OUTPOST-BUILDING--FORT CHIMO--AN UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL, WHICH CAUSES MUCH
JOY.
The band of fur-traders now set earnestly about the erection of their
winter dwelling. The season was so far advanced that the men could no
longer be spared from the work to hunt or fish in the mountains, so that
they lived chiefly on the produce of the stake-nets in front of the
camp, and a small allowance of the provisions with which they had
started from Moose Fort. Occasionally Frank sallied forth and returned
with the best parts of a deer on his shoulders; but these excursions
were rare, as both he and Stanley worked with the men in the erection of
the fort. No one was idle for a moment, from the time of rising--
shortly after daybreak--to the time of going to rest at night. Even
little Edith found full occupation in assisting her mother in the
performance of a host of little household duties, too numerous to
recapitulate. The dog Chimo was the only exception to the general rule.
He hunted the greater part of the forenoon, for his own special
benefit, and slept when not thus occupied, or received with
philosophical satisfaction the caresses of his young mistress.
The future fort was begun on the centre of the level patch of
green-sward at the foot of the flat rock by the spring, where the party
had originally encamped. A square was traced on the ground to indicate
the stockade; and within this, Stanley marked off an oblong patch, close
to the back stockade, for the principal dwelling-house, facing the
river. Two other spaces were on either side of this--one for a store,
the other for a dwelling for the men. When finished, the fort would
thus have the form of three sides of a square surrounded by a stockade.
In the centre of this, and the first thing that was erected, was a
flag-staff, on which the H.B.C.--Hudson's Bay Company--flag was hoisted,
and saluted with three cheers as its crimson folds fluttered out in the
breeze for the first time. The plan on which the houses were
constructed was that on which all the dwellings of the fur-traders are
built--namely, a framework of timber, the interstices of which are
filled up with logs sliding into grooves cut in the main posts and
beams. This manner of building is so simple that a house can be erected
without any other instruments than an axe, an auger, and a large chisel;
and the speed with which it is put up would surprise those whose notions
of house-building are limited to stone edifices.
The axes of the wood-cutters resounded among the gullies and ravines of
Ungava, and awakened the numerous echoes of the mountains. The
encampment no longer presented a green spot, watered by a tiny rill, but
was strewn with logs in all stages of formation, and chips innumerable.
The frameworks of the dwelling-houses began to rise from the earth,
presenting, in their unfinished condition, a bristling, uncomfortable
appearance, suggesting thoughts in the beholder's mind highly
disparaging to art, and deeply sympathetic with outraged nature. The
tents still stood, and the campfire burned, but the superior proportions
of the rising fort threw these entirely into the shade. A rude wharf of
unbarked logs ran from the beach into the river. It had been begun and
finished in a couple of days, for the convenience of Gaspard while
visiting his nets, as he sometimes did before the water left them.
Everything, in short, bore evidence of the most bustling activity and
persevering energy; and in a few weeks from the time of their first
landing, the dwelling-houses were sufficiently weather-tight to be
habitable, and the other portions of the establishment in an advanced
condition.
The openings between the logs of the houses were caulked with a mixture
of mud and moss, and left in that condition in the meantime, until the
pit-saw could be set to work to produce boards for the better protection
of the walls without and within. The window and door frames were also
made, and covered temporarily with parchment, until the arrival of the
ship should enable them to fill the former with glass and the latter
with broad panels.
The effect of the parchment-covered door, however, was found to be
somewhat troublesome. Being large, and tightly covered, it sounded,
when shut violently, with a noise so strongly resembling the report of a
distant cannon that, during the first day after its erection, the men
more than once rushed down to the beach in the expectation of seeing the
long and ardently wished-for ship, which was now so much beyond the time
appointed for her arrival that Stanley began to entertain serious
apprehensions for her safety. This ship was to have sailed from York
Fort, the principal depot of the fur-traders in Hudson's Bay, with
supplies and goods for trade with the Esquimaux during the year. She
was expected at Ungava in August, and it was now September. The frost
was beginning, even at this early period, to remind the expedition of
the long winter that was at hand, and in the course of a very few weeks
Hudson's Straits would be impassable; so that the anxiety of the traders
was natural.
Just before the partitions of the chief dwelling-house were completed,
Stanley went to the tent in which his wife and child were busily
employed in sewing.
"Can you spare Edith for a short time, wife?" said he, as his partner
looked up to welcome him.
"Yes, for a short time; but she is becoming so useful to me that I
cannot afford to spare her long."
"I'm afraid," said Stanley, as he took his child by the hand and led her
away, "that I must begin to put in my claim to the services of this
little baggage, who seems to be so useful. What say you, Eda; will you
allow me to train you to shoot, and fish, and walk on snow-shoes, and so
make a trader of you?"
"I would like very much, papa, to learn to walk on snowshoes, but I
think the gun would hurt me--it seems to kick so. Don't you think I am
too little to shoot a gun off?"
Stanley laughed at the serious way in which the child received the
proposal.
"Well, then, we won't teach you to shoot yet, Eda; but, as you say, the
snow-shoe walking is worth learning, for if you cannot walk on the long
shoes when the snow falls, I fear you'll not be able to leave the fort
at all."
"Yes, and Francois has promised to make me a pair," said Edith gaily,
"and to teach me how to use them; and mamma says I am old enough to
learn now. Is it not kind of Francois? He is always very good to me."
"Indeed it is very kind of him, my pet; but all the men seem to be very
good to you--are they not?"
"Oh yes!--all of them. Even Gaspard is kind now. He never whips Chimo,
and he patted me on the head the other day when I met him alone in the
ravine--the berry ravine, you know, where I go to gather berries. I
wonder if there are berries in all the other ravines?--but I don't care
much, for there are thousands and thousands of all kinds in my own
ravine, and--where are you going, papa?"
This abrupt question was caused by her father turning into the square of
the new fort, in which the most of the men were at work.
"I'm going to show you our house, Eda, and to ask you to fix on the
corner you like best for your own room. The partitions are going to be
put up, so we must fix at once."
As he spoke they passed through the open doorway of the new dwelling,
which was a long, low building; and, placing his little daughter in the
centre of the principal hall, Stanley directed her to look round and
choose a corner for herself.
For a few minutes Edith stood with an expression of perplexity on her
bright face; then she began to examine the views from each of the corner
windows. This could only be done by peeping through the bullet-hole in
the parchment skins that in the meantime did duty for glass. The two
windows at the back corners looked out upon the rocky platform, behind
which the mountains rose like a wall, so they were rejected; but Edith
lingered at one of them, for from it she saw the spring at the foot of
the rock, with its soft bed of green moss and surrounding willow-bushes.
From the front corner on the left hand Cross Island and the valley of
the river beyond were visible; but from the window on the right the view
embraced the whole sweep of the wide river and the narrow outlet to the
bay, which, with its frowning precipices on either side, and its bold
flanking mountains, seemed a magnificent portal to the Arctic Sea.
"I think this is the nicest corner," said Edith, turning with a smile to
her father.
"Then this shall be yours," said Stanley.
"But," exclaimed Edith, as a sudden thought occurred to her, "perhaps
Frank would like this corner. I would not like to have it if Frank
wants it."
"Frank doesn't want it, and Frank shan't have it. There now, run to
your mother, you little baggage; she can't get on without you. Off you
go, quick!"
With a merry laugh Edith bounded through the doorway, and disappeared
like a sunbeam from the room.
On the 25th of September, Stanley was standing on the beach, opposite
the fort, watching with a smile of satisfaction the fair, happy face of
his daughter, as she amused herself and Chimo by throwing a stick into
the water, which the latter dutifully brought out and laid at her feet
as often as it was thrown in. Frank was also watching them.
"What shall we call the fort, Frank?" said his companion. "We have a
Fort Good Hope, and a Fort Resolution, and a Fort Enterprise already.
It seems as if all the vigorous and hearty words in the English language
were used up in naming the forts of the Hudson's Bay Company. What
shall we call it?"
"Chimo! Chimo! Chimo!" shouted Edith to the dog, as the animal bounded
along the beach.
Both gentlemen seemed to be struck with the same idea simultaneously.
"There's an answer to your question," said Frank; "call the fort
`Chimo.'"
"The very thing!" replied Stanley; "I wonder it did not occur to me
before. Nothing could be more appropriate. I salute thee, Fort Chimo,"
and Stanley lifted his cap to the establishment.
In order that the peculiar appropriateness of the name may appear to the
reader, it may be as well to explain that Chimo (the _i_ and _o_ of
which are sounded long) is an Esquimau word of salutation, and is used
by the natives when they meet with strangers. It signifies, _Are you
friendly_? by those who speak first, and seems to imply, _We are
friendly_, when returned as an answer. So well known is the word to the
fur-traders who traffic with the natives of Hudson's Straits that they
frequently apply it to them as a name, and speak of the Esquimaux as
Chimos. It was, therefore, a peculiarly appropriate name for a fort
which was established on the confines of these icy regions, for the
double purpose of entering into friendly traffic with the Esquimaux, and
of bringing about friendly relations between them and their old enemies,
the Muskigon Indians of East Main.
After playing for some time beside the low wharf, Edith and her dog left
the beach together, and rambled towards a distant eminence, whence could
be obtained a commanding bird's-eye view of the new fort. She had not
sat many minutes here when her eye was arrested by the appearance of an
unusual object in the distance. Frank, who was yet engaged in
conversation with Stanley on the beach, also noticed it. Laying his
hand on the arm of his companion, he pointed towards the narrows, where
a small, white, triangular object was visible against the dark cliff.
As they gazed, a second object of similar form came into view; then a
fore and top sail made their appearance; and, in another second, a
schooner floated slowly through the opening! Ere the spectators of this
silent apparition could give utterance to their joy, a puff of white
smoke sprang from the vessel's bow, and a cannon-shot burst upon the
mountains. Leaping on from cliff to crag, it awakened a crash of
magnificent echoes, which, after prolonged repetitions, died away in low
mutterings like distant thunder. It was followed by a loud cheer from
the schooner's deck, and the H.B.C. flag was run up to the main, while
the Union Jack floated at the peak.
"Now, Frank, give the word," cried Stanley, taking off his cap, while
the men ran down to the beach _en masse_.
"Hip, hip, hurrah!"
"Hurrah!" echoed the men, and a cheer arose among the cliffs that moved
to the very centre the hearts of those who heard and gave it.
Again and again the stirring shout arose from the fort, and was replied
to from the schooner. It was no matter of form, or cheer of ceremony.
There was a deep richness and a prolonged energy in the tone, which
proved that the feelings and lungs of the men were roused to the
uttermost in its delivery. It told of long gathering anxieties swept
entirely away, and of deep joy at seeing friendly faces in a sterile
land, where lurking foes might be more likely to appear.
At all times the entrance of a ship into port is a noble sight, and one
which touches the heart and evokes the enthusiasm of almost every human
being; but when the ship arriving is almost essential to the existence
of those who watch her snowy sails swelling out as they urge her to the
land--when her keel is the first that has ever ploughed the waters of
their distant bay--and when her departure will lock them up in solitude
for a long, long year--such feelings are roused to their utmost pitch of
intensity.
Cheer upon cheer rose and fell, and rose again, among the mountains of
Ungava. Even Edith's tiny voice helped to swell the enthusiastic shout;
and more than one cheer was choked by the rising tide of emotion that
forced the tears down more than one bronzed cheek, despite the iron
wills that bade them not to flow.