Winter arrangements completed--Learn to build snow
houses--Christmas-day--North Pole River frozen to the
bottom--1st January--Cheerfulness of the men--Furious
snow-storm--Observatories blown down--Boat buried under the
snow--Ouligbuck caught in the storm--Dog attacked by a
wolf--Party of natives take up their residence near Fort
Hope--Esquimaux mentioned by Sir John Ross known to them--Boat
dug out of the snow--A runaway wife--Deer begin to migrate
northward--A wolf-chase--First deer of the season
shot--Difficulty of deer-hunting in spring--Dimensions of an
Esquimaux canoe--Serious accident to Ouligbuck--A
conjuror--Preparations for the journey
northward--Temperature--Aurora Borealis.
During December we completed our various buildings, and formed passages
under the snow, so that we could without exposure go to any of them.
There were four houses, viz.: one for provisions, another for fuel, a
third for oil, dog's meat, &c., and a fourth for the men's spare
luggage, for which there was no room in the dwelling-house, and which
had been stowed in the tents until it was found necessary to take them
down.
Being desirous of requiring as little assistance from the Esquimaux as
possible, I attempted to build a snow house after the native fashion,
and succeeded tolerably well; finding that the process was not so
difficult as I anticipated, after a few trials one or two of the men
became very good masons. We had now no encouragement to move much about,
as there was no game to be seen, and the weather was very unsettled, and
consequently no more exercise was taken than was necessary to keep us in
good health. In stormy weather, not being able to get out of doors, the
men wrestled or played some game which called the muscles into action,
and thus kept up the animal heat.
On the 21st, the sun's lower limb rose about double his diameter above a
rising ground to the southward, on a level with Fort Hope. On the 23rd
and 24th, whilst looking out some good venison for our Christmas dinner,
we examined our stock of such provisions, and found that we had not
enough to last us until the return of the deer in spring; fortunately we
had still a good supply of pemmican left.
Christmas-day was passed very agreeably, but the weather was so stormy
and cold that only a very short game at foot-ball could be played. Short
as it was, however, it was sufficiently amusing, for our faces were
every moment getting frost-bitten either in one place or another, so as
to require the continual application of the hand; and the rubbing,
running about, and kicking the ball all at the same time, produced a
very ludicrous effect.
Our dinner was composed of excellent venison and a plum-pudding, with a
moderate allowance of brandy punch to drink a health to absent friends.
For some time past, washing the face had been rather an unpleasant
operation, as any water that got among the hair froze upon it
immediately. This is mentioned by Sir George Back as having occurred
once to him at Fort Reliance, in 1833. On the 28th, North Pole River got
frozen to the bottom, so that we were forced to go to a lake to the S.W.
of Beacon Hill, about half a mile distant, for water.
The 1st of January was as beautiful a day as we could have wished to
begin the new year with. There was a light air of wind, and the
temperature varied from -23 deg. to -26 deg. After a most excellent
breakfast of fat venison steaks, all the party were occupied for some
hours with a spirited game at foot-ball, at which there was much fun,
the snow being so hard and slippery that several pairs of heels might
be seen in the air at the same time.
My dinner consisted of part of a hare and rein-deer tongue, with a
currant pudding as second course. The men's mess was much like my own,
except that they had venison instead of hare. A small supply of brandy
was served out, and on the whole I do not believe that a more happy
company could have been found in America, large as it is. 'Tis true
that an agreeable companion to join me in a glass of punch, to drink a
health to absent friends, to speak of by-gone times and speculate on the
future, might have made the evening pass more pleasantly, yet I was far
from unhappy. To hear the merry joke, the hearty laugh, and lively song
among my men, was of itself a source of much pleasure.
On the 7th the tracks of a few deer were unexpectedly seen within a few
miles of the house; and on the following day the thermometer showed a
temperature of -47 deg., the lowest we experienced during the winter.
The 9th was a more disagreeable day than any we had yet had. A storm
from the north with thick snow-drift, and a temperature of 72 deg. below
the freezing point, made it feel bitterly cold. Fortunately we had some
days before made a house for our dogs, else they must have inevitably been
frozen to death. Such was the force of the gale for two days that both
observatories were completely demolished, and wherever the snow banks
projected in the slightest degree above the surrounding level, they were
worn away by the friction of the snow-drift as if cut with a knife.
The thermometer indoors varied from 29 deg. to 40 deg. below the freezing
point; which would not have been unpleasant where there was a fire to
warm the hands and feet, or even room to move about; but where there was
neither the one nor the other, some few degrees more heat would have been
preferable.
As we could not go for water we were forced to thaw snow, and take only
one meal each day. My waistcoat after a week's wearing became so stiff
from the condensation and freezing of my breath upon it, that I had much
trouble to get it buttoned.
The gale did not subside until the 15th, when we were busily employed
repairing the damages done by the wind and drift. As a great weight of
snow had lodged upon our boat, we were afraid she might be injured by
the pressure, and some of the men were employed to search for her, but
there was some difference of opinion about her exact situation, and it
was two days before she was found, after digging to the depth of eight
feet.
A stick was set up at one end of the boat that there might be no
difficulty in finding the place again.
One cause of discomfort to me was the great quantity of tobacco smoke in
our low and confined house, it being sometimes so thick that no object
could be seen at a couple of yards' distance. The whole party, with the
exception of myself, were most inveterate smokers; indeed it was
impossible to be awake for ten minutes during the night without hearing
the sound of the flint and steel striking a light. Of course I might to
a great extent have put a stop to this, but the poor fellows appeared to
receive so much comfort from the use of the pipe, that it would have
been cruelty to do so for the sake of saving myself a trifling
inconvenience.
This month was so stormy that the most of our time when we could get
out of doors was passed in clearing away the snow that drifted about our
doors and over the house, and in rebuilding and repairing. The boat, and
also the stick that had been set up as a mark, were completely covered
over. On the 18th Ouligbuck had gone out to hunt, and did not return
till the 25th, after I had given up all hopes of ever seeing him again
in life. It appeared that he had visited the Esquimaux at Christie Lake
for the purpose of speaking to them about not having kept their promise
regarding some oil that they said they would bring to us, and which they
had omitted to do. He had been caught by the storm of the 18th before he
reached his friends, and was obliged to build a snow hut, in which he
passed the night comfortably enough. On the following morning, when it
cleared up a little, he found that he was not more than two hundred
yards from his destination, which the thickness of the weather on the
previous day had prevented him from seeing.
One of the dogs we had lent this party to aid in drawing some provisions
to the coast had a narrow escape from a wolf. Having broken loose she
set out on her return home, when she was attacked by the wolf, and
treated much in the same way that Tam O'Shanter's mare was by Cutty
Sark, for
"The wolf had caught her by the rump,
And left poor Surie scarce a stump."
On the last day of January some Esquimaux, who were to take up their
quarters near us, arrived with part of their luggage and provisions, and
built their snow house near the south side of Beacon Hill. This would
have been the best situation for our establishment, as it was completely
sheltered from the northerly gales, but we were too late in making the
discovery.
I visited the Esquimaux on the 1st February, and found the old man,
named Shishak, and his wife in their comfortable house, which was so
warm that my waistcoat, which had been frozen quite stiff for some time
past, actually thawed. It was not easy to learn any of the peculiarities
of these people, as Ouligbuck was rather shy about describing their
habits. Ouligbuck's son informed me that even in winter they strip off
all their clothes before going to bed.
When taking a walk on the 3rd I passed near the Esquimaux, and found one
of them repairing the runners of his sledge. The substance used was a
mixture of moss chopped up fine, and snow soaked in water, lumps of
which are firmly pressed on the sledge with the bare hand, and smoothed
over so as to have an even surface. The process occupied the man nearly
an hour, during the whole of which time he did not put his hands in his
mitts, nor did he appear to feel the cold much, although the temperature
was 30 deg. below zero.
On the 4th Ouligbuck set his gun for a wolf that had been prowling about
for the last few days. The usual mode is to fix the gun to two sticks
with its muzzle pointed to a bait placed at the distance of fifteen or
twenty yards, with a line attached to it, the other end of which is
fastened to the trigger; but Ouligbuck's plan was quite different from
this. He enclosed the gun in a small snow house, in such a manner that
there was nothing visible but the bait, which was not more than a foot
from the muzzle, so that the shot could scarcely miss the head of the
animal. When Ouligbuck went to his gun next morning, he saw the track of
the wolf, and followed it to the dog-kennel, in which he had comfortably
taken up his quarters; he immediately took the brute by the tail and
dragged him outside much against his will, when he was soon dispatched
with an ice-chisel. This animal was very large, but in the last stage of
starvation, with a severe arrow or gun-shot wound in one thigh. He
measured 5 feet 9 inches from the nose to the tip of the tail, (length
of tail 1 foot 7 inches,) and his height at the shoulder was 2 feet 8
inches.
On the 7th a man named Ak-kee-ou-lik, who had promised us four
seal-skins of oil, arrived and said that he could only let us have one,
because the bears had broken into his "cache" and devoured nearly all
its contents. This story I did not believe at the time, and I afterwards
found out that it was false. I felt a good deal annoyed at the man's not
keeping his promise, because we had depended much upon this supply for
fuel and light. To save the former, we had during part of last month
taken only one meal a-day, and discontinued the comfort of a cup of tea
with our evening repast. Of oil, our stock was so small, that we had
been forced to keep early and late hours, namely, lying occasionally
fourteen hours in bed, as we found that to sit up in a house in which
the temperature was some degrees below zero, without either light or
fire, was not very pleasant. Fortunately we all enjoyed excellent
health, and our few discomforts, instead of causing discontent,
furnished us with subjects of merriment. For instance, Hutchison about
this time had his knee frozen in bed, and I believe the poor fellow (who
by-the-bye was the softest of the party) was afterwards very sorry for
letting it be known, as he got so heartily laughed at for his
effeminacy.
On the 9th, one of the Esquimaux women (wife of Keiktoo-oo) that came to
see us, had a brass wheel 1-1/3 or 2 inches in diameter fastened on her
dress as an ornament. It was evidently part of some instrument, probably
of some of those left by Sir John Ross at Victoria Harbour. I wished to
purchase it, but she would not part with it.
15th.--Akkeeoulik brought over a large and heavy hoop of iron, which had
been at one time round the rudder head, bowsprit end, or mast head of a
vessel, as he said it had been taken off a large stick. I did not buy it
from him, as he was in disgrace for having disappointed me about the
oil. About 1 P.M. on the same day a number of the natives paid us a
visit, among whom were Ec-vu-chi, I-vit-chuk, and Ou-too-ouniak, three
of the most decent and best behaved of the party. They brought us a
quantity of venison, of which they had still a large stock, and some of
which they were now willing to dispose of, as they found that they had
more than was requisite for their own consumption.
They had frequently seen Ooblooria, Ikmallik, and some of the other
Esquimaux mentioned by Sir John Ross, and I also further learnt that the
man with the wooden leg, named Tulluahiu, was dead, but how long since I
could not discover.
The greater part of the men had been employed for the last fourteen days
digging away the snow from the boat to relieve her from the pressure, as
she was covered up to the depth of more than twelve feet. This was no
easy task; however, we managed it in the following manner. Having cut a
narrow opening through the snow down to the boat, we erected a tackle
over it and hoisted up the loose snow, as it was removed with spades and
axes. After excavating a space the full length of the boat, and clearing
the snow out of it, the bow and stern were alternately raised, and the
blocks of snow which were chopped from the top pushed underneath to
prevent its sinking down again. In this way the men could work without
exposure, and when the weather was stormy the hole was covered with a
sail, so that the snow-drift could not interfere with our labours. We
had yesterday got her close to the top of the snow roof, and to-day the
weather being fine she was hauled out and found to be uninjured, except
a small split in one of her thwarts caused by the great weight. She was
now placed in a situation where there was no danger of her being again
drifted over.
The Esquimaux left us on the 17th, having behaved themselves in the most
exemplary manner. One of Akkeeoulik's wives (quite a young dame with a
most interesting squint) took this opportunity of leaving her husband
and putting herself under the care of her father Outoo-ouniak, the
alleged cause of her dissatisfaction being that she did not get enough
to eat. The disconsolate man followed the party for some distance in
hopes of persuading the runaway to return, but without success.
Our fuel getting rather scarce, some of the men were sent to dig among
the snow for moss and heather, and they usually got as much in a day as
would cook one meal, but as the spring advanced, and the snow began to
disappear, two men could procure as much as we required. When the men
were taking a walk after divine service on the 21st, they saw the traces
of five deer going northward.
On the 22nd Turner commenced making two sledges for our spring journeys.
They were to be from 6 to 7 feet long, 17 inches broad, and 7 inches
high. The only wood we had for this purpose was the battens with which
the inside of our boats was lined, it being necessary to nail three of
them together to form runners of the required height. A wolf was shot by
Ouligbuck during the night within 10 yards of the door of the house, and
six or eight more were seen at no great distance off in the morning.
23rd. When taking my usual exercise, I came upon a white owl feasting on
a hare which it had killed after a severe struggle, to judge by the
marks on the snow. Half of it was already eaten. Another wolf was shot
on the 25th at a set gun, but there was nothing of him to be found in
the morning except a little hair and blood, all the rest having been
eaten or carried off by his companions. Some more deer tracks were seen
going northward. On the 26th the height of Beacon Hill was found to be
238 feet above the level of the sea at half-flood.
Next day Nibitabo saw thirty deer and ten partridges, but only shot two
of the latter. The former were in the middle of a large plain, and took
good care to keep out of gun-shot, much to the annoyance of our
deer-hunter, who is one of the keenest sportsmen I have ever met with.
There were two wolves wounded by Ouligbuck's gun last night, one of
which he caught before breakfast. I went with him after the other in the
forenoon, and got sight of him about three miles from the house.
Although his shoulder was fractured, he gave us a long race before we
ran him down, but at last we saw that he had begun to eat snow, a sure
sign that he was getting fagged. When I came up with him, so tired was
he that I was obliged to drive him on with the butt of my gun in order
to get him nearer home before knocking him on the head. At last we were
unable to make him move on by any means we could employ. Ferocity and
cowardice, often if not always, go together. How different was the
behaviour of this savage brute from that of the usually timid deer under
similar circumstances. The wolf crouched down and would not even look at
us, pull him about and use him as we might; whereas I never saw a deer
that did not attempt to defend itself when brought to bay, however
severely wounded it might be.
On the 1st March one of our sledges that had been finished was tried,
and found to answer well.
The deer were now steadily migrating northward, some being seen every
day, but there were none killed until the 11th, when one was shot by
Nibitabo; it proved to be a doe with young, the foetus being about the
size of a rabbit. The sun had so much power that my blankets by being
exposed to the air got completely dried, being the first time that they
had been free from ice for three months.
Shortly after divine service on the 14th, Akkeeoulik, who had gone some
days before to his father-in-law's to endeavour to reclaim his better
half, returned with his lost treasure, one of the most lazy and dirty of
the whole party, and a most arrant thief to boot. Two deer were shot on
the 15th, and two more on the 18th. Deer-hunting had become very
different from what it was in the autumn.
The greater part of the hollows which favoured our approach in the
latter season were now filled up with snow, which, from wasting away
underneath, made so much noise under foot that in calm weather it was
almost impossible to get within shot. The deer were besides continually
moving about in the most zig-zag directions, and were so much startled
at the report of a gun that it was evident they had been a good deal
hunted during the winter.
On the 20th Nibitabo was affected with inflammation of the eyes, which
was relieved by dropping laudanum into them. On the 26th we made a new
water hole on the lake, when the ice was found to be 6 feet 10 inches
thick. I measured the dimensions of an Esquimaux canoe, and found them
as follows:--length 21 feet, breadth amidships 19 inches, and depth
where the person sits 9-1/2 inches. The timbers are one-half or
five-eighths of an inch square, and placed three inches apart near the
centre of the canoe, but gradually increased to five inches at each end.
The cross-bars are three-quarters of an inch thick and a foot from each
other; these were morticed into gunwales 2-1/2 inches broad by
half-an-inch thick, the whole being covered with seal skin in the usual
manner. Altogether it was much more neatly finished and lighter than any
I had seen in Hudson's Straits; but the natives here have not attained
the same dexterity in managing them, as they cannot turn their canoes
without assistance after being capsized.
On the 31st Ouligbuck, who had been absent all night, came home at 1
P.M. very faint from the effects of a severe wound he had received on
the arm by falling on a large dagger which he usually carried. On
cutting off his clothes I found that the dagger had passed completely
through the right arm a couple of inches above the elbow joint.
In the evening Shimakuk, who is a conjuror, came in, and as Ouligbuck
wished to try the effect of his charms on the injured part, I of course
had no objections. The whole process consisted in putting some questions
(the purport of which I could not learn) to the patient in a very loud
voice, then muttering something in a very low tone, and stopping
occasionally to give two or three puffs of the breath on the wounded
arm. During these proceedings the men could with difficulty keep their
gravity; nor could I blame them, for the scene was irresistibly
ludicrous.
I observed that one of the conjuror's dogs was lame, or rather very weak
in the legs, and on asking him the cause, he said that it arose from
having eaten trout livers when young.
The latter part of the month of March was spent, by the majority of the
party, in making preparations for our journey, over the ice and snow, to
the northward, it having been my intention to set out on the 1st April;
but the accident to Ouligbuck prevented this, as I did not wish to leave
him until I saw that his wound was in a fair way of healing. Ivitchuk,
our intended companion, had not yet made his appearance.
On the 3rd April the thermometer rose above zero, for the first time
since the 12th December.
As the aurora was seldom noticed after this date, I may here make a few
remarks on this subject. It was often visible during the winter, and
usually made its appearance first to the southward in the form of a
faint yellow or straw-coloured arch, which gradually rose up towards the
zenith. During our stay at Fort Hope I never witnessed a finer display
of this strange phenomenon than I had done at York Factory, nor did it
on any occasion affect the horizontal needle as I had seen it do during
the previous winter there.
The Esquimaux, like the Indians, assert that the aurora produces a
distinctly audible sound, and the generality of Orkneymen and Zetlanders
maintain the same opinion, although for my own part I cannot say that I
ever heard any sound from it. A fine display, particularly if the
movements are rapid, is very often succeeded by stormy or snowy weather,
but I have never been able to trace any coincidence between the
direction of its motions, and that of the wind.