, and in all their varieties,
grizzled, black, brown, and chocolate: numbers of them are taken by
the natives in wooden traps. A chance moose or reindeer is sometimes
found. The mountain sheep generally keeps aloft in the most
inaccessible parts of the mountains, and is seldom "bagged" by a
Carrier, but often by the Tsekanies. I have before observed that
rabbits sometimes abound. Another small animal, whose flesh is
delicious in season, the marmot, is found in great numbers. In the
neighbourhood of Fort Alexandria, the jumping deer, or chevreuil, is
abundant. To these add dog and horse flesh, and you have all the
varieties of animal food the country affords to its inhabitants,
civilized or savage.
A most destructive little animal, the wood-rat, infests the country,
and generally nestles in the crevices of the rocks, but prefers still
more human habitations; they domicile under the floors of
out-buildings, and not content with this, force their way into the
inside, where they destroy and carry off every thing they can; nor is
there any way of securing the property in the stores from their
depredations but by placing it in strong boxes. When fairly located,
it is almost impossible to root them out. They are of a grey colour,
and of nearly the size and form of the common rat, but the tail
resembles that of the ground squirrel.
The birds of this country are the same as in Canada. I observed no
strange variety, except a species of curlieu that frequents the plains
of Fort Alexandria in the summer. Immense flocks of cranes are seen in
autumn and spring, flying high in the air; in autumn directing their
flight towards the south, and in spring towards the north.
Some of the Lakes abound in fish; the principal varieties are trout,
carp, white fish, and pike. Stuart's Lake yields a small fish termed
by the Canadians "poisson inconnu;" it seems as if it were partly
white fish and partly carp, the head resembling the former; it is full
of small bones, and the flesh soft and unsavoury. The sturgeon has
been already mentioned, but they are unfortunately too rare; seldom
more than five or six are captured in a season; they weigh from one
hundred to five hundred pounds. A beautiful small fish of the size of
the anchovy, and shaped like a salmon, is found in a river that falls
into Stuart's Lake; it is said they pass the winter in the lake, and
ascend their favourite stream in the month of June, where they deposit
their spawn. They have the silvery scales of the larger salmon, and
are exceedingly rich; but the natives preserve them almost exclusively
for their own use. There are four varieties of salmon, distinguished
from each other by the peculiar form of the head; the largest species
seems to be the same we have in the rivers of Britain, and weighs from
ten to twenty pounds; the others do not exceed half that weight.
New Caledonia is inhabited by the Takelly or Carrier nation, and by a
few families of Tsekanies on the north-eastern extremity of the
district. The Takellies are divided into as many tribes as there are
posts--viz. eight, who formerly were as hostile to each other as if
they had been of different nations. The presence of the whites,
however, has had the beneficial effect of checking their cut-throat
propensities, although individual murders still occasionally occur
among them.
Before the introduction of fire-arms, the _honourable_ practice of
duelling prevailed among them, though in a fashion peculiar to
themselves. One arrow only was discharged, by the party demanding
satisfaction, at his opponent, who, by dint of skipping about and
dodging from side to side, generally contrived to escape it; fatal
duels, therefore, seldom if ever occurred; and the parties, having
thus given and received satisfaction, retired from the field
reconciled.[1] They appear more prone to sudden bursts of passion than
most Indians I have seen, and quarrel often and abuse each other in
the most scurrilous terms. With the Sauteux, Crees, and other tribes
on the east side of the mountains, few words are uttered before the
blow, often a fatal one, is given; whereas, with the Takellies, it is
often many words and few blows. In the quarrels which take place among
them, the ladies are generally the _causa belli_--a cause which would
soon lead to the depopulation of the country, were all husbands to
avenge their wrongs by shedding the blood of the guilty.
[1] I would recommend this mode of conducting "affairs of
honour" to _honourable_ gentlemen using the hair-trigger, as
an improvement. Though practised by savages, it must be
allowed to be somewhat less barbarous than ten paces'
distance, and standing still! If the exhibition should appear
somewhat ludicrous, both parties would have the additional
"satisfaction" that their morning _exercise_ had given a
keener zest to their breakfast. It would be a sort of Pyrrhic
dance.
