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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in
+Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean in the Years 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, by Samuel Hearne
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean in the Years 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772
+ New Edition with Introduction, Notes, and Illustrations
+
+Author: Samuel Hearne
+
+Annotator: J. B. Tyrrell
+
+Release Date: December 24, 2011 [EBook #38404]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A JOURNEY FROM PRINCE OF ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Moti Ben-Ari and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ THE PUBLICATIONS OF
+ THE CHAMPLAIN
+ SOCIETY
+ VI
+
+
+
+
+ THE
+ PUBLICATIONS OF
+ THE CHAMPLAIN
+ SOCIETY
+
+ HEARNE:
+
+ A JOURNEY FROM PRINCE OF
+ WALES'S FORT IN HUDSON'S BAY
+ TO THE NORTHERN OCEAN
+
+ [Illustration]
+
+ TORONTO
+ THE CHAMPLAIN SOCIETY
+
+
+
+
+ _Five Hundred and Twenty Copies of
+ this Volume have been printed. Twenty
+ are reserved for Editorial purposes.
+ The remaining Five Hundred are
+ supplied only to Members of the
+ Society and to Subscribing Libraries.
+
+ This copy is No. 229_
+
+
+
+
+ A JOURNEY
+ FROM PRINCE OF WALES'S
+ FORT IN HUDSON'S BAY TO
+ THE NORTHERN OCEAN
+ In the Years 1769, 1770, 1771, and 1772
+
+ BY
+ SAMUEL HEARNE
+
+ NEW EDITION
+ WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES, AND ILLUSTRATIONS, BY
+ J. B. TYRRELL, M.A.
+
+ TORONTO
+ THE CHAMPLAIN SOCIETY
+ 1911
+
+
+
+
+ _All rights reserved._
+
+
+
+
+ PREFACE
+
+ BY SIR EDMUND WALKER
+ _President of the Champlain Society_
+
+
+When the Champlain Society was first organised in 1905 one of the works
+on its list of proposed publications was the _Journal_ of Samuel Hearne.
+This book, written with great literary charm, is the first account
+preserved to us of an attempt to explore the interior of far-northern
+Canada from a base on Hudson Bay. The natives had brought to Fort Prince
+of Wales glowing reports of a vast store of copper at the mouth of a
+river which flowed into the Arctic Ocean. An attempt to find it was
+inevitable. Twice Hearne failed, but his third effort succeeded and,
+after a laborious journey, he reached the mouth of the Coppermine River.
+Soon after he was promoted to command at Fort Prince of Wales, now
+Churchill, on Hudson Bay. France had joined Britain's revolted colonies
+in their war on the mother land, and one day, in 1782, a French
+squadron, under the well-known seaman, La Perouse, dropped anchor before
+Fort Prince of Wales. Hearne, mightier with the pen than with the sword,
+surrendered meekly enough in spite of his massive walls from thirty to
+forty feet thick. Thus ingloriously he dies out of history.
+
+Hearne's _Journal_, published after his early death, has become a rather
+rare book. Besides the narrative of what he did, it contains copious
+notes on the natural history of the region which he was the first white
+man to make known. A new edition has long been needed. Yet to secure
+competent editing was a difficult task, since few knew the remote
+country which Hearne explored. It may be regarded as fortunate that the
+new edition has been delayed, for only now are we able to present
+Hearne's story with the annotations necessary to give it the last
+possible elucidation. The needed knowledge is supplied by Mr. J. B.
+Tyrrell and Mr. E. A. Preble, two writers pre-eminently suited for their
+task by journeys in the regions described by Hearne, on parts of which
+so few white men have set eyes.
+
+Mr. J. B. Tyrrell began his work of exploring in North Western Canada in
+1883, and during the ensuing fifteen years he made many important
+additions to our knowledge of the geology and geography of what is still
+the least known part of Canada. In 1893, accompanied by his brother, Mr.
+J. W. Tyrrell, as his assistant, he traversed the so-called Barren
+Grounds from Lake Athabasca eastward to Chesterfield Inlet, and from
+there his party paddled in canoes down the west shore of Hudson Bay to
+Fort Churchill. Of the 3200 miles thus traversed, 1650 were previously
+unsurveyed and unmapped. From Fort Churchill Mr. Tyrrell walked eight or
+nine hundred miles on snowshoes to the southern end of Lake Winnipeg. In
+1894 he again crossed the Barren Grounds, this time travelling from the
+north end of Reindeer Lake to a point on Hudson Bay, about 200 miles
+south-west of Chesterfield Inlet. Thence he went to Churchill as before
+in canoes along the open coast. From Churchill Mr. Tyrrell again, but by
+another route, walked on showshoes to the southern end of Lake Winnipeg.
+On this journey he travelled about 2900 miles, of which 1750 were by
+canoe and 750 on snowshoes. Almost the whole journey was through
+previously unexplored country. For the geographical work done in these
+two years he was awarded the Back Premium by the Royal Geographical
+Society of London.
+
+In response to an enquiry whether any other white man has visited the
+regions described by Hearne, Mr. Tyrrell writes:--
+
+ "I happen to be the only one since Hearne who has conducted
+ explorations in the country lying between Fort Churchill and the
+ eastern end of Great Slave Lake and south of latitude 63 deg. N.
+ Except Hearne, I and those who accompanied and assisted me are
+ the only white men who have crossed that great stretch of
+ country, north of a line between the mouth of the Churchill
+ River and Lake Athabasca and a line between the east end of
+ Great Slave Lake and Chesterfield Inlet. Absolutely the only
+ information that I had about the region when I visited it, other
+ than what I had secured in conversation with Indians, was
+ contained in Hearne's book. My last journey was made sixteen
+ years ago, and no white man has since travelled across that
+ country. With the building of the railroad to Fort Churchill, it
+ will doubtless soon be visited. Since I made a survey of
+ Chesterfield Inlet and its vicinity, my brother, Mr. J. W.
+ Tyrrell, has crossed from the east end of Great Slave Lake by
+ the Hanbury River to Chesterfield Inlet, making a survey as he
+ went, and the Royal North West Mounted Police have sent parties
+ from the Mackenzie River to Hudson Bay along this route, using
+ my brother's maps as their guide. It is hardly necessary to say
+ that a magnificent field for exploration is still left in that
+ far northern country."
+
+So much as to Mr. Tyrrell's work. For the notes explaining Hearne's many
+observations on natural history we are indebted to Mr. E. A. Preble of
+Washington. Mr. Preble spent a summer on the west shore of Hudson Bay
+north of Fort Churchill. He also spent the summers of 1901 and 1903, the
+winter of 1903-4, and the summers of 1904 and 1907 on the Athabasca and
+Mackenzie Rivers and on the Barren Grounds north of Great Slave Lake.
+This most important study of the fauna of Northern Canada was undertaken
+by Mr. Preble on behalf of the Biological Survey of the United States
+Department of Agriculture. The various reports and other publications
+arising from the journeys of Mr. Tyrrell and the investigations of Mr.
+Preble are mentioned in a bibliographical note at the end of this
+volume.
+
+This is the first work relating to the West to be published by the
+Champlain Society. It has already begun an extensive list of the works
+of early writers on Eastern Canada. The year 1911 will, it is hoped, see
+the completion of the three volumes of Lescarbot's _History of New
+France_, now for the first time entirely translated into English. In
+this as in all other publications of the Society the original text is
+given with the translation. Nicolas Denys was the first writer to
+describe in detail the coasts of eastern Canada, and the Society has
+republished his great book, adequately translated and with copious
+notes. It has done the same with Le Clercq's account of Gaspe and its
+interesting natives. The writings of Champlain, entirely translated into
+English for the first time, will soon appear in six volumes. The regions
+lying west of Lake Superior have a history as interesting, but the
+material is scattered. Hearne's _Journal_ makes a good beginning. In
+preparation are the _Journals_ of La Verendrye, the first white man to
+come in sight of the Rocky Mountains by an overland route. His writings
+will now for the first time be translated into English. The Society is
+sparing no pains to provide volumes bearing on the Hudson's Bay Company.
+Much further work on examining and classifying the papers of the Company
+will, however, be necessary before anything final can be done. Meanwhile
+members will enjoy the pleasant narrative of Hearne edited by the
+competent observers whose services the Society has had the good fortune
+to secure.
+
+TORONTO, _January 1911_.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+ PAGE
+ PREFACE vii
+
+ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii
+
+ EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 1
+
+ AUTHOR'S PREFACE 29
+
+ AUTHOR'S CONTENTS 33
+
+ AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 41
+
+ A JOURNEY TO THE NORTHERN OCEAN 61
+
+ BIBLIOGRAPHY 419
+
+ INDEX 427
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+IN ORIGINAL VOLUME
+
+ A NORTH-WEST VIEW OF PRINCE OF WALES'S
+ FORT IN HUDSON'S BAY, NORTH AMERICA _To face p._ 61
+
+ INDIAN IMPLEMENTS " 134
+
+ A WINTER VIEW IN ATHAPUSCOW LAKE " 232
+
+ INDIAN IMPLEMENTS " 310
+
+ A MAP EXHIBITING MR. HEARNE'S TRACKS
+ IN HIS TWO JOURNIES FOR THE DISCOVERY
+ OF THE COPPER MINE RIVER
+ IN THE YEARS 1770, 1771, AND 1772, UNDER
+ THE DIRECTION OF THE HUDSON'S BAY
+ COMPANY _At end_
+
+ PLAN OF THE COPPER MINE RIVER "
+
+ PLAN OF ALBANY RIVER IN HUDSON'S BAY "
+
+ PLAN OF MOOS RIVER IN HUDSON'S BAY "
+
+ PLAN OF SLUDE RIVER "
+
+
+ADDITIONS IN PRESENT VOLUME
+
+
+ MAP OF PART OF NORTHERN CANADA AS
+ AT PRESENT KNOWN _At end_
+ Drawn on the same projection and scale as
+ Hearne's general Map
+
+ MAP OF COPPERMINE RIVER _At end_
+ As surveyed by Sir John Franklin in 1821.
+ From "Franklin's First Journey,"
+ London, 1823.
+
+ MAP OF PART OF NORTH AMERICA _To face p._ 18
+ Showing Hearne's course as first
+ published. From "Cook's Third
+ Voyage," 1784.
+
+ MAP OF PART OF NORTH AMERICA, 1787 " 18
+ From Supplement to "Pennant's
+ Arctic Zoology."
+
+ PLAN OF FORT PRINCE OF WALES AS IT
+ APPEARED IN 1894. By J. B. TYRRELL _page_ 22
+
+ MAP OF YATH-KYED LAKE AND PART OF
+ KAZAN (CATHAWHACHAGA) RIVER. By
+ J. B. TYRRELL _To face p._ 86
+
+ MAP OF DUBAWNT LAKE AND PART OF
+ DUBAWNT RIVER. By J. B. AND J. W. TYRRELL " 90
+
+ HEARNE'S NAME ON ROCK AT CHURCHILL " 4
+
+ SAMUEL HEARNE " 25
+
+ DUBAWNT LAKE " 96
+
+ DUBAWNT RIVER WHERE HEARNE CROSSED IT " 96
+
+ A SOUTH-WEST VIEW OF PRINCE OF WALES'S FORT " 106
+
+ WHOLDIAH LAKE " 120
+
+ GROVE OF SPRUCE WITHIN BARREN LANDS " 120
+
+ ARTILLERY LAKE, LAST WOODS " 138
+
+ ARTILLERY LAKE " 138
+
+ BLOODY FALLS, COPPERMINE RIVER " 178
+ From "Franklin's First Journey," p. 360.
+
+ COPPER IMPLEMENTS FROM COPPERMINE RIVER " 178
+
+ HERD OF CARIBOU ON BARREN LANDS NEAR
+ DUBAWNT RIVER _To face p._ 234
+
+ DRYING CARIBOU MEAT " 234
+
+ WOODS OF SPRUCE AND LARCH, SOUTH-WEST
+ OF CHURCHILL, IN WINTER " 288
+
+ STONY BARREN LANDS IN SUMMER " 288
+
+ CHIPEWYAN INDIANS FROM KAZAN RIVER " 296
+
+ VALLEY OF THLEWIAZA RIVER " 296
+
+ FORT PRINCE OF WALES, GATE " 328
+
+ FORT PRINCE OF WALES, INTERIOR " 328
+
+
+
+
+EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Samuel Hearne, the author of the book here republished, is one of the
+most interesting characters to be met with in the annals of exploration
+in North America. When a young man, only twenty-four years old, he was
+sent on foot to explore the interior of a great continent. Though he
+knew nothing of mines or minerals, he, like many a man similarly
+equipped since his day, was to report on a great mining property.
+Naturally his report on the "mine" of copper is of little value, but his
+account of Northern Canada and of the life of the natives who inhabited
+it is the first published detailed description of any portion of the
+interior of Western Canada. Very few men of his age accomplished so
+much, and fewer still have published such admirable narratives of their
+enterprises.
+
+All that we know of Hearne's early life is contained in an obituary
+notice which appeared in the _European Magazine and London Review_ for
+June 1797, entitled "Some Account of the late Mr. Samuel Hearne, Author
+of 'A Journey from Prince of Wales Fort, in Hudson's Bay, to the
+Northern Ocean, undertaken by order of the Hudson's Bay Company for the
+discovery of Copper Mines, a North-West Passage, &c., in the years 1769,
+1770, 1771, and 1772.'"
+
+ "Mr. Samuel Hearne was born in the year 1745. He was the son of
+ Mr. Hearne, Secretary to the Waterworks, London Bridge, a very
+ sensible man, and of a respectable family in Somersetshire; he
+ died of fever in his 40th year, and left Mrs. Hearne with this
+ son, then but three years of age, and a daughter two years
+ older. Mrs. Hearne, finding her income too small to admit her
+ living in town as she had been accustomed to, retired to
+ Bimmester, in Dorsetshire (her native place), where she lived as
+ a gentlewoman, and was much respected. It was her wish to give
+ her children as good an education as the place afforded, and
+ accordingly [she] sent her son to school at a very early period,
+ but his dislike to reading and writing was so great that he made
+ very little progress in either. His masters, indeed, spared
+ neither threats nor persuasion to induce him to learn, but their
+ arguments were thrown away on one who seemed predetermined never
+ to become a learned man; he had, however, a very quick
+ apprehension, and, in his childish sports, showed unusual
+ activity and ingenuity; he was particularly fond of drawing, and
+ though he never had the least instruction in the art, copied
+ with great delicacy and correctness even from nature. Mrs.
+ Hearne's friends, finding her son had no taste for study,
+ advised her fixing on some business, and proposed such as they
+ judged most suitable for him; but he declared himself utterly
+ averse to trade, and begged he might be sent to sea. His mother
+ very reluctantly complied with his request, took him to
+ Portsmouth, and remained with him till he sailed. His captain
+ (now Lord Hood) promised to take care of him, and he kept his
+ word; for he gave him every indulgence his youth required. He
+ was then but eleven years of age. They had a warm engagement
+ soon after he entered, and took several prizes. The captain told
+ him he should have his share, but he begged, in a very
+ affectionate manner, it should be given to his mother, and she
+ should know best what to do with it. He was a midshipman several
+ years under the same commander; but, either on the conclusion of
+ the war, or having no hopes of preferment, he left the navy, and
+ entered into the service of the Hudson's Bay Company as mate of
+ one of their sloops. He was, however, soon distinguished from
+ his associates by his ingenuity, industry, and a wish to
+ undertake some hazardous enterprise by which mankind might be
+ benefited. This was represented to the Company, and they
+ immediately applied to him as a proper person to be sent on an
+ expedition they had long had in view, viz. to find out the
+ North-West Passage. He gladly accepted the proposal, and how far
+ he succeeded is shown to the public in his Journal. On his
+ return he was advanced to a more lucrative post at Prince of
+ Wales Fort, on Hudson Bay, and in a few years was made
+ Commander-in-Chief, in which position he remained till 1782,
+ when the French unexpectedly landed at Prince of Wales Fort,
+ took possession of it, and after having given the governor leave
+ to secure his own property, seized the stock of furs, &c. &c.,
+ and blew up the fort. At the Company's request Mr. H. went out
+ the year following, saw it rebuilt,[1] and the new Governor
+ settled in his habitation (which they took care to fortify a
+ little better than formerly), and returned to England in 1787.
+ He had saved a few thousands, the fruits of many years'
+ industry, and might, had he been blessed with prudence, have
+ enjoyed many years of ease and plenty; but he had lived so long
+ where money was of no use that he seemed insensible of its value
+ here, and lent it with little or no security to those he was
+ scarcely acquainted with by name. Sincere and undesigning
+ himself, he was by no means a match for the duplicity of others.
+ His disposition, as may be judged by his writing, was naturally
+ humane; what he wanted in learning and polite accomplishments he
+ made up in native simplicity and innate goodness; and he was so
+ strictly scrupulous with regard to the property of others that
+ he was heard to say a few days before his death, 'He could lay
+ his hand on his heart and say he had never wronged any man of
+ sixpence.'
+
+ "Such are the outlines of Mr. Hearne's character, who, if he had
+ some failings, had many virtues to counterbalance them, of which
+ charity was not the least. He died of the dropsy, November 1792,
+ aged 47."
+
+He seems to have entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company and to
+have been sent to Fort Prince of Wales, the great stone fortification on
+the low bare rocky point at the mouth of the Churchill River on Hudson
+Bay, when he was about twenty years old. For several years he was
+engaged in the fur trade with the Eskimos, up and down the coast of
+Hudson Bay, north of Churchill River. One little glimpse is caught of
+him, on July 1, 1767, for on that day he chiselled his name on the
+smooth hard rock of Sloops Cove, on the west side of Churchill harbour.
+When I visited the place, in 1894, the name was as fresh and plain as if
+his hammer and chisel had just been laid aside.
+
+Being possessed of much more than the average amount of ability and
+enthusiasm, he was chosen by Moses Norton, the energetic Governor of
+Fort Prince of Wales, to go out with the Indians into the vast, and as
+far as that was then known, limitless, territory west of Hudson Bay, in
+order to find and prospect the place where the native copper had been
+found which the Indians often brought with them to the fort.
+
+During the year preceding his departure on his first expedition, he had
+had an excellent opportunity to perfect himself in a knowledge of
+astronomical and geodetic work, for in the summer of 1768 the annual
+ship had brought William Wales, F.R.S., and Joseph Dymond from London,
+commissioned by the Royal Society to remain at Fort Prince of Wales
+throughout the ensuing year in order to observe the transit of Venus
+over the sun on the 3rd of June 1769.[2] They remained at the fort until
+the ship left again for London in August of the following year (1769).
+Mr. Wales was one of the foremost astronomers, mathematicians, and
+litterateurs of his age. Shortly after his return to England he was
+appointed to accompany Captain Cook on his voyage around the world in
+the _Resolution_ in 1772-74, and again on his last voyage in 1776-79.
+His presence for more than a year among the little band of white men
+assembled at this remote fur-trading post on Hudson Bay must have had a
+helpful influence in preparing Hearne for his great explorations
+overland to the Arctic Ocean. This book is an account of three journeys
+which he undertook in rapid succession into the country west of Hudson
+Bay and north-west of Fort Prince of Wales in search of the fabled bed
+of copper ore, from which pure copper could be loaded directly into
+ships at trifling expense. In the first and second journeys he was
+obliged to turn back before reaching his destination, but in the third
+journey all difficulties were finally overcome, and he was taken to and
+shown the "mine" of copper.
+
+It has been my good fortune to travel over parts of the same country
+through which Hearne had journeyed one hundred and twenty-three years
+before me, and into which no white man had ventured during the
+intervening time. The conditions which I found were just such as he
+describes, except that the inhabitants had changed. The Chipewyan
+Indians, whom he found occupying advantageous positions everywhere as
+far as the north end of Dubawnt Lake, had disappeared, and in their
+places the country had been occupied by scattered bands and families of
+Eskimos, who had almost forgotten the ocean shores of the north, from
+which they had come. They were depending entirely, for food and
+clothing, on the caribou, which they killed on the banks of the inland
+streams and lakes. Traces of old Indian encampments were seen in a few
+of the scattered groves that are growing along the banks of Dubawnt and
+Kazan Rivers, but these camps had evidently not been occupied for many
+years.[3]
+
+[Illustration: _Photo. J. B. Tyrrell, Oakley, 1894._
+S. HEARNE'S NAME ON THE SMOOTH GLACIATED ROCK AT SLOOP'S COVE, NEAR
+CHURCHILL]
+
+Whether Hearne remained at Fort Prince of Wales after his return is not
+certain, but it is possible that he may have gone to some of the other
+factories near the southern shore of Hudson Bay, and the plans of
+Albany, Moos, and Slude (East Main) Rivers, at the end of this book, the
+first two of which are dated 1774, may have been made by him at this
+time. In the latter year, however, he was at York Factory, and from
+there, in May or June, he was sent inland to the Saskatchewan River,
+where he established Cumberland House on Pine Island Lake, close to a
+trading-post which had been previously built by Joseph Frobisher, an
+enterprising merchant from Montreal. The following year he was recalled
+to Hudson Bay to take charge of his old home, Fort Prince of Wales, in
+the place of Governor Norton, who had died, and there he remained
+quietly trading with the Indians till August 1782, when the fort was
+taken and burnt by the French under Admiral La Perouse.
+
+As soon as the French with three vessels of war appeared before the
+fort and demanded its capitulation, Hearne surrendered at discretion,
+without firing a shot. He was at once taken on board the French ships,
+and allowed to retain all his private papers and effects, while the furs
+and other property of the Hudson's Bay Company were either confiscated
+or burnt. After pillaging and destroying the fort, La Perouse sailed
+southward to York Factory, which also surrendered to him as soon as he
+appeared before it, and then, with all his prisoners on board, including
+the Governors of Fort Prince of Wales, York, and Severn, he sailed for
+France.
+
+Hearne does not appear to have been treated by La Perouse as an enemy
+who had been taken prisoner at the capture of a hostile fort, but rather
+as a literary man whom he was anxious to encourage and patronise. While
+a prisoner on board the French ships he was treated with every
+consideration, and his generous captor, who was one of the foremost
+geographers of his time, read his manuscript journal with evident
+interest, and returned it to him on the express condition that he would
+print and publish it immediately on his arrival in England.
+
+On the signing of peace with the French in the following year, Hearne
+was sent back by the Hudson's Bay Company to Churchill. He made no
+attempt to live again in the fort, which was very unfavourably situated
+for obtaining both wood and water, but took up his residence on the site
+of the original trading-post of the Hudson's Bay Company, five miles
+south of Fort Prince of Wales, where the buildings of the Company stand
+at the present day.
+
+In 1784, while Hearne was at Churchill, there arrived from England a
+boy, fourteen years old, named David Thompson, who afterwards became the
+great geographer of North-Western America. Thompson remained at
+Churchill for only one year, during which time he copied some of
+Hearne's Journal, and though he did not carry away any very friendly
+feelings towards his superior officer, the knowledge which he gained of
+the interior country, and of the possibilities of travel through it,
+must have had a stimulating effect on him in after life. His note-books,
+which are now in possession of the Government of the Province of
+Ontario, are filled with detailed information about North-Western
+America, so much of which he subsequently explored. In 1787 Hearne left
+Churchill and returned to England, and from that date until his death,
+in 1792, he probably spent most of his time in revising and preparing
+his Journal for publication.
+
+Before discussing Hearne's character and the extent and value of his
+work, it will be interesting to recount briefly the circumstances which
+led up to the expedition to the Coppermine River. In the seventeenth
+century the search for gold and silver monopolised the thoughts of many
+of the adventurers in the Southern Seas, but those adventurers who
+turned their attention to the more northern countries recognised that
+there were other sources of wealth beside the precious metals. They saw
+that the furs of many of the wild animals which roamed through the
+forests might easily be obtained from the natives in exchange for
+articles of European manufacture of but trifling value, and that these
+furs might be sold in the markets of Europe and Asia at an enormous
+profit. In this way what is known as the fur trade had its beginning on
+the American continent.
+
+The Dutch, French, and English strove for shares in this lucrative
+trade, and many of the wars and massacres of that time had their origin
+in the strenuous endeavours of one or other of these nations to outwit
+its rivals. The Dutch had headquarters on the Hudson River, in what is
+now the State of New York, the French on the St. Lawrence River, in the
+present Provinces of Quebec and Ontario, while the English established
+themselves on the shores of Hudson Bay, founding a fur-trading company,
+which was destined to survive till the present time, and to be one of
+the greatest commercial corporations that the world has ever known.
