NATIVE WITNESSES.
We left camp at half-past seven in the morning of the 15th, a sharp
wind blowing in our faces. We had not gone far when the dogs began to
prick up their ears, and finally started off on a brisk run, barking
and manifesting great excitement. The Inuits at once attributed this
unwonted energy on the part of the dogs to the fact that there were
people not far distant, and, sure enough, we soon saw several igloos
about three-quarters of a mile ahead, with poles sticking in the snow
around them--an evidence that they were inhabited. The sleds were now
halted, and preparations made to open communication with the strangers.
The Inuits of our party, especially Ishnark and Joe, were very much
frightened, and said the people we were about to meet were as warlike
as the Netchilliks, and always wanted to fight when they met strangers.
They were somewhat reassured when their attention was called to the
immense advantage we had over them with our breech-loaders and magazine
guns against their bows and spears. In accordance with the custom of
the country, the Inuits armed themselves with snow-knives and spears,
while the white men carried their rifles or revolvers. All the men and
boys then advanced toward the igloos, but not a soul was to be seen.
Two or three dogs ran out and barked and then ran to where the sleds
were halted, the women and children cowering down behind them. When
within about three hundred yards of the camp our party halted, while
Equeesik and Ishnark went a few paces further and began shouting
something, which I afterward learned was Equeesik's name, with which
they were acquainted, and announcing the fact that there were white men
with our party. Presently one man crawled timidly out of the doorway of
an igloo and asked a question, which must have been satisfactorily
answered, for others soon followed and arranged themselves alongside of
him; then all of them shouted an invitation to advance, whereupon we
approached, and conversation between the Inuits became general. We were
objects of great curiosity to the strangers, most of whom now saw white
men for the first time. It seems that when they first saw us they
thought we were Netchilliks, and were in consequence very much
frightened, so that while some of our people were dreading an
encounter, these poor creatures were shaking in their shoes and afraid
to come out of their igloos. They all carried knives in their hands,
but as weapons they might as well have carried nothing. Most of them
were bits of hoop-iron or copper, worked down to a blade, and fastened
upon long handles of reindeer horn.
[Illustration: MEETING WITH THE OOKJOOLIKS.]
There were in the party nine men, nearly all belonging to the immediate
family of an old man, who acted as spokesman. He said he was an
Ookjoolik, but he and others had been driven from their country by
their more numerous and warlike neighbors the Netchilliks. His family
comprised nearly all that was left of the tribe which formerly occupied
the western coast of Adelaide Peninsula and King William Land. We
concluded to encamp with them, and get what information we could from
them concerning our mate and the Franklin ships. We were fortunate in
finding the old man, an interesting and important witness. "Esquimau
Joe," Ishnark, and Equeesik acted as interpreters, and through them we
learned that these people were in great distress for food. The musk-ox
we saw cached was all the meat they had in hand, or had had for a long
time. An old man of their tribe had starved to death about a month
before our arrival. We gave them some reindeer meat, of which we
fortunately had plenty on the sleds, and told them where they would
find the carcass of a reindeer that one of our party had killed the day
before and left on the field because the sleds were too far off to wait
for it. Their clothing was in a dilapidated condition, though
originally well made, and instead of reindeer gloves and shoes, they
wore articles made of musk-ox skin, which had a most extraordinary
effect. The hair of the musk-ox is several inches long, and it looked
as if they had an old-fashioned muff on each hand. They were very good
natured and friendly, however, and helped to build our igloos and make
them comfortable. We obtained from them a few trifling relics of the
'Erebus' and 'Terror', in exchange for knives and needles,
which made them happy. It seemed strange to me that they should be
hungry in a country swarming with reindeer, but our people explained to
me that in winter it is almost impossible to get near enough to
reindeer; to kill them with arrows, which are their only weapons. In
summer they kill a few reindeer from their kyacks, or skin canoes,
while crossing the big lakes on their migrations. The Netchilliks also
kill a few reindeer in this way. In the summer and fall these people
catch great quantities of salmon and cow-e-sil-lik, a species of fish
peculiar to this country, and in the neighboring hills kill a few
musk-oxen. Their main dependence, however, is upon fish from Back's
and Harris's rivers.
From Ikinnelikpatolok, the old Ookjoolik, we learned at the interview
that he had only once seen white men alive. That was when he was a
little boy. He is now about sixty-five or seventy. He was fishing on
Back's River when they came along in a boat and shook hands with him.
There were ten men. The leader was called "Tos-ard-e-roak," which Joe
says, from the sound, he thinks means Lieutenant Back. The next white
man he saw was dead in a bunk of a big ship which was frozen in the
ice near an island about five miles due west of Grant Point, on
Adelaide Peninsula. They had to walk out about three miles on smooth
ice to reach the ship. He said that his son, who was present, a man
about thirty-five years old, was then about like a child he pointed
out--probably seven or eight years old. About this time he saw the
tracks of white men on the main-land. When he first saw them there
were four, and afterward only three. This was when the spring snows
were falling. When his people saw the ship so long without any one
around, they used to go on board and steal pieces of wood and iron.
They did not know how to get inside by the doors, and cut a hole in
the side of the ship, on a level with the ice, so that when the ice
broke up during the following summer the ship filled and sunk. No
tracks were seen in the salt-water ice or on the ship, which also was
covered with snow, but they saw scrapings and sweepings alongside,
which seemed to have been brushed off by people who had been living
on board. They found some red cans of fresh meat, with plenty of what
looked like tallow mixed with it. A great many had been opened, and
four were still unopened. They saw no bread. They found plenty of
knives, forks, spoons, pans, cups, and plates on board, and afterward
found a few such things on shore after the vessel had gone down. They
also saw books on board, and left them there. They only took knives,
forks, spoons, and pans; the other things they had no use for. He
never saw or heard of the white men's cairn on Adelaide Peninsula.
Peowat, son-in-law of the previous witness, a man about forty, said
that when about fourteen or fifteen years old he saw two boats come
down Back's River. One had eight men in it, and the other he did not
notice how many. He afterward saw a stone monument on Montreal Island,
which, when he opened it, was found to contain a pocket-knife, a pair
of scissors, and some fish-hooks, which he took away. He saw no papers
anywhere about it.
We remained in this camp two days and a half, and before we left
engaged a young man named Narleyow to accompany us as guide and seal
hunter. His wife, Innokpizookzook, and their child, a little girl about
three years old, also went with us. Our new hunter was given a gun and
ammunition, and placed in the care of Equeesik to instruct in the use
of fire-arms. I noticed that these people have slightly fairer
complexions than the natives of Hudson's Bay, and the women are
somewhat more elaborately tattooed, despite which they are quite
comely. The children are all remarkably pretty, but the men have a
ghastly look from wearing wooden goggles to guard against snow
blindness, which makes the skin around the eyes, where protected by the
goggles, several shades lighter than the rest of their face.
We reached Back's River in four more marches, two of which were on the
Hayes River, and two on land, crossing from the great bend to avoid the
detour that otherwise we would be compelled to make. We were compelled
to remain in camp one day, while on the land, on account of a severe
storm. The day we reached Back's River was also one of the most
disagreeable days we marched, and it was a joyful sight to us, after
nearly two months' travelling over an entirely unknown country, to find
ourselves within easy reach of our destination. It seemed as if nothing
now could prevent the accomplishment of our desire. As long as we were
dependent upon the snow the prospect was growing more and more dubious;
but with the salt-water ice beneath us, we felt assured of reaching our
destination in due season. We remained one day at Montreal Island, to
look for the remains of the cairn spoken of by Peowat, but every trace
of it had been removed, as he said.
[Illustration: THE NETCHILLIK AMBASSADRESS.]
The day we left Montreal Island two seals were killed, which were
the first since leaving Hudson's Bay. We found the distance from the
north-east end of the island much less than mapped, and went into camp
well up the coast, after killing three reindeer. We again took the
land, crossing the Oyle Point and Richardson Point peninsulas, which we
found much wider than mapped. In an inlet west of Richardson Point, or
"Nu-oo-tar-ro," as it is known by the natives, we ran into the first of
the Netchillik encampments, on the last day of May. The ceremony of
opening communication was similar to that with the Ooquee-sik-silliks a
few days before, with the exception that instead of remaining in their
igloos the men were drawn up in line of battle in front of them, and
sent out an old woman to find out who we were and what we wanted. If
our designs had been hostile, and we had killed the old woman, their
fighting strength would not have been reduced, and it would only have
been one less old woman to care for. They carried their bows in their
hands, with arrows fixed to the strings; but when the old woman shouted
back that we were white men, they laid aside their arms and received us
in a friendly manner, striking their breasts and saying, "Many-tu-me,"
though Joe afterward told me that one of the men wanted a fight anyhow.
They have a custom of killing the first stranger who comes among them
after a death in the tribe, and as we filled that requirement, it seems
he wanted to carry out the custom. At Equeesik's suggestion a gun had
been discharged in the air as we approached, and it is probable that
the knowledge that we were better armed than they had some effect in
securing peace. They acted in quite a friendly manner after we came
among them, and Lieutenant Schwatka and I visited all their igloos,
leaving needles, thimbles, spoons, knives, and fish-hooks with them in
exchange for a few unimportant Franklin relics. The next day we
interviewed an old man named Seeuteetuar, who had seen a number of
skeletons near the water line in an inlet about three or four miles
west from the present camp. He had also seen books and papers scattered
around among the rocks along the shore and back from the beach. There
were also knives, forks and spoons, dishes and cans. There was no sled
there, but there was a boat, which was afterward broken up and taken
away by the natives, with which to manufacture wooden implements. He
was shown a watch, and said he saw several like it lying around, which
were also taken and broken up by the children. Some were silver and
some gold. He said the bones were still there, unless carried off by
foxes and wolves. He had never seen or heard of a cairn erected by
white men along the coast on this side of Simpson Strait, and had never
heard of any other traces of white men here. It was a long time since
he had been there, but he could show us the spot.
Toolooah, another Netchillik, about forty-five years old, had also been
at the boat place, but after nearly everything had been removed. He
had, however, seen traces of white men in the Ookjoolik country, on the
western coast of Adelaide Peninsula, and as late as last summer had
picked up pieces of bottles, iron, wood and tin cans on an island off
Grant Point. Ookjoolik natives had pointed out this island as a place
near which a ship had been sunk many years ago. A map was shown to him,
and he pointed to a spot about eight miles due west of Grant Point as
the place where the ship went down. Ooping, an Ookjoolik Inuit, who
lived near the mouth of a big inlet that extends nearly across Adelaide
Peninsula, from the head of Wilmot Bay, was the last Esquimau who had
gone over the west coast of King William Land. This was two years ago.
He had seen traces of white men near Cape Jane Franklin and along the
coast of Cape Felix. This inlet, spoken of by Toolooah, seemed of
sufficient importance to deserve surveying, and Lieutenant Schwatka
decided to include it in the search of the Ookjoolik country.
The sun exerted sufficient power during the middle of the day to bring
our igloo down; but we had finished our interviewing and were ready to
visit the cove where the boat and skeletons had been found. One light
sled, with plenty of dogs, took us over, with Seeuteetuar and Toolooah
as guides, and our Toolooah as driver. We found the place about three
miles from camp, and, though the ground was nearly all covered with
snow, and nothing whatever distinguished it from the coast on either
side, we could not but be impressed by the mournful interest with which
the sad fate of the lost explorers invested it. To our minds there
seemed little doubt but that this was the farthest point in the
direction of Hudson's Bay that any of them had reached. The party was
a small one, and had, probably, been sifted down to the few hardiest
men, whose anticipation of rescue from the horrible death that awaited
them had not faltered under all their terrible sufferings while they
had the continent in view. It probably seemed that if they could only
reach the mainland they would be comparatively safe. But even the
bravest hearts must have sunk--and that there were many brave hearts
among them cannot be doubted, when the awful desolation of this country
forced itself upon them. No more powerful picture of utter abandonment
could possibly be devised than this. The land low and barren, so low,
indeed, as to be scarcely distinguished from the sea, as both lay
covered with their mantle of snow. Neither tree nor sprout, and
scarcely a hill visible--nothing whatever to relieve the crushing
monotony of the scene--no living thing to be seen anywhere, though the
eye had uninterrupted range over so vast a territory. Even a wolf
prowling around would have been a relief in the utter loneliness that
oppressed them. All this presented itself to our minds as we looked
around but saw no traces of the lost ones. Had we known at this time
what we learned a few days later, the place would have had an
additional interest as the spot where the records of the expedition,
which had been brought thus far with infinite toil and care, had been
irrecoverably lost. We marked the spot carefully, for a thorough search
when the snow was off the ground, and returned to camp. Our guides
informed us that the boat was found upside down on the beach, and all
the skeletons beneath it. They did not remember the exact number, but
thought there were about five or more.
[Illustration: THE COUNCIL WITH THE NETCHILLIKS.]
That night Equeesik learned from two natives who came in late that his
sister was with another portion of the tribe near Richardson Point, and
went there with his sled, returning the next day but one with several
families, including an old woman whom we found to be another important
and interesting witness. She was one of a party who met some of the
survivors of the ill-fated ships on Washington Bay. Since then she had
seen no white man until now. Her name was Ahlangyah, a Netchillik,
about fifty-five years of age. She had a fine intelligent face, and a
quantity of jet black hair, slightly tinged with gray, that had
probably never been annoyed by any efforts at arrangement, and hung
down over her shoulders or straggled over her face without reserve or
molestation. I succeeded during the interview in getting a very
characteristic portrait of her, the authenticity of which was
subsequently attested when I had forgotten her name and her friends at
once identified her by the portrait. It is but fair to state that we
have reason to put great faith in the statements of these people, as
truthfulness seems to be an inherent quality with them. They never
attempted to deceive us in regard to relics, though perhaps it would
seem easy and profitable. In many instances what appeared to us to be
interesting relics they told us came from the natives of Repulse Bay
and elsewhere.
Ahlangyah pointed out the eastern coast of Washington Bay as the spot
where she, in company with her husband, and two other men with their
wives, had seen ten white men dragging a sledge with a boat on it many
years ago. There was another Inuit with them who did not go near the
white men. The sledge was on the ice, and a wide crack separated them
from the white men at the interview. The women went on shore, and the
men awaited the white people at the crack on the ice. Five of the white
men put up a tent on the shore, and five remained with the boat on the
ice. The Inuits put up a tent not far from the white men, and they
stayed together here five days. During this time the Inuits killed a
number of seals on the ice and gave them to the white men. They gave
her husband a chopping-knife. He was the one who had the most
intercourse with the white crew. The knife is now lost, or broken and
worn out. She has not seen it for a long time. At the end of five days
they all started for Adelaide Peninsula, fearing that the ice, which
was very rotten, might not let them across. They started at night,
because then, the sun being low, the ice would be a little frozen. The
white men followed, dragging their heavy sledge and boat, and could not
cross the rotten ice as fast as the Inuits, who halted and waited for
them at Gladman's Point. The Inuits could not cross to the mainland,
the ice was too rotten, and they remained in King William Land all
summer. They never saw the white men again, though they waited at
Gladman's Point fishing in the neighboring lakes, going back and forth
between the shore and lakes nearly all summer, and then went to the
eastern shore near Matty Island.
Some of the white men were very thin, and their mouths were dry and
hard and black. They had no fur clothing on. When asked if she
remembered by what names the white men were called, she said one of
them was called "Agloocar," and another "Toolooah." The latter seemed
to be the chief, and it was he who gave the chopping-knife to her
husband. (Agloocar and Toolooah are both common Esquimau names, and it
is probable the names she heard the white men call resembled these in
sound, and thus impressed themselves upon her mind.) Another one was
called "Dok-took" (Doctor). "Toolooah" was a little older than the
others, and had a large black beard, mixed with gray. He was bigger
than any of the others--"a big, broad man." "Agloocar" was smaller, and
had a brown beard about four or five inches below his chin (motioning
with her hand). "Dok-took" was a short man, with a big stomach and red
beard, about the same length as "Agloocar's." All three wore
spectacles, not snow goggles, but, as the interpreters said, all the
same seko (ice).
The following spring, when there was little snow on the ground, she saw
a tent standing on the shore at the head of Terror Bay. There were dead
bodies in the tent, and outside were some covered over with sand. There
was no flesh on them--nothing but the bones and clothes. There were a
great many; she had forgotten how many. Indeed, Inuits have little idea
of numbers beyond "ten." She saw nothing to indicate any of the party
she met before. The bones had the chords or sinews still attached to
them. One of the bodies had the flesh on, but this one's stomach was
gone. There were one or two graves outside. They did not open the
graves at this time; saw a great many things lying around. There were
knives, forks, spoons, watches, many books, clothing, blankets, and
such things. The books were not taken notice of. This was the same
party of Esquimaux who had met the white men the year before, and they
were the first who saw the tent and graves. They had been in King
William Land ever since they saw the white men until they found the
tent place.