Their chiefs have still considerable authority; but much of the homage
they claimed and received in former times is now transferred to the
white chiefs, or traders, whom they all esteem the greatest men in
the universe. "After the Man of heaven," said old Guaw to Mr. Dease,
"you are next in dignity." Owing to the superstitious notions of the
people, the chiefs are still feared on account of the magical powers
ascribed to them; it is firmly believed they can, at will, inflict
diseases, cause misfortunes of every kind, and even death itself;
and so strong is this impression, that they will not even pass in a
direction where the shadow of a chief, or "man of medicine," might
fall on them, "lest," say they, "he should bear us some ill-will and
afflict us with some disease."
These conjurors, nevertheless, are the greatest bunglers at their
trade of any in the Indian territory; they practise none of the
clever tricks of the Sauteux sorcerers, and are perfectly ignorant
of the medicinal virtues of herbs and plants, with which the Sauteux
and other Indians often perform astonishing cures. The Takellies
administer no medicine to the sick; a variety of ridiculous
gesticulations, together with singing, blowing, and _beating_ on
the _patient_, are the means they adopt to effect their end; and
they, not seldom, effectually cure the patient of "all the ills of
life." Whether they effect a cure or not, they are sure to be well
recompensed for their expenditure of wind, an article of which they
are not sparing: they, in fact, exert themselves so much that the
perspiration pours from every pore. The only real remedy they use,
in common with other Indians, is the vapour-bath, or sweating-house.
The house, as it is termed, which is constructed by bending twigs of
willow, and fixing both ends in the ground, when finished, presents
the appearance of a bee-hive, and is carefully covered to prevent the
escape of the vapour; red-hot stones are then placed inside, and water
poured upon them, and the patient remains in the midst of the steam
thus generated as long as he can bear it, then rushing out, plunges
into the cold stream. This is said to be a sovereign remedy for
rheumatism, and the natives have recourse to it in all cases of severe
pain: I myself witnessed its efficacy in a case of paralysis.
The salubrity of the climate, however, renders disease of every kind
extremely rare, except such as are caused by the excesses of the
natives themselves. The venereal is very common, and appears to have
been indigenous. At their feasts they gorge themselves to such a
degree as to endanger their lives; after a feast many of the guests
continue ill for a considerable time, yet this does not prevent them
from gormandizing again whenever an opportunity presents itself. Old
and young, male and female, are subject to severe inflammation in the
eyes, chiefly, I believe, from their passing the winter in hovels
underground, which have no outlet for the smoke, and passing from them
into the glare of sunshine upon the snow. What with the confined smoke
and tainted atmosphere of these abominable burrows, I found it painful
to remain even for a few minutes in them.
It has been remarked by those who first settled in the district, that
the Indians are rapidly decreasing in numbers since their arrival--a
fact which does not admit of a doubt: I myself have seen many villages
and encampments without an inhabitant. But what can be the cause of
it? Here there has been neither rum nor small-pox--the scourges of
this doomed race in other parts. Yet, on the banks of the Columbia,
which, when first visited by the whites a few years ago, literally
swarmed with Indians, a disease broke out which nearly exterminated
them. Has the fiat, then, gone forth, that the aboriginal inhabitants
of America shall make way for another race of men? To my mind, at
least, the question presents not the shadow of a doubt. The existence
of the present race of Indians at some future, and by no means distant
period, will only be known through the historical records of their
successors.
The Takellies do not use canoes on their hunting excursions, so
that they are necessitated to carry all their conveniences on their
backs; and it is astonishing to see what heavy loads they can carry,
especially the women, on whom the transport duty generally devolves.
Among this tribe, however, the women are held in much higher
consideration than among other Indians: they assist at the councils,
and some ladies of distinction are even admitted to the feasts. This
consideration they doubtless owe to the efficient aid they afford
in procuring the means of subsistence. The one sex is as actively
employed during the fishing season as the other. The men construct
the weirs, repair them when necessary, and capture the fish; the
women split them up--a most laborious operation when salmon is
plentiful--suspend them on the scaffolds, attend to the drying, &c.
They also collect berries, and dig up the edible roots that are found
in the country, and which are of great service in years of scarcity.
Thus the labour of the women contributes as much to the support of the
community as that of the men.