+
+This Company was called "The Governor and Company of Adventurers of
+England, trading into Hudson's Bay," or in brief, "The Hudson's Bay
+Company." At first it occupied a few small buildings, called factories
+or forts, situated at advantageous places near the mouths of rivers on
+the shore of Hudson Bay, where the Indians, who were accustomed to roam
+through the great unknown inland country, could come down in canoes to
+trade their furs for guns, knives, and other commodities brought from
+England by the white people.
+
+About the beginning of the eighteenth century, some of the Indians who
+came to the more northern factories or trading-posts, and especially to
+those situated at the mouths of the Churchill and Nelson Rivers, brought
+with them rough pieces of native copper, and ornaments and weapons
+fashioned from this metal. On being asked where the copper came from,
+they said that they found it on the banks of a river, far away to the
+north, and that it could be collected from the surface in great
+abundance, but that the distance through which it was necessary for them
+to carry it prevented them from bringing much of it to the factories.
+These stories, along with the specimens which the Indians had in their
+possession, gradually aroused more and more interest in the minds of the
+fur-traders. At last they determined that there were far greater riches
+within their reach than could be obtained by trading with the Indians
+for furs, and decided to go in search of the copper mines whatever the
+cost of such a search might be. Among the first to take up this quest
+was Captain James Knight, a man of about eighty years of age, who had
+spent most of his life in trading for furs with the Indians, and who for
+several years had been in charge of York Factory for the Hudson's Bay
+Company. With him were Captain Barlow, another fur-trader from Fort
+Albany, and Captain Vaughan.
+
+When the Committee, appointed in 1748 by the British House of Commons to
+inquire into the state and conditions of the countries adjoining Hudson
+Bay, was taking evidence, one of the chief witnesses was a Captain
+Carruthers, who in his evidence stated "that he had heard a good deal of
+a Copper Mine to the northward of the Churchill River--that the Governor
+(Knight) was mighty fond of the Discovery, and made great inquiries
+about it,--that the witness had seen copper which was said to be brought
+from thence,--that the Governor (Knight) was very earnest in this
+Discovery, which was always his topic."
+
+Joseph Robson states that "Governor Knight and Captain Barlow being well
+assured that there were rich mines to the northward, from the accounts
+of the Indians of those parts who had brought some of the ore to the
+factory, they were bent upon making the discovery; and the Governor said
+he knew the way to the place as well as to his bedside."[4] In the year
+1719, Captain Knight and his associates sailed from England in two
+ships, the _Albany_ and the _Discovery_, well provided with stores and
+provisions, and even with strong iron-bound boxes in which to bring back
+the copper and other precious metals. Unfortunately the expedition was
+wrecked on Marble Island, and all the officers and crew were lost,
+although their fate was not definitely known until nearly half a century
+later.
+
+Three years later, when the two ships had not returned, and no word had
+been received from them, Captain Scroggs was sent by the Hudson's Bay
+Company from Churchill to look for them, and at the same time to
+continue the search for copper. The story of his journey, as given by
+Dobbs in his "Account of the Countries adjoining to Hudson's Bay"
+(London, 1744), says nothing about the explorers who had been lost, but
+comments on the copper deposits as follows:--
+
+ "He [Scroggs] had two Northern [Chipewyan] Indians with him, who
+ had wintered at Churchill, and told him of a copper mine
+ somewhere in that country upon the shore near the surface of the
+ earth, and they could direct the sloop so near it, as to lay her
+ side to it, and be soon laden with it; and they brought some
+ pieces of copper from it to Churchill that made it evident there
+ was a mine thereabouts. They had sketched out the country with
+ charcoal upon a skin of parchment before they left Churchill,
+ and so far as they went it agreed very well. One of the Indians
+ desired to leave him, saying he was within three or four days'
+ journey of his own country, but he would not let him go. Captain
+ Norton, late Governor of Churchill, was then with him."
+
+
+The Captain Norton here mentioned was the father of Governor Moses
+Norton who afterwards despatched Hearne to look for the Coppermine
+River. Captain Carruthers, who is mentioned above, and who, according to
+his own statement, had "quitted" the service of the Hudson's Bay Company
+thirty-five years before 1748, said that he "himself carried Mr. Norton,
+who was afterwards Governor, and two Northern Indians to Churchill where
+he put them in a canoe, and the purpose of their voyage was to make
+discoveries and encourage the Indians to come down to trade and bring
+copper ore."[5]
+
+The journey of Mr. Norton referred to by Captain Carruthers was probably
+undertaken about 1714, in which year York Factory was restored to the
+English, after having been occupied by the French for seventeen years.
+Probably it was on account of this and similar journeys that, in 1719, a
+gratuity of L15 was voted to Mr. Norton by the Hudson's Bay Company, on
+account of having endured "great hardships in travelling among the
+Indians." In 1733 the same Mr. Norton wrote to the directors of the
+Hudson's Bay Company in London that he had "served your Honors many
+years and gone through many difficulties and hardships in taking long
+journeys with the natives to promote your trade with them, even many
+times to the hazard of my own life."[6]
+
+In the same Parliamentary Report Alexander Browne, a surgeon who had
+been for six years in the Company's service, testified "that the Indians
+brought down the ore at the request of Governor Norton," and also "that
+he had heard the late Mr. Norton say that he had been at this mine and
+that a considerable quantity of copper might be brought down."[7] It is
+not probable that Browne's statement with reference to Norton having
+visited the Coppermine River is correct, but it would be rash to deny
+that such a journey had been accomplished until the letters and records
+of the Hudson's Bay Company are finally made public.
+
+After the unsuccessful voyages of Captains Knight and Scroggs, several
+other expeditions were sent from Churchill northward along the shore of
+Hudson Bay. Most of these doubtless more than paid their way by trading
+for furs with the Eskimos, but to the outside public they were
+ostensibly to find the North-West Passage to China and the "mine" of
+copper ore. The most important of these expeditions were those of the
+_Furnace_ and _Discovery_ under Captains Middleton and Moor, in 1741-2,
+and of the _Dobbs_ and _California_ under Captains Moor and Smith in
+1746-7. After these expeditions, interest in the copper may have
+languished for a while, but the numerous references to it in the
+Hudson's Bay Report of 1749 show that it was not by any means forgotten.
+
+Meanwhile, Richard Norton of Churchill had died, and his half-breed son
+Moses Norton had been appointed Governor in his stead. In the year 1767
+the remains of Knight's ill-fated expedition were found on Marble
+Island, and the thoughts of the people on Hudson Bay were undoubtedly
+again turned to the object for which his voyage had been undertaken. To
+add to the interest in the copper, the Northern Indians, who came to
+Churchill in the year 1768, brought with them some fine specimens of ore
+which they said came from Coppermine River. By this time Governor Moses
+Norton's interest was thoroughly aroused in the possible value of the
+copper "mines," and as they were said to be only four hundred miles from
+Churchill, he determined that, if possible, something definite should be
+learned about them. Accordingly, that very summer, when the ship came
+from England, he took passage back in it to London, and laid a plan for
+the discovery of this supposed great body of copper ore before the
+directors of the Company and received their approval for its execution.
+The plan was not to entail any very great expense to the Company. A man
+was to be sent out with the Indians, who should be supported by them and
+live as they lived.
+
+Before that time other men had been sent into the wilderness, in the
+same way, from factories, especially from York, where, in 1690, Henry
+Kelsey had travelled southward until he met the so-called "Naywatamee
+poets" or Mandan Indians, somewhere near the banks of the Assiniboine or
+South Saskatchewan Rivers,[8] and in 1754 Anthony Hendry had made a
+notable journey up the North Saskatchewan River to the great plains,
+where he had endeavoured to establish friendly relations with the
+Blackfeet Indians and their allies, and to prevent them from selling
+their furs to Luc la Corne and the French merchants from Montreal, who
+had penetrated into the same country several years before. Both these
+men had been treated with the greatest kindness by the natives and had
+brought back intelligent accounts of the countries visited by them,
+though neither of them had the ability of Samuel Hearne to enable them
+to prepare a report such as the one here published.
+
+Governor Norton was a man of much more than the ordinary intelligence
+and strength of character, and he saw that if the expedition was to be a
+success it must be conducted by some one who would be able to make full
+and accurate surveys of the route followed, and who could intelligently
+describe the character and value of the "mine" and determine its
+latitude and longitude by astronomical observations. For this purpose he
+chose Samuel Hearne, now a young man twenty-four years of age, who,
+after his service as a midshipman in the British Navy, was at the time
+employed as a mate on the _Charlotte_, one of the Company's sloops
+trading from Churchill with the Eskimos. The story of his journey, the
+hardships which he endured, and the success which he achieved, form the
+subject of this book and need not be discussed here.[9]
+
+Hearne's character, which had been moulded to a large extent by his
+surroundings, can be fairly well understood from a careful reading of
+his book. He was diligent and reasonably accurate but not strong or
+forceful. In this latter particular he differed from his great
+successor, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, who descended the Mackenzie River
+eighteen years after Hearne had reached its waters at Great Slave Lake.
+Alexander Mackenzie was a man of masterful temperament, and those who
+accompanied him, whether white men or natives, were merely so many
+instruments to be used in the accomplishment of any purpose which he had
+in hand. Their likes and dislikes, and their habits of life, were merely
+interesting to him in so far as they affected the results that he wished
+to attain. His book is a detailed description of the directions and
+distances which he travelled each day, and of the incidents of travel as
+they occurred. To Samuel Hearne the natives with whom he travelled were
+beings whose thoughts and habits of life he found supremely interesting.
+Their intentions and desires largely controlled the expeditions on which
+he had embarked. With the exception of the accomplishment of the main
+object in view, of reaching the Coppermine River, their wishes were
+everything, his nothing.
+
+His first expedition was a complete failure, as the Indians simply took
+him off with them for a couple of hundred miles into the wilderness
+until they became tired of his company and then robbed him of everything
+he had and left him to find his own way back to Churchill as best he
+could. His second expedition was more successful, as the Indians
+tolerated his company for eight months and supported him as long as food
+was plentiful, but their enthusiasm, or duty to the Master at Churchill,
+did not last long enough to carry them to the Coppermine River.
+
+Of his third and successful expedition Hearne was the historian and
+surveyor, while Matonabbee, a bold and forceful Chipewyan Indian about
+ten years his senior, was its leader. If at any time Hearne tried to
+interfere with the arrangements made by the leader he was promptly told
+to follow instructions if he wished to reach the copper mine. While
+Matonabbee probably reciprocated, to some extent at least, Hearne's
+affection for him, he was evidently thinking of and working for Moses
+Norton, the rough but powerful governor of Fort Prince of Wales, rather
+than for the quiet and observant young man who was accompanying him.
+Hearne's sketch of the life of Matonabbee is one of the most
+appreciative and sympathetic accounts of a North American Indian that
+has come to my notice.
+
+Hearne was evidently gifted with a very retentive memory, and had the
+artist's faculty of seeing the interesting features of his surroundings
+in their true perspective. Though, like Robert Louis Stevenson and many
+others, he had not been a brilliant student at school, he possessed the
+literary ability to present what he saw or knew in an interesting and
+attractive form. In the ordinary quietude of his tent or office, when
+thinking of nothing but the subject which he was describing, he
+undoubtedly recorded his observations with accuracy. But in the warmth
+of dispute, when endeavouring to overcome the criticisms or objections
+of others, he was liable to be carried beyond the points of strict
+accuracy and, in order to strengthen his argument, to fill in blanks in
+his record from his imagination. He says, for example, that the sun was
+above the horizon at midnight at the mouth of the Coppermine River. But
+it is certain either that, on the night which he spent there, the
+weather was too cloudy to permit of seeing the sun, if it had been above
+the horizon, or that, even if the weather was clear, the sun must
+necessarily have been below the horizon at the time. His sketch of Moses
+Norton also has the appearance of being highly coloured by his evident
+personal dislike of the man. No one can justly accuse Hearne of lack of
+personal courage, for the annoyances, hardships, and sufferings, which
+he endured without complaining, put the thought of personal cowardice
+entirely out of the question. He had acquired the stoicism of the Indian
+and he suffered quietly, just as an Indian is prepared to suffer. During
+the years which Hearne spent among the Indians, living on what they were
+able to obtain from day to day, as well as in his general intercourse
+with them as a trader bartering for the furs which they were able to
+collect and bring to him, he had learned to endure privations, to
+compromise rather than to fight, and to accomplish his purpose by
+politic and peaceful, rather than by warlike, methods. Naturally of a
+complaisant disposition, he had learned to give whatever was demanded of
+him, no matter who made the demand. Nothing could be more typical of the
+habits which he had thus acquired than the little experiences in
+trading, recounted on page 285, where, after an Indian had received full
+payment for the furs which he had brought in, he was given in addition
+the long list of articles there enumerated. Apparently, the Indian was
+not refused anything if he persisted in asking.
+
+This habit of acceding to requests to avoid dispute and difficulty,
+rather than any real fear of personal danger, accounts for Hearne's
+surrender of Fort Prince of Wales to the French without a struggle. In
+this case it is quite possible that, in spite of the great strength of
+the fort which he occupied, he was really not able to make effective
+resistance against his powerful and determined enemy, who outnumbered
+him more than ten to one. Although the fort mounted forty heavy guns,
+and was provided with plenty of ammunition and small arms, it had only
+thirty-nine men within its walls at the time. But even if Hearne had had
+a stronger garrison, it is doubtful whether he would have attempted
+resistance, for his training in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company
+had taught him to preserve the peace at any price, and it was impossible
+for him to set aside at a moment's notice what had become second nature
+to him.
+
+We have seen that Hearne had not the forceful character possessed by
+Alexander Mackenzie; yet, as a man must be judged by the results which
+he achieves, it is perhaps all the more creditable to him to have done
+what he did with his more complaisant and observant disposition. Though
+he could not control the Indians with whom he travelled, he nevertheless
+accomplished his purpose of making the journey, and has left a splendid
+record of it to enrich posterity. He was hardly a great geographer,
+though he added largely to the geographical knowledge of Northern Canada
+west of Hudson Bay. It was he who finally set at rest the question of a
+north-west passage by sea to China and the Orient, south of the mouth of
+the Coppermine River. He knew nothing of mines or ores, and the
+information he brought back about the "mine" of copper which he was
+sent to explore was exceedingly meagre. He verified the report of the
+existence of native copper on the surface in uncertain quantity.
+Incidentally he showed that the place where it occurred was too remote
+and difficult of access to permit of a copper mine being worked at a
+profit, even if the copper should be found in great abundance. But that
+was all. In fact, even to the present time, we have very little accurate
+knowledge of the character and extent of this copper deposit near the
+Coppermine River, as may be seen by referring to the notes on pages 194
+_et seq._
+
+On Hearne's first and second journeys he had quite adequate scientific
+apparatus, and so could take astronomical observations to determine his
+true position. So we find that he occasionally made use of his quadrant
+and took such observations; consequently the positions given on the map
+for the principal points in these two journeys are approximately
+correct. But he started on his third journey with very faulty
+instruments, and he would appear to have made very little use even of
+them. The map of the course followed by him on this journey strongly
+suggests a rough sketch made by his Indian guide, rather than a careful
+plan worked out by himself, from day to day, or week to week. For
+example, between Island and Kasba Lakes, near the beginning of his
+journey, and shortly after he had diverged from his course of the
+previous year, he began to go wrong. If he was using his compass at all,
+it is possible that some source of local magnetic attraction was
+influencing it, for the position of the last-named lake (on his map) is
+some sixty or seventy miles too far north. It is inconceivable that he
+could have made any serious effort to correct this faulty course by
+astronomical observations with his quadrant. His book is chiefly
+valuable therefore not so much because of its geographical information,
+but because it is an accurate, sympathetic, and patently truthful record
+of life among the Chipewyan Indians at that time. Their habits, customs,
+and general mode of life, however disagreeable or repulsive, are
+recorded in detail, and the book will consequently always remain a
+classic in American ethnology.
+
+The manuscript report on Hearne's exploration was submitted to the
+directors of the Hudson's Bay Company immediately after his return, and
+they highly commended him for the work he had done, and gave him a
+handsome bonus.[10] The first account of his journey which seems to have
+been published was given to the world in 1784 in the "Introduction to
+Cook's Third Voyage," pp. xlvi-l, written by Dr. John Douglas, Bishop of
+Salisbury, who later also edited Hearne's own book. The route followed
+by Hearne on his successful third journey is incorporated in the general
+map of the world accompanying this book. A Mr. Roberts, who prepared
+this map, makes the following note with regard to it:--
+
+ "The whole of Hudson's Bay I took from a chart compiled by Mr.
+ Marley, from all the most authentic maps he could procure of
+ those parts, with which I was favoured by Samuel Wegg, Esq.,
+ F.R.S., and Governor of that Company, who also politely
+ furnished me with Mr. Hearne's Journals and the map of his route
+ to the Coppermine River, which is faithfully inserted in the
+ chart.
+
+ "(Sgd.) HENRY ROBERTS.
+ "SHOREHAM, SUSSEX, _May 18, 1784_."[11]
+
+Another brief account of Hearne's trip is given in "Pennant's Arctic
+Zoology," also published in 1784, while his map is incorporated in one
+of the maps published in "Pennant's Supplement to Arctic Zoology," 1787.
+Some of the names used on these two maps were continued on the map
+accompanying Alexander Mackenzie's "Voyages," and also on Arrowsmith's
+maps up to comparatively recent dates.
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF PART OF NORTH AMERICA
+Being a portion of the Map of the World in "Cook's Third Voyage,"
+published in 1784 Hearne's route was first published on this map]
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF PART OF NORTH AMERICA
+Showing General Course of Hearne's Third Journey _From the Second Map of
+Mr. Pennant's "Arctic Zoology," 1787_]
+
+The book here republished appeared first in 1795, three years after
+Hearne's death, as a large quarto volume of xliv + 458 pages, with five
+maps, and four full-page illustrations. It was edited by the above-named
+Dr. John Douglas, who is said to have drawn up the narrative, and to
+have finished the Introduction, though just how much Hearne's diction
+was altered by the editor is not known. It is probable, however, that
+the MS. was published almost exactly as Hearne had written it. An octavo
+edition, similar in letterpress to the original quarto one, but with
+some slight omissions or differences in the text and in the general map,
+was published in Dublin in 1796.
+
+A French translation of the 1795 edition, by Lallemant, one of the
+secretaries in the French Department of the Marine, was published at
+Paris in 1799. Dr. Arthur G. Doughty, the Archivist of the Dominion of
+Canada, has very kindly compared this edition with the English one of
+1795, and makes the following remarks with regard to it:--
+
+ "The dedication of the English version is omitted in the French.
+ In the Introduction, page 27, there is a note in the English
+ edition which is not translated. Pages 441 to 445 of the English
+ edition are omitted in the French. At the beginning of the
+ French version there is a note on Hearne from the 'Voyage of La
+ Perouse,' and some remarks by Lallemant. The translation of the
+ whole volume appears to be good."
+
+The note from the "Voyage of La Perouse" and the remarks of Lallemant
+are as follows:--
+
+ "A LA PEROUSE.--C'est a vous que l'Europe est redevable de la
+ publication de cet ouvrage, dont le manuscrit fut trouve parmi
+ les papiers du Gouverneur du fort du Prince de Galles, lorsque
+ vous vous rendites maitre des etablissements anglais dans la
+ Baie de Hudson. En le remettant a son auteur, a la condition
+ expresse de le faire imprimer et publier, jamais vainqueur
+ n'exerca plus utilement son droit de conquete et n'imposa au
+ vaincu une condition plus honorable.[12] Elle etait digne du
+ marin aussi genereux qu'eclaire qui devait, quelques annees
+ apres, entreprendre un voyage non moins important, et dont
+ aujourd'hui nous deplorons la perte.
+
+ "Pourquoi faut-il, brave et excellent _Dupetit-Thouars_, que
+ vous nous ayez ete aussi ravi! vous qui m'excitates avec tant
+ d'ardeur a traduire la relation de _Samuel Hearne_, et qui,
+ apres avoir tout sacrifie pour aller redemander _la Perouse_ aux
+ iles de la mer du Sud, soupiriez apres la paix pour reprendre
+ vos projets de decouvertes. Accable par le nombre au combat
+ d'_Aboukir_, une mort glorieuse vous a enleve a votre patrie, a
+ deux soeurs cheries, a l'amitie, aux sciences, et il ne nous est
+ revenu de vous que cette reponse heroique a l'ennemi: '_Voyez
+ mon pavillon; on ne le deplacera qu'en m'otant la vie._'
+
+ "_La Perouse_, vous l'eussiez pleure comme nous! il etait si
+ attache a son pays, a son metier, et si passionne pour leur
+ gloire. Il avait une ame si forte et un coeur si sensible; un
+ esprit si cultive et des dehors si modestes. Il etait ami si
+ vrai et frere si tendre. _Perpetue, Felicite_, j'en appele a
+ votre douleur profonde!
+
+ "En associant son nom au votre, _la Perouse_, permettez qu'il
+ partage avec vous l'hommage d'une traduction a laquelle je me
+ suis empresse de consacrer mes veilles pour concourir a vos vues
+ respectives d'utilite. Puisse ce monument etre digne de vous
+ deux!
+
+ "LALLEMANT,
+ "l'un des Secretaires de la Marine."
+
+Hearne intimates on page 32 that the map here reproduced differs
+slightly from those which he had previously published, a reference
+doubtless to the one in Cook's "Voyage," but he claims that this one is
+the most accurate, since he had revised it with great care. Both maps
+are here given; further explorations in the northern country alone can
+determine which is the more correct.
+
+Fort Prince of Wales, from which place Hearne started on his expedition,
+was built by the Hudson's Bay Company in the years 1733 to 1771. It is
+said to have been designed by English military engineers, and, according
+to Joseph Robson, was built under the direction of the resident
+Governor, though Robson himself had much to do with its construction.
+
+The fort, which is one of the most interesting military ruins on the
+continent, stands on Eskimo Point, just west of the mouth of Churchill
+River, and though some parts of the walls have fallen, it was, when I
+visited it, in much the same condition as when built, except that the
+houses within it had been gutted by fire. It is 310 feet long on the
+north and south sides, and 317 feet long on the east and west sides,
+measured from corner to corner of the bastions. The walls are from 37 to
+42 feet thick, and 16 feet 9 inches high to the top of the parapet,
+which is 5 feet high and 6 feet 3 inches wide. On the outside the wall
+was faced with dressed stone, except towards the river, while on the
+inside undressed stone was used. The interior of the wall is a rubble of
+boulders, held together by a poor mortar. In the parapet are forty
+embrasures and forty guns, from six to twenty-four pounders, are lying
+on the wall near them, now partly hidden by low willows, currant and
+gooseberry bushes. The three store-houses and the magazine, which once
+occupied the centres of the bastions, have disappeared. Within the
+square enclosure are the stone walls of a house 103 feet long, 33 feet
+wide, and 17 feet high, which is said to have had a flat roof covered
+with lead. The small observatory used by Mr. Wales in 1769 was situated
+on the south-east bastion.
+
+[Illustration: PLAN OF FORT PRINCE OF WALES.
+By J. B. TYRRELL. 1894. Walls, 37 to 42 feet thick, 16 feet 9 inches
+high. Scale: 80 feet = 1 inch.]
+
+This new edition is a reprint of the quarto edition of 1795. The
+pagination of the original has been inserted, enclosed within square
+brackets, at the proper places in the text, and the notes are given as
+in the original volume. The notes of the present editor are indicated by
+Arabic numerals.
+
+Most of the photographs here reproduced were taken by the editor in 1893
+and 1894, but those of Artillery Lake were taken by Mr. J. W. Tyrrell in
+1900, and the Eskimo implements of native copper were obtained by him at
+that time.
+
+Several additional maps have been added. Among these are the portions of
+Cook's and Pennant's maps of parts of North America showing the first
+published records of Hearne's courses; a map of the Coppermine River as
+surveyed by Sir John Franklin in 1821; and a general map of Northern
+Canada drawn on the same scale and projection as Hearne's large map, and
+with his routes laid down as correctly as it has been possible for me to
+determine them. The latter map is much more easily compared with
+Hearne's original map than one drawn on the polyconic projection in
+common use at the present time.
+
+I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr. Edward A. Preble of the
+Biological Survey, Washington, D.C., U.S.A., author of "A Biological
+Investigation of the Hudson Bay Region" and "A Biological Investigation
+of the Athabaska-Mackenzie Region," who has so kindly annotated Chapter
+X. on the fauna and flora of Hudson Bay, and has also added the notes to
+which his initials are attached in other parts of the volume.
+
+ J. B. TYRRELL.
+ TORONTO, _February 1, 1910_.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] This is an error, as the fort was neither rebuilt nor refortified.
+
+[2] The results of their observations were published in the
+_Philosophical Transactions_, vol. lix. (1769), pp. 467 and 480, and
+vol. lx. (1770), pp. 100 and 137.
+
+[3] "Report on the Dubawnt, Kazan, and Ferguson Rivers," by J. B.
+Tyrrell. "Geological Survey of Canada," Part F, vol. ix. 1896. Ottawa,
+1897.
+
+[4] "Six Years' Residence in Hudson's Bay," by J. Robson, 1752, p. 15.
+Robson strongly urged an overland expedition to discover the copper, p.
+60.
+
+[5] Hudson's Bay Report, 1749, p. 230.
+
+[6] Ibid., p. 271.
+
+[7] Hudson's Bay Report, 1749, p. 226.
+
+[8] Henry Kelsey's account of this journey has given rise to a good deal
+of dispute and scepticism. It gives me the impression that it is a story
+written from memory years after the journey was performed, but his
+general description of the country on the Red Deer River just north of
+the Province of Manitoba, and of the plains of Saskatchewan to the
+south-west of it, is too clear to be mistaken. I am indebted to
+Professor W. H. Holmes, Director of the United States Bureau of
+Ethnology, for assistance in identifying the "Naywatamee poets" with the
+Mandan Indians.
+
+[9] As farther evidence that this expedition was undertaken solely for
+the purpose of obtaining a knowledge of the whereabouts of the copper
+deposits, Edward Umfreville, who was employed as a writer at York
+Factory in Hearne's time, makes the following interesting statement:
+"Some years since, the Company being informed that the Indians
+frequently brought fine pieces of copper to their Settlements on
+Churchill River, they took into consideration, and appointed a person
+(S. Hearne) with proper assistants, to survey and examine the river
+where the valuable acquisition was supposed to be concealed."--_The
+Present State of Hudson's Bay_, by Edward Umfreville, p. 45. London,
+1790.
+
+[10] Mr. Beckles Willson, in his book "The Great Company," says, on I
+know not what authority, that it was L200.
+
+[11] "Cook's Third Voyage," vol. i. Introduction, p. lxxxi. London,
+1784. For purposes of comparison, the portion of this map which refers
+to Hearne is republished at the end of the present volume. It is stated
+by Beckles Willson in "The Great Company" that short accounts of his
+journey had been published in 1773 and again in 1778-80, but though
+diligent search has been made for these accounts in the British Museum
+and elsewhere, no trace of them can be found.
+
+[12] "Le Gouverneur _Hearne_ avait fait, en 1772, un voyage par terre
+vers le Nord, en partant du fort Churchill dans la Baie de Hudson,
+'_Samuel Hearne partit du fort du Prince de Galles le 7 Decembre 1770_,'
+voyage dont on attend les details avec impatience; le journal manuscrit
+en fut trouve par _la Perouse_ dans les papiers de ce Gouverneur, qui
+insista pour qu'il lui fut laisse comme sa propriete particuliere. Ce
+voyage ayant ete fait neanmoins par ordre de la Compagnie de Hudson,
+dans la vue d'acquerir des connaissances sur la partie du Nord de
+l'Amerique, le journal pouvait bien etre cense appartenir a cette
+Compagnie, et par consequent etre devolu au vainqueur; cependant _la
+Perouse_ ceda, par bonte, aux instances du Gouverneur _Hearne_, et lui
+rendit le manuscrit; mais a la condition expresse de la faire imprimer
+et publier des qu'il serait de retour en Angleterre. Cette condition ne
+parait pas avoir ete remplie jusqu'a present.[A] Esperons que la
+remarque qui en est faite, rendue publique, produira l'effet attendu ou
+qu'elle engagera le Gouverneur a faire connaitre si la Compagnie de
+Hudson, qui redoute qu'on ne s'immisce dans ses affaires et son
+commerce, s'est opposee a sa publication."--Discours preliminaire du
+Voyage de _la Perouse_ autour du monde, pp. xlvi et xlvii de l'in-4^º.
+
+[A] Le Voyage de Samuel Hearne a ete publie a Londres en l'an 3, et
+celui de _la Perouse_ a Paris, en l'an 6. (_Note du Traducteur du Voyage
+de_ Samuel Hearne.)
+
+
+[Illustration: M^R. SAMUEL HEARNE
+_Late Chief at Prince of Wales's Fort. Hudson's Bay. Published as
+the Act directs by J. Sewell, Cornhill Aug^t. 1^{st}. 1796 From the
+"European Magazine," June, 1797_]
+
+
+
+
+ A
+ JOURNEY
+ FROM
+ Prince of Wales's Fort, in Hudson's Bay,
+ TO
+ THE NORTHERN OCEAN.
+
+ UNDERTAKEN
+ _BY ORDER OF THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY._
+ FOR THE DISCOVERY OF
+ COPPER MINES, A NORTH WEST PASSAGE, &c.
+ In the Years 1769, 1770, 1771, & 1772.
+
+
+ By SAMUEL HEARNE.
+
+
+ LONDON:
+
+ Printed for A. STRAHAN and T. CADELL:
+ And Sold by T. CADELL Jun. and W. DAVIES, (Successors to
+ Mr. CADELL,) in the Strand.
+
+ 1795
+
+
+
+
+ TO
+ SAMUEL WEGG, ESQ., GOVERNOR,
+ SIR JAMES WINTER LAKE, DEPUTY GOVERNOR,
+ AND
+ THE REST OF THE COMMITTEE
+ OF THE HONOURABLE
+ _HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY._
+
+ * * * * *
+
+HONOURABLE SIRS,
+
+As the following Journey was undertaken at your Request and Expence, I
+feel it no less my Duty than my Inclination to address it to you; hoping
+that my humble Endeavours to relate, in a plain and unadorned Style, the
+various Circumstances and Remarks which {iv} occurred during that
+Journey, will meet with your Approbation.
+
+ I am, with much Esteem and Gratitude,
+ HONOURABLE SIRS,
+ Your most obedient, and
+ most obliged humble Servant,
+ SAMUEL HEARNE.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+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's Quadrant, with a bubble attached to it for a horizon, and made
+by Daniel Scatlif of Wapping. But as no instrument of the same principle
+could be procured when I was setting out on my last Journey, an old
+Elton's Quadrant, which had been upwards of thirty years at the Fort,
+was the only instrument I could then be provided with, in any respect
+proper for making observations with on the land.
+
+Mr. Dalrymple also observes, that I only inserted in my last Journal to
+the Company, one observation for the latitude, which may be true; but I
+had, nevertheless, several others during that Journey, particularly at
+Snow-bird Lake, Thelwey-aza-yeth, and Clowey, exclusive of that
+mentioned in the Journal taken at Conge-cathawhachaga. But when I was on
+that Journey, and for several {vi} years after, I little thought that
+any remarks made in it would ever have attracted the notice of the
+Public; if I had, greater pains might and would have been taken to
+render it more worthy of their attention than it now is. At that time my
+ideas and ambition extended no farther than to give my employers such an
+account of my proceedings as might be satisfactory to them, and answer
+the purpose which they had in view; little thinking it would ever come
+under the inspection of so ingenious and indefatigable a geographer as
+Mr. Dalrymple must be allowed to be. But as the case has turned out
+otherwise, I have at my leisure hours recopied all my Journals into one
+book, and in some instances added to the remarks I had before made; not
+so much for the information of those who are critics in geography, as
+for the amusement of candid and indulgent readers, who may perhaps feel
+themselves in some measure gratified, by having the face of a country
+brought to their view, which has hitherto been entirely unknown to every
+European except myself. Nor will, I flatter myself, a description of the
+modes of living, manners, and customs of the natives (which, though long
+known, have never been described), be less acceptable to the curious.
+
+I cannot help observing, 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
+Conge-cathawhachaga, the {vii} Sun did not set during the whole night: a
+proof that I was then to the Northward of the Arctic Circle. I may be
+allowed to add, that when I was at the Copper River, on the eighteenth
+of July, the Sun's declination was but 21 deg., and yet it was certainly
+some height above the horizon at midnight; how much, as I did not _then_
+remark, I will not _now_ take upon me to say; but it proves that the
+latitude was considerably more than Mr. Dalrymple will admit of. His
+assertion, that no grass is to be found on the (rocky) coast of
+Greenland farther North than the latitude of 65 deg., is no proof there
+should not be any in a much higher latitude in the interior parts of
+North America. For, in the first place, I think it is more than
+probable, that the Copper River empties itself into a sort of inland
+Sea, or extensive Bay, somewhat like that of Hudson's: and it is well
+known that no part of the coast of Hudson's Straits, nor those of
+Labradore, at least for some degrees South of them, any more than the
+East coast of Hudson's Bay, till we arrive near Whale River, have any
+trees on them; while the West coast of the Bay in the same latitudes, is
+well clothed with timber. Where then is the ground for such an
+assertion? Had Mr. Dalrymple considered this circumstance only, I
+flatter myself he would not so hastily have objected to woods and grass
+being seen in similar situations, though in a much higher latitude.
+Neither can the reasoning which Mr. Dalrymple derives from the error I
+committed in estimating the distance to Cumberland House, any way affect
+the question under {viii} consideration; because that distance being
+chiefly in longitude, I had no means of correcting it by an observation,
+which was not the case here.
+
+I do not by any means wish to enter into a dispute with, or incur the
+displeasure of Mr. Dalrymple; but thinking, as I do, that I have not
+been treated in so liberal a manner as I ought to have been, he will
+excuse me for endeavouring to convince the Public that his objections
+are in a great measure without foundation. And having done so, I shall
+quit the disagreeable subject with declaring, that if any part of the
+following sheets should afford amusement to Mr. Dalrymple, or any other
+of my readers, it will be the highest gratification I can receive, and
+the only recompence I desire to obtain for the hardships and fatigue
+which I underwent in procuring the information contained in them.
+
+Being well assured that several learned and curious gentlemen are in
+possession of manuscript copies of, or extracts from, my Journals, as
+well as copies of the Charts, I have been induced to make this copy as
+correct as possible, and to publish it; especially as I observe that
+scarcely any two of the publications that contain extracts from my
+Journals, agree in the dates when I arrived at, or departed from,
+particular places. To rectify those disagreements I applied to the
+Governor and Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company, for leave to peruse
+my original Journals. This was granted with the greatest affability {ix}
+and politeness; as well as a sight of all my Charts relative to this
+Journey. With this assistance I have been enabled to rectify some
+inaccuracies that had, by trusting too much to memory, crept into this
+copy; and I now offer it to the Public under authentic dates and the
+best authorities, however widely some publications may differ from it.
+
+I have taken the liberty to expunge some passages which were inserted in
+the original copy, as being no ways interesting to the Public, and
+several others have undergone great alterations; so that, in fact, the
+whole may be said to be new-modelled, by being blended with a variety of
+Remarks and Notes that were not inserted in the original copy, but which
+my long residence in the country has enabled me to add.
+
+The account of the principal quadrupeds and birds that frequent those
+Northern regions in Summer, as well as those which never migrate, though
+not described in a scientific manner, may not be entirely unacceptable
+to the most scientific zoologists; and to those who are unacquainted
+with the technical terms used in zoology, it may perhaps be more useful
+and entertaining, than if I had described them in the most classical
+manner. But I must not conclude this Preface, without acknowledging, in
+the most ample manner, the assistance I have received from the perusal
+of Mr Pennant's Arctic Zoology, which has enabled me to give several of
+the birds their proper {x} names; for those by which they are known in
+Hudson's Bay are purely Indian, and of course quite unknown to every
+European who has not resided in that country.
+
+To conclude, I cannot sufficiently regret 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 one thousand seven hundred and
+ninety. 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.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+ PAGE
+ INTRODUCTION 41
+
+ CHAP. I.
+
+ Transactions from my leaving Prince of Wales's Fort on my first
+ Expedition, till our Arrival there again.
+
+ Set off from the Fort; arrive at Po-co-ree-kis-co River--One of
+ the Northern Indians deserts--Cross Seal River, and walk on the
+ barren grounds--Receive wrong information concerning the
+ distance of the woods--Weather begins to be very cold,
+ provisions all expended, and nothing to be got--Strike to the
+ Westward, arrive at the woods, and kill three deer--Set forward
+ in the North West quarter, see the tracks of musk-oxen and deer,
+ but killed none--Very short of provisions--Chawchinahaw wants us
+ to return--Neither he nor his crew contribute to our
+ maintenance--He influences several of the Indians to
+ desert--Chawchinahaw and all his crew leave us--Begin our return
+ to the Factory; kill a few partridges, the first meal we had had
+ for several days--Villany of one of the home Indians and his
+ wife, who was a Northern Indian woman--Arrive at the Seal River,
+ kill two deer; partridges plenty--Meet a strange Northern
+ Indian, accompany him to his tent, usage received there; my
+ Indians assist in killing some beaver--Proceed toward home, and
+ arrive at the Fort 61
+
+ CHAP. II.
+
+ Transactions from our Arrival at the Factory, to my leaving it
+ again, and during the First Part of my Second Journey, till I
+ had the misfortune to break the Quadrant.
+
+ Transactions at the Factory--Proceed on my second
+ journey--Arrive at Seal River--Deer plentiful for some
+ time--Method of angling fish under the ice--Set our
+ fishing-nets--Method of setting nets under the ice--My guide
+ [xii] proposes to stay till the geese should begin to fly; his
+ reasons accepted--Pitch our tent in the best manner--Method of
+ pitching a tent in Winter--Fish plentiful for some time; grow
+ very scarce; in great want of provisions--Manner of employing my
+ time--My guide killed two deer--Move to the place they were
+ lying at; there kill several more deer, and three beavers--Soon
+ in want of provisions again--Many Indians join us from the
+ Westward--We begin to move towards the barren ground--Arrive at
+ She-than-nee, there suffer great distress for want of
+ provisions--Indians kill two swans and three geese--Geese and
+ other birds of passage plentiful--Leave She-than-nee, and arrive
+ at Beralzone--One of my companions guns bursts, and shatters his
+ left hand--Leave Beralzone, and get on the barren ground, clear
+ of all woods--Throw away our sledges and snow shoes--Each person
+ takes a load on his back; my part of the luggage--Exposed to
+ many hardships--Several days without victuals--Indians kill
+ three musk-oxen, but for want of fire are obliged to eat the
+ meat raw--Fine weather returns; make a fire; effects of long
+ fasting; stay a day or two to dry some meat in the Sun--Proceed
+ to the Northward, and arrive at Cathawhachaga; there find some
+ tents of Indians--A Northern Leader called Keelshies meets us;
+ send a letter by him to the Governor--Transactions at
+ Cathawhachaga; leave it and proceed to the Northward--Meet
+ several Indians--My guide not willing to proceed; his reasons
+ for it--Many more Indians join us--Arrive at Doobaunt Whoie
+ River--Manner of ferrying over rivers in the Northern Indian
+ canoes--No rivers in those parts in a useful direction for the
+ natives--Had nearly lost the quadrant and all the powder--Some
+ reflections on our situation, and conduct of the Indians--Find
+ the quadrant and part of the powder--Observe for the
+ latitude--Quadrant broke--Resolve to return again to the Factory
+ 69
+
+ CHAP. III.
+
+ Transactions from the time the Quadrant was broken, till I
+ arrived at the Factory.
+
+ Several strange Indians join us from the Northward--They plunder
+ me of all I had; but did not plunder the Southern Indians--My
+ guide plundered--We begin our return to the Factory--Meet with
+ other Indians, who join our company--Collect deer-skins for
+ clothing, but could not get them {xiii} dressed--Suffer much
+ hardship from the want of tents and warm clothing--Most of the
+ Indians leave us--Meet with Matonabbee--Some account of him, and
+ his behaviour to me and the Southern Indians--We remain in his
+ company some time--His observations on my two unsuccessful
+ attempts--We leave him, and proceed to a place to which he
+ directed us, in order to make snow-shoes and sledges--Join
+ Matonabbee again, and proceed towards the Factory in his
+ company--Ammunition runs short--Myself and four Indians set off
+ post for the Factory--Much bewildered in a snow storm; my dog is
+ frozen to death; we lie in a bush of willows--Proceed on our
+ journey--Great difficulty in crossing a jumble of rocks--Arrive
+ at the Fort 96
+
+ CHAP. IV.
+
+ Transactions during our Stay at Prince of Wales's Fort, and the
+ former Part of our third Expedition, till our Arrival at Clowey,
+ where we built Canoes, in May 1771.
+
+ Preparations for our departure--Refuse to take any of the
+ home-guard Indians with me--By so doing, I offend the
+ Governor--Leave the Fort a third time--My instructions on this
+ expedition--Provisions of all kinds very scarce--Arrive at the
+ woods, where we kill some deer--Arrive at Island
+ Lake--Matonabbee taken ill--Some remarks thereon--Join the
+ remainder of the Indians' families--Leave Island
+ Lake--Description thereof--Deer plentiful--Meet a strange
+ Indian--Alter our course from West North West to West by
+ South--Cross Cathawhachaga River, Cossed Lake, Snow-Bird Lake,
+ and Pike Lake--Arrive at a tent of strangers, who are employed
+ in snaring deer in a pound--Description of a pound--Method of
+ proceeding--Remarks thereon--Proceed on our journey--Meet with
+ several parties of Indians; by one of whom I sent a letter to
+ the Governor at Prince of Wales's Fort--Arrive at
+ Thleweyazayeth--Employment there--Proceed to the North North
+ West and North--Arrive at Clowey--One of the Indian's wives
+ taken in labour--Remarks thereon--Customs observed by the
+ Northern Indians on those occasions 106
+
+ {xiv} CHAP. V.
+
+ Transactions at Clowey, and on our Journey, till our Arrival at
+ the Copper-mine River.
+
+ Several strange Indians join us--Indians employed in building
+ canoes; description and use of them--More Indians join us, to
+ the amount of some hundreds--Leave Clowey--Receive intelligence
+ that Keelshies was near us--Two young men dispatched for my
+ letters and goods--Arrive at Peshew Lake; cross part of it, and
+ make a large smoke--One of Matonabbee's wives elopes--Some
+ remarks on the natives--Keelshies joins us, and delivers my
+ letters, but the goods were all expended--A Northern Indian
+ wishes to take one of Matonabbee's wives from him; matters
+ compromised, but had like to have proved fatal to my
+ progress--Cross Peshew Lake, when I make proper arrangements for
+ the remainder of my journey--Many Indians join our party, in
+ order to make war on the Esquimaux at the Copper
+ River--Preparations made for that purpose while at
+ Clowey--Proceed on our journey to the North--Some remarks on the
+ way--Cross Cogead Lake on the ice--The sun did not set--Arrive
+ at Congecathawhachaga--Find several Copper Indians
+ there--Remarks and transactions during our stay at
+ Congecathawhachaga--Proceed on our journey--Weather very
+ bad--Arrive at the Stoney Mountains--Some account of them--Cross
+ part of Buffalo Lake on the ice--Saw many musk-oxen--Description
+ of them--Went with some Indians to view Grizzlebear Hill--Join a
+ strange Northern Indian Leader, called O'lye, in company with
+ some Copper Indians--Their behaviour to me--Arrive at the
+ Copper-mine River 133
+
+ CHAP. VI.
+
+ Transactions at the Copper-mine River, and till we joined all
+ the Women to the South of Cogead Lake.
+
+ Some Copper Indians join us--Indians send three spies down the
+ river--Begin my survey--Spies return, and give an account of
+ five tents of Esquimaux--Indians consult the best method to
+ steal on them in the night, and {xv} kill them while
+ asleep--Cross the river--Proceedings of the Indians as they
+ advance towards the Esquimaux tents--The Indians begin the
+ massacre while the poor Esquimaux are asleep, and slay them
+ all--Much affected at the sight of one young woman killed close
+ to my feet--The behaviour of the Indians on this occasion--Their
+ brutish treatment of the dead bodies--Seven more tents seen on
+ the opposite side of the river--The Indians harass them, till
+ they fly to a shoal in the river for safety--Behaviour of the
+ Indians after killing those Esquimaux--Cross the river, and
+ proceed to the tents on that side--Plunder their tents, and
+ destroy their utensils--Continue my survey to the river's
+ mouth--Remarks there--Set out on my return--Arrive at one of the
+ Copper-mines--Remarks on it--Many attempts made to induce the
+ Copper Indians to carry their own goods to market--Obstacles to
+ it--Villany and cruelty of Keelshies to some of those poor
+ Indians--Leave the Copper-mine, and walk at an amazing rate till
+ we join the women, by the side of Cogead Whoie--Much
+ foot-foundered--The appearance very alarming, but soon changes
+ for the better--Proceed to the southward, and join the remainder
+ of the women and children--Many other Indians arrive with them
+ 173
+
+ CHAP. VII.
+
+ Remarks from the Time the Women joined us till our Arrival at
+ the Athapuscow Lake.
+
+ Several of the Indians sick--Methods used by the conjurors to
+ relieve one man, who recovers--Matonabbee and his crew proceed
+ to the South West--Most of the other Indians separate, and go
+ their respective ways--Pass by White Stone Lake--Many deer
+ killed merely for their skins--Remarks thereon, and on the deer,
+ respecting seasons and places--Arrive at Point Lake--One of the
+ Indian's wives being sick, is left behind to perish
+ above-ground--Weather very bad, but deer plenty--Stay some time
+ at Point Lake to dry meat, &c.--Winter set in--Superstitious
+ customs observed by my companions, after they had killed the
+ Esquimaux at Copper River--A violent gale of wind oversets my
+ tent and breaks my quadrant--Some Copper and Dog-ribbed Indians
+ join us--Indians propose to go to the Athapuscow Country to kill
+ moose--Leave Point Lake, and arrive at the wood's edge--Arrive
+ at Anawd Lake--Transactions there--Remarkable instance of a man
+ being cured of the palsey by the conjurors--Leave Anawd
+ Lake--Arrive at the great Athapuscow Lake 209
+
+ {xvi} CHAP. VIII.
+
+ Transactions and Remarks from our Arrival on the South Side of
+ the Athapuscow Lake, till our Arrival at Prince of Wales's Fort
+ on Churchill River.
+
+ Cross the Athapuscow Lake--Description of it and its
+ productions, as far as could be discovered in Winter, when the
+ snow was on the ground--Fish found in the lake--Description of
+ the buffalo; of the moose or elk, and the method of dressing
+ their skins--Find a woman alone that had not seen a human face
+ for more than seven months--Her account how she came to be in
+ that situation; and her curious method of procuring a
+ livelihood--Many of my Indians wrestled for her--Arrive at the
+ Great Athapuscow River--Walk along the side of the River for
+ several days, and then strike off to the Eastward--Difficulty in
+ getting through the woods in many places--Meet with some strange
+ Northern Indians on their return from the Fort--Meet more
+ strangers, whom my companions plundered, and from whom they took
+ one of their young women--Curious manner of life which those
+ strangers lead, and the reason they gave for roving so far from
+ their usual residence--Leave the fine level country of the
+ Athapuscows, and arrive at the Stony Hills of the Northern
+ Indian Country--Meet some strange Northern Indians, one of whom
+ carried a letter for me to Prince of Wales's Fort, in March one
+ thousand seven hundred and seventy-one, and now gave me an
+ answer to it, dated twentieth of June following--Indians begin
+ preparing wood-work and birch-rind for canoes--The equinoctial
+ gale very severe--Indian method of running the moose deer down
+ by speed of foot--Arrival at Theeleyaza River--See some
+ strangers--The brutality of my companions--A tremendous gale and
+ snow-drift--Meet with more strangers; remarks on it--Leave all
+ the elderly people and children, and proceed directly to the
+ Fort--Stop to build canoes, and then advance--Several of the
+ Indians die through hunger, and many others are obliged to
+ decline the journey for want of ammunition--A violent storm and
+ inundation, that forced us to the top of a high hill, where we
+ suffered great distress for more than two days--Kill several
+ deer--The Indians' method of preserving the flesh without the
+ assistance of salt--See several Indians that were going to
+ Knapp's Bay--Game of all kinds remarkably plentiful--Arrive at
+ the Factory 252
+
+ {xvii} CHAP. IX.
+
+ A short Description of the Northern Indians, also a farther
+ Account of their Country, Manufactures, Customs, &c.
+
+ An account of the persons and tempers of the Northern
+ Indians--They possess a great deal of art and cunning--Are very
+ guilty of fraud when in their power, and generally exact more
+ for their furs than any other tribe of Indians--Always
+ dissatisfied, yet have their good qualities--The men in general
+ jealous of their wives--Their marriages--Girls always betrothed
+ when children, and their reasons for it--Great care and
+ confinement of young girls from the age of eight or nine
+ years--Divorces common among those people--The women are less
+ prolific than in warmer countries--Remarkable piece of
+ superstition observed by the women at particular periods--Their
+ art in making it an excuse for a temporary separation from their
+ husbands on any little quarrel--Reckoned very unclean on those
+ occasions--The Northern Indians frequently, for the want of
+ firing, are obliged to eat their meat raw--Some through
+ necessity obliged to boil it in vessels made of the rind of the
+ birch-tree--A remarkable dish among those people--The young
+ animals always cut out of their dams, eaten, and accounted a
+ great delicacy--The parts of generation of all animals eat by
+ the men and boys--Manner of passing their time, and method of
+ killing deer in Summer with bows and arrows--Their tents, dogs,
+ sledges, &c.--Snow-shoes--Their partiality to domestic
+ vermin--Utmost extent of the Northern Indian country--Face of
+ the country--Species of fish--A peculiar kind of moss useful
+ for the support of man--Northern Indian method of catching fish,
+ either with hooks or nets--Ceremony observed when two parties of
+ those people meet--Diversions in common use--A singular disorder
+ which attacks some of those people--Their superstition with
+ respect to the death of their friends--Ceremony observed on
+ those occasions--Their ideas of the first inhabitants of the
+ world--No form of religion among them--Remarks on that
+ circumstance--The extreme misery to which old age is
+ exposed--Their opinion of the _Aurora Borealis_, &c.--Some
+ account of Matonabbee, and his services to his country, as well
+ as to the Hudson's Bay Company 297
+
+ {xviii} CHAP. X.
+
+ An Account of the principal Quadrupeds found in the Northern
+ Parts of Hudson's Bay: The Buffalo, Moose, Musk-ox, Deer, and
+ Beaver--A capital Mistake cleared up respecting the We-was-kish.
+
+ Animals with Canine Teeth: The Wolf--Foxes of various
+ colours--Lynx, or Wild Cat--Polar, or White Bear--Black
+ Bear--Brown Bear--Wolverene--Otter--Jackash--Wejack--Skunk--Pine
+ Martin--Ermine, or Stote.
+
+ Animals with cutting Teeth: The Musk Beaver--Porcupine--Varying
+ Hare--American Hare--Common Squirrel--Ground Squirrel--Mice of
+ various kinds--and the Castor Beaver.
+
+ The Pinnated Quadrupeds with finlike Feet, found in Hudson's
+ Bay, are but three in number, viz.: The Walrus, or
+ Sea-Horse--Seal--and Sea-Unicorn.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ The Species of Fish found in the Salt Water of Hudson's Bay are
+ also few in number: being the Black Whale--White
+ Whale--Salmon--and Kepling.
+
+ Shell-fish, and empty Shells of several kinds, found on the Sea
+ Coast near Churchill River.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Frogs of various sizes and colours; also a great variety of
+ Grubbs, and other Insects, always found in a frozen state during
+ Winter, but when exposed to the heat of a slow fire, are soon
+ re-animated.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ An account of some of the principal Birds found in the Northern
+ Parts of Hudson's Bay; as well those that only migrate there in
+ Summer, as those that are known to brave the coldest Winters:
+ Eagles of various kinds--Hawks of various sizes and
+ plumage--White or Snowy Owl--Grey or mottled
+ Owl--Cob-a-dee-cooch--Raven--Cinerious Crow--Wood Pecker--Ruffed
+ Grouse--Pheasant--Wood Partridge--Willow Partridge--Rock
+ Partridge--Pigeon--Red-breasted Thrush--Grosbeak--Snow
+ Bunting--White-crowned Bunting--Lapland Finch, two
+ sorts--Lark--Titmouse--Swallow--Martin--Hopping Crane--Brown
+ Crane--Bitron--Carlow, two sorts--Jack Snipe--Red
+ Godwart--Plover--Black Gullemet--Northern Diver--Black-throated
+ Diver--Red-throated Diver--White Gull--Grey
+ Gull--Black-head--Pelican--Goosander--Swans of two
+ species--Common {xix} Grey Goose--Canada Goose--White or Snow
+ Goose--Blue Goose--Horned Wavy--Laughing Goose--Barren
+ Goose--Brent Goose--Dunter Goose--Bean Goose.
+
+ The species of Water-Fowl usually called Duck, that resort to
+ those Parts annually, are in great variety; but those that are
+ most esteemed are, the Mallard Duck--Long-tailed Duck--Wigeon,
+ and Teal.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Of the Vegetable Productions as far North as Churchill River,
+ particularly the most useful; such as the Berry-bearing Bushes,
+ &c.: Gooseberry--Cranberry--Heathberry--Dewater-berry--Black
+ Currans--Juniper-berry--Partridge-berry--Strawberry--Eye-berry--
+ Blue-berry--and a small species of Hips.
+
+ Burridge--Coltsfoot--Sorrel--Dandelion.
+
+ Wish-a-capucca--Jackashey-puck--Moss of various sorts--Grass of
+ several kinds--and Vetches.
+
+ The Trees found so far North near the Sea, consist only of
+ Pines--Juniper--Small Poplar--Bush-willows--and Creeping Birch
+ 335
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+For many years it was the opinion of all ranks of people, that the
+Hudson's Bay Company were averse to making discoveries of every kind;
+and being content with the profits of their small capital, as it was
+then called, did not want to increase their trade. What might have been
+the ideas of former members of the Company respecting the first part of
+these charges I cannot say, but I am well assured that they, as well as
+the present members, have always been ready to embrace every plausible
+plan for extending the trade. As a proof of this assertion, I need only
+mention the vast sums of money which they have expended at different
+times in endeavouring to establish fisheries, though without success:
+and the following Journey, together with the various attempts made by
+Bean, Christopher, Johnston, and Duncan,[13] to find a North West
+passage, are recent proofs that the present members are as desirous of
+making discoveries, as they are of extending their trade.
+
+That air of mystery, and affectation of secrecy, perhaps, which formerly
+attended some of the Company's proceedings in the Bay, might give rise
+to those conjectures; and the unfounded assertions and unjust aspersions
+of Dobbs, {xxii} Ellis, Robson, Dragge, and the American Traveller,[14]
+the only Authors that have written on Hudson's Bay, and who have all,
+from motives of interest or revenge, taken a particular pleasure in
+arraigning the conduct of the Company, without having any real knowledge
+of their proceedings, or any experience in their service, on which to
+found their charges, must have contributed to confirm the public in that
+opinion. Most of those Writers, however, advance such notorious
+absurdities, that none except those who are already prejudiced against
+the Company can give them credit.[B]
+
+Robson, from his six years' residence in Hudson's Bay and in the
+Company's service, might naturally have been supposed to know something
+of the climate and soil immediately round the Factories at which he
+resided; but the whole of his book is evidently written with prejudice,
+and dictated by a spirit of revenge, because his romantic and
+inconsistent schemes were rejected by the Company. Besides, it is well
+known that Robson was no more than a tool in the hand of Mr. Dobbs.
+
+The American Traveller, though a more elegant writer, has still less
+claim to our indulgence, as his assertions are {xxiii} a greater tax on
+our credulity. His saying that he discovered several large lumps of the
+finest virgin copper[C] is such a palpable falsehood that it needs no
+refutation. No man, either English or Indian, ever found a bit of copper
+in that country to the South of the seventy-first degree of
+latitude,[16] unless it had been accidentally dropped by some of the far
+Northern Indians in their way to the Company's Factory.
+
+The natives who range over, rather than inhabit, the large tract of land
+which lies to the North of Churchill River, having repeatedly brought
+samples of copper to the Company's Factory, many of our people
+conjectured that it was found not far from our settlements; and as the
+Indians informed them that the mines were not very distant from a large
+river, it was generally supposed that this river must empty itself into
+Hudson's Bay; as they could by no means think that any set of people,
+however wandering their manner of life might be, could ever traverse so
+large a tract of country as to pass the Northern boundary of that Bay,
+and particularly without the assistance of water-carriage. The following
+Journal, however, will show how much those people have been mistaken,
+and prove also the improbability of putting their favourite scheme of
+mining into practice.
+
+{xxiv} The accounts of this grand River, which some have turned into a
+Strait, together with the samples of copper, were brought to the
+Company's Factory at Churchill River immediately after its first
+establishment, in the year one thousand seven hundred and fifteen; and
+it does not appear that any attempts were made to discover either the
+river or mines till the year one thousand seven hundred and nineteen,
+when the Company fitted out a ship, called the _Albany Frigate_, Captain
+George Barlow,[D] and a sloop {xxv} called the _Discovery_, Captain
+David Vaughan. The sole command of this expedition, however, was given
+to Mr. James Knight, a man of great experience in the Company's service,
+who had been many years Governor at the different Factories in the Bay,
+and who had made the first settlement at Churchill River.
+Notwithstanding the experience Mr. Knight might have had of the
+Company's business, and his knowledge of those parts of the Bay where he
+had resided, it cannot be supposed he was well acquainted with the
+nature of the business in which he then engaged, having nothing to
+direct him but the slender and imperfect accounts which he had received
+from the Indians, who at that time were little known, and less
+understood.
+
+{xxvi} Those disadvantages, added to his advanced age, he being then
+near eighty, by no means discouraged this bold adventurer; who was so
+prepossessed of his success, and of the great advantage that would arise
+from his discoveries, that he procured, and took with him, some large
+iron-bound chests, to hold gold dust and other valuables, which he
+fondly flattered himself were to be found in those parts.
+
+The first paragraph of the Company's Orders to Mr. Knight on this
+occasion appears to be as follows:
+
+ "_To_ CAPTAIN JAMES KNIGHT.
+ "_4th June, 1719._
+
+ "SIR,
+
+ "From the experience we have had of your abilities in the
+ management of our affairs, we have, upon your application to us,
+ fitted out the _Albany_ frigate, Captain George Barlow, and the
+ _Discovery_, Captain David Vaughan, Commander, upon a discovery
+ to the Northward; and to that end have given you power and
+ authority to act and do all things relating to the said voyage,
+ the navigation of the said ship and sloop only excepted; and
+ have given orders and instructions to our said Commanders for
+ that purpose.
+
+ "You are, with the first opportunity of wind and weather, to
+ depart from Gravesend on your intended {xxvii} voyage, and by
+ God's permission, to find out the Straits of Anian, in order to
+ discover gold and other valuable commodities to the Northward,
+ &c. &c."
+
+Mr. Knight soon left Gravesend, and proceeded on his voyage; but the
+ship not returning to England that year, as was expected, it was judged
+that she had wintered in Hudson's Bay; and having on board a good stock
+of provisions, a house in frame, together with all necessary mechanics,
+and a great assortment of trading goods, little or no thoughts were
+entertained of their not being in safety; but as neither ship nor sloop
+returned to England in the following year, (one thousand seven hundred
+and twenty), the Company were much alarmed for their welfare; and, by
+their ship which went to Churchill in the year one thousand seven
+hundred and twenty-one, they sent orders for a sloop called the
+_Whale-Bone_, John Scroggs Master, to go in search of them; but the ship
+not arriving in Churchill till late in the year, those orders could not
+be put in execution till the Summer following (one thousand seven
+hundred and twenty-two).
+
+The North West coast of Hudson's Bay being little known in those days,
+and Mr. Scroggs finding himself greatly embarrassed with shoals and
+rocks, returned to Prince of Wales's Fort without making any certain
+discovery respecting the above ship or sloop; for all the marks he saw
+among the Esquimaux at Whale Cove scarcely {xxviii} amounted to the
+spoils which might have been made from a trifling accident, and
+consequently could not be considered as signs of a total shipwreck.
+
+The strong opinion which then prevailed in Europe respecting the
+probability of a North West passage by the way of Hudson's Bay, made
+many conjecture that Messrs. Knight and Barlow had found that passage,
+and had gone through it into the South Sea, by the way of California.
+Many years elapsed without any other convincing proof occurring to the
+contrary, except that Middleton, Ellis, Bean, Christopher, and Johnston,
+had not been able to find any such passage. And notwithstanding a sloop
+was annually sent to the Northward on discovery, and to trade with the
+Esquimaux, it was the Summer of one thousand seven hundred and
+sixty-seven, before we had positive proofs that poor Mr. Knight and
+Captain Barlow had been lost in Hudson's Bay.
+
+The Company were now carrying on a black whale fishery, and Marble
+Island was made the place of rendezvous, not only on account of the
+commodiousness of the harbour, but because it had been observed that the
+whales were more plentiful about that island than on any other part of
+the coast. This being the case, the boats, when on the look-out for
+fish, had frequent occasion to row close to the island, by which means
+they discovered a new harbour near the East end of it, at the head
+{xxix} of which they found guns, anchors, cables, bricks, a smith's
+anvil, and many other articles, which the hand of time had not defaced,
+and which being of no use to the natives, or too heavy to be removed by
+them, had not been taken from the place in which they were originally
+laid. The remains of the house, though pulled to pieces by the Esquimaux
+for the wood and iron, are yet very plain to be seen, as also the hulls,
+or more properly speaking, the bottoms of the ship and sloop, which lie
+sunk in about five fathoms water, toward the head of the harbour. The
+figure-head of the ship, and also the guns, &c. were sent home to the
+Company, and are certain proofs that Messrs. Knight and Barlow had been
+lost on that inhospitable island, where neither stick nor stump was to
+be seen, and which lies near sixteen miles from the main land. Indeed
+the main is little better, being a jumble of barren hills and rocks,
+destitute of every kind of herbage except moss and grass; and at that
+part, the woods are several hundreds of miles from the sea-side.
+
+In the Summer of one thousand seven hundred and sixty-nine, while we
+were prosecuting the fishery, we saw several Esquimaux at this new
+harbour; and perceiving that one or two of them were greatly advanced in
+years, our curiosity was excited to ask them some questions concerning
+the above ship and sloop, which we were the better enabled to do by the
+assistance of an Esquimaux, who was then in the Company's service as a
+linguist, and annually sailed in one of their vessels in that character.
+The {xxx} account which we received from them was full, clear, and
+unreserved, and the sum of it was to the following purport:
+
+When the vessels arrived at this place (Marble Island) it was very late
+in the Fall, and in getting them into the harbour, the largest received
+much damage; but on being fairly in, the English began to build the
+house, their number at that time seeming to be about fifty. As soon as
+the ice permitted, in the following Summer, (one thousand seven hundred
+and twenty), the Esquimaux paid them another visit, by which time the
+number of the English was greatly reduced, and those that were living
+seemed very unhealthy. According to the account given by the Esquimaux
+they were then very busily employed, but about what they could not
+easily describe, probably in lengthening the long-boat; for at a little
+distance from the house there is now lying a great quantity of oak
+chips, which have been most assuredly made by carpenters.
+
+Sickness and famine occasioned such havock among the English, that by
+the setting in of the second Winter their number was reduced to twenty.
+That Winter (one thousand seven hundred and twenty) some of the
+Esquimaux took up their abode on the opposite side of the harbour to
+that on which the English had built their houses,[E] and {xxxi}
+frequently supplied them with such provisions as they had, which chiefly
+consisted of whale's blubber and seal's flesh and train oil. When the
+Spring advanced, the Esquimaux went to the continent, and on their
+visiting Marble Island again, in the Summer of one thousand seven
+hundred and twenty-one, they only found five of the English alive, and
+those were in such distress for provisions that they eagerly eat the
+seal's flesh and whale's blubber quite raw, as they purchased it from
+the natives. This disordered them so much, that three of them died in a
+few days, and the other two, though very weak, made a shift to bury
+them. Those two survived many days after the rest, and frequently went
+to the top of an adjacent rock, and earnestly looked to the South and
+East, as if in expectation of some vessels coming to their relief. After
+continuing there a considerable time together, and nothing appearing in
+sight, they sat down close together, and wept bitterly. At length one of
+the two died, and the other's strength was so far exhausted, that he
+fell down and died also, in attempting to dig a grave for his companion.
+The {xxxii} sculls and other large bones of those two men are now lying
+above-ground close to the house. The longest liver was, according to the
+Esquimaux account, always employed in working of iron into implements
+for them; probably he was the armourer, or smith.
+
+Some Northern Indians who came to trade at Prince of Wales's Fort in the
+Spring of the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight, brought
+farther accounts of the grand river, as it was called, and also several
+pieces of copper, as samples of the produce of the mine near it; which
+determined Mr. Norton, who was then Governor at Churchill, to represent
+it to the Company as an affair worthy of their attention; and as he went
+that year to England, he had an opportunity of laying all the
+information he had received before the Board, with his opinion thereon,
+and the plan which he thought most likely to succeed in the discovery of
+those mines. In consequence of Mr. Norton's representations, the
+Committee resolved to send an intelligent person by land to observe the
+longitude and latitude of the river's mouth, to make a chart of the
+country he might walk through, with such remarks as occurred to him
+during the Journey; when I was pitched on as a proper person to conduct
+the expedition. By the ship that went to Churchill in the Summer of one
+thousand seven hundred and sixty-nine, the Company sent out some
+astronomical instruments, very portable, and fit for such observations
+as they required me {xxxiii} to make, and at the same time requested me
+to undertake the Journey, promising to allow me at my return, a gratuity
+proportionable to the trouble and fatigue I might undergo in the
+expedition.[F]
+
+{xxxiv} I did not hesitate to comply with the request of the Company,
+and in the November following, when some Northern Indians came to trade,
+Mr. Norton, who was then returned to the command of Prince of Wales's
+Fort, engaged such of them for my guides as he thought were most likely
+to answer the purpose; but none of them had been at this grand river. I
+was fitted out with everything thought necessary, and with ammunition to
+serve two years. I was to be accompanied by two of the Company's
+servants, two of the Home-guard[G] (Southern) Indians, {xxxv} and a
+sufficient number of Northern Indians to carry and haul my baggage,
+provide for me, &c. But for the better stating this arrangement, it will
+not be improper to insert my Instructions, which, with some occasional
+remarks thereon, will throw much light on the following Journal, and be
+the best method of proving how far those orders have been complied with,
+as well as shew my reasons for neglecting some parts as unnecessary, and
+the impossibility of putting other parts of them in execution.
+
+ "ORDERS _and_ INSTRUCTIONS _for_ Mr. SAMUEL HEARNE, _going on an
+ Expedition by Land towards the Latitude 70 deg. North, in order to
+ gain a Knowledge of the Northern Indians Country, &c. on Behalf
+ of the Honourable Hudson's Bay Company, in the Year 1769_.
+
+ "Mr. SAMUEL HEARNE,
+
+ "SIR,
+
+ "Whereas the Honourable Hudson's Bay Company have been informed
+ by the report from Indians, that there is a great probability of
+ considerable advantages to be expected from a better knowledge
+ of their country by us, than what hitherto has been obtained;
+ and as it is the Company's earnest desire to embrace every
+ circumstance that may tend to the benefit of the said Company,
+ or the Nation at large, they have requested you to conduct this
+ Expedition; and as you {xxxvi} have readily consented to
+ undertake the present Journey, you are hereby desired to proceed
+ as soon as possible, with William Isbester sailor, and Thomas
+ Merriman landsman, as companions, they both being willing to
+ accompany you; also two of the Home-guard Southern Indians, who
+ are to attend and assist you during the Journey; and Captain
+ Chawchinahaw, his Lieutenant Nabyah, and six or eight of the
+ best Northern Indians we can procure, with a small part of their
+ families, are to conduct you, provide for you, and assist you
+ and your companions in every thing that lays in their power,
+ having particular orders so to do.
+
+ "2dly, Whereas you and your companions are well fitted-out with
+ every thing we think necessary, as also a sample of light
+ trading goods; these you are to dispose of by way of presents
+ (and not by way of trade) to such far-off Indians as you may
+ meet with, and to smoke your Calimut[H] of Peace with their
+ leaders, in order to establish a friendship with them. You are
+ also to persuade them as much as possible from going to war with
+ each other, to encourage them to exert themselves in procuring
+ furrs and other articles for trade, and to assure them of good
+ payment for them at the Company's Factory.
+
+ "It is sincerely recommended to you and your companions to treat
+ the natives with civility, so as not to give {xxxvii} them any
+ room for complaint or disgust, as they have strict orders not to
+ give you the least offence, but are to aid and assist you in any
+ matter you may request of them for the benefit of the
+ undertaking.
+
+ "If any Indians you may meet, that are coming to the Fort,
+ should be willing to trust you with either food or clothing,
+ make your agreement for those commodities, and by them send me a
+ letter, specifying the quantity of each article, and they shall
+ be paid according to your agreement. And, according to the
+ Company's orders, you are to correspond with me, or the Chief at
+ Prince of Wales's Fort for the time being, at all opportunities:
+ And as you have mathematical instruments with you, you are to
+ send me, or the Chief for the time being, an account of what
+ latitude and longitude you may be in at such and such periods,
+ together with the heads of your proceedings; which accounts are
+ to be remitted to the Company by the return of their ships.[I]
+
+ "3dly, The Indians who are now appointed your guides, are to
+ conduct you to the borders of the Athapuscow[J] Indians country,
+ where Captain Matonabbee {xxxviii} is to meet you[K] in the
+ Spring of one thousand seven hundred and seventy, in order to
+ conduct you to a river represented by the Indians to abound with
+ copper ore, animals of the furr kind, &c., and which is said to
+ be so far to the Northward, that in the middle of the Summer the
+ Sun does not set, and is supposed by the Indians to empty itself
+ into some ocean. This river, which is called by the Northern
+ Indians Neetha-san-san-dazey, or the Far Off Metal River, you
+ are, if possible, to trace to the mouth, and there determine the
+ latitude and longitude as near as you can; but more particularly
+ so if you find it navigable, and that a settlement can be made
+ there with any degree of safety, or benefit to the Company.
+
+ "Be careful to observe what mines are near the river, what water
+ there is at the river's mouth, how far the woods are from the
+ sea-side, 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 {xxxix} name
+ on some of the rocks, as also the date of the year, month,
+ &c.[L]
+
+ "When you attempt to trace this or any other river, be careful
+ that the Indians are furnished with a sufficient number of
+ canoes for trying the depth of water, the strength of the
+ current, &c. If by any unforeseen accident or disaster you
+ should not be able to reach the before-mentioned river, it is
+ earnestly recommended to you, if possible, to know the event of
+ Wager Strait;[M] for it is represented by the last discoverers
+ to terminate in small rivers and lakes. See how far the woods
+ are from the navigable parts of it; and whether a settlement
+ could with any propriety be made there. If this should prove
+ unworthy of notice, you are to take the same method with Baker's
+ Lake, which is the head of {xl} Bowden's or Chesterfield's
+ Inlet;[N] as also with any other rivers you may meet with; and
+ if likely to be of any utility, you are to take possession of
+ them, as before mentioned, on the behalf of the Honourable
+ Hudson's Bay Company. The draft of Bowden's Inlet and Wager
+ Strait I send with you, that you may have a better idea of those
+ places, in case of your visiting them.
+
+ "4thly, Another material point which is recommended to you, is
+ to find out, if you can, either by your own travels, or by
+ information from the Indians, whether there is a passage through
+ this continent.[O] It will be {xli} very useful to clear up this
+ point, if possible, in order to prevent farther doubts from
+ arising hereafter respecting a passage out of Hudson's Bay[P]
+ into the Western Ocean, as hath lately been represented by the
+ American Traveller. The particulars of those remarks you are to
+ insert in your Journal, to be remitted home to the Company.
+
+ "If you should want any supplies of ammunition, or other
+ necessaries, dispatch some trusty Indians to the Fort with a
+ letter, specifying the quantity of each article, and appoint a
+ place for the said Indians to meet you again.
+
+ "When on your return, if at a proper time of the year, and you
+ should be near any of the harbours that are frequented by the
+ brigantine _Charlotte_, or the sloop _Churchill_, during their
+ voyage to the Northward, and you should chuse to return in one
+ of them, you are desired to make frequent smokes as you approach
+ those harbours, and they will endeavour to receive you by making
+ smokes in answer to yours; and as one thousand seven hundred and
+ seventy-one will probably be the year in which you will return,
+ the Masters of those vessels at that period shall have
+ particular orders on that head.
+
+ {xlii} "It will be pleasing to hear by the first opportunity, in
+ what latitude and longitude you meet the Leader Matonabbee, and
+ how far he thinks it is to the Coppermine River, as also the
+ probable time it may take before you can return. But in case any
+ thing should prevent the said Leader from joining you, according
+ to expectation, you are then to procure the best Indians you can
+ for your guides, and either add to, or diminish, your number, as
+ you may from time to time think most necessary for the good of
+ the expedition.
