1768-1773.
Reports of the "Great River" -- Company despatch Samuel Hearne
on a Mission of Discovery -- Norton's Instructions -- Saluted
on his Departure from the Fort -- First and Second Journeys --
Matonabee -- Results of the Third Journey -- The Company's
Servants in the Middle of the Century -- Death of Governor
Norton.
[Sidenote: The "Great River."]
Some northern Indians, who came to trade at Prince of Wales' Fort in
the spring of 1768, brought further accounts of the "Great River," as
they persisted in calling it, and also produced several pieces of
copper, as specimens of a mine long believed by the traders to exist
in the vicinity. This determined Governor Norton to represent it to
the Company as a matter well worthy their attention. As he went that
year to England, he was given the opportunity of doing so in person;
and in consequence of his representations, the Committee resolved to
despatch an intelligent person by land to observe the latitude and
longitude of the river's mouth, and to make a chart of the country
traversed, with such observations as might lead to a better knowledge
of the region. An intelligent mariner, Samuel Hearne, then in the
Company's employ as mate of the brig _Charlotte_, was selected for the
mission.[71]
[Sidenote: Hearne's expedition of discovery.]
Before starting on his journey in 1769, Hearne received full
instructions from Moses Norton, the Governor. He was provided with an
escort and was urged to cultivate, as he went, friendly relations with
the Indians. "Smoke your calumet of peace with their leaders in order
to establish a friendship with them." He was equipped with
instruments, and was required to take account of latitude and
longitude of the chief points visited; he was to seek for a north-west
passage through the continent. But a more immediate and practical
matter was dwelt upon in his letter. "Be careful to observe what mines
are near the river,[72] what water there is at the river's mouth, how
far the woods are from the seaside, the course of the river, the
nature of the soil, and the productions of it; and make any other
remarks that you may think will be either necessary or satisfactory.
And if the said river be likely to be of any utility, take possession
of it on behalf of the Hudson's Bay Company by cutting your name on
some of the rocks, and also the date of the year, month, etc."
Hearne promised to follow these instructions implicitly, and soon
after daybreak on the morning of the 6th of November, the occupants of
the fort assembled to witness the intrepid explorer's departure. A
salute of seven guns and a ringing cheer thrice repeated was
responded to by Hearne, already on his way, with a wave of his cap.
[Illustration: DOBBS' MAP, 1744.]
He had not gone far, however, when dissatisfaction broke out amongst
his party. First one Indian guide deserted him and then another; but
trusting to the fidelity of the rest Hearne pressed forward. At last,
nearly the whole party left him, taking at the same time several bags
of powder and shot, his hatchets, chisels and files. His chief guide,
Chaw-chin-ahaw, now advised the explorer to return, and announced his
own intention of travelling to his own tribe in the south-west.
"Thus," says Hearne, "they set out, making the woods ring with their
laughter, and left us to consider our unhappy situation, nearly two
hundred miles from Prince of Wales' Fort, all heavily laden, and in
strength and spirits greatly reduced by hunger and fatigue."
Mortifying as the prospect of return was, it was inevitable. They
arrived on the 11th of December, to the astonishment of Norton and the
Company's servants.
[Sidenote: Second expedition.]
But Hearne was not to be daunted. On the 23rd of February he again set
out with five Indians. This time his journey was a succession of short
stages, with intervals of a whole day's rest between. These intervals
were occupied in killing deer, or in seeking for fish under the ice
with nets. On one occasion they spent a day in building a more
permanent tent, where they waited for the flights of goose to appear.
The course had been in a general north-western direction from the
Churchill River, but on the 10th of June the party abandoned the
rivers and lakes and struck out into the barren lands. The following
narrative by Hearne is interesting, because up to that moment no
servant of the Company had ever seen a live musk ox, that "now rare
denizen of the northern solitudes."
"We had not walked above seven or eight miles before we saw three musk
oxen grazing by the side of a small lake. The Indians immediately went
in pursuit of them, and as some were expert hunters they soon killed
the whole of them. This was, no doubt, very fortunate, but to our
great mortification before we could get one of them skinned, such a
fall of rain came on as to put it out of our power to make a fire,
which, even in the finest weather, could only be made of moss, as we
were nearly a hundred miles from any woods. This was poor comfort for
people who had not broken their fast for four or five days. Necessity,
however, has no law, and having before been initiated into the method
of eating raw meat, we were the better prepared for this repast. But
this was by no means so well relished, either by me or the Southern
Indians, as either raw venison or raw fish had been; for the flesh of
the musk-ox is not only coarse and tough, but smells and tastes so
strong of musk as to make it very disagreeable when raw, though it is
tolerable eating when properly cooked. The weather continued so
remarkably bad, accompanied with constant heavy rain, snow and sleet,
and our necessities were so great by the time the weather permitted us
to make a fire, that we had nearly eaten to the amount of one buffalo
quite raw."
[Sidenote: Hardships of the journey.]
What severities of hardship were endured by our traveller may be
judged from his description. "We have fasted many times," he declares,
"two whole days and nights; twice upwards of three days, and once,
while at Shethaunee, near seven days, during which we tasted not a
mouthful of anything except a few cranberries, water, scraps of old
leather and burnt bones. On these pressing occasions I have frequently
seen the Indians examine their wardrobe, which consisted chiefly of
skin clothing, and consider what part could best be spared; sometimes
a piece of an old, half-rotten deerskin, and others a pair of old
shoes, were sacrificed to alleviate extreme hunger."
It was while in the midst of these sufferings and bitter experiences,
which required all the traveller's courage to endure that a disaster
of a different order happened. It was the 11th of August. Hearne had
reached a point some five hundred miles north-west of Churchill. It
proving rather windy at noon, although otherwise fine, he had let his
valuable quadrant stand, in order to obtain the latitude more exactly
by two altitudes. He then retired to eat his mid-day meal. Suddenly he
was startled by a crash, and looking in the direction, found that a
gust of wind had overturned the instrument and sent it crashing to
earth. As the ground where it stood was very stony, the bubble,
sight-vane and vernier were entirely broken to pieces, and the
instrument thus destroyed. In consequence of this misfortune, the
traveller resolved to retrace his steps wearily back to Prince of
Wales' Fort.
When he had arrived at Churchill River he had met the friendly chief,
Matonabee,[73] who at once, and with charming simplicity, volunteered
a reason for the troubles which had overtaken the white explorer. He
had taken no women with him on his journey. Said Matonabee:
[Sidenote: The Indian's estimate of woman.]
"When all the men are heavy-laden they can neither hunt nor travel to
any considerable distance; and in case they meet with success in
hunting, who is to carry the product of their labour? Women," added
he, "were made for labour; one of them carry or haul as much as two
men can do. They also pitch our tents, make and mend our clothing,
keep up our fires at night, and, in fact, there is no such thing as
travelling any considerable distance, or for any length of time, in
this country, without their assistance. Women," he observed again,
"though they do everything, are maintained at a trifling expense, for
as they always act as cooks, the very licking of their fingers in
scarce times is sufficient for their subsistence."
Hearne did not reach the fort till towards the close of November. On
the 21st he thus describes the weather: "That night we lay on the
south shore of Egg River, but long before daybreak the next morning,
the weather being so bad, with a violent gale of wind from the
north-west, and such a drift of snow that we could not have a bit of
fire; and as no good woods were near to afford us shelter, we agreed
to proceed on our way, especially as the wind was on our backs; and
though the weather was bad near the surface we could frequently see
the moon and sometimes the stars, to direct us in our course. In this
situation we continued walking the whole day, and it was not until
after ten at night that we could find the smallest tuft of wood to put
up in; for though we well knew we must have passed by several
hummocks of shrubby wood that might have afforded us some shelter, yet
the wind blew so hard and the snow drifted so excessively thick that
we could not see ten yards before us the whole day."
That night his dog, a valuable animal, was frozen to death, and after
that there was nothing for it but he must himself haul his heavy
sledge over the snowdrifts.
Twice baffled, yet the intrepid explorer was far from being swerved
from his purpose. Not even the distrust of Norton, who wrote home to
the Company that Hearne was unfit for the task in hand, could
discourage him from making a third attempt. On this journey, his plan
was to secure the company and assistance of Matonabee, and three or
four of the best Indians under that chief; and this was put into
practice on the 7th of December, 1770. This time the departure took
place under different auspices. There was no firing of cannon from the
fort, no cheering, and no hearty Godspeeds from the Governor and his
staff.
Again, similar adventures to those encountered the first two journeys
were met with. Hearne cultivated the friendship of strange, but not
hostile, savages as he went along. In one locality he took part in
"snaring deer in a pound," or large stockade. The rest of the winter
was spent in such a succession of advances as the weather and state of
the country permitted. In April it was possible to obtain supplies of
birch wood staves for tent poles, and birch rind and timber for
building canoes. Spring enabled the party to proceed with greater
rapidity, and at last a rendezvous at a place called Clowey was
reached. From this point the final dash for the Coppermine River, the
main object of the expedition, must be made. At Clowey some hundreds
of Indians joined the little party to proceed to the Coppermine, and
thus it grew suddenly into a military expedition, for the tribe was
bent on making war on the Esquimaux, should the latter be discovered.
[Sidenote: The expedition reaches the Arctic.]
The long-desired spot was attained at last. On the 14th of July Hearne
and his party looked out over the dancing surface of the Coppermine
River, and descending this stream to its mouth beheld the Arctic
Ocean. Hearne thus being the first white man to reach the northern sea
from the interior.
Says the explorer: "In those high latitudes, and at this season of the
year, the sun is always at a good height over the horizon, so that we
not only had daylight, but sunshine the whole night; a thick fog and
drizzling rain then came on, and finding that neither the river nor
sea were likely to be of any use, I did not think it worth while to
wait for fair weather to determine the latitude exactly by an
observation. For the sake of form, however, after having had some
consultation with the Indians, I erected a mark and took possession of
the coast, on behalf of the Hudson's Bay Company. I was not provided
with instruments for cutting on stone, but I cut my name, date of the
year, etc., on a piece of board that had been one of the Indian's
targets, and placed it in a heap of stones on a small eminence near
the entrance of the river, on the south side."
"It is, indeed," remarks Hearne, "well known to the intelligent and
well-informed part of the Company's servants, that an extensive and
numerous tribe of Indians, called E-arch-e-thinnews, whose country
lies far west of any of the Company's or Canadian settlements, must
have traffic with the Spaniards on the west side of the continent;
because some of the Indians who formerly traded to York Fort, when at
war with those people, frequently found saddles, bridles, muskets, and
many other articles in their possession which were undoubtedly of
Spanish manufacture."[74]
[Sidenote: Hearne returns to England.]
Hearne went home to England and related his experiences in a paper
read before his employers, the Honorable Adventurers.[75] It was not
until some years later that it was discovered that he had, either in
ignorance or, according to one of his enemies named Dalrymple, "in a
desire to increase the value of his performance," placed the latitude
of the Coppermine at nearly 71 degrees north instead of at about 67½
degrees. Hearne's own apology was that after the breaking of his
quadrant[76] on the second expedition, he was forced to employ an old
Elton quadrant, which had for thirty years been amongst the relics and
rubbish of Prince of Wales' Fort. But the geographical societies were
indignant at having been thus imposed upon.
"I cannot help observing," wrote Hearne, "that I feel myself rather
hurt at Mr. Dalrymple's rejecting my latitude in so peremptory a
manner and in so great a proportion as he has done; because before I
arrived at Cange-cath-a-whachaga, the sun did not set during the whole
night, a proof that I was then to the northward of the Arctic circle."
Hearne's journey, considering the epoch in which it was undertaken,
the life led by the Company's servants at the forts, and the terrible
uncertainties incident to plunging into an icy wilderness, with no
security against hunger or the attacks of savages, was greater than it
really appeared, and without doubt paved the way for the Company's new
policy.
With the ship which brought Hearne over from England came a large
number of young Orkney Islanders.
[Sidenote: Company employ Orkney Islanders.]
The labouring servants, as has been seen, were first in 1712, and from
about 1775 onwards, procured from the Orkney Islands, their wages
being about £6 a year. They were engaged by the captains of the ships,
usually for a period of five years. Each servant signed a contract on
his entrance into the service to serve for the term and not to return
home until its expiration, unless recalled by the Company. He engaged
during his passage back to do duty as watch on board ship without
extra pay; but that which was the last and principal clause of the
agreement related to illicit trading. He was bound in the most solemn
manner not to detain, secrete, harbour or possess any skin or part of
a skin, on any pretence whatever; but on the contrary, he was to
search after and detect all persons who might be disposed to engage in
this species of speculation. Should he detect any such, he was to
expose them to the Governor. If contrary to this agreement, any
persons should be found bold enough to conceal any peltry or otherwise
infringe his contract, they were to forfeit all the wages due them by
the Company. Although a further penalty was nominally exacted under
the contract, that of a fine of two years' pay, it was rarely carried
into effect, and then only when the delinquent was believed to have
largely profited by his illegal transaction.
In the early days when a servant's time expired and he was about to
return home, the Governor in person was supposed to inspect his chest,
even examining his bedding and other effects, to see that it contained
not even the smallest marten skin. An almost equally rigorous
surveillance attended the sending of private letters and parcels, not
merely in the Bay alone, but in London. In the latter case, the parcel
of clothing, etc., intended for the Company's distant servant, was
first obliged to be sent to the Hudson's Bay House, and there undergo
a careful examination for fear it should contain anything used in
private trade.
During the time that the Indians were at the posts trading their
furs, the gates were continually kept closed, it being the regular
employment of one person to see that no one made his exit for fear he
should attempt a private barter with the Indians. While this rule was
rarely relaxed, yet it was not at all of the forts that a too strict
watch was kept on the movements of the employees. At York Fort,
however, during the eighteenth century, if a servant wished to take a
walk on a Sunday afternoon, at a time when no natives were trading, it
was first necessary to apply to the Governor for leave.
Of the run of the Company's servants in the latter half of the
eighteenth century, a writer of that day has said of them: "They are a
close, prudent, quiet people, strictly faithful to their employers,"
adding that they were "sordidly avaricious."
Whilst these young Scotchmen were scattered about the country in small
parties amongst the Indians, their general behaviour won them the
respect of the savages, as well as procured them their protection. It
is a significant fact that for the first fifteen years of the new
_régime_ the Company did not suffer the loss of a single man,
notwithstanding that their servants were annually exposed to all the
dangers incident to the trade and times.
[Sidenote: Character of the Company's traders.]
It was observed that very few of the Canadian servants were to be
entirely trusted with even a small assortment of goods, unless some
substantial guarantee were first exacted. The chances were ten to one
that the master would be defrauded of the whole stock of merchandise,
often through the medium of the Indian women, who were quick to
perceive what an easy prey was the one and how difficult the other.
The French-Canadian traders were brave and hardy; apt in learning the
habits and language of the Indians; dexterous canoemen and of a
lively, not to say boisterous, disposition; but none of these
qualities, nor all together, were often the means of earning the
respect and trust of the natives. And it must not be imagined that
these talents and accomplishments were limited to the Canadians, even
in the earliest days of rivalry.
"Though such may be the sentiments of their employers," wrote one of
the Company's factors, "let these gentlemen for a while look around
them and survey without prejudice the inhabitants of our own
hemisphere, and they will find people who are brought up from their
infancy to hardships, and inured to the inclemency of the weather from
their earliest days; they will also find people who might be trusted
with thousands, and who are much too familiarized to labour and
fatigue to repine under the pressure of calamity as long as their own
and their master's benefit is in view. I will further be bold to say
that the present servants of the Company may be led as far inland as
navigation is practicable, with more ease and satisfaction to the
owners, than the same number of Canadians."
The former, it was noted, would be always honest, tractable and
obedient, as well from inclination as from fear of losing their
pecuniary expectations; whereas the latter, being generally in debt,
and having neither good name, integrity nor property to lose, were
always neglectful of the property committed to their charge. Whenever
difficulties arose there was never wanting some amongst them to impede
the undertaking.
[Sidenote: The council at the forts.]
The Governor at each factory occasionally had a person to act with
him, who was known as the second or under-factor. These, with the
surgeon and the master of the sloop, constituted a council, who were
supposed to deliberate in cases of emergency or upon affairs of
importance. Amongst the latter were classed the reading of the
Company's general letter, received annually and inditing a reply to
it; the encroachments of their French, at a later period, Canadian
rivals; or the misbehaviour of the servants. In these councils very
little regard, it seems, was paid to the opinion of the subordinate
members, who rather desired to obtain the Governor's favour by
acquiescence rather than his resentment by opposition.
The Governors were appointed for either three or five years, and their
nominal salary was from £50 to £150 per annum, which the premium on
the trade often trebled and sometimes quadrupled. These officials
commonly reigned as absolute in their petty commands as Eastern
Nabobs; and as it was in a Governor's power to render the lives of
those under them happy or unhappy as they chose, it was only natural
that the inferior servants were most diligent in cultivating their
good will. It was out of the power, of course, for any aggrieved or
dissatisfied servant to return home until the ships came, and if he
then persisted in his intention, the payment of his wages was withheld
until the Company should decide upon his character, which was
furnished in writing by the Governor. Although the voice of an
inferior servant counted but little when opposed to the Governor, yet
there are few instances when the Company, in parting with a servant,
refused him his wages in full.
It is an old axiom that austerity is acquired by a term of absolute
petty dominion, so that it is not remarkable that the Company's early
Governors were distinguished by this trait in the fullest degree.
"I had an opportunity," wrote one former factor, "of being acquainted
with many Governors in my time. I could single out several whose
affability and capacity merited a better employment. Some I have known
who despised servility and unworthy deeds; but this was only for a
time, and while young in their stations."
Such criticism, while doubtless unjust, had yet, applied generally, a
basis of truth.
[Sidenote: Character of the trading governors.]
Robson complains of a Governor at Churchill, in his time, who had a
thousand times rendered himself obnoxious to society. But perhaps the
Company had never in its employ a more eccentric and choleric official
than the governor who was in command of York Factory from 1773 to
1784. It is said of him that his bad name extended even across the
Atlantic and reached the Orkney Isles, where the malevolence of his
disposition became a by-word, and restrained many youths from entering
the Company's service. Intoxication seems to have been this Governor's
principal delight, and this was often gratified at the expense of
common prudence, as when the French captured York Factory in 1782; no
common spirits being on hand, he procured raw alcohol from the
surgeon, of which he drank several bumpers to raise his courage.
Although most of the Company's early trading Governors were, in spite
of their tempers and habits, persons of education and intelligence,
yet there were occasional exceptions. One, Governor Hughes, was said
to be incapable of casting up a simple sum in addition; numeral
characters being almost unknown to him; nor was his success in writing
his own name greater. Yet his courage and business ability was beyond
question.
It has already been observed that the Company were accustomed to treat
with much deference, and to place great reliance upon their chief
factors while these were at their posts in the Bay; yet it must not be
supposed that the same consideration was extended to them on their
return home. A Governor, it was said by one of the Company's servants,
might attend the Hudson's Bay House, and walk about their Hall for a
whole day without the least notice being taken of his attendance. It
is related that one such Governor, after having served the Company for
a matter of seventeen years, went home in 1782, expecting to reap in
person some of the rewards of his faithful service in the compliments
and attentions of the Adventurers as a body. But, to his chagrin, not
the slightest notice was taken of him, and he returned without having
even been introduced to a single partner.
[Sidenote: Death of Governor Norton.]
On the 29th of December, 1773, there died one of the notable
characters in the Bay, Governor Moses Norton. Norton was an Indian
half-breed, the son of a previous Governor, Richard Norton. He was
born at Prince of Wales' Fort, but had been in England nine years, and
considering the small sum spent on his education, had made
considerable progress in literature. At his return to the Bay,
according to Hearne, he entered into all the abominable vices of his
countrymen. He established a seraglio, in which figured five or six
of the most comely Indian maidens. Yet, although somewhat lax in his
morality himself, he seems to have been by no means indulgent to
others. To his own friends and relatives, the Indians and half-breeds,
it is said, he was "so partial that he set more value on, and showed
more respect to, one of their favourite dogs than he ever did to his
first officer." This is probably a spiteful exaggeration, but it is
certain that Norton, although a man of ability, was not very popular.
His great desire was to excite admiration for his skilful use of
drugs. "He always," declared one of the Governor's enemies, "kept
about him a box of poison to administer to those who refused him their
wives or daughters." With all these bad qualities, no man took greater
pains to inculcate virtue, morality and continence upon others; always
painting in the most glaring colours the jealous and revengeful
disposition of the Indians, when any attempt was made to violate the
chastity of their wives and daughters.
His apartments at the fort were not only convenient, but had some
pretensions to elegance, and were always crowded with his favourites.
As this Governor advanced in years, his jealousy increased, and it is
said he actually poisoned two of his women because he thought they had
transferred their affections elsewhere. He had the reputation of being
a most notorious smuggler; but though he put many thousands into the
pockets of the Company's captains, he seldom put a shilling into his
own.
FOOTNOTES:
[71] From the good opinion we entertain of you, and Mr. Norton's
recommendation, we have agreed to raise your wages to £130 per annum
for two years, and have placed you in our council at Prince of Wales'
Fort; and we should have been ready to advance you to the command of
the _Charlotte_, according to your request, if a matter of more
immediate consequence had not intervened.
Mr. Norton has proposed an inland journey, far to the north of
Churchill, to promote an extension of our trade, as well as for the
discovery of a north-west passage, copper mines, etc.; and as an
undertaking of this nature requires the attention of a person capable
of taking an observation for determining the longitude and latitude
and also distances, and the course of rivers and their depths, we have
fixed upon you (especially as it is represented to us to be your own
inclination) to conduct this journey with proper assistants.
We therefore hope you will second our expectations in readily
performing this service, and upon your return we shall willingly make
you any acknowledgment suitable to your trouble therein.
We highly approve of your going in the _Speedwell_ to assist in the
whale-fishery last year, and heartily wish you health and success in
the present expedition.
We remain your loving friends,
Bibye Lake, Deputy Governor.
John Anthony Merle.
Robert Merry.
Samuel Wegg.
James Winter Lake.
Herman Berens.
Joseph Sparrel.
James FitzGerald.
[72] "No man," says Hearne, "either English or Indian, ever found a
bit of copper in that country to the south of the seventy-first degree
of latitude, unless it had been accidentally dropped by some of the
far northern Indians on their way to the Company's factory."
[73] "This leader," says Hearne, "when a youth, resided several years
at the above Fort and was not only a perfect master of the Southern
Indian language, but by being frequently with the Company's servants
had acquired several words of English and was one of the men who
brought the latest accounts of the Coppermine River. It was on his
information, added to that of one I-dot-le-ezry (who is since dead),
that this expedition was set on foot."
[74] "I cannot sufficiently regret," wrote Hearne in 1796, "the loss
of a considerable vocabulary of the northern Indian language,
containing sixteen folio pages, which was lent to the late Mr.
Hutchins, then corresponding secretary to the Company, to copy for
Captain Duncan, when he went on discoveries to Hudson's Bay in the
year 1790. But Mr. Hutchins dying soon after, the vocabulary was taken
away with the rest of his effects and cannot now be recovered, and
memory, at this time, will by no means serve to replace it."
[75] The Company had previously written thus to its servant, Mr.
Samuel Hearne:--
Sir,--Your letter of the 28th August last, gave us the agreeable
pleasure to hear of your safe return to our factory. Your journal and
the two charts you sent sufficiently convinces us of your very
judicious remarks.
We have, naturally, considered your great assiduity in the various
accidents which occurred in your several journeys. We hereby return
you our grateful thanks, and to manifest our obligation we have
consented to allow you a gratuity of £200 for those services.
[76] "Mr. Dalrymple, in one of his pamphlets relating to Hudson's Bay,
has been so very particular in his observations on my journey, as to
remark that I have not explained the construction of the quadrant
which I had the misfortune to break in my second journey to the North.
It was a Hadley quadrant, with a bubble attached to it for a horizon,
and made by Daniel Scatlif, of Wapping."--_Hearne._