"I will be thinkin'," said MacSweenie to Mowat, "that it will be safer
for our two canoes to go first to the fort an' leave the Eskimos behind
the point till we warn the Indians o' their arrival; for there iss no
knowin' what these fiery savitches may do if their old enemies come on
them all of a sudden. Tell Nazinred that."
The interpreter obeyed, and as the chief was of the same opinion, a halt
was called; Cheenbuk was consulted, and ultimately the Eskimos in their
kayaks were left concealed behind the nearest point below the fort,
while the two canoes advanced side by side.
"We will take them by surprise, Tonal'. I'm fond o' givin' people a
surprise," said MacSweenie in an undertone as they drew near to the
little wharf that had been run out from the land in front of the main
building. A few Indians were watching the arrival with some curiosity.
But there was one passenger in Nazinred's canoe who cared little for
interfering with human plans--namely, Attim, whose shaggy head rested on
the gunwale as he gazed and snuffed anxiously.
The moment the canoes came within a few yards of the shore, the excited
dog plunged over the side with a huge bound. He was a magnificent
swimmer, and reached the land in a few seconds. Springing up the bank,
he shook a shower from his sides and bounded into the bushes, with the
certain knowledge, no doubt, that he had reached home at last, and that
his faithful nose would not fail to guide him to the tent of Isquay.
"O ye rascal!" growled MacSweenie, "you've let the cat out o' the bag--
for I make no doubt that every man an' wummin o' the tribe knows you by
sight."
And the Highlander was right, for in a few minutes the whole camp was
roused, and the sight of the dog told them that Nazinred had come back.
But had he found his daughter? That was a point which every one who
could walk, run, or hobble, hurried to the wharf to ascertain.
But the point was cleared up sooner than they expected, for, before they
reached the wharf, a graceful figure was seen to be bounding through the
bushes, apparently in hot pursuit of the dog.
Immediately after that a treble scream was heard to issue from a coppice
behind the fort. It was followed by an equally treble squeal, with a
bass accompaniment of barking. No one took the trouble to inquire the
cause of this, for they knew, somehow, intuitively.
As we have said more than once, it is unusual for North American Indians
to demonstrate, but Isquay and Adolay were, like Nazinred, in advance of
their times, and were in the habit of snapping their fingers in the
hideous face of the Red Indian Mrs Grundy!
Meanwhile, MacSweenie and his man were informing the Indians at the
wharf that a band of their old foes, the eaters-of-raw-flesh, were at
that moment lying on the other side of the point in their kayaks.
The news was received with surprise, not unmingled with frowns. Every
one looked at Nazinred inquiringly, but that astute Red man was engaged
in profound contemplation of the clouds.
"Moreover," said the trader, "your old prisoner who gave you the slip
and ran away with Adolay is among them."
"Then," cried Magadar, starting forward, "we will get our guns and go
after them. The young men have long wished for a chance of revenge."
"The young men hev wished for nothing o' the sort," cried MacSweenie,
with a fierce expression in his blue eyes that was very impressive.
"There iss no wan here wants to fecht but yourself, Magadar; but I will
not disappoint ye. If you must fecht wi' some wan, ye shall fecht wi'
me. But it iss jokin' ye are.--Come now, men; these Eskimos hev come
here on a veesit, an' full well do I know that there's not an Indian
tribe in all the land equal to the Dogribs for hospitality; so you'll go
and get ready a feast for our veesitors, an' I'll gie you some goot
things out o' the store to help it."
Whatever Magadar thought about this address he shrouded his feelings
behind an air of impenetrable and stern reserve; for he saw that the
young men sympathised with the trader. Nazinred also, in a few words,
helped to confirm their sympathy by telling them that the
eaters-of-raw-flesh were not a war-party, but had brought some of their
women and old people along with them. The end of it was that a shot was
fired as a preconcerted signal for the Eskimos to advance. In a few
minutes the kayaks and oomiaks came sweeping round the point and made
straight for the landing-place.
The reception of the men-of-the-ice by the traders was of course hearty
and sincere, but the hereditary ill-will of the Indians was not quite
overcome at the first. It was not until there had been several
meetings, and a feast in the fort, and Donald Mowat's violin had
exercised its soothing influence on the savage breasts, that harmony was
produced in some degree between the two parties.