The men are passionately addicted to gambling, staking everything they
possess, and continuing at it night and day, until compelled to desist
by sheer hunger, or by the loss of all. I could not understand their
game; we, in fact, used our best endeavours to abolish the pernicious
custom, and, to avoid countenancing it, were as seldom present as
possible. It is played with a few small sticks, neatly carved, with a
certain number of marks upon them, tied up in a small bundle of hay,
which the player draws out successively, throws up and catches between
his hands; and when all are drawn, they are taken up one by one, and
dashed against a piece of parchment, and rolled up again in the hay.
The whole party appear merry enough at the commencement of the game,
all joining chorus in a song, and straining their lungs to such
a degree, that hoarseness soon ensues, when they continue their
amusement in silence. When the game is ended, some of them present
a sad spectacle; coming forth, their hair dishevelled, their eyes
bloodshot, and faces ghastly pale, with probably nothing to cover
their nakedness, save perhaps an old siffleux robe, which the winner
may be generous enough to bestow. They never shoot or hang themselves,
let their luck be ever so bad, but sometimes shoot the winning party.
Dogs, if not held sacred, are at least as much esteemed by them as
their own kindred. I have known an instance of a quadruped of the
cynic sect being appointed successor to a biped chief, and discharging
the duties of his office with the utmost gravity and decorum;
appearing at the feast given in honour of his deceased predecessor,
and furnishing his quota--(this of course by proxy)--of the
provisions. This dog-chief was treated by his owner with as much
regard as if he had been his child! All, indeed, treat their dogs
with the greatest respect, calling them by the most endearing
epithets:--"Embark, my son;" "Be quiet, my child;" "Don't bark at the
white men, they will not harm you."
The lewdness of the Carrier women cannot possibly be carried to a
greater excess. They are addicted to the most abominable practices;
abandoning themselves in early youth to the free indulgence of their
passions, they soon become debilitated and infirm; and there can be no
doubt that to this monstrous depravity the depopulation of the country
may, in part, be ascribed.
They never marry until satiated with indulgence; and if the woman then
should be dissatisfied with the restraint of the conjugal yoke, the
union, by mutual consent, is dissolved for a time; both then betake
themselves to their former courses. The woman, nevertheless, dare
not, according to law, take another husband during this temporary
separation. Whoever infringes this law, forfeits his life to the
aggrieved party, if he choose, or dare to take it.
Polygamy is allowed; but only one of the women is considered as the
wife. The most perfect harmony seems to subsist among them. When the
favourite happens to be supplanted by a rival, she resigns her place
without a murmur, well pleased if she can only enjoy the countenance
of her lord in a subordinate situation. Yet a rupture does sometimes
occur, when the repudiated party not unfrequently destroys herself.
Suicides were frequent among the females in the neighbourhood of Fort
Alexandria.
The Takellies are a sedentary people, remaining shut up in their huts
during the severer part of the winter. You may then approach a camp
without perceiving any sign of its vicinity, until you come upon
their well, or one of their salmon _caches_. They are very social,
congregating at each other's huts, and passing their time talking or
sleeping. When awake, their tongues are ever in motion,--all bawling
out at the same time; and it has often surprised me how they could
possibly make themselves understood in the midst of such an uproar.
All Indians with whom I have come in contact, Christian as well as
Pagan, are addicted to falsehood; but the Takellies excel; they
are perfect adepts in the art, telling their stories with such an
appearance of truth, that even those who know them well are often
deceived. They were the greatest thieves in the world when the whites
first settled among them. The utmost vigilance failed to detect them.
Some of our people have been known to have their belts taken off them,
without perceiving it till too late; and many a poor fellow, after
passing a night in one of their encampments, has been obliged to pass
the remainder of the winter with but half a blanket--the other half
having been cut off while he slept.
Theft, however, is not quite so prevalent as formerly; and, strange
to say, no Indians can be more honest in paying their debts. It would
indeed be desirable that this credit system, long since introduced,
were abolished; but if this were done, the natives would carry the
greater part of their hunts to another quarter. Some of the natives
of the coast, having become regular traders of late years, penetrate
a considerable distance into the interior; in this manner the goods
obtained from the Company's posts along the coast, or from foreign
trading ships, pass from hand to hand in barter, until they eventually
reach the borders of New Caledonia, where the trade still affords a
very handsome profit to the native speculator.
These Indians are not given to hospitality in the proper sense of
the word. A stranger arriving among them is provided with food
for a day only; should he remain longer, he pays for it; for that
day's entertainment, however, the best fare is liberally furnished.
Strangers invited to their feasts are also provided for while they
remain.
There is much more variety and melody in the airs they sing, than
I have heard in any other part of the Indian country. They have
professed composers, who turn their talent to good account on the
occasion of a feast, when new airs are in great request, and are
purchased at a high rate. They dance in circles, men and women
promiscuously, holding each other by the hand; and keeping both feet
together, hop a little to a side all at once, giving at the same time
a singular jerk to their persons behind. The movement seems to be
difficult of execution, as it causes them to perspire profusely; they,
however, keep excellent time, and the blending of the voices of the
men and women in symphony has an agreeable effect.
The Takelly, or Carrier language is a dialect of the Chippewayan; and
it is rather a singular fact, that the two intervening dialects of
the Beaver Indians and Tsekanies, kindred nations, should differ more
from the Chippewayan than the Carrier; the two latter nations being
perfectly intelligible to each other, while the former are but
very imperfectly understood by their immediate neighbours, the
Chippewayans.
An erroneous opinion seems to have gone abroad regarding the variety
of languages spoken by the Indians. There are, in reality, only four
radically distinct languages from the shores of Labrador to the
Pacific: Sauteux, Chippewayan, Atna and Chinook. The Cree language
is evidently a dialect of the Sauteux, similar in construction, and
differing only in the modification of a few words. The Nascopies, or
mountaineers of Labrador, speak a mixture of Cree and Sauteux, the
former predominating.
Along the communication from Montreal to the foot of the Rocky
Mountains, following the Peace River route, we first meet with the
Sauteux tribes, who extend from the Lake of the Two Mountains to Lake
Winnipeg; then the Crees to Isle à la Crosse; after them, Crees and
Chippewayans to Athabasca; and along the banks of Peace River, the
Beaver Indians occupy the lower, and the Tsekanies the upper part. The
Chippewayan is evidently the root of the Beaver, Tsekany and Carrier
dialects; it is also spoken by a numerous tribe in the McKenzie's
River district--the Hare Indians.
On the west side of the Rocky Mountains the Carrier language is
succeeded by the Atna, which extends along the Columbia as far down,
as the Chinooks, who inhabit the coast. The Atna language, in its
variety of dialects, seems to have as wide a scope as either the
Sauteux or Chippewayan.
New Caledonia is one of the richest districts in the Company's
vast domain; its returns average about 8,000 beavers, with a fair
proportion of other valuable furs. When the district was first
settled, the goods required for trade were brought in by the winterers
from Lac la Pluie, which was their dépôt. The people left the district
as early in spring as the navigation permitted, and returned so
late that they were frequently overtaken by winter ere they reached
their destination. Cold, hunger, and fatigue, were the unavoidable
consequences; but the enterprising spirit of the men of those
days--the intrepid, indefatigable adventurers of the North-West
Company--overcame every difficulty. It was that spirit that opened a
communication across the broad continent of America; that penetrated
to the frostbound regions of the Arctic circle; and that established
a trade with the natives in this remote land, when the merchandise
required for it was in one season transported from Montreal to within
a short distance of the Pacific. Such enterprise has never been
exceeded, seldom or never equalled. The outfit is now sent out from
England by Cape Horn, to Fort Vancouver, thence it is conveyed in
boats to Okanagan, then transported on horses' backs to Alexandria,
the lower post of the district, whence it is conveyed in boats to Fort
St. James.
There are generally two commissioned gentlemen in this district,--a
chief-factor and chief-trader, with six or seven clerks in charge of
posts; and about forty men, principally Iroquois and half-breeds. The
fare at the different posts depends entirely on local circumstances.
In some places it is tolerable, in others, scarcely fit for dogs. For
the year's consumption, the Company allow a clerk two bags of flour,
sixty pounds of sugar, twelve pounds of tea, and a small quantity of
wine and brandy. Butter is now produced in abundance in the district.
Where there are no gardens, the men have only dried salmon,--as poor
fare as civilized man subsists on in any part of the world. It has at
first the same effect on most people as if they fed on Glauber salts.
Nevertheless, the men generally continue in this wretched condition
for many years, apparently contented and happy; the indulgence they
find among the females being, I grieve to say, the principal
inducement.
END OF VOL. I.
R. CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL.