MAY, 1793.
That the discouragements, difficulties, and dangers, which had hitherto
attended the progress of our enterprise, should have excited a wish in
several of those who were engaged in it to discontinue the pursuit,
might be naturally expected; and indeed it began to be muttered on all
sides that there was no alternative but to return.
Instead of paying any attention to these murmurs, I desired those who
had uttered them to exert themselves in gaining an ascent of the hill,
and encamp there for the night. In the mean time I set off with one of
the Indians, and though I continued my examination of the river almost
as long as there was any light to assist me, I could see no end of the
rapids and cascades: I was, therefore, perfectly satisfied, that it
would be impracticable to proceed any further by water. We returned
from this reconnoitring excursion very much fatigued, with our shoes
worn out and wounded feet; when I found that, by felling trees on the
declivity of the first hill, my people had contrived to ascend it.
From the place where I had taken the altitude at noon, to the place
where we made our landing, the river is not more than fifty yards wide,
and flows between stupendous rocks, from whence huge fragments sometimes
tumble down, and falling from such an height, dash into small stones,
with sharp points, and form the beach between the rocky projections.
Along the face of some of these precipices, there appears a stratum of a
bitumenous substance which resembles coal; though while some of the
pieces of it appeared to be excellent fuel, others resisted, for a
considerable time, the action of fire, and did not emit the least flame.
The whole of this day's course would have been altogether impracticable,
if the water had been higher, which must be the case at certain seasons.
We saw also several encampments of the Knisteneaux along the river,
which must have been formed by them on their war excursions: a decided
proof of the savage, blood-thirsty disposition of that people; as
nothing less than such a spirit could impel them to encounter the
difficulties of this almost inaccessible country, whose natives are
equally unoffending and defenceless.
Mr. Mackay informed me, that in passing over the mountains, he observed
several chasms in the earth that emitted heat and smoke, which diffused
a strong sulphureous stench. I should certainly have visited this
phenomenon, if I had been sufficiently qualified as a naturalist, to
have offered scientific conjectures or observations thereon.
_Tuesday, 21._--It rained in the morning, and did not cease till about
eight, and as the men had been very fatigued and disheartened, I
suffered them to continue their rest till that hour. Such was the state
of the river, as I have already observed, that no alternative was left
us; nor did any means of proceeding present themselves to us, but the
passage of the mountain over which we were to carry the canoe as well as
the baggage. As this was a very alarming enterprize, I dispatched
Mr. Mackay with three men and the two Indians to proceed in a strait
course from the top of the mountain, and to keep the line of the river
till they should find it navigable. If it should be their opinion, that
there was no practicable passage in that direction, two of them were
instructed to return in order to make their report; while the others
were to go in search of the Indian carrying-place. While they were
engaged in this excursion, the people who remained with me were employed
in gumming the canoe, and making handles for the axes. At noon I got an
altitude, which made our latitude 56. 0. 8. At three o'clock had time,
when my watch was slow 1. 31. 32. apparent time.
At sun-set, Mr. Mackay returned with one of the men, and in about two
hours was followed by the others. They had penetrated thick woods,
ascended hills and sunk into vallies, till they got beyond the rapid,
which, according to their calculation, was a distance of three leagues.
The two parties returned by different routes, but they both agreed, that
with all its difficulties, and they were of a very alarming nature, the
outward course was that which must be preferred. Unpromising, however,
as the account of their expedition appeared, it did not sink them into a
state of discouragement; and a kettle of wild rice, sweetened with
sugar, which had been prepared for their return, with their usual regale
of rum, soon renewed that courage which disdained all obstacles that
threatened our progress: and they went to rest, with a full
determination to surmount them on the morrow. I sat up, in the hope of
getting an observation of Jupiter and his first satellite, but the
cloudy weather prevented my obtaining it.
_Wednesday, 22._--At break of day we entered on the extraordinary
journey which was to occupy the remaining part of it. The men began,
without delay, to cut a road up the mountain, and as the trees were but
of small growth, I ordered them to fell those which they found
convenient, in such a manner, that they might fall parallel with the
road, but, at the same time not separate them entirely from the stumps,
so that they might form a kind of railing on either side. The baggage
was now brought from the water side to our encampment. This was,
likewise, from the steep shelving of the rocks, a very perilous
undertaking, as one false step of any of the people employed in it,
would have been instantly followed by falling headlong into the water.
When this important object was attained, the whole of the party
proceeded with no small degree of apprehension, to fetch the canoe,
which, in a short time, was also brought to the encampment; and, as soon
as we had recovered from our fatigue, we advanced with it up the
mountain, having the line doubled and fastened successively as we went
on to the stumps; while a man at the end of it, hauled it around a tree,
holding it on and shifting it as we proceeded; so that we may be said,
with strict truth, to have warped the canoe up the mountain; indeed by a
general and most laborious exertion, we got every thing to the summit by
two in the afternoon. At noon, the latitude was 56. 0. 47. North. At
five, I sent the men to cut the road onwards, which they effected for
about a mile, when they returned:
The weather was cloudy at intervals, with showers and thunder. At about
ten, I observed an emersion of Jupiter's second satellite; time by the
achrometer 8. 32. 20. by which I found the longitude to be 120. 29. 80
West from Greenwich.
_Thursday 23._--The weather was clear at four this morning, when the
men began to carry. I joined Mr. Mackay and the two Indians in the
labour of cutting a road. The ground continued rising gently till noon,
when it began to decline; but though on such an elevated situation, we
could see but little, as mountains of a still higher elevation, and
covered with snow, were seen far above us in every direction. In the
afternoon the ground became very uneven; hills and deep defiles
alternately presented themselves to us. Our progress, however, exceeded
my expectation, and it was not till four in the afternoon that the
carriers overtook us. At five, in a state of fatigue that may be more
readily conceived than expressed, we encamped near a rivulet or spring
that issued from beneath a large mass of ice and snow.
Our toilsome journey of this day I compute at about three miles; along
the first of which the land is covered with plenty of wood, consisting
of large trees, encumbered with little underwood, through which it was
by no means difficult to open a road, by following a well-beaten elk
path: for the two succeeding miles we found the country overspread with
the trunks of trees, laid low by fire some years ago; among which large
copses had sprung up of a close growth, and intermixed with briars, so
as to render the passage through them painful and tedious. The soil in
the woods is light and of a dusky colour; that in the burned country is
a mixture of sand and clay with small stones. The trees are spruce,
red-pine, cypress, poplar, white birch, willow, alder, arrow-wood,
red-wood, liard, service-tree, bois-picant, &c. I never saw any of the
last kind before. It rises to about nine feet in height, grows in
joints without branches, and is tufted at the extremity. The stem is of
an equal size from the bottom to the top, and does not exceed an inch in
diameter; it is covered with small prickles, which caught our trowsers,
and working through them, sometimes found their way to the flesh. The
shrubs are, the gooseberry, the currant, and several kinds of briars.
_Friday, 24._--We continued our very laborious journey, which led us
down some steep hills, and through a wood of tall pines. After much
toil and trouble in bearing the canoe through the difficult passages
which we encountered, at four in the afternoon we arrived at the river,
some hundred yards above the rapids or falls, with all our baggage. I
compute the distance of this day's progress to be about four miles;
indeed I should have measured the whole of the way, if I had not been
obliged to engage personally in the labour of making the road. But
after all, the Indian carrying-way, whatever may be its length, and I
think it cannot exceed ten miles, will always be found more safe and
expeditious than the passage which our toil and perseverance formed and
surmounted.
Those of my people who visited this place on the 21st, were of opinion
that the water had risen very much since that time. About two hundred
yards below us, the stream rushed with an astonishing but silent
velocity, between perpendicular rocks, which are not more than
thirty-five yards asunder: when the water is high, it runs over those
rocks, in a channel three times that breadth, where it is bounded by far
more elevated precipices. In the former are deep round holes, some of
which are full of water, while others are empty, in whose bottom are
small round stones, as smooth as marble. Some of these natural
cylinders would contain two hundred gallons. At a small distance below
the first of these rocks, the channel widens in a kind of zig-zag
progression; and it was really awful to behold with what infinite force
the water drives against the rocks on one side, and with what impetuous
strength it is repelled to the other: it then falls back, as it were,
into a more strait but rugged passage, over which it is tossed in high,
foaming, half-formed billows, as far as the eye could follow it.
The young men informed me that this was the place where their relations
had told me that I should meet with a fall equal to that of Niagara: to
exculpate them, however, from their apparent misinformation, they
declared that their friends were not accustomed to utter falsehoods, and
that the fall had probably been destroyed by the force of the water. It
is, however, very evident that those people had not been here, or did
not adhere to the truth. By the number of trees which appeared to have
been felled with axes, we discovered that the Knisteneaux, or some
tribes who are known to employ that instrument, had passed this way. We
passed through a snare enclosure, but saw no animals, though the country
was very much intersected by their tracks.
_Saturday, 25._---It rained throughout the night, and till twelve this
day; while the business of preparing great and small poles, and putting
the canoe in order, &c. caused us to remain here till five in the
afternoon. I now attached a knife, with a steel, flint, beads, and
other trifling articles to a pole, which I erected, and left as a token
of amity to the natives. When I was making this arrangement, one of my
attendants, whom I have already described under the title of the Cancre,
added to my assortment, a small round piece of green wood, chewed at one
end in the form of a brush, which the Indians used to pick the marrow
out of bones. This he informed me was an emblem of a country abounding
in animals. The water had risen during our stay here one foot and a
half perpendicular height.
We now embarked, and our course was North-West one mile and three
quarters. There were mountains on all sides of us, which were covered
with snow; one in particular, on the South side of the river, rose to a
great height. We continued to proceed West three quarters of a mile,
North-West one mile, and West-South-West a quarter of a mile, when we
encamped for the night. The Cancre killed a small elk.
_Sunday, 26._--The weather was clear and sharp, and between three and
four in the morning we renewed our voyage, our first course being West
by South three miles and a half, when the men complained of the cold in
their fingers, as they were obliged to push on the canoe with the poles.
Here a small river flowed in from the North. We now continued to steer
West-South-West a quarter of a mile; West-North-West a mile and a half,
and West two miles, when we found ourselves on a parallel with a chain
of mountains on both sides of the river, running South and North. The
river, both yesterday and the early part of to-day, was from four to
eight hundred yards wide, and full of islands, but was at this time
diminished to about two hundred yards broad, and free from islands, with
a smooth but strong current. Our next course was South-West two miles,
when we encountered a rapid, and saw an encampment of the Knisteneaux.
We now proceeded North-West by West one mile, among islands, South-West
by West three quarters of a mile, South-South-East one mile, veered to
South-West through islands three miles and a half, and South by East
half a mile. Here a river poured in on the left, which was the most
considerable that we had seen since we had passed the mountain. At
seven in the evening we landed and encamped.
Though the sun had shone upon us throughout the day, the air was so cold
that the men, though actively employed, could not resist it without the
aid of their blanket coats. This circumstance might, in some degree, be
expected from the surrounding mountains, which were covered with ice and
snow; but as they are not so high as to produce the extreme cold which
we suffered, it must be more particularly attributed to the high
situation of the country itself, rather than to the local elevation of
the mountains, the greatest height of which does not exceed fifteen
hundred feet; though in general they do not rise to half that altitude.
But as I had not been able to take an exact measurement, I do not
presume upon the accuracy of my conjecture. Towards the bottom of these
heights, which were clear of snow, the trees were putting forth their
leaves, while those in their middle region still retained all the
characteristics of winter, and on the upper parts there was little or no
wood.
_Monday, 27._[1]--The weather was clear, and we continued our voyage
at the usual hour, when we successively found several rapids and points
to impede our progress. At noon our latitude was 56. 5. 54. North. The
Indians killed a stag; and one of the men who went to fetch it was very
much endangered by the rolling down of a large stone from the heights
above him.
_Tuesday, 28._--The day was very cloudy. The mountains on both sides
of the river seemed to have sunk, in their elevation, during the voyage
of yesterday. To-day they resumed their former altitude, and run so
close on either side of the channel, that all view was excluded of every
thing but themselves. This part of the current was not broken by
islands; but in the afternoon we approached some cascades, which obliged
us to carry our canoe and its lading for several hundred yards. Here we
observed an encampment of the natives, though some time had elapsed
since it had been inhabited. The greater part of the day was divided
between heavy showers and small rain; and we took our station on the
shore about six in the evening, about three miles above the last rapid.
_Wednesday, 29._--The rain was so violent throughout the whole of this
day, that we did not venture to proceed. As we had almost expended the
contents of a rum-keg, and this being a day which allowed of no active
employment, I amused myself with the experiment of enclosing a letter in
it, and dispatching it down the stream to take its fate. I accordingly
introduced a written account of all our hardships, &c. carefully
enclosed in bark, into the small barrel by the bung-hole, which being
carefully secured, I consigned this epistolatory cargo to the mercy of
the current.
_Thursday, 30._--We were alarmed this morning at break of day, by the
continual barking of our dog, who never ceased from running backwards
and forwards in the rear of our situation: when, however, the day
advanced, we discovered the cause of our alarm to proceed from a wolf,
who was parading a ridge a few yards behind us, and had been most
probably allured by the scent of our small portion of fresh meat. The
weather was cloudy, but it did not prevent us from renewing our progress
at a very early hour. A considerable river appeared from the left, and
we continued our course till seven in the evening, when we landed at
night where there was an Indian encampment.
_Friday, 31._--The morning was clear and cold, and the current very
powerful. On crossing the mouth of a river that flowed in from the
right of us, we were very much endangered; indeed all the rivers which I
have lately seen, appear to overflow their natural limits, as it may be
supposed, from the melting of the mountain snow. The water is almost
white, the bed of the river being of limestone. The mountains are one
solid mass of the same material, but without the least shade of trees,
or decoration of foliage. At nine the men were so cold that we landed,
in order to kindle a fire, which was considered as a very uncommon
circumstance at this season; a small quantity of rum, however, served as
an adequate substitute; and the current being so smooth as to admit of
the use of paddles, I encouraged them to proceed without any further
delay. In a short time an extensive view opened upon us, displaying a
beautiful sheet of water, that was heightened by the calmness of the
weather, and a splendid sun. Here the mountains which were covered with
wood, opened on either side, so that we entertained the hope of soon
leaving them behind us. When we had got to the termination of this
prospect, the river was barred with rocks, forming cascades and small
islands. To proceed onwards, we were under the necessity of clearing a
narrow passage of the drift wood, on the left shore. Here the view
convinced us that our late hopes were without foundation, as there
appeared a ridge or chain of mountains, running South and North as far
as the eye could reach.
On advancing two or three miles, we arrived at the fork, one branch
running about West-North-West, and the other South-South-East. If I had
been governed by my own judgment, I should have taken the former, as it
appeared to me to be the most likely to bring us nearest to the part
where I wished to fall on the Pacific Ocean, but the old man, whom I
have already mentioned as having been frequently on war expeditions in
this country, had warned me not, on any account, to follow it, as it was
soon lost in various branches among the mountains, and that there was no
great river that ran in any direction near it; but by following the
latter, he said, we should arrive at a carrying-place to another large
river, that did not exceed a day's march, where the inhabitants build
houses, and live upon islands. There was so much apparent truth in the
old man's narrative, that I determined to be governed by it; for I did
not entertain the least doubt, if I could get into the other river, that
I should reach the ocean.
I accordingly ordered my steersman to proceed at once to the East
branch, which appeared to be more rapid than the other, though it did
not possess an equal breadth. These circumstances disposed my men and
Indians, the latter in particular being very tired of the voyage, to
express their wishes that I should take the Western branch, especially
when they perceived the difficulty of stemming the current, in the
direction on which I had determined. Indeed the rush of water was so
powerful, that we were the greatest part of the afternoon in getting two
or three miles--a very tardy and mortifying progress, and which, with
the voyage, was openly execrated by many of those who were engaged in
it: and the inexpressible toil these people had endured, as well as the
dangers they had encountered, required some degree of consideration; I
therefore employed those arguments which were the best calculated to
calm their immediate discontents, as well as to encourage their future
hopes, though, at the same time, I delivered my sentiments in such a
manner as to convince them that I was determined to proceed.
On the 1st of June we embarked at sun-rise, and towards noon the current
began to slacken; we then put to shore, in order to gum the canoe, when
a meridian altitude gave me 55. 42. 16. North latitude. We then
continued our course, and towards the evening the current began to
recover its former strength. Mr. Mackay and the Indians had already
disembarked, to walk and lighten the boat. At sun-set we encamped on a
point, being the first dry land which had been found on this side the
river, that was fit for our purpose, since our people went on shore. In
the morning we passed a large rapid river, that flowed in from the
right.
In no part of the North-West did I see so much beaver-work, within an
equal distance, as in the course of this day. In some places they had
cut down several acres of large poplars; and we saw also a great number
of these active and sagacious animals. The time which these wonderful
creatures allot for their labours, whether in erecting their curious
habitations or providing food, is the whole of the interval between the
setting and the rising sun.
Towards the dusky part of the evening we heard several discharges from
the fowling pieces of our people, which we answered, to inform them of
our situation; and some time after it was dark, they arrived in an equal
state of fatigue and alarm; they were also obliged to swim across a
channel in order to get to us, as we were situated on an island, though
we were ignorant of the circumstance, till they came to inform us. One
of the Indians was positive that he heard the discharge of fire-arms
above our encampment; and on comparing the number of our discharges with
theirs, there appeared to be some foundation for his alarm, as we
imagined that we had heard two reports more than they acknowledged; and
in their turn, they declared that they had heard twice the number of
those which we knew had proceeded from us. The Indians were therefore
certain, that the Knisteneaux must be in our vicinity, on a war
expedition, and consequently, if they were numerous, we should have had
no reason to expect the least mercy from them in this distant country.
Though I did not believe that circumstance, or that any of the natives
could be in possession of fire-arms, I thought it right, at all events,
we should be prepared. Our fusees were, therefore, primed and loaded,
and having extinguished our fire, each of us took his station at the
foot of a tree, where we passed an uneasy and restless night.
The succeeding morning being clear and pleasant, we proceeded at an
early hour against a rapid current, intersected by islands. About eight
we passed two large trees, whose roots having been undermined by the
current, had recently fallen into the river; and, in my opinion, the
crash of their fall had occasioned the noise which caused our late
alarm. In this manner the water ravages the islands in these rivers,
and by driving down great quantities of wood, forms the foundations of
others. The men were so oppressed with fatigue, that it was necessary
they should encamp at six in the afternoon. We, therefore, landed on a
sandy island, which is a very uncommon object, as the greater part of
the islands consist of a bottom of round stones and gravel, covered from
three to ten feet with mud and old drift-wood. Beaver-work was as
frequently seen as on the preceding day.
On the 3d of June we renewed our voyage with the rising sun. At noon I
obtained a meridian altitude, which gave 55. 22. 3. North latitude. I
also took time, and the watch was slow 1. 30. 14. apparent time.
According to my calculation, this place is about twenty-five miles
South-East of the fork.[2]
[1] From this day to the 4th of June the courses of my voyage are
omitted, as I lost the book that contained them. I was in the habit of
sometimes indulging myself with a short doze in the canoe, and I imagine
that the branches of the trees brushed my book from me, when I was in
such a situation, which renders the account of these few days less
distinct than usual.
[2] I shall now proceed with my usual regularity, which, as I have
already mentioned, has been, for some days, suspended, from the loss of
my book of observation.