At length MacSweenie began to see his way to the establishment of a
permanent peace, and he made arrangements to have a great palaver, a
solemn treaty, and a grand feast in connection with it.
"You must know, Tonal'," he said one evening when in consultation with
his interpreter in the privacy of his own room, "I hev got a plan in my
head which iss calcoolated to make things go smooth, if anything will."
He paused rather a long time, and as Mowat looked at him in expectation
of hearing more, it struck him that the deepened bronze on his chief's
face, and the slight motion of his shoulders, indicated suppressed
laughter. But the Orkney-man was much too sedate a character to express
undue curiosity. He waited patiently.
"Yes, Tonal'," said the trader, taking a few whiffs of the long clay
pipe which was his usual evening comforter, "I hev a plan, and, strange
as it may seem to an unsentimental man like you, love is at the bottom
of it."
"Well, you might have a worse foundation," returned Mowat, with
something of good-natured cynicism on his rugged face.
"Yes," continued MacSweenie, "that iss at the bottom of it--at least
weemen are, an' that's the same thing."
Mowat shook his head doubtfully. "I'm not so sure o' that," he said;
"no doubt women have a good deal to do wi' love--but they're hardly the
same thing."
"Weel, Tonal', we will not fall out on that point to-night, for I hev
got no leisure to dispute. Another time we may tackle it, but I hev
other fish to fry just now, an' we must begin this very night wi' a
grand palaver."
After a few more vigorous whiffs, and a frown indicative of intense
thought, the trader continued--
"I hev no doubt, Tonal', that you hev observed the curious and, if I may
say so, extensive variety of love-makin' that has broken out in the camp
since the arrival o' these Eskimos?"
"I can't say that I have," returned Mowat, gravely.
"Wow, man! for a fuddler ye exhibit a most extraordinary want o'
perception in the more delicate affairs o' human life. Well, well, it
is strange. But I hev observed it, an' I'm goin' to turn it to account,
if I can.
"You must know that I hev been troubled in my thoughts about that
warlike fellow Magadar, for, as you know, he was sweet upon the girl
Adolay before she was carried off by the Eskimo; an' Cheenbuk is such a
strong and bold lad that I felt sure there would be mischief between the
two about her; but to my surprise an' satisfaction Magadar hes gone over
head an' ears wi' that little Eskimo girl Cowlik, who must, I think, hev
been born in an easy-going frame of mind, which seems to hev stuck to
her ever since, and to hev gone on increasing with her years. Then, as
we all know, our Indian Alizay has for long been efter the girl Idazoo.
There's no accountin' for taste, Tonal'. I would sooner be married to a
ship's figure-head myself, but that's his look-out, whatever. I hev
also observed--'deed it would be difficult not to observe--that the man
Oolalik iss castin' sheep's-eyes at that girl Nootka. All this hes
impressed me so much that I hev set myself to observe more closely than
I'm used to do in such matters, and I hev discovered two more cases--
namely, that poor young Eskimo that was wounded in the last fecht, but
seems to be slowly recovering. They call him Ondikik, and he would hev
kicked altogether if it had not been for the nursin'--so they say--o'
that nice little craitur they call Rinka, or something like that. The
other case is that lively stripling Anteek. He's scarcely more than a
boy yet, but young Uleeta, as they call the girl, seems to think that no
great objection.
"Now, Tonal', my plan iss to marry them all off-hand on the same day!
You know that by virtue of my poseetion in the Service I am empowered to
perform the marriage ceremony. Of course, as a Christian man, I would
not fail to impress them with the fact that no real marriage can take
place without the blessin' o' their Manitou, but I think that the
readin' o' the marriage service over them may impress them favourably,
an' help in the caause of peace and goot-will. It shall be tried,
whatever, so you had better go an' get your fuddle in order, an' send
the cook to me."
That night MacSweenie had the central hall of his fort lighted up, and
called together a united council of the Indians and Eskimos.
"My friends," he said, after passing the pipe of peace round among the
former, and offering it to the latter, who each took a whiff out of
courtesy, "this is a great night, for we hev met to join ourselves
together in a bond of friendship which I trust will not soon be
broken.--Tell them that, Tonal'."
When the interpreter had done his duty, Cheenbuk was asked to translate
it into the Eskimo tongue. The process was rather slow, but as natives
and traders alike had plenty of time on their hands, and the proceedings
were a great novelty, no one felt impatient.
Then MacSweenie continued:
"We pale-faces, as you call us, believe that our God, our Manitou, takes
a great interest in all our affairs, from the least to the greatest, and
in the book in which some of us hev written down our prayers, we ask,
among many other things, that `there may be peace in our time.' (For
myself, I may give my opeenion that the prayer would hev seemed less
selfish if it had run `peace in _all_ time'--but that iss by the way,
whatever).--Now, Tonal', go ahead."
Donald went ahead, but he took the liberty of omitting what he deemed
the irrelevant commentary.
"Peace, then, iss the thing that I am drivin' at,--peace and goot-will
between the pale-faces and the men-o'-the-woods and the men-of-the-ice
also. There are many things that make for peace. The first an' most
important thing iss goot feelin'. Another thing is trade--commerce,
barter, or exchange. (I don't see how the Eskimo will translate these
words, Tonal', but he will hev to do his best.) Then there iss common
sense; and, lastly, there is marriage. Now, I hev said my say, for the
time, whatever, and Nazinred will continoo the discourse."
Thus directly appealed to, our Indian rose, and, looking calmly round on
the assembly, said--
"Every word that our white father has said is true; and a great many
more words that he has not said are also true."
"Waugh!" from the Red men, who evidently regarded the last remark as a
self-evident proposition.
Dispensing with the services of Mowat, Nazinred turned to the Eskimos
and acted the part of his own interpreter. They received his words with
an emphatic "Hoh!" as if they were equally clear on the subject of the
last words being indisputable.
"Our white father has said," continued the chief, "that the first and
most important thing in producing peace is good-feeling. That is true.
It was good-feeling in my child that led her to save the life of
Cheenbuk. It was good-feeling in Cheenbuk that made him care for my
child, and treat her well, and bring her back here to her mother and her
tribe. It was good-feeling in the Eskimos that made them kind to the
Indian chief, and receive him hospitably, when they might have taken his
scalp and kept his daughter. It is good-feeling, very strong
good-feeling, that makes the young Eskimo wish to make Adolay his squaw,
and it is the same good-feeling that now makes Nazinred willing that he
should have her."
"Hoh!" exclaimed the Eskimos at this point, with evident satisfaction,
and "Ho!" exclaimed the Indians, with equally evident surprise, for it
was contrary to all their notions of propriety that an Indian chief's
daughter should wed an eater-of-raw-flesh! However, they said nothing
more, and after gazing a few moments at each other in silent solemnity,
they turned their eyes again on Nazinred.
Changing his tone somewhat, that wily Red man went on in a persuasive
manner to expatiate on the advantages of peace in general, and of peace
with the Eskimos in particular. He also enlarged on the great comforts
to be derived from trade--which could be carried on with the white
traders on the one hand and the Eskimos on the other, so that, between
the two, the men-of-the-woods could not fail to obtain a double benefit.
As to common sense being favourable to peace, he did not quite
understand what his white father meant by that, for there was only one
kind of sense among the Dogribs--though perhaps there might be two or
three kinds where the traders came from! But in regard to marriage,
there could be no doubt of his opinion on that point, seeing that he was
going to give his daughter to Cheenbuk. Having finished what he had to
say, Nazinred sat down, after expressing a desire to hear the opinions
of his people on these matters.
For some time nothing was said, and it seemed as if the Indians were not
quite sure of their own minds, when Magadar arose suddenly.
"Braves," he began, in his brusque manner, "I like fair-play. If
Cheenbuk is going to carry off one of our maidens, it seems to me
reasonable that an Eskimo maid should be left in her place. There is
one of their girls who is named Cowlik. I am willing to take Cowlik and
make her my squaw. Waugh!"
Magadar sat down with the prompt air of a man who has conferred a favour
at great personal sacrifice.
Then Mozwa rose and delivered himself of an oration full of wise remarks
and poetical allusions, in which he backed his friend Nazinred. After
him came Cheenbuk, who said that he was much gratified by the speeches
of Mozwa and Nazinred; that from the latter he had learned his first
lesson of good-feeling towards the men-of-the-woods, on the day when he
strove with him on the banks of the Greygoose River; that his second
lesson was taught him by Adolay--a lesson that he would never forget and
could never repay, for she had not only saved his life but made him
happy.
At this point MacSweenie broke in with, "Yes, my friends, an' there iss
a goot many more people here besides Cheenbuk that wants to be made
happy. For instance, there's the young brave Alizay, an' that pleasant
craitur Idazoo, that's thinkin' about marriage just now; an' there's
Magadar and Cowlik, and Oolalik and Nootka, and Ondikik and Rinka, and
Anteek and young Uleeta; an' I'm not sure that there may not be some
more of you in the same case. If so, all right; the more the merrier.
Ay, ye may look surprised, my friends, but I've got a way o' findin' out
these things that is not known to every wan.--Now, Tonal', gif them that
as best ye can, and look sherp, for there iss more to come.
"Now, my fruends, I want to explain to ye that when white people get
married they go through a kind of ceremony, an' put gold rings on the
weemen's fingers--by way o' makin' it all shipshape an' secure, you
know. Now, I understand how to go about this matter, an' we hev plenty
o' brass curtain-rings in the store that's as goot as gold any day--in
this country, whatever. So if it iss agreeable to the chiefs and the
braves around me, I'm quite willin' to marry ye all off at the same
time, and will gif ye as much baccy as ye can smoke in wan night; an'
we'll hev a glorious feast on the back o't, an' a dance that'll keep my
fuddler's fingers goin' as long as they can wag.--Now, Tonal', if ye
tell them all that, ye're a cliverer man than I take ye for."
Whether Mowat told them all that as faithfully as might be desired we
cannot tell, but he addressed himself to the task with a genial fluency
that at all events had the desired effect, for after Nazinred had
translated it to the Eskimos, it was found that they, as well as the
Indians, were quite disposed to fall in with the eccentric trader's
views. Arrangements were accordingly made without delay for carrying
them into execution.
Of course the ladies concerned had no objections to offer; and it is
generally believed to this day, in those regions, that the interest
aroused by the promised ceremonial, not to mention the brass
curtain-rings, as well as the tobacco, and the feast and fiddle, had
much to do with the ready assent of all parties to this somewhat violent
innovation on ancient custom.
Be this as it may, the wholesale wedding eventually took place; the
feast came off; Tonal' Mowat charmed the souls of the Eskimos with his
violin, even more powerfully than he had charmed those of the Indians;
and Aglootook, almost carried out of himself with delight, volunteered
an oration in which he reminded his hearers that he had told them that
_something_ would certainly happen.
They all heartily admitted the fact, and solemnly proclaimed him the
most wonderful magician in the land.
From that day to this, as far as we know, nothing has occurred to
interrupt the flow of kindly intercourse that was at this time
established. The Eskimos returned to their icy fastnesses laden with
some of the wealth of the white traders.
But every spring they came back to barter for more of it, as well as for
the purpose of seeing the friends whom they had left behind them.
For Cheenbuk, being unable to tear himself away from Nazinred, took up
his permanent abode at the fort as one of the hunters to the
establishment. He did not however forsake his people, but frequently
visited old Mangivik and his mother at Waruskeek, and the old folk
sometimes returned the visit by spending a few months on the banks of
the Ukon River. Anteek also elected to stay with the men-of-the-woods,
being unable to forsake Cheenbuk, and of course young Uleeta remained
with him. Every year Nootka found it quite impossible to exist without
seeing her brother Cheenbuk in his own home, and having a satisfactory
gossip with her dear friend Adolay. As Oolalik agreed with Nootka in
all things, there was no difficulty in arranging the matter. In the
course of time Cheenbuk's youngsters and Nootka's progeny insisted on
keeping up the intercourse that had been so auspiciously begun, and even
the easy-going Cowlik became uneasy unless the fire-eating Magadar went
with her occasionally to Waruskeek.
As for the unselfish and tender-hearted Rinka, she of course returned
with Ondikik to the realms of ice, and made that fortunate savage happy.
Indeed, she made every one happy who came within her benign influence,
and if the truth had been spoken out by every one, we suspect it would
have been found that to her attractive powers was due much of the
enthusiasm for intercommunication that existed between the Red men and
the walrus-hunters, for the principle still holds good, in savage not
less than in civilised lands, that "love is the fulfilling of the law."