+
+ "So I conclude, wishing you and your companions a continuance of
+ health, together with a prosperous Journey, and a happy return
+ in safety. Amen.
+
+ "MOSES NORTON, Governor.
+
+ "Dated at Prince of Wales's Fort, Churchill River, Hudson's
+ "Bay, North America, November 6th, 1769."
+
+Isbester and Merriman, mentioned in my Instructions, actually
+accompanied me during my first short attempt; but the Indians knowing
+them to be but common men, used them so indifferently, particularly in
+scarce times, that I was under some apprehensions of their being starved
+to death, and I thought myself exceedingly happy when I got them safe
+back to the Factory. This extraordinary behaviour of the Indians made me
+determine not to take any Europeans with me on my two last expeditions.
+
+{xliii} With regard to that part of my Instructions which directs me to
+observe the nature of the soil, the productions thereof, &c., it must be
+observed, that during the whole time of my absence from the Fort, I was
+invariably confined to stony hills and barren plains all the Summer, and
+before we approached the woods in the Fall of the year, the ground was
+always covered with snow to a considerable depth; so that I never had an
+opportunity of seeing any of the small plants and shrubs to the
+Westward. But from appearances, and the slow and dwarfy growth of the
+woods, &c. (except in the Athapuscow country), there is undoubtedly a
+greater scarcity of vegetable productions than at the Company's most
+Northern Settlement; and to the Eastward of the woods, on the barren
+grounds, whether hills or vallies, there is a total want of herbage
+except moss, on which the deer feed; a few dwarf willows creep among the
+moss; some wish-a-capucca and a little grass may be seen here and there,
+but the latter is scarcely sufficient to serve the geese and other birds
+of passage during their short stay in those parts, though they are
+always in a state of migration, except when they are breeding and in a
+moulting state.
+
+In consequence of my complying with the Company's request, and
+undertaking this Journey, it is natural to suppose that every necessary
+arrangement was made for the easier keeping of my reckoning, &c., under
+the many inconveniences I must be unavoidably obliged to labour in such
+an expedition. I drew a Map on a large skin of parchment, that contained
+twelve degrees of latitude {xliv} North, and thirty degrees of longitude
+West, of Churchill Factory, and sketched all the West coast of the Bay
+on it, but left the interior parts blank, to be filled up during my
+Journey. I also prepared detached pieces on a much larger scale for
+every degree of latitude and longitude contained in the large Map. On
+those detached pieces I pricked off my daily courses and distance, and
+entered all lakes and rivers, &c., that I met with; endeavouring, by a
+strict enquiry of the natives, to find out the communication of one
+river with another, as also their connections with the many lakes with
+which that country abounds: and when opportunity offered, having
+corrected them by observations, I entered them in the general Map. These
+and several other necessary preparations, for the easier, readier, and
+more correctly keeping my Journal and Chart, were also adopted; but as
+to myself, little was required to be done, as the nature of travelling
+long journies in those countries will never admit of carrying even the
+most common article of clothing; so that the traveller is obliged to
+depend on the country he passes through, for that article, as well as
+for provisions. Ammunition, useful iron-work, some tobacco, a few
+knives, and other indispensable articles, make a sufficient load for any
+one to carry that is going a journey likely to last twenty months, or
+two years. As that was the case, I only took the shirt and clothes I
+then had on, one spare coat, a pair of drawers, and as much cloth as
+would make me two or three pair of Indian stockings, which, together
+with a blanket for bedding, composed the whole of my stock of clothing.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[13] John Bean was master of the Company's sloop trading to Knapp's Bay
+and Whale Cove in 1756 and subsequent years, but no more is known of
+him. Captain Christopher was sent from Churchill in 1761 to examine
+Chesterfield Inlet, and during that and the following years he explored
+it to the head of Baker Lake. Magnus Johnson explored Rankin Inlet in
+1764. Captain Duncan in 1791 explored Corbett's Inlet, and in the
+following year made a re-examination of Chesterfield Inlet, and ascended
+a short distance up Dubawnt River.
+
+[14] "An Account of the Countries adjoining to Hudson's Bay." By Arthur
+Dobbs. London, 1774.
+
+"A Voyage to Hudson's Bay by the _Dobbs Galley_ and _California_ in the
+Years 1746 and 1747." By Henry Ellis. London, 1748.
+
+"An Account of Six Years' Residence in Hudson's Bay." By Joseph Robson.
+London, 1752.
+
+"An Account of a Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage
+Performed in the Years 1746 and 1747," 2 vols. By the Clerk of the
+_California_ [T. S. Dragge]. London, 1748.
+
+"The American Traveller." By an Old and Experienced Trader [Alexander
+Cluny], London, 1769.
+
+[B] Since the above was written, a Mr. Umfreville has published an
+account of Hudson's Bay, with the same ill-nature as the former Authors;
+and for no other reason than that of being disappointed in succeeding to
+a command in the Bay, though there was no vacancy for him.[15]
+
+[15] Umfreville states (p. 3) that he entered the service of the
+Hudson's Bay Company in the capacity of writer at the salary of L15 a
+year, and continued in that employ eleven years. But some disagreement
+arising in point of salary he quitted the service. ("The Present State
+of Hudson's Bay." By Edward Umfreville. London, 1790.)
+
+[C] American Traveller, p. 23.[17]
+
+[16] As Hearne's latitudes of the Coppermine River are much too far
+north, this should be changed to read "the sixty-seventh degree of
+latitude."
+
+[17] The American Traveller is speaking of the possibility of opening up
+a trade in copper, and he says that in 1744 he discovered several large
+lumps of copper, but he doubtless meant that he was shown it by the
+natives, or found it with them.
+
+[D] Captain Barlow was Governor at Albany Fort when the French went over
+land from Canada to besiege it in 1704. The Canadians and their Indian
+guides lurked in the neighbourhood of Albany for several days before
+they made the attack, and killed many of the cattle that were grazing in
+the marshes. A faithful Home-Indian, who was on a hunting excursion,
+discovering those strangers, and supposing them to be enemies,
+immediately returned to the Fort, and informed the Governor of the
+circumstance, who gave little credit to it. However, every measure was
+taken for the defence of the Fort, and orders were given to the Master
+of a sloop that lay at some distance, to come to the Fort with all
+possible expedition on hearing a gun fired.
+
+Accordingly, in the middle of the night, or rather in the morning, the
+French came before the Fort, marched up to the gate, and demanded
+entrance. Mr. Barlow, who was then on the watch, told them that the
+Governor was asleep, but he would get the keys immediately. The French,
+hearing this, expected no opposition, and flocked up to the gate as
+close as they could stand. Barlow took the advantage of this
+opportunity, and instead of opening the gate, only opened two port
+holes, where two six-pounders stood loaded with grape shot, which were
+instantly fired. This discharge killed great numbers of the French, and
+among them the Commander, who was an Irishman.
+
+Such an unexpected reception made the remainder retire with great
+precipitation; and the Master of the sloop hearing the guns, made the
+best of his way up to the Fort; but some of the French who lay concealed
+under the banks of the river killed him, and all the boat's crew.
+
+The French retired from this place with reluctance; for some of them
+were heard shooting in the neighbourhood of the Fort ten days after they
+were repulsed; and one man in particular walked up and down the platform
+leading from the gate of the Fort to the Launch for a whole day. Mr.
+Fullarton, who was then Governor at Albany, spoke to him in French, and
+offered him kind quarters if he chose to accept them; but to those
+proposals he made no reply, and only shook his head. Mr. Fullarton then
+told him, that unless he would resign himself up as a prisoner, he would
+most assuredly shoot him; on which the man advanced nearer the Fort, and
+Mr. Fullarton shot him out of his chamber window. Perhaps the hardships
+this poor man expected to encounter in his return to Canada, made him
+prefer death; but his refusing to receive quarter from so humane and
+generous an enemy as the English, is astonishing.
+
+[E] I have seen the remains of those houses several times; they are on
+the West side of the harbour, and in all probability will be discernible
+for many years to come.
+
+It is rather surprising, that neither Middleton, Ellis, Christopher,
+Johnston, nor Garbet, who have all of them been at Marble Island, and
+some of them often, ever discovered this harbour; particularly the
+last-mentioned gentleman, who actually sailed quite round the island in
+a very fine pleasant day in the Summer of 1766. But this discovery was
+reserved for a Mr. Joseph Stephens! a man of the least merit I ever
+knew, though he then had the command of a vessel called the _Success_,
+employed in the whale-fishery; and in the year 1769, had the command of
+the _Charlotte_ given to him, a fine brig of one hundred tons; when I
+was his mate.
+
+[F] The conditions offered me on this occasion cannot be better
+expressed than in the Company's own words, which I have transcribed from
+their private letter to me, dated 25th May 1769:
+
+"From the good opinion we entertain of you, and Mr. Norton's
+recommendation, we have agreed to raise your wages to L----[18] _per
+annum_ for two years, and have placed you in our Council at Prince of
+Wales's 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, &c.; 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 on the
+whale-fishery last year, and heartily wish you health and success in the
+present expedition.
+
+"We remain your loving Friends,
+
+ "BIBYE LAKE, Dep. Gov.
+ "JOHN ANTHONY MERLE.
+ "ROBERT MERRY.
+ "SAMUEL WEGG.
+ "JAMES WINTER LAKE.
+ "HERMAN BERENS.
+ "JOSEPH SPURREL.
+ "JAMES FITZ GERALD."
+
+The Company had no sooner perused my Journals and Charts, than they
+ordered a handsome sum to be placed to the credit of my account; and in
+the two first paragraphs of their letter to me, dated 12th May 1773,
+they express themselves in the following words:
+
+ "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 convince us
+ of your very judicious remarks.
+
+ "We have maturely considered your great assiduity in the various
+ accidents which occurred in your several Journies. We hereby
+ return you our grateful thanks; and to manifest our obligation
+ we have consented to allow you a gratuity of L----[19] for those
+ services."
+
+As a farther proof of the Company's being perfectly satisfied with my
+conduct while on that Journey, the Committee unanimously appointed me
+Chief of Prince of Wales's Fort in the Summer of 1775; and Mr. Bibye
+Lake, who was then Governor, and several others of the Committee,
+honoured me with a regular correspondence as long as they lived.
+
+[18] Stated by Beckles Willson to be L130.
+
+[19] Stated by Beckles Willson to be L200.
+
+[G] By the Home-guard Indians we are to understand certain of the
+natives who are immediately employed under the protection of the
+Company's servants, reside on the plantation, and are employed in
+hunting for the Factory.[20]
+
+[20] The Southern or Homeguard Indians here referred to were Crees, one
+of the most numerous tribes of the Algonquian family. The Northern
+Indians were Chipewyans, a tribe of the Tinne family.
+
+[H] The Calimut is a long ornamented stem of a pipe, much in use among
+all the tribes of Indians who know the use of tobacco. It is
+particularly used in all cases of ceremony, either in making war or
+peace; at all public entertainments, orations, &c.
+
+[I] No convenient opportunity offered during my last Journey, except
+one, on the 22d March 1771; and as nothing material had happened during
+that part of my Journey, I thought there was not any necessity for
+sending an extract of my Journal; I therefore only sent a Letter to the
+Governor, informing him of my situation with respect to latitude and
+longitude, and some account of the usage which I received from the
+natives, &c.
+
+[J] By mistake in my former Journal and Draft called Arathapefcow.
+
+[K] This was barely probable, as Matonabbee at that time had not any
+information of this Journey being set on foot, much less had he received
+orders to join me at the place and time here appointed; and had we
+accidentally met, he would by no means have undertaken the Journey
+without first going to the Factory, and there making his agreement with
+the Governor; for no Indian is fond of performing any particular service
+for the English, without first knowing what is to be his reward. At the
+same time, had I taken that rout on my out-set, it would have carried me
+some hundreds of miles out of my road. See my Track on the Map in the
+Winter 1770, and the Spring 1771.
+
+[L] I was not provided with instruments for cutting on stone; but for
+form-sake, I cut my name, date of the year, &c., 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.
+
+[M] There is certainly no harm in making out all Instructions in the
+fullest manner, yet it must be allowed that those two parts might have
+been omitted with great propriety; for as neither Middleton, Ellis, nor
+Christopher were able to penetrate far enough up those inlets to
+discover any kind of herbage except moss and grass, much less woods, it
+was not likely those parts were so materially altered for the better
+since their times, as to make it worth my while to attempt a farther
+discovery of them; and especially as I had an opportunity, during my
+second Journey, of proving that the woods do not reach the sea-coast by
+some hundreds of miles in the parallel of Chesterfield's Inlet. And as
+the edge of the woods to the Northward always tends to the Westward, the
+distance must be greatly increased in the latitude of Wager Strait.
+Those parts have long since been visited by the Company's servants, and
+are within the known limits of their Charter; consequently require no
+other form of possession.
+
+[N] See the preceding Note.
+
+[O] The Continent of America is much wider than many people imagine,
+particularly Robson, who thought that the Pacific Ocean was but a few
+days journey from the West coast of Hudson's Bay. This, however, is so
+far from being the case, that when I was at my greatest Western
+distance, upward of five hundred miles from Prince of Wales's Fort, the
+natives, my guides, well knew that many tribes of Indians lay to the
+West of us, and they knew no end to the land in that direction; nor have
+I met with any Indians, either Northern or Southern, that ever had seen
+the sea to the Westward. It is, indeed, 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
+manufactory.
+
+I have seen several Indians who have been so far West as to cross the
+top of that immense chain of mountains which run from North to South of
+the continent of America. Beyond those mountains all rivers run to the
+Westward. I must here observe, that all the Indians I ever heard relate
+their excursions in that country, had invariably got so far to the
+South, that they did not experience any Winter, nor the least appearance
+of either frost or snow, though sometimes they have been absent eighteen
+months, or two years.[21]
+
+[21] In the year 1745 Anthony Hendry, under instructions from the
+Hudson's Bay Company, had travelled inland from York Factory to the
+upper waters of the Saskatchewan River, where he met the
+E-arch-e-thinnews or Blackfeet Indians.
+
+[P] As to a passage through the continent of America by the way of
+Hudson's Bay, it has so long been explored, notwithstanding what Mr.
+Ellis has urged in its favour, and the place it has found in the
+visionary Map of the American Traveller, that any comment on it would be
+quite unnecessary. My latitude only will be a sufficient proof that no
+such passage is in existence.
+
+
+[Illustration: A NORTH-WEST VIEW OF PRINCE OF WALES'S FORT IN HUDSON'S
+BAY, NORTH AMERICA
+By Samuel Hearne, 1777]
+
+
+
+
+ A
+ JOURNEY
+ TO THE
+ NORTHERN OCEAN.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. I.
+
+ Transactions from my leaving Prince of Wales's Fort on my first
+ expedition, till our arrival there again.
+
+ _Set off from the Fort--Arrive at Po-co-ree-kis-co River--One of
+ the Northern Indians desert--Cross Seal River, and walk on the
+ barren grounds--Receive wrong information concerning the
+ distance of the woods--Weather begins to be very cold,
+ provisions all expended and nothing to be got--Strike to the
+ Westward, arrive at the woods, and kill three deer--Set forward
+ in the North West quarter, see the tracks of musk-oxen and deer,
+ but killed none--Very short of provisions--Chawchinahaw wants us
+ to return--Neither he nor his crew contribute to our
+ maintenance--He influences several of the Indians to
+ desert--Chawchinahaw and all his crew leave us--Begin our return
+ to the factory; kill a few partridges, the first meal we had had
+ for several days--Villany of one of the home Indians and his
+ wife, who was a Northern Indian woman--Arrive at Seal River,
+ kill two deer; partridges plenty--Meet a strange Northern
+ Indian, accompany him to his tent, usage received there; my
+ Indians assist in killing some beaver--Proceed toward home, and
+ arrive at the Fort._
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1769. November 6th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1769. November.]
+
+Having made every necessary arrangement for my departure on the sixth of
+November, I took leave of the Governor, and my other friends, at Prince
+of Wales's Fort, and began my journey, under the salute of seven
+cannon.
+
+[Sidenote: 8th.]
+
+{2} The weather at that time being very mild, made it but indifferent
+hauling,[Q] and all my crew being heavy laden, occasioned us to make but
+short journeys; however, on the eighth, we crossed the North branch of
+Po-co-ree-kis-co River,[22] and that night put up in a small tuft of
+woods, which is between it and Seal River. In the night, one of the
+Northern Indians deserted; and as all the rest of my crew were heavy
+laden, I was under the necessity of hauling the sledge he had left,
+which however was not very heavy, as it scarcely exceeded sixty pounds.
+
+[Sidenote: 9th.]
+
+The weather still continued very fine and pleasant; we directed our
+course to the West North West, and early in the day crossed Seal River.
+In the course of this day's journey we met several Northern Indians, who
+were going to the factory with furs and venison; and as we had not
+killed any deer from our leaving the Fort, I got several joints of
+venison from those strangers, and gave them a note on the Governor for
+payment, which seemed perfectly agreeable to all parties.
+
+[Sidenote: 1769. November.]
+
+When on the North West side of Seal River, I asked Captain Chawchinahaw
+the distance, and probable time it would take, before we could reach the
+main woods; which he assured me would not exceed four or five days
+journey. This put both me and my companions in good {3} spirits, and we
+continued our course between the West by North and North West, in daily
+expectation of arriving at those woods, which we were told would furnish
+us with every thing the country affords. These accounts were so far from
+being true, that after we had walked double the time here mentioned, no
+signs of woods were to be seen in the direction we were then steering;
+but we had frequently seen the looming of woods to the South West.
+
+[Sidenote: 19th.]
+
+The cold being now very intense, our small stock of English provisions
+all expended, and not the least thing to be got on the bleak hills we
+had for some time been walking on, it became necessary to strike more to
+the Westward, which we accordingly did, and the next evening arrived at
+some small patches of low scrubby woods, where we saw the tracks of
+several deer,[23] and killed a few partridges. The road we had traversed
+for many days before, was in general so rough and stony, that our
+sledges were daily breaking; and to add to the inconveniency, the land
+was so barren, as not to afford us materials for repairing them: but the
+few woods we now fell in with, amply supplied us with necessaries for
+those repairs; and as we were then enabled each night to pitch proper
+tents, our lodging was much more comfortable than it had been for many
+nights before, while we were on the barren grounds, where, in general,
+we thought ourselves well off if we could scrape together as many shrubs
+as would make a fire; but it {4} was scarcely ever in our power to make
+any other defence against the weather, than by digging a hole in the
+snow down to the moss, wrapping ourselves up in our clothing, and lying
+down in it, with our sledges set up edgeways to windward.
+
+[Sidenote: 21st.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1769. November.]
+
+On the twenty-first, we did not move; so the Indian men went a hunting,
+and the women cut holes in the ice and caught a few fish in a small
+lake, by the side of which we had pitched our tents. At night the men
+returned with some venison, having killed three deer, which was without
+doubt very acceptable; but our number being great, and the Indians
+having such enormous stomachs, very little was left but fragments after
+the two or three first good meals. Having devoured the three deer, and
+given some necessary repairs to our sledges and snow shoes, which only
+took one day, we again proceeded on toward the North West by West and
+West North West, through low scrubby pines,[24] intermixed with some
+dwarf larch,[25] which is commonly called juniper in Hudson's Bay. In
+our road we frequently saw the tracks of deer, and many musk-oxen,[26]
+as they are called there; but none of my companions were so fortunate as
+to kill any of them: so that a few partridges were all we could get to
+live on, and those were so scarce, that we seldom could kill as many as
+would amount to half a bird a day for each man; which, considering we
+had nothing else for the twenty-four hours, was in reality next to
+nothing.
+
+[Sidenote: 26th.]
+
+{5} By this time I found that Captain Chawchinahaw had not the
+prosperity of the undertaking at heart; he often painted the
+difficulties in the worst colours, took every method to dishearten me
+and my European companions, and several times hinted his desire of our
+returning back to the factory: but finding I was determined to proceed,
+he took such methods as he thought would be most likely to answer his
+end; one of which was, that of not administering toward our support;
+so that we were a considerable time without any other subsistence, but
+what our two home-guard (Southern) Indians procured, and the little that
+I and the two European men could kill; which was very disproportionate
+to our wants, as we had to provide for several women and children who
+were with us.
+
+[Sidenote: 29th.]
+
+Chawchinahaw finding that this kind of treatment was not likely to
+complete his design, and that we were not to be starved into compliance,
+at length influenced several of the best Northern Indians to desert in
+the night, who took with them several bags of my ammunition, some pieces
+of iron work, such as hatchets, ice chissels, files, &c., as well as
+several other useful articles.
+
+[Sidenote: 30th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1769. November.]
+
+When I became acquainted with this piece of villany, I asked
+Chawchinahaw the reason of such behaviour. To which he answered, that he
+knew nothing of the affair: but as that was the case, it would not be
+{6} prudent, he said, for us to proceed any farther; adding, that he and
+all the rest of his countrymen were going to strike off another way, in
+order to join the remainder of their wives and families: and after
+giving us a short account which way to steer our course for the nearest
+part of Seal River, which he said would be our best way homeward, he and
+his crew delivered me most of the things which they had in charge,
+packed up their awls, and set out toward the South West, making the
+woods ring with their laughter, and left us to consider of our unhappy
+situation, near two hundred miles from Prince of Wales's Fort, all
+heavily laden, and our strength and spirits greatly reduced by hunger
+and fatigue.
+
+Our situation at that time, though very alarming, would not permit us to
+spend much time in reflection; so we loaded our sledges to the best
+advantage (but were obliged to throw away some bags of shot and ball),
+and immediately set out on our return. In the course of the day's walk
+we were fortunate enough to kill several partridges, for which we were
+all very thankful, as it was the first meal we had had for several days:
+indeed, for the five preceding days we had not killed as much as
+amounted to half a partridge for each man; and some days had not a
+single mouthful. While we were in this distress, the Northern Indians
+were by no means in want; for as they always walked foremost, they {7}
+had ten times the chance to kill partridges, rabbits, or any other thing
+which was to be met with, than we had. Beside this advantage, they had
+great stocks of flour, oatmeal, and other English provisions, which they
+had embezzled out of my stock during the early part of the journey; and
+as one of my home Indians, called Mackachy, and his wife, who is a
+Northern Indian woman, always resorted to the Northern Indians tents,
+where they got amply supplied with provisions when neither I nor my men
+had a single mouthful, I have great reason to suspect they had a
+principal hand in the embezzlement: indeed, both the man and his wife
+were capable of committing any crime, however diabolical.
+
+[Sidenote: 1769. December. 1st.]
+
+This day we had fine pleasant weather for the season of the year: we set
+out early in the morning, and arrived the same day at Seal River, along
+which we continued our course for several days. In our way we killed
+plenty of partridges, and saw many deer; but the weather was so
+remarkably serene that the Indians only killed two of the latter. By
+this time game was become so plentiful, that all apprehensions of
+starving were laid aside; and though we were heavily laden, and
+travelled pretty good days' journeys, yet as our spirits were good, our
+strength gradually returned.
+
+[Sidenote: 5th.]
+
+In our course down Seal River we met a stranger, a Northern Indian, on a
+hunting excursion; and though {8} he had not met with any success that
+day, yet he kindly invited us to his tent, saying he had plenty of
+venison at my service; and told the Southern Indians, that as there were
+two or three beaver houses near his tent, he should be glad of their
+assistance in taking them, for there was only one man and three women at
+the tent.
+
+[Sidenote: 1769. December.]
+
+Though we were at that time far from being in want of provisions, yet we
+accepted his offer, and set off with our new guide for his tent, which,
+by a comparative distance, he told us, was not above five miles from the
+place where we met him, but we found it to be nearer fifteen; so that it
+was the middle of the night before we arrived at it. When we drew near
+the tent, the usual signal for the approach of strangers was given, by
+firing a gun or two, which was immediately answered by the man at the
+tent. On our arrival at the door, the good man of the house came out,
+shook me by the hand, and welcomed us to his tent; but as it was too
+small to contain us all, he ordered his women to assist us in pitching
+our tent; and in the mean time invited me and as many of my crew as his
+little habitation could contain, and regaled us with the best in the
+house. The pipe went round pretty briskly, and the conversation
+naturally turned on the treatment we had received from Chawchinahaw and
+his gang; which was always answered by our host with, "Ah! if I had
+been there, it should not have been so!" when, notwithstanding his
+hospitality on the present occasion, he {9} would most assuredly have
+acted the same part as the others had done, if he had been of the party.
+
+Having refreshed ourselves with a plentiful supper, we took leave of our
+host for a while, and retired to our tent; but not without being made
+thoroughly sensible that many things would be expected from me before I
+finally left them.
+
+[Sidenote: 6th.]
+
+Early in the morning, my Indians assisted us in taking the beaver houses
+already mentioned[27]; but the houses being small, and some of the
+beavers escaping, they only killed six, all of which were cooked the
+same night, and voraciously devoured under the denomination of a feast.
+I also received from the Indians several joints of venison, to the
+amount of at least two deer; but notwithstanding I was to pay for the
+whole, I found that Mackachy and his wife got all the prime parts of the
+meat; and on my mentioning it to them, there was so much clanship among
+them, that they preferred making a present of it to Mackachy, to selling
+it to me at double the price for which venison sells in those parts: a
+sufficient proof of the singular advantage which a native of this
+country has over an Englishman, when at such a distance from the
+Company's Factories as to depend entirely on them for subsistence.
+
+[Sidenote: 7th.]
+
+{10} Thinking I had made my stay here long enough, I gave orders to
+prepare for our departure; and as I had purchased plenty of meat for
+present use while we were at this tent, so I likewise procured such a
+supply to carry with us, as was likely to last us to the Fort.
+
+[Sidenote: 8th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1769. December. 11th.]
+
+Early in the morning we took a final leave of our host, and proceeded on
+our journey homewards. One of the strangers accompanied us, for which at
+first I could not see his motive; but soon after our arrival at the
+Factory, I found that the purport of his visit was to be paid for the
+meat, said to be given _gratis_ to Mackachy while we were at his tent.
+The weather continued very fine, but extremely cold; and during this
+part of my journey nothing material happened, till we arrived safe at
+Prince of Wales's Fort on the eleventh of December, to my own great
+mortification, and to the no small surprise of the Governor, who had
+placed great confidence in the abilities and conduct of Chawchinahaw.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Q] The colder the weather is, the easier the sledges slide over the
+snow.
+
+[22] On modern maps this stream is known as Pauk-athakuskow River. The
+Chipewyan Indians of Fort Churchill and vicinity know it by the name of
+Beskai deze or Knife River, while the white people at Churchill know it
+as North River. Churchill River is called by the Chipewyans 'Tsan deze,
+meaning Iron or Metal River.
+
+[23] _Rangifer arcticus_ (Rich.).--E. A. P.
+
+[24] _Picea alba_ (Ait.).--E. A. P.
+
+[25] _Larix laricina_ (Du Roi).--E. A. P.
+
+[26] _Ovibos moschatus_ (Zimm.).--E. A. P.
+
+[27] _Castor canadensis_ Kuhl. This is the most northerly record near
+the coast.--E. A. P.
+
+
+
+
+{11} CHAP. II.
+
+ Transactions from our arrival at the Factory, to my leaving it
+ again, and during the first part of my second journey, till I
+ had the misfortune to break the quadrant.
+
+ _Transactions at the Factory--Proceed on my second
+ journey--Arrive at Seal River--Deer plentiful for some
+ time--Method of angling fish under the ice--Set our fishing
+ nets--Methods of setting nets under the ice--My guide proposes
+ to stay till the geese began to fly; his reasons accepted--Pitch
+ our tent in the best manner--Method of pitching a tent in
+ winter--Fish plentiful for some time; grow very scarce; in great
+ want of provisions--Manner of employing my time--My guide killed
+ two deer--Move to the place they were lying at; there kill
+ several more deer, and three beavers--Soon in want of provisions
+ again--Many Indians join us from the Westward--We begin to move
+ towards the barren ground--Arrive at She-than-nee, and there
+ suffer great distress for want of provisions--Indians kill two
+ swans and three geese--Geese and other birds of passage
+ plentiful--Leave She-than-nee, and arrive at Beralzone--One of
+ my companions guns bursts, and shatters his left hand--Leave
+ Beralzone, and get on the barren ground, clear of all
+ woods--Throw away our sledges and snow shoes--Each person takes
+ a load on his back; my part of the luggage--Exposed to many
+ hardships--Several days without victuals--Indians kill three
+ musk oxen, but for want of fire are obliged to eat the meat
+ raw--Fine weather returns; make a fire; effects of long fasting;
+ stay a day or two to dry some meat in the sun--Proceed to the
+ Northward, and arrive at Cathawhachaga; there find some tents of
+ Indians--A Northern leader called Keelshies meets us; send a
+ letter by him to the Governor--Transactions at Cathawhachaga;
+ leave it, and proceed to the Northward--Meet several Indians--My
+ guide not willing to proceed; his {12} reasons for it--Many more
+ Indians join us--Arrive at Doobaunt Whoie River--Manner of
+ ferrying over rivers in the Northern Indian canoes--No rivers in
+ those parts in a useful direction for the natives--Had nearly
+ lost the quadrant and all the powder--Some reflections on our
+ situation, and the conduct of the Indians--Find the quadrant and
+ part of the powder--Observe for the latitude--Quadrant
+ broke--Resolve to return again to the Factory._
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. February.]
+
+During my absence from Prince of Wales's Fort on my former journey,
+several Northern Indians arrived in great distress at the Factory, and
+were employed in shooting partridges for the use of our people at the
+Fort. One of those Indians called Conne-e-quese, said he had been very
+near to the famous river I was engaged to go in quest of. Accordingly
+Mr. Norton engaged him and two other Northern Indians to accompany me on
+this second attempt; but to avoid all incumbrances as much as possible,
+it was thought advisable not to take any women,[R] that the Indians
+might have fewer to provide for. I would not permit any European to go
+with me, but two of the home-guard (Southern) Indian men were to
+accompany me as before. Indeed the Indians, both Northern and Southern,
+paid so little attention to Isbester and Merriman on my former journey,
+particularly in times of scarcity, that I was determined not to take
+them with me in future; though the former was very desirous to accompany
+me again, and was well calculated to encounter the hardships of {13}
+such an undertaking. Merriman was quite sick of such excursions, and so
+far from offering his service a second time, seemed to be very thankful
+that he was once more arrived in safety among his friends; for before he
+got to the Factory he had contracted a most violent cold.
+
+Having come to the above resolutions, and finally determined on the
+number of Indians that were to accompany us, we were again fitted out
+with a large supply of ammunition, and as many other useful articles as
+we could conveniently take with us, together with a small sample of
+light trading goods, for presents to the Indians, as before.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. February.]
+
+My instructions on this occasion amounted to no more than an order to
+proceed as fast as possible; and for my conduct during the journey, I
+was referred to my former instructions of November 6th, 1769.
+
+[Sidenote: 23rd.]
+
+Every thing being in readiness for our departure, on the twenty-third of
+February I began my second journey, accompanied by three Northern
+Indians and two of the home-guard (Southern) Indians. I took particular
+care, however, that Mackachy, though an excellent hunter, should not be
+of our party; as he had proved himself, during my former journey, to be
+a sly artful villain.
+
+The snow at this time was so deep on the top of the ramparts, that few
+of the cannon were to be seen, {14} otherwise the Governor would have
+saluted me at my departure, as before; but as those honours could not
+possibly be of any service to my expedition, I readily relinquished
+everything of the kind; and in lieu of it, the Governor, officers, and
+people, insisted on giving me three cheers.
+
+After leaving the Factory, we continued our course in much the same
+direction as in my former journey, till we arrived at Seal River; when,
+instead of crossing it, and walking on the barren grounds as before, we
+followed the course of the river, except in two particular places, where
+the bends tended so much to the South, that by crossing two necks of
+land not more than five or six miles wide, we saved the walking of near
+twenty miles each time, and still came to the main river again.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. March. 8th.]
+
+The weather had been so remarkably boisterous and changeable, that we
+were frequently obliged to continue two or three nights in the same
+place. To make up for this inconveniency, deer were so plentiful for the
+first eight or ten days, that the Indians killed as many as was
+necessary; but we were all so heavy laden that we could not possibly
+take much of the meat with us. This I soon perceived to be a great evil,
+which exposed us to such frequent inconveniences, that in case of not
+killing any thing for three or four days together, we were in great
+want of provisions; we seldom, however, went to bed entirely supperless
+{15} till the eighth of March; when though we had only walked about
+eight miles that morning, and expended all the remainder of the day in
+hunting, we could not produce a single thing at night, not even a
+partridge! nor had we discerned the track of any thing that day, which
+was likely to afford us hopes of better success in the morning. This
+being the case, we prepared some hooks and lines ready to angle for
+fish, as our tent was then by the side of a lake belonging to Seal
+River, which seemed by its situation to afford some prospect of success.
+
+[Sidenote: 9th.]
+
+Early in the morning we took down our tent, and moved about five miles
+to the West by South, to a part of the lake that seemed more commodious
+for fishing than that where we had been the night before. As soon as we
+arrived at this place, some were immediately employed cutting holes in
+the ice, while others pitched the tent, got fire-wood, &c.; after which,
+for it was early in the morning, those who pitched the tent went a
+hunting, and at night one of them returned with a porcupine,[28] while
+those who were angling caught several fine trout, which afforded us a
+plentiful supper, and we had some trifle left for breakfast.
+
+Angling for fish under the ice in winter requires no other process, than
+cutting round holes in the ice from one to two feet diameter, and
+letting down a baited hook, which is always kept in motion, not only to
+{16} prevent the water from freezing so soon as it would do if suffered
+to remain quite still, but because it is found at the same time to be a
+great means of alluring the fish to the hole; for it is always observed
+that the fish in those parts will take a bait which is in motion, much
+sooner than one that is at rest.
+
+[Sidenote: 19th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. March.]
+
+[Sidenote: 20th.]
+
+Early in the morning we again pursued our angling, and all the forenoon
+being expended without any success, we took down our tent and pitched it
+again about eight miles farther to the Westward, on the same lake, where
+we cut more holes in the ice for angling, and that night caught several
+fine pike.[29] The next day we moved about five miles to the South West,
+down a small river, where we pitched our tent; and having set four
+fishing nets, in the course of the day we caught many fine fish,
+particularly pike, trout,[30] tittymeg, and a coarse kind of fish known
+in Hudson's Bay by the name of Methy.[31][S]
+
+To set a net under the ice, it is first necessary to ascertain its exact
+length, by stretching it out upon the ice near the part proposed for
+setting it. This being done, a number of round holes are cut in the ice,
+at ten or twelve feet distance from each other, and as many in number as
+will be sufficient to stretch the net at its full length. A line is then
+passed under the ice, by means {17} of a long light pole, which is first
+introduced at one of the end holes, and, by means of two forked sticks,
+this pole is easily conducted, or passed from one hole to another, under
+the ice, till it arrives at the last. The pole is then taken out, and
+both ends of the line being properly secured, is always ready for use.
+The net is made fast to one end of the line by one person, and hauled
+under the ice by a second; a large stone is tied to each of the lower
+corners, which serves to keep the net expanded, and prevents it rising
+from the bottom with every waft of the current. The Europeans settled in
+Hudson's Bay proceed much in the same manner, though they in general
+take much more pains; but the above method is found quite sufficient by
+the Indians.
+
+In order to search a net thus set, the two end holes only are opened;
+the line is veered away by one person, and the net hauled from under the
+ice by another; after all the fish are taken out, the net is easily
+hauled back to its former station, and there secured as before.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. March. 21st.]
+
+As this place seemed likely to afford us a constant supply of fish, my
+guide proposed to stay here till the geese began to fly, which in those
+Northern parts is seldom before the middle of May. His reasons for so
+doing seemed well founded: "The weather," he said, "is at this time too
+cold to walk on the barren grounds, and the woods from this part lead so
+much {18} to the Westward, that were we to continue travelling in any
+tolerable shelter, our course would not be better than West South West,
+which would only be going out of our way; whereas, if we should remain
+here till the weather permit us to walk due North, over the barren
+grounds, we shall then in one month get farther advanced on our journey,
+than if we were to continue travelling all the remainder of the winter
+in the sweep of the woods."
+
+These reasons appeared to me very judicious, and as the plan seemed
+likely to be attended with little trouble, it met with my entire
+approbation. That being the case, we took additional pains in building
+our tent, and made it as commodious as the materials and situation would
+admit.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. March.]
+
+To pitch an Indian's tent in winter, it is first necessary to search for
+a level piece of dry ground; which cannot be ascertained but by
+thrusting a stick through the snow down to the ground, all over the
+proposed part. When a convenient spot is found, the snow is then cleared
+away in a circular form to the very moss; and when it is proposed to
+remain more than a night or two in one place, the moss is also cut up
+and removed, as it is very liable when dry to take fire, and occasion
+much trouble to the inhabitants. A quantity of poles are then procured,
+which are generally proportioned both in number and length to the {19}
+size of the tent cloth, and the number of persons it is intended to
+contain. If one of the poles should not happen to be forked, two of them
+are tied together near the top, then raised erect, and their buts or
+lower ends extended as wide as the proposed diameter of the tent; the
+other poles are then set round at equal distances from each other, and
+in such order, that their lower ends form a complete circle, which gives
+boundaries to the tent on all sides: the tent cloth is then fastened to
+a light pole, which is always raised up and put round the poles from the
+weather side, so that the two edges that lap over and form the door are
+always to the leeward. It must be understood that this method is only in
+use when the Indians are moving from place to place every day; for when
+they intend to continue any time in one place, they always make the door
+of their tent to face the south.
+
+The tent cloth is usually of thin Moose leather, dressed and made by the
+Indians, and in shape it nearly resembles a fan-mount inverted; so that
+when the largest curve incloses the bottom of the poles, the smaller one
+is always sufficient to cover the top; except a hole, which is
+designedly left open to serve the double purpose of chimney and window.
+
+The fire is always made on the ground in the center, and the remainder
+of the floor, or bottom of the tent, is covered all over with small
+branches of the pine tree, {20} which serve both for seats and beds. A
+quantity of pine tops and branches are laid round the bottom of the
+poles on the outside, over which the eaves of the tent is staked down; a
+quantity of snow is then packed over all, which excludes great part of
+the external air, and contributes greatly to the warmth within. The tent
+here described is such as is made use of by the Southern Indians, and
+the same with which I was furnished at the Factory; for that made use of
+by the Northern Indians is made of different materials, and is of a
+quite different shape, as shall be described hereafter.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. March.]
+
+The situation of our tent at this time was truly pleasant,[32]
+particularly for a spring residence; being on a small elevated point,
+which commanded an extensive prospect over a large lake, the shores of
+which abounded with wood of different kinds, such as pine, larch, birch,
+and poplar; and in many places was beautifully contrasted with a variety
+of high hills, that shewed their snowy summits above the tallest woods.
+About two hundred yards from the tent was a fall, or rapid, which the
+swiftness of the current prevents from freezing in the coldest winters.
+At the bottom of this fall, which empties itself into the above lake,
+was a fine sheet of open water near a mile in length, and at least half
+a mile in breadth; by the margin of which we had our fishing nets set,
+all in open view from the tent.
+
+{21} The remaining part of this month passed on without any
+interruption, or material occurrence, to disturb our repose, worth
+relating: our fishing nets provided us with daily food, and the Indians
+had too much philosophy about them to give themselves much additional
+trouble; for during the whole time not one of them offered to look for a
+partridge, or anything else which could yield a change of diet.
+
+As the time may now be supposed to have lain heavy on my hands, it may
+not be improper to inform the reader how I employed it. In the first
+place, I embraced every favourable opportunity of observing the latitude
+of the place, the mean of which was 58 deg. 46' 30" North; and the longitude
+by account was 5 deg. 57' West, from Prince of Wales's Fort. I then
+corrected my reckoning from my last observation; brought up my journal,
+and filled up my chart, to the place of our residence. I built also some
+traps, and caught a few martins; and by way of saving my ammunition, set
+some snares for partridges. The former is performed by means of a few
+logs, so arranged that when the martin attempts to take away the bait
+laid for him, he with very little struggle pulls down a small post that
+supports the whole weight of the trap; when, if the animal be not killed
+by the weight of the logs, he is confined till he be frozen to death, or
+killed by the hunter going his rounds.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. April.]
+
+{22} To snare partridges requires no other process than making a few
+little hedges across a creek, or a few short hedges projecting at right
+angles from the side of an island of willows, which those birds are
+found to frequent. Several openings must be left in each hedge, to admit
+the birds to pass through, and in each of them a snare must be set; so
+that when the partridges are hopping along the edge of the willows to
+feed, which is their usual custom, some of them soon get into the
+snares, where they are confined till they are taken out. I have caught
+from three to ten partridges in a day by this simple contrivance; which
+requires no further attendance than going round them night and morning.
+
+[Sidenote: 1st.]
+
+I have already observed that nothing material happened to disturb our
+repose till the first of April, when to our great surprise the fishing
+nets did not afford us a single fish. Though some of the preceding days
+had been pretty successful, yet my companions, like true Indians, seldom
+went to sleep till they had cleared the tent of every article of
+provision. As nothing was to be caught in the nets, we all went out to
+angle; but in this we were equally unsuccessful, as we could not procure
+one fish the whole day. This sudden change of circumstances alarmed one
+of my companions so much, that he began to think of resuming the use of
+his gun, after having laid it by for near a month.
+
+{23} Early in the morning we arose; when my guide Conne-e-quese went a
+hunting, and the rest attended the nets and hooks near home; but all
+with such bad success, that we could not procure enough in one day to
+serve two men for a supper. This, instead of awakening the rest of my
+companions, sent them to sleep; and scarcely any of them had the
+prudence to look at the fishing nets, though they were not more than two
+or three hundred yards from the tent door.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. April.]
+
+My guide, who was a steady man, and an excellent hunter, having for many
+years been accustomed to provide for a large family, seemed by far the
+most industrious of all my crew; he closely pursued his hunting for
+several days, and seldom returned to the tent till after dark, while
+those at the tent passed most of their time in smoking and sleeping.
+
+[Sidenote: 10th.]
+
+Several days passed without any signs of relief, till the 10th, when my
+guide continued out longer than ordinary, which made us conjecture that
+he had met with strangers, or seen some deer, or other game, which
+occasioned his delay. We all therefore lay down to sleep, having had but
+little refreshment for the three preceding days, except a pipe of
+tobacco and a draught of water; even partridges had become so scarce
+that not one was to be got; the heavy thaws had driven them all out
+towards the barren grounds. About midnight, to our {24} great joy, our
+hunter arrived, and brought with him the blood and fragments of two deer
+that he had killed. This unexpected success soon roused the sleepers,
+who, in an instant, were busily employed in cooking a large kettle of
+broth, made with the blood, and some fat and scraps of meat shred small,
+boiled in it. This might be reckoned a dainty dish at any time, but was
+more particularly so in our present almost famished condition.
+
+[Sidenote: 11th.]
+
+After partaking of this refreshment, we resumed our rest, and early in
+the morning set out in a body for the place where the deer were lying.
+As we intended to make our stay but short, we left our tent standing,
+containing all our baggage. On our arrival at the place of destination,
+some were immediately employed in making a hut or barrocado with young
+pine trees; while one man skinned the deer, the remainder went a
+hunting, and in the afternoon returned to the hut, after having killed
+two deer.
+
+Several days were now spent in feasting and gluttony; during which the
+Indians killed five more deer and three fine beavers; finding at last,
+however, that there was little prospect of procuring either more deer or
+beavers, we determined to return to our tent, with the remains of what
+we had already obtained.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. April. 22d.]
+
+The flesh of these deer, though none of the largest, might with
+frugality have served our small number, (being {25} only six) for some
+time; but my companions, like other Indians, feasted day and night while
+it lasted; and were so indolent and unthinking, as not to attend
+properly to the fishing nets; so that many fine fish, which had been
+entangled in the nets, were entirely spoiled, and in about twelve or
+fourteen days we were nearly in as great distress for provisions as
+ever.
+
+During the course of our long inactivity, Saw-sop-o-kishac, commonly
+called Sossop, my principal Southern Indian, as he was cutting some
+birch for spoons, dishes, and other necessary household furniture, had
+the misfortune to cut his leg in such a manner as to be incapable of
+walking; and the other Southern Indian, though a much younger man, was
+so indolent as not to be of any service to me, except hauling part of
+our luggage, and eating up part of the provisions which had been
+provided by the more industrious part of my companions.
+
+[Sidenote: 24th.]
+
+On the twenty-fourth, early in the day, a great body of Indians was seen
+in the South West, on the large lake by the side of which our tent
+stood. On their arrival at our tent we discovered them to be the wives
+and families of the Northern Indian goose-hunters, who were gone to
+Prince of Wales's Fort to attend the season. They were bound toward the
+barren ground, there to wait the return of their husbands and relations
+from the Fort, after the termination of the goose-season.
+
+[Sidenote: 27th.]
+
+{26} My guide having for some days past determined to move toward the
+barren ground, this morning we took down our tent, packed up our
+luggage, and proceeded to the Eastward in the same track we came; but
+Sossop being so lame as to be obliged to be hauled on a sledge, I easily
+prevailed on two of the Indians who had joined us on the 24th, and who
+were pursuing the same road, to perform this service for him.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. April. 29th.]
+
+[Sidenote: May. 13th.]
+
+After two days good walking in our old track, we arrived at a part of
+Seal River called She-than-nee,[33] where we pitched our tent and set
+both our fishing-nets, intending to stay there till the geese began to
+fly. Though we had seen several swans and some geese flying to the
+Northward, it was the thirteenth of May before we could procure any. On
+that day the Indians killed two swans and three geese. This in some
+measure alleviated our distress, which at that time was very great;
+having had no other subsistence for five or six days, than a few
+cranberries, that we gathered from the dry ridges where the snow was
+thawed away in spots; for though we set our fishing-nets in the best
+judged places, and angled at every part that was likely to afford
+success, we only caught three small fish during the whole time. Many of
+the Northern Indians, who had joined us on the 24th of April, remained
+in our company for some time; and though I well knew they had had a
+plentiful winter, and had then good stocks of dried meat by them, and
+{27} were also acquainted with our distress, they never gave me or my
+Southern companions the least supply, although they had in secret amply
+provided for our Northern guides.
+
+[Sidenote: 19th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 23d.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. May.]
+
+By the nineteenth, the geese, swans, ducks, gulls, and other birds of
+passage, were so plentiful, that we killed every day as many as were
+sufficient for our support; and having stopped a few days to recruit our
+spirits after so long a fast, on the twenty-third we began once more to
+proceed toward the barren ground. Sossop having now perfectly recovered
+from his late misfortune, everything seemed to have a favourable
+appearance; especially as my crew had been augmented to twelve persons,
+by the addition of one of my guide's wives, and five others, whom I had
+engaged to assist in carrying our luggage; and I well knew, from the
+season of the year, that hauling would soon be at an end for the summer.
+
+
+The thaws having been by this time so great as to render travelling in
+the woods almost impracticable, we continued our course to the East on
+Seal River, about sixteen miles farther, when we came to a small river,
+and a string of lakes connected with it, that tended to the North.
+
+[Sidenote: June. 1st.]
+
+The weather for some time was remarkably fine and pleasant. Game of all
+kinds was exceedingly plentiful, {28} and we continued our course to the
+Northward on the above river and lakes till the first of June, when we
+arrived at a place called Beralzone.[34] In our way thither, beside
+killing more geese than was necessary, we shot two deer. One of my
+companions had now the misfortune to shatter his hand very much by the
+bursting of a gun; but as no bones were broken, I bound up the wound,
+and with the assistance of some of Turlington's drops, yellow basilicon,
+&c., which I had with me, soon restored the use of his hand; so that in
+a very short time he seemed to be out of all danger.
+
+[Sidenote: 4th.]
+
+After stopping a few days at Beralzone, to dry a little venison and a
+few geese, we again proceeded to the Northward on the barren ground; for
+on our leaving this place we soon got clear of all the woods.
+
+[Sidenote: 5th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 6th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 10th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. June.]
+
+The snow was by this time so soft as to render walking in snow-shoes
+very laborious; and though the ground was bare in many places, yet at
+times, and in particular places, the snow-drifts were so deep, that we
+could not possibly do without them. By the sixth, however, the thaws
+were so general, and the snows so much melted, that as our snow-shoes
+were attended with more trouble than service, we all consented to throw
+them away. Till the tenth, our sledges proved serviceable, particularly
+in crossing lakes and ponds on the ice; but that mode of travelling now
+growing dangerous on account of the great thaws, we {29} determined to
+throw away our sledges, and every one to take a load on his back.
+
+This I found to be much harder work than the winter carriage, as my part
+of the luggage consisted of the following articles, viz. the quadrant
+and its stand, a trunk containing books, papers, &c., a land-compass,
+and a large bag containing all my wearing apparel; also a hatchet,
+knives, files, &c., beside several small articles, intended for presents
+to the natives. The awkwardness of my load, added to its great weight,
+which was upward of sixty pounds, and the excessive heat of the weather,
+rendered walking the most laborious task I had ever encountered; and
+what considerably increased the hardship, was the badness of the road,
+and the coarseness of our lodging, being, on account of the want of
+proper tents, exposed to the utmost severity of the weather. The tent we
+had with us was not only too large, and unfit for barren ground service,
+where no poles were to be got, but we had been obliged to cut it up for
+shoes, and each person carried his own share. Indeed my guide behaved
+both negligently and ungenerously on this occasion; as he never made me,
+or my Southern Indians, acquainted with the nature of pitching tents on
+the barren ground; which had he done, we could easily have procured a
+set of poles before we left the woods. He took care, however, to procure
+a set for himself and his wife; and when the tent was divided, though he
+made shift to get a piece large enough to serve him for {30} a complete
+little tent, he never asked me or my Southern Indians to put our heads
+into it.
+
+Beside the inconvenience of being exposed to the open air, night and
+day, in all weathers, we experienced real distress from the want of
+victuals. When provisions were procured, it often happened that we could
+not make a fire, so that we were obliged to eat the meat quite raw;
+which at first, in the article of fish particularly, was as little
+relished by my Southern companions as myself.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. June.]
+
+Notwithstanding these accumulated and complicated hardships, we
+continued in perfect health and good spirits; and my guide, though a
+perfect niggard of his provisions, especially in times of scarcity, gave
+us the strongest assurance of soon arriving at a plentiful country,
+which would not only afford us a certain supply of provisions, but where
+we should meet with other Indians, who probably would be willing to
+carry part of our luggage. This news naturally gave us great
+consolation; for at that time the weight of our constant loads was so
+great, that when Providence threw any thing in our way, we could not
+carry above two days provisions with us, which indeed was the chief
+reason of our being so frequently in want.
+
+[Sidenote: 23d.]
+
+From the twentieth to the twenty-third we walked every day near twenty
+miles, without any other subsistence {31} than a pipe of tobacco, and a
+drink of water when we pleased: even partridges and gulls, which some
+time before were in great plenty, and easily procured, were now so
+scarce and shy, that we could rarely get one; and as to geese, ducks,
+&c., they had all flown to the Northward to breed and molt.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. June.]
+
+Early in the morning of the twenty-third, we set out as usual, but 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 of them 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 quite out of our power to make a
+fire; which, even in the finest weather, could only be made of moss, as
+we were near an hundred miles from any woods. This was poor comfort for
+people who had not broke their fast for four or five days. Necessity,
+however, has no law; and having been before 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 {32} 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 eat to the amount of one buffalo quite raw.
+
+Notwithstanding I mustered up all my philosophy on this occasion, yet I
+must confess that my spirits began to fail me. Indeed our other
+misfortunes were greatly aggravated by the inclemency of the weather,
+which was not only cold, but so very wet that for near three days and
+nights, I had not one dry thread about me. When the fine weather
+returned, we made a fire, though it was only of moss, as I have already
+observed; and having got my cloaths dry, all things seemed likely to go
+on in the old channel, though that was indifferent enough; but I
+endeavoured, like a sailor after a storm, to forget past misfortunes.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. June.]
+
+None of our natural wants, if we except thirst, are so distressing, or
+hard to endure, as hunger; and in wandering situations, like that which
+I now experienced, the hardship is greatly aggravated by the uncertainty
+with respect to its duration, and the means most proper to be used to
+remove it, as well as by the labour and fatigue we must necessarily
+undergo for that purpose, and the disappointments which too frequently
+frustrate our best concerted plans and most strenuous exertions: it not
+only enfeebles the body, but depresses the spirits, in spite of {33}
+every effort to prevent it. Besides, for want of action, the stomach so
+far loses its digestive powers, that after long fasting it resumes its
+office with pain and reluctance. During this journey I have too
+frequently experienced the dreadful effects of this calamity, and more
+than once been reduced to so low a state by hunger and fatigue, that
+when Providence threw any thing in my way, my stomach has scarcely been
+able to retain more than two or three ounces, without producing the most
+oppressive pain. Another disagreeable circumstance of long fasting is,
+the extreme difficulty and pain attending the natural evacuations for
+the first time; and which is so dreadful, that of it none but those who
+have experienced can have an adequate idea.
+
+To record in detail each day's fare since the commencement of this
+journey, would be little more than a dull repetition of the same
+occurrences. A sufficient idea of it may be given in a few words, by
+observing that it may justly be said to have been either all feasting,
+or all famine; sometimes we had too much, seldom just enough, frequently
+too little, and often none at all. It will be only necessary to say that
+we have fasted many times two whole days and nights; twice upwards of
+three days; and once, while at She-than-nee, 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 those pressing
+occasions I have frequently seen the Indians examine their wardrobe,
+{34} which consisted chiefly of skin-clothing, and consider what part
+could best be spared; sometimes a piece of an old, half-rotten deer
+skin, and at others a pair of old shoes, were sacrificed to alleviate
+extreme hunger. The relation of such uncommon hardships may perhaps gain
+little credit in Europe; while those who are conversant with the history
+of Hudson's Bay, and who are thoroughly acquainted with the distress
+which the natives of the country about it frequently endure, may
+consider them as no more than the common occurrences of an Indian life,
+in which they are frequently driven to the necessity of eating one
+another.[T]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. June.]
+
+[Sidenote: 26th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 30th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. July.]
+
+{35} Knowing that our constant loads would not permit us to carry much
+provisions with us, we agreed to continue a day or two to refresh
+ourselves, and to dry a little meat in the sun, as it thereby not only
+becomes more portable, but is always ready for use. On the twenty-sixth,
+all that remained of the musk-ox flesh being properly dried and fit for
+carriage, we began to proceed on our journey Northward, and on the
+thirtieth of June arrived at a small river, called Cathawhachaga,[35]
+which empties itself into a large lake called Yath-kyed-whoie,[36] or
+White Snow Lake. Here we found several tents of Northern Indians, who
+had been some time employed spearing deer in their canoes, as they
+crossed the above mentioned little river. Here also we met a Northern
+Indian Leader, or Captain, called Keelshies, and a small party of his
+crew, who were bound to Prince of Wales's Fort, with furs {36} and other
+commodities for trade. When Keelshies was made acquainted with the
+intent of my journey, he readily offered his service to bring me
+anything from the Factory that we were likely to stand in need of; and
+though we were then in latitude 63 deg. 4' North, and longitude 7 deg. 12' West
+from Churchill, yet he promised to join us again, at a place appointed
+by my guide, by the setting in of the Winter. In consequence of this
+offer, I looked over our ammunition and other articles; and finding that
+a little powder, shot, tobacco, and a few knives were likely to be of
+service before the journey could be completed, I determined to send a
+letter to the governor of Prince of Wales's Fort, to advise him of my
+situation, and to desire him to send by the bearer a certain quantity of
+the above articles; on which Keelshies and his crew proceeded on their
+journey for the Factory the same day.
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF YATH-KYED LAKE AND PART OF KAZAN RIVER
+By J. B. Tyrrell, 1894]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. July.]
+
+Cathawhachaga was the only river we had seen since the breaking up of
+the ice that we could not ford; and as we had not any canoes with us, we
+were obliged to get ferried across by the strange Indians. When we
+arrived on the North side of this river, where the Indians resided, my
+guide proposed to stop some time, to dry and pound some meat to take
+with us; to which I readily consented. We also set our fishing-nets, and
+caught a considerable quantity of very fine fish; such as tittemeg,
+barble,[37] &c.
+
+[Sidenote: 6th.]
+
+{37} The number of deer which crossed Cathawhachaga, during our stay
+there, was by no means equal to our expectations, and no more than just
+sufficient to supply our present wants; so that after waiting several
+days in fruitless expectation, we began to prepare for moving; and
+accordingly, on the sixth of July, we set out, though we had not at that
+time as much victuals belonging to our company as would furnish us a
+supper. During our stay here, we had each day got as much fish or flesh
+as was sufficient for present expenditure; but, being in hopes of better
+times, saved none.
+
+Before we left Cathawhachaga, I made several observations for the
+latitude, and found it to be 63 deg. 4' North.[38] I also brought up my
+journal, and filled up my chart to that time. Everything being now ready
+for our departure, my guide informed me that in a few days a canoe would
+be absolutely necessary, to enable us to cross some unfordable rivers
+which we should meet, and could not avoid. This induced me to purchase
+one at the easy rate of a single knife, the full value of which did not
+exceed one penny. It must be observed, that the man who sold the canoe
+had no farther occasion for it, and was glad to take what he could get;
+but had he been thoroughly acquainted with our necessities, he most
+assuredly would have had the conscience to have asked goods to the
+amount of ten beaver skins at least.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. July.]
+
+[Sidenote: 9th.]
+
+{38} This additional piece of luggage obliged me to engage another
+Indian; and we were lucky enough at that time to meet with a poor
+forlorn fellow, who was fond of the office, having never been in a much
+better state than that of a beast of burthen. Thus, provided with a
+canoe, and a man to carry it, we left Cathawhachaga, as has been
+observed, on the sixth of July, and continued our course to the North by
+West, and North North West; and that night put up by the side of a small
+bay of White Snow Lake,[39] where we angled, and caught several fine
+trout, some of which weighed not less than fourteen or sixteen pounds.
+In the night heavy rain came on, which continued three days; but the
+ninth proving fine weather, and the sun displaying his beams very
+powerfully, we dried our clothes, and proceeded to the Northward. Toward
+the evening, however, it began again to rain so excessively, that it was
+with much difficulty we kept our powder and books dry.
+
+[Sidenote: 17th.]
+
+On the seventeenth, we saw many musk-oxen, several of which the Indians
+killed; when we agreed to stay here a day or two, to dry and pound[U]
+some of the carcases to take with us. The flesh of any animal, when it
+is thus prepared, is not only hearty food, but is always ready for {39}
+use, and at the same time very portable. In most parts of Hudson's Bay
+it is known by the name of Thew-hagon,[40] but amongst the Northern
+Indians it is called Achees.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. July. 22d.]
+
+Having prepared as much dried flesh as we could transport, we proceeded
+to the Northward; and at our departure left a great quantity of meat
+behind us, which we could neither eat nor carry away. This was not the
+first time we had so done; and however wasteful it may appear, it is a
+practice so common among all the Indian tribes, as to be thought nothing
+of. On the twenty-second, we met several strangers, whom we joined in
+pursuit of the deer, &c. which were at this time so plentiful, that we
+got every day a sufficient number for our support, and indeed too
+frequently killed several merely for the tongues, marrow, and fat.
+
+[Sidenote: 30th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. August.]
+
+After we had been some time in company with those Indians, I found that
+my guide seemed to hesitate about proceeding any farther; and that he
+kept pitching his tent backward and forward, from place to place, after
+the deer, and the rest of the Indians. On my asking him his reason for
+so doing; he answered, that as the year was too far advanced to admit of
+our arrival at the Coppermine River that Summer, he thought it more
+advisable to pass the Winter with some of the Indians then in company,
+and alleged that there could be no fear of our arriving at that river
+early in the Summer of one thousand seven hundred and seventy-one. As I
+could not {40} pretend to contradict him, I was entirely reconciled to
+his proposal; and accordingly we kept moving to the Westward with the
+other Indians. In a few days, many others joined us from different
+quarters; so that by the thirtieth of July we had in all above seventy
+tents, which did not contain less than six hundred persons. Indeed our
+encampment at night had the appearance of a small town; and in the
+morning, when we began to move, the whole ground (at least for a large
+space all round) seemed to be alive, with men, women, children, and
+dogs. Though the land was entirely barren, and destitute of every kind
+of herbage, except wish-a-capucca[V] and moss, yet the deer were so
+numerous that the Indians not only killed as many as were sufficient for
+our large number, but often several merely for the skins, marrow, &c.
+and left the carcases to rot, or to be devoured by the wolves, foxes,
+and other beasts of prey.
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF DUBAWNT LAKE AND PART OF DUBAWNT RIVER
+By J. B. and J. W. Tyrrell, 1893]
+
+In our way to the Westward we came to several rivers, which, though
+small and of no note, were so deep as not to be fordable, particularly
+Doobaunt River.[W] On those occasions only, we had recourse to our
+canoe, which, though of the common size, was too small to carry more
+{41} than two persons; one of whom always lies down at full length for
+fear of making the canoe top-heavy, and the other sits on his heels and
+paddles. This method of ferrying over rivers, though tedious, is the
+most expeditious way these poor people can contrive; for they are
+sometimes obliged to carry their canoes one hundred and fifty, or two
+hundred miles, without having occasion to make use of them; yet at times
+they cannot do without them; and were they not very small and portable,
+it would be impossible for one man to carry them, which they are often
+obliged to do, not only the distance above mentioned, but even the whole
+Summer.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. August. 6th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 8th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. August.]
+
+The person I engaged at Cathawhachaga to carry my canoe proving too weak
+for the task, another of my crew was obliged to exchange loads with him,
+which seemed perfectly agreeable to all parties; and as we walked but
+short days' journies, and deer were very plentiful, all things went on
+very smoothly. Nothing material happened till the eighth, when we were
+near losing the quadrant and all our powder from the following
+circumstance: the fellow who had been released from carrying the canoe
+proving too weak, as hath been already observed, had, after the
+exchange, nothing to carry but my powder and his own trifles; the latter
+were indeed very inconsiderable, not equal in size and weight to a
+soldier's knapsack. As I intended to have a little sport with the deer,
+and knowing his load to be much lighter than mine, I gave him the
+quadrant {42} and stand to carry, which he took without the least
+hesitation, or seeming ill-will. Having thus eased myself for the
+present of a heavy and cumbersome part of my load, I set out early in
+the morning with some of the Indian men; and after walking about eight
+or nine miles, saw, from the top of a high hill, a great number of deer
+feeding in a neighbouring valley; on which we laid down our loads and
+erected a flag, as a signal for the others to pitch their tents there
+for the night. We then pursued our hunting, which proved very
+successful. At night, however, when we came to the hill where we had
+left our baggage, I found that only part of the Indians had arrived, and
+that the man who had been entrusted with my powder and quadrant, had set
+off another way, with a small party of Indians that had been in our
+company that morning. The evening being far advanced, we were obliged to
+defer going in search of him till the morning, and as his track could
+not be easily discovered in the Summer, the Southern Indians, as well as
+myself, were very uneasy, fearing we had lost the powder, which was to
+provide us with food and raiment the remainder of our journey. The very
+uncourteous behaviour of the Northern Indians then in company, gave me
+little hopes of receiving assistance from them, any longer than I had
+wherewithal to reward them for their trouble and expense; for during the
+whole time I had been with them, not one of them had offered to give me
+the least morsel of victuals, without asking something in exchange,
+which, in general, was three times the value of {43} what they could
+have got for the same articles, had they carried them to the Factory,
+though several hundred miles distant.
+
+So inconsiderate were those people, that wherever they met me, they
+always expected that I had a great assortment of goods to relieve their
+necessities; as if I had brought the Company's warehouse with me. Some
+of them wanted guns; all wanted ammunition, iron-work, and tobacco; many
+were solicitous for medicine; and others pressed me for different
+articles of clothing; but when they found I had nothing to spare, except
+a few nick-nacks and gewgaws, they made no scruple of pronouncing me a
+"poor servant, noways like the Governor at the Factory, who, they said,
+they never saw, but he gave them something useful." It is scarcely
+possible to conceive any people so void of common understanding, as to
+think that the sole intent of my undertaking this fatiguing journey, was
+to carry a large assortment of useful and heavy implements, to give to
+all that stood in need of them; but many of them would ask me for what
+they wanted with the same freedom, and apparently with the same hopes of
+success, as if they had been at one of the Company's Factories. Others,
+with an air of more generosity, offered me furs to trade with at the
+same standard as at the Factory; without considering how unlikely it was
+that I should increase the enormous weight of my load with articles
+which could be of no more use to me in my present situation than they
+were to themselves.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. August.]
+
+{44} This unaccountable behaviour of the Indians occasioned much serious
+reflection on my part; as it showed plainly how little I had to expect
+if I should, by any accident, be reduced to the necessity of depending
+upon them for support; so that, though I laid me down to rest, sleep was
+a stranger to me that night. The following beautiful lines of Dr. Young
+I repeated above an hundred times:
+
+ "Tired Nature's sweet restorer, balmy Sleep;
+ He, like the world, his ready visit pays
+ Where fortune smiles; the wretched he forsakes:
+ Swift on his downy pinions flies from woe,
+ And lights on lids unsully'd with a tear."
+
+ --NIGHT THOUGHTS.
+
+[Sidenote: 9th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. August.]
+
+After passing the night in this melancholy manner, I got up at daybreak,
+and, with the two Southern Indians, set out in quest of our deserter.
+Many hours elapsed in fruitless search after him, as we could not
+discover a single track in the direction which we were informed he had
+taken. The day being almost spent without the least appearance of
+success, I proposed repairing to the place where I had delivered the
+quadrant to him, in hopes of seeing some track in the moss that might
+lead to the way the Indians were gone whom our deserter had accompanied.
+On our arrival at that place, we found they had struck down toward a
+little river which they had crossed the morning before; and there, to
+our great joy, we found the quadrant and the bag of powder lying on the
+top of a high stone, but not a human being was to be seen. On {45}
+examining the powder, we found that the bag had been opened, and part of
+it taken out; but, notwithstanding our loss was very considerable, we
+returned with light hearts to the place at which we had been the night
+before, where we found our baggage safe, but all the Indians gone; they
+had, however, been so considerate as to set up marks to direct us what
+course to steer. By the time we had adjusted our bundles, the day was
+quite spent; seeing, however, a smoke, or rather a fire, in the
+direction we were ordered to steer, we bent our way towards it; and a
+little after ten o'clock at night came up with the main body of the
+Indians; when, after refreshing ourselves with a plentiful supper, the
+first morsel we had tasted that day, we retired to rest, which I at
+least enjoyed with better success than the preceding night.
+
+[Sidenote: 11th.]
+
+In the morning of the eleventh we proceeded on to the West, and West by
+South; but on the twelfth did not move. This gave us an opportunity of
+endeavouring to ascertain the latitude by a meridian altitude, when we
+found the place to be in 63 deg. 10' North nearly. It proving rather cloudy
+about noon, though exceeding fine weather, I let the quadrant stand, in
+order to obtain the latitude more exactly by two altitudes; but, to my
+great mortification, while I was eating my dinner, a sudden gust of wind
+blew it down; and as the ground where it stood was {46} very stoney, the
+bubble, the sight-vane, and vernier, were entirely broke to pieces,
+which rendered the instrument useless. In consequence of this misfortune
+I resolved to return again to the Fort, though we were then in the
+latitude of 63 deg. 10' North, and about 10 deg. 40' West longitude from
+Churchill River.[43]
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[R] This was a proposal of the Governor's, though he well knew we could
+not do without their assistance, both for hauling our baggage, as well
+as dressing skins for clothing, pitching our tent, getting firing, &c.
+
+[28] _Erethizon dorsatum_ (Linn.). Near the extreme northern limit in
+this quarter.--E. A. P.
+
+[29] _Esox lucius_ Linn.--E. A. P.
+
+[30] _Cristivomer namaycush_ Walbaum.--E. A. P.
+
+[31] _Lota maculosa_ (Le Sueur).--E. A. P.
+
+[S] The Methy are generally caught with a hook; and the best time for
+that sport is in the night; and if the night be dark, the better.
+
+[32] He appears to have been camped at the rapid at the head or western
+end of Shethnanei Lake, which, according to the best information at
+present available, is about latitude 58 deg. 37' and longitude 4 deg. west from
+Prince of Wales Fort.
+
+[33] She-than-nee is clearly the same word as _Shethnanei_, a Chipewyan
+word meaning "high hill," and applied to a point on the north shore of
+Shethnanei Lake. In February 1891, the Rev. J. (Bishop) Lofthouse
+visited some Indians living at this place, accomplishing the journey out
+from Churchill in seven days, and the return journey in six days.
+
+[34] _Beralzoa_ means Shoal Lake.
+
+[T] It is the general opinion of the Southern Indians, that when any of
+their tribe has been driven to the necessity of eating human flesh, they
+become so fond of it, that no person is safe in their company. And
+though it is well known they are never guilty of making this horrid
+repast but when driven to it by necessity, yet those who have made it
+are not only shunned, but so universally detested by all who know them,
+that no Indians will tent with them, and they are frequently murdered
+slyly. I have seen several of those poor wretches who, unfortunately for
+them, have come under the above description, and though they were
+persons much esteemed before hunger had driven them to this act, were
+afterward so universally despised and neglected, that a smile never
+graced their countenances: deep melancholy has been seated on their
+brows, while the eye most expressively spoke the dictates of the heart,
+and seemed to say, "Why do you despise me for my misfortunes? the period
+is probably not far distant, when you may be driven to the like
+necessity!"
+
+In the Spring of the year 1775, when I was building Cumberland House, an
+Indian, whose name was Wapoos, came to the settlement, at a time when
+fifteen tents of Indians were on the plantations: they examined him very
+minutely, and found he had come a considerable way by himself, without a
+gun, or ammunition. This made many of them conjecture he had met with,
+and killed, some person by the way; and this was the more easily
+credited, from the care he took to conceal a bag of provisions, which he
+had brought with him, in a lofty pine-tree near the house.
+
+Being a stranger, I invited him in, though I saw he had nothing for
+trade; and during that interview, some of the Indian women examined his
+bag, and gave it as their opinion that the meat it contained was human
+flesh: in consequence, it was not without the interference of some
+principal Indians, whose liberality of sentiment was more extensive than
+that in the others, the poor creature saved his life. Many of the men
+cleaned and loaded their guns; others had their bows and arrows ready;
+and even the women took possession of the hatchets, to kill this poor
+inoffensive wretch, for no crime but that of travelling about two
+hundred miles by himself, unassisted by fire-arms for support in his
+journey.
+
+[35] After leaving Lake Beralzoa, and before reaching Cathawhachaga
+River, he had crossed Thlewiaza or Little Fish River, Magnus Lake, and
+several other lakes and streams which are probably tributaries of the
+Tha-anne or Rocky-Bank River. Cathawhachaga is evidently the Kazan River
+which I descended in 1894, and it is interesting to note that while, in
+Hearne's time, it was within the hunting grounds of the Chipewyan
+Indians, at the time of my visit, one hundred and twenty-four years
+later, these Indians had left it, and its banks were inhabited entirely
+by Eskimos. Hearne doubtless crossed the river four miles above its
+discharge into Yath-kyed Lake, at a place called by the Eskimos
+Paleluah, where the stream is deep and narrow, and has but a moderate
+current. This is a well-known crossing place for the caribou on their
+annual migrations from the forest to the Arctic Coast and back again,
+and the Eskimos wait to spear them while they are swimming across the
+stream, just as the Indians doubtless waited when they occupied this
+country. Its position is in latitude 62 deg. 36' north, 28' south of the
+position assigned to it by Hearne in the text, and the longitude 4 deg. 6'
+west of Fort Prince of Wales. His map does not here agree with his
+description, but places this crossing of the Kazan River in latitude 62 deg.
+40' north, very nearly in its true position. Cathawhachaga is a
+Chipewyan word meaning "where fish are plentiful in the river."
+
+[36] Yath-kyed or White Snow Lake, at present known to the Eskimos as
+Haecoliguah.
+
+[37] Whitefish, suckers, &c.
+
+[38] See note on p. 87.
+
+[39] The bay of Yath-kyed Lake, at which they seem to have stopped, is
+about eight miles north of Paleluah, where the river was crossed.
+
+[U] To prepare meat in this manner, it requires no farther operation
+than cutting the lean parts of the animal into thin slices, and drying
+it in the sun, or by a slow fire, till, after beating it between two
+stones, it is reduced to a coarse powder.
+
+[40] Thewhagon or Yewuhikun is the Cree name for meat dried and beaten
+as above, and it is generally known throughout the fur countries as
+"pounded meat." When fat is plentiful this shredded dry meat is often
+packed into a sack made of hide, and boiling fat is poured over and into
+it. This mixture of dried meat and grease is called pemican.
+
+[V] Wish-a-capucca is the name given by the natives to a plant which is
+found all over the country bordering on Hudson's Bay; and an infusion of
+it is used as tea by all the Europeans settled in that country.[41]
+
+[41] This plant, _Ledum palustre_, commonly known as Labrador Tea, is
+common everywhere in the swamps throughout the forests of the north.
+
+[W] This river, as well as all others deserving that appellation which I
+crossed during this part of my journey, ran to the East and North-East;
+and both them and the lakes were perfectly fresh, and inhabited by fish
+that are well known never to frequent salt water.[42]
+
+[42] The brief description of this portion of his journey here given
+leaves his course quite indefinite, but his map shows that he travelled
+northward to the west of Yath-kyed Lake, across Nutarawit River, and
+thence around the north side of Napashish (Nutarawit) Lake, and westward
+to within a short distance of the south shore of Aberdeen Lake. Thence
+he turned south-westward until he reached Dubawnt River, where it flows
+from Dubawnt Lake. It is there a beautiful stream of clear water flowing
+between gently sloping grassy banks. The latitude of this place is 63 deg.
+33' north, while on his map it is shown as 63 deg. 38' north. As the
+latitudes of the crossing places of Kazan and Dubawnt Rivers, shown on
+his map, though differing greatly from his text, are very nearly
+correct, we may fairly assume that his intermediate positions are also
+reasonably accurate, and that his northern point of this journey, which
+he places in latitude 64 deg. 20', is not far from correct.
+
+Dubawnt (properly To' bon') is a Chipewyan word meaning
+"water-along-the-shore." It is so called because the main body of the
+lake is at all seasons of the year covered with ice, though for a few
+days, or possibly weeks, in summer this ice is loosened from the shore,
+and there is a lane of water between the ice and the land.
+
+[43] The position of the place where he broke his quadrant on the 12th
+of August is difficult to determine either from the text or from his
+map. A point in latitude 63 deg. 10' north and longitude 10 deg. 40' west from
+Churchill, which is the position given in the text, is shown on his map
+almost in the centre of Dubawnt Lake, and the map shows that after
+crossing the outlet of the lake his course was at a considerable
+distance to the north-west and west from it. It is probable therefore
+that his quadrant was broken on the great plain which lies to the west
+of the lake, and north-west of the Dubawnt River above the lake.
+
+
+
+
+{47} CHAP. III.
+
+ Transactions from the Time the Quadrant was broken, till I
+ arrived at the Factory
+
+ _Several strange Indians join us from the Northward--They
+ plundered me of all I had; but did not plunder the Southern
+ Indians--My guide plundered--We begin our return to the
+ Factory--Meet with other Indians, who join our company--Collect
+ deer-skins for clothing, but could not get them dressed--Suffer
+ much hardship from the want of tents and warm clothing--Most of
+ the Indians leave us--Meet with Matonabbee--Some account of him,
+ and his behaviour to me and the Southern Indians--We remain in
+ his company some time--His observations on my two unsuccessful
+ attempts--We leave him, and proceed to a place to which he
+ directed us, in order to make snow-shoes and sledges--Join
+ Matonabbee again, and proceed towards the Factory in his
+ company--Ammunition runs short--Myself and four Indians set off
+ post for the Factory--Much bewildered in a snow storm; my dog is
+ frozen to death; we lie in a bush of willows--Proceed on our
+ journey--Great difficulty in crossing a jumble of rocks--Arrive
+ at the Fort._
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. August. 13th.]
+
+The day after I had the misfortune to break the quadrant, several
+Indians joined me from the Northward, some of whom plundered me and my
+companions of almost every useful article we had, among which was my
+gun; and notwithstanding we were then on the point of returning to the
+Factory, yet, as one of my companions' guns was a little out of order,
+the loss was likely to be {48} severely felt; but it not being in my
+power to recover it again, we were obliged to rest contented.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. August.]
+
+Nothing can exceed the cool deliberation of those villains; a committee
+of them entered my tent.[X] The ringleader seated himself on my
+left-hand. They first begged me to lend them my skipertogan[Y] to fill a
+pipe of tobacco. After smoking two or three pipes, they asked me for
+several articles which I had not, and among others for a pack of cards;
+but on my answering that I had not any of the articles they mentioned,
+one of them put his hand on my baggage, and asked if it was mine. Before
+I could answer in the affirmative, he and the rest of his companions
+(six in number) had all my treasure spread on the ground. One took one
+thing, and another another, till at last nothing was left but the empty
+bag, which they permitted me to keep. At length, considering that,
+though I was going to the Factory, I should want a knife to cut my
+victuals, an awl to mend my shoes, and a needle to mend my other
+clothing, they readily gave me these articles, though not without making
+me understand that I ought to look upon {49} it as a great favour.
+Finding them possessed of so much generosity, I ventured to solicit them
+for my razors; but thinking that one would be sufficient to shave me
+during my passage home, they made no scruple to keep the other; luckily
+they chose the worst. To complete their generosity, they permitted me to
+take as much soap as I thought would be sufficient to wash and shave me
+during the remainder of my journey to the Factory.
+
+[Illustration: _Photo: J. B. Tyrrell, August 12, 1893._
+CAMP ON THE SHORE OF DUBAWNT LAKE]
+
+[Illustration: _Photo: J. B. Tyrrell, August 18, 1893._
+DUBAWNT RIVER BELOW DUBAWNT LAKE WHERE HEARNE CROSSED THE RIVER IN JULY
+1770]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. August.]
+
+They were more cautious in plundering the Southern Indians, as the
+relation of such outrages being committed on them might occasion a war
+between the two nations; but they had nothing of that kind to dread from
+the English. However, the Northern Indians had address enough to talk my
+home-guard Indians out of all they had: so that before we left them,
+they were as clean swept as myself, excepting their guns, some
+ammunition, an old hatchet, an ice-chissel, and a file to sharpen them.
+
+It may probably be thought strange that my guide, who was a Northern
+Indian, should permit his countrymen to commit such outrages on those
+under his charge; but being a man of little note, he was so far from
+being able to protect us, that he was obliged to submit to nearly the
+same outrage himself. On this occasion he assumed a great air of
+generosity; but the fact was, he gave freely what it was not in his
+power to protect.
+
+[Sidenote: 19th.]
+
+{50} Early in the morning of the nineteenth, I set out on my return, in
+company with several Northern Indians, who were bound to the Factory
+with furrs and other commodities in trade. This morning the Indian who
+took my gun, returned it to me, it being of no use to him, having no
+ammunition. The weather for some time proved fine, and deer were very
+plentiful; but as the above ravagers had materially lightened my load,
+by taking everything from me, except the quadrant, books, &c., this part
+of my journey was the easiest and most pleasant of any I had experienced
+since my leaving the Fort. In our way we frequently met with other
+Indians, so that scarcely a day passed without our seeing several smokes
+made by other strangers. Many of those we met joined our party, having
+furrs and other commodities for trade.
+
+[Sidenote: 31st.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. September.]
+
+The deer's hair being now of a proper length for clothing, it was
+necessary, according to the custom, to procure as many of their skins,
+while in season, as would make a suit of warm clothing for the Winter:
+and as each grown person requires the prime parts of from eight to
+eleven of those skins (in proportion to their size) to make a complete
+suit, it must naturally be supposed that this addition to my burden was
+very considerable. My load, however cumbersome and heavy, was yet very
+bearable; but, after I had carried it several weeks, it proved of no
+service; for we had not any women properly belonging to our company,
+consequently had not any {51} person to dress them; and so uncivil were
+the other Indians, that they would neither exchange them for others of
+an inferior quality already dressed, nor permit their women to dress
+them for us, under pretence that they were always employed in the like
+duty for themselves and families, which was by no means the case; for
+many of them had sufficient time to have done every little service of
+that kind that we could have required of them. The truth was, they were
+too well informed of my poverty to do any acts of generosity, as they
+well knew I had it not then in my power to reward them for their
+trouble. I never saw a set of people that possessed so little humanity,
+or that could view the distresses of their fellow-creatures with so
+little feeling and unconcern; for though they seem to have a great
+affection for their wives and children, yet they will laugh at and
+ridicule the distress of every other person who is not immediately
+related to them.
+
+[Sidenote: 15th.]
+
+This behaviour of the Indians made our situation very disagreeable; for
+as the fall advanced, we began to feel the cold very severely for want
+of proper clothing. We suffered also greatly from the inclemency of the
+weather, as we had no tent to shelter us. My guide was entirely exempted
+from all those inconveniences, having procured a good warm suit of
+clothing; and as one of his wives had long before joined our party, he
+was provided with a tent, and every other necessary consistent {52} with
+their manner of living: but the old fellow was so far from interesting
+himself in our behalf, that he had, for some time before, entirely
+withdrawn from our company; and though he then continued to carry the
+greatest part of our little remains of ammunition, yet he did not
+contribute in the smallest degree towards our support. As deer, however,
+were in great plenty, I felt little or no inconvenience from his neglect
+in this respect.
+
+[Sidenote: 17th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. September.]
+
+Provisions still continued very plentiful; which was a singular piece of
+good fortune, and the only circumstance which at this time could
+contribute to our happiness or safety; for notwithstanding the early
+season of the year, the weather was remarkably bad and severely cold, at
+least it appeared so to us, probably from having no kind of
+skin-clothing. In this forlorn state we continued our course to the
+South East; and, to add to the gloominess of our situation, most of the
+Northern Indians who had been in our company all the first part of the
+fall, were by this time gone a-head, as we could not keep up with them
+for want of snow-shoes.
+
+[Sidenote: 20th.]
+
+In the evening of the twentieth, we were joined from the Westward by a
+famous Leader, called Matonabbee, mentioned in my instructions; who,
+with his followers, or gang, was also going to Prince of Wales's Fort,
+with furrs, and other articles for trade. This Leader, when a youth,
+resided several years at the above Fort, and was {53} 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; and
+it was on his information, added to that of one I-dot-le-ezey, (who is
+since dead), that this expedition was set on foot.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. October.]
+
+The courteous behaviour of this stranger struck me very sensibly. As
+soon as he was acquainted with our distress, he got such skins as we had
+with us dressed for the Southern Indians, and furnished me with a good
+warm suit of otter and other skins: but, as it was not in his power to
+provide us with snow-shoes, (being then on the barren ground), he
+directed us to a little river which he knew, and where there was a small
+range of woods, which, though none of the best, would, he said, furnish
+us with temporary snow-shoes and sledges, that might materially assist
+us during the remaining part of our journey. We spent several nights in
+company with this Leader, though we advanced towards the Fort at the
+rate of ten or twelve miles a day; and as provisions abounded, he made a
+grand feast for me in the Southern Indian style, where there was plenty
+of good eating, and the whole concluded with singing and dancing, after
+the Southern Indian style and manner. In this amusement my home-guard
+Indians bore no inconsiderable part, as they were both men of some {54}
+consequence when at home, and well known to Matonabbee: but among the
+other Northern Indians, to whom they were not known, they were held in
+no estimation; which indeed is not to be wondered at, when we consider
+that the value of a man among those people, is always proportioned to
+his abilities in hunting; and as my two Indians had not exhibited any
+great talents that way, the Northern Indians shewed them as much respect
+as they do in common to those of very moderate talents among themselves.
+
+During my conversation with this Leader, he asked me very seriously, If
+I would attempt another journey for the discovery of the Copper-mines?
+And on my answering in the affirmative, provided I could get better
+guides than I had hitherto been furnished with, he said he would readily
+engage in that service, provided the Governor at the Fort would employ
+him. In answer to this, I assured him his offer would be gladly
+accepted; and as I had already experienced every hardship that was
+likely to accompany any future trial, I was determined to complete the
+discovery, even at the risque of life itself. Matonabbee assured me,
+that by the accounts received from his own countrymen, the Southern
+Indians, and myself, it was very probable I might not experience so much
+hardship during the whole journey, as I had already felt, though
+scarcely advanced one third part of the journey.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. October.]
+
+{55} He attributed all our misfortunes to the misconduct of my guides,
+and the very plan we pursued, by the desire of the Governor, in not
+taking any women with us on this journey, was, he said, the principal
+thing that occasioned all our wants: "for, said he, 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 produce of their labour? Women," added he, "were made for labour;
+one of them can carry, or haul, as much as two men can do. They also
+pitch our tents, make and mend our clothing, keep us warm 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," said he again, "though they do every thing, are maintained at a
+trifling expence; for as they always stand cook, the very licking of
+their fingers in scarce times, is sufficient for their subsistence."
+This, however odd it may appear, is but too true a description of the
+situation of women in this country; it is at least so in appearance; for
+the women always carry the provisions, and it is more than probable they
+help themselves when the men are not present.
+
+[Sidenote: 23d.]
+
+[Sidenote: 25th.]
+
+[Sidenote: November. 1st.]
+
+Early in the morning of the twenty-third, I struck out of the road to
+the Eastward, with my two companions and two or three Northern Indians,
+while Matonabbee and his crew continued their course to the Factory,
+promising {56} to walk so slow that we might come up with them again;
+and in two days we arrived at the place to which we were directed. We
+went to work immediately in making snow-shoe frames and sledges; but
+notwithstanding our utmost endeavours, we could not complete them in
+less than four days. On the first of November we again proceeded on our
+journey toward the Factory; and on the sixth, came up with Matonabbee
+and his gang: after which we proceeded on together several days; when I
+found my new acquaintance, on all occasions, the most sociable, kind,
+and sensible Indian I had ever met with. He was a man well known, and,
+as an Indian, of universal knowledge, and generally respected.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. November.]
+
+Deer proved pretty plentiful for some time, but to my great surprise,
+when I wanted to give Matonabbee a little ammunition for his own use, I
+found that my guide, Conreaquefe, who had it all under his care, had so
+embezzled or otherways expended it, that only ten balls and about three
+pounds of powder remained; so that long before we arrived at the Fort we
+were obliged to cut up an ice-chissel into square lumps, as a substitute
+for ball. It is, however, rather dangerous firing lumps of iron out of
+such slight barrels as are brought to this part of the world for trade.
+These, though light and handy, and of course well adapted for the use of
+both English and Indians in long journies, and of sufficient strength
+for leaden shot or ball, are not strong enough for {57} this kind of
+shot; and strong fowling-pieces would not only be too heavy for the
+laborious ways of hunting in this country, but their bores being so much
+larger, would require more than double the quantity of ammunition that
+small ones do; which, to Indians at least, must be an object of no
+inconsiderable importance.
+
+[Sidenote: 20th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 21st.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. November.]
+
+[Sidenote: 23rd.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. November.]
+
+I kept company with Matonabbee till the twentieth, at which time the
+deer began to be so scarce that hardly a fresh track could be seen; and
+as we were then but a few days walk from the Fort, he advised me to
+proceed on with all speed, while he and his companions followed at
+leisure. Accordingly, on the twenty-first, I set out post-haste,
+accompanied by one of the home-guard (Southern) Tribe, and three
+Northern Indians. That night we lay on the South side of Egg River; but,
+long before daybreak the next morning, the weather became 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 till after ten at night that we could find the smallest tuft
+of woods to put up in; for though we well knew we must have passed by
+several hummocks of shrubby woods {58} 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. Between
+seven and eight in the evening my dog, a valuable brute, was frozen to
+death; so that his sledge, which was a very heavy one, I was obliged to
+haul. Between nine and ten at night we arrived at a small creek, on
+which we walked about three quarters of a mile, when we came to a large
+tuft of tall willows, and two or three sets of old tent-poles. Being
+much jaded, we determined not to proceed any farther that night; so we
+went to work, and made the best defence against the weather that the
+situation of the place and our materials would admit. Our labour
+consisted only in digging a hole in the snow, and fixing a few deer
+skins up to windward of us; but the most difficult task was that of
+making a fire. When this was once accomplished, the old tent-poles amply
+supplied us with fuel. By the time we had finished this business, the
+weather began to moderate, and the drift greatly to abate; so that the
+moon and the _Aurora Borealis_ shone out with great splendour, and there
+appeared every symptom of the return of fine weather. After eating a
+plentiful supper of venison, therefore, of which we had a sufficient
+stock to last us to the Fort, we laid down and got a little sleep. The
+next day proving fine and clear, though excessively sharp, we proceeded
+on our journey early in the morning, and at night lay on the South East
+side of Seal River. We should have made a much longer day's {59}
+journey, had we not been greatly embarrassed at setting out, by a jumble
+of rocks, which we could not avoid without going greatly out of our way.
+Here I must observe, that we were more than fortunate in not attempting
+to leave the little creek where we had fixed our habitation the
+preceding night, as the spot where we lay was not more than two or three
+miles distant from this dangerous place; in which, had we fallen in with
+it in the night, we must unavoidably have been bewildered, if we had
+not all perished; as notwithstanding the advantage of a clear day, and
+having used every possible precaution, it was with the utmost difficulty
+that we crossed it without broken limbs. Indeed it would have been next
+to an impossibility to have done it in the night.
+
+[Sidenote: 24th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 25th.]
+
+The twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth proved fine, clear weather, though
+excessively cold; and in the afternoon of the latter, we arrived at
+Prince of Wales's Fort, after having been absent eight months and
+twenty-two days, on a fruitless, or at least an unsuccessful
+journey.[44]
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[X] This only consisted of three walking-sticks stuck into the ground,
+and a blanket thrown over them.
+
+[Y] Skipertogan is a small bag that contains a flint and steel, also a
+pipe and tobacco, as well as touchwood, &c. for making a fire. Some of
+these bags may be called truly elegant; being richly ornamented with
+beads, porcupine-quills, moose-hair, &c. a work always performed by the
+women; and they are, with much propriety, greatly esteemed by most
+Europeans for the neatness of their workmanship.
+
+[44] The text gives very little information from which to follow
+Hearne's course from the point where he broke his quadrant on August
+12th, till he arrived at Churchill on November 25th, so that we must
+follow him as well as possible from the route laid down on his map.
+
+His route is marked crossing the Dubawnt River in latitude 63 deg. north,
+near where it flows into an arm or bay of Dubawnt Lake. The river
+actually flows into the lake from the south-west in latitude 62 deg. 55',
+and it is probable that he crossed it three miles above this in latitude
+62 deg. 53' 30", where, in 1893, we found the most northerly grove of
+stunted spruce growing on the bank of the river, and where very old
+remains of Indian camps were plainly to be seen.
+
+From here he turned south-eastward, and travelling around the south end
+of Dubawnt Lake reached Kazan River just above Angikuni Lake (called on
+Alexander Mackenzie's map Titmeg Lake), probably just at its western
+end, where the caribou cross the river in large numbers in their
+migration southward. This point is in latitude 62 deg. 20' north, while
+Hearne places his crossing-place in latitude 62 deg. 12'. Thence, keeping
+south of Angikuni Lake, he turned more to the east, and passing several
+lakes which cannot be definitely identified, but two of which are
+probably Magnus and Thaolintoa Lakes, he reached Thlewiaza River east of
+Island Lake, where he was joined by Matonabbee and a band of Indians,
+who had left their wives at Island Lake, and were on their way to Fort
+Prince of Wales to trade.
+
+At the Thlewiaza River he turned eastward down the stream to a grove of
+timber to obtain wood for snow-shoes. After making snow-shoes he turned
+southward and rejoined Matonabbee and his band of Indians for a short
+time, and then pushed on across Egg and Seal Rivers and around the south
+end of Button's Bay to Fort Prince of Wales.
+
+
+
+
+{60} CHAP. IV.
+
+ Transactions during our Stay at Prince of Wales's Fort, and the
+ former part of our third Expedition, till our Arrival at Clowey,
+ where we built Canoes, in May 1771.
+
+ _Preparations for our departure--Refuse to take any of the
+ home-guard Indians with me--By so doing, I offend the
+ Governor--Leave the Fort a third time--My instructions on this
+ expedition--Provisions of all kinds very scarce--Arrive at the
+ woods, where we kill some deer--Arrive at Island
+ Lake--Matonabbee taken ill--Some remarks thereon--Join the
+ remainder of the Indians' families--Leave Island
+ Lake--Description thereof--Deer plentiful--Meet a strange
+ Indian--Alter our course from West North West to West by
+ South--Cross Cathawhachaga River, Cossed Lake, Snow-Bird Lake,
+ and Pike Lake--Arrive at a tent of strangers, who are employed
+ in snaring deer in a pound--Description of the pound--Method of
+ proceeding--Remarks thereon--Proceed on our journey--Meet with
+ several parties of Indians; by one of whom I sent a letter to
+ the Governor at Prince of Wales's Fort--Arrive at
+ Thleweyazayeth--Employment there--Proceed to the North North
+ West and North--Arrive at Clowey--One of the Indians' wives
+ taken in labour--Remarks thereon--Customs observed by the
+ Northern Indians on those occasions._
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. November. 28th.]
+
+On my arrival at the Fort, I informed the Governor, of Matonabbee's
+being so near. On the twenty-eighth of November he arrived.
+Notwithstanding the many difficulties and hardships which I had
+undergone during my two unsuccessful attempts, I was so far from being
+{61} solicited on this occasion to undertake a third excursion, that I
+willingly offered my service; which was readily accepted, as my
+abilities and approved courage, in persevering under difficulties, were
+thought noways inferior to the task.
+
+[Illustration: A SOUTH-WEST VIEW OF PRINCE OF WALES'S FORT, HUDSON'S BAY
+_Published by J. Sewell, Cornhill, March 1st, 1797_
+_From the "European Magazine", June, 1797_]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. December.]
+
+I then determined to engage Matonabbee to be my guide; to which he
+readily consented, and with a freedom of speech and correctness of
+language not commonly met with among Indians, not only pointed out the
+reasons which had occasioned all our misfortunes in my two former
+attempts, but described the plan he intended to pursue; which at the
+same time that it was highly satisfactory to me, did honour to his
+penetration and judgment; as it proved him to be a man of extensive
+observation with respect to times, seasons, and places; and well
+qualified to explain everything that could contribute either to
+facilitate or retard the ease or progress of travelling in those dreary
+parts of the world.
+
+[Sidenote: 7th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. December.]
+
+Having engaged Matonabbee, therefore, as my guide, I began to make
+preparations for our departure; but Mr. Norton, the Governor, having
+been very fully occupied in trading with a large body of Indians, it was
+the seventh of December before I could obtain from him my dispatches. It
+may not be improper to observe, that he again wanted to force some of
+the home-guard Indians (who were {62} his own relations[Z]) into our
+company, merely with a view that they might engross all the credit of
+taking care of{63} me during the journey; but I had round them of so
+little use in my two former attempts, that I absolutely refused them;
+and by so doing, offended Mr. Norton to such a degree, that neither time
+nor absence could ever afterwards eradicate his dislike of me; so that
+at my return he used every means in his power to treat me ill, and to
+render my life unhappy. However, to deal with candour on this occasion,
+it must be acknowledged to his honour, that whatever our private
+animosities might have been, he did not suffer them to interfere with
+public business; and I was fitted out with ammunition, and every other
+article which Matonabbee thought could be wanted. I was also furnished,
+as before, with a small assortment of light trading goods, as presents
+to the far distant Indians.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. December.]
+
+At last I succeeded in obtaining my instructions which were as follows:
+
+ {64} "ORDERS _and_ INSTRUCTIONS _for_ Mr. SAMUEL HEARNE, _going
+ on his third Expedition to the North of Churchill River, in
+ quest of a North West Passage, Copper Mines, or any other thing
+ that may be serviceable to the British Nation in general, or the
+ Hudson's Bay Company in particular; in the year 1770._
+
+ "Mr. SAMUEL HEARNE.
+
+ "SIR,
+
+"As you have offered your service a third time to go in search of the
+Copper Mine River, &c., and as Matonabbee, a leading Indian, who has
+been at those parts, is willing to be your guide, we have accordingly
+engaged him for that service; but having no other instrument on the same
+construction with the quadrant you had the misfortune to break, we have
+furnished you with an Elton's quadrant, being the most proper instrument
+we can now procure for making observations on the land.
+
+"The above Leader, Matonabbee, and a few of his best men, which he has
+selected for that purpose, are to provide for you, assist you in all
+things, and conduct you to the Copper Mine River; where you must {65} be
+careful to observe the latitude and longitude, also the course of the
+river, the depth of the water, the situation of the Copper Mines, &c.,
+but your first instructions, of November sixth, one thousand seven
+hundred and sixty-nine, being sufficiently full, we refer you to every
+part thereof for the better regulation of your conduct during this
+journey.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. December.]
+
+"As you and your Indian companions are fitted out with everything that
+we think is necessary, (or at least as many useful articles as the
+nature of travelling in those parts will admit of), you are hereby
+desired to proceed on your journey as soon as possible; and your
+present guide has promised to take great care of you, and conduct you
+out and home with all convenient speed.
+
+"I conclude with my best wishes for your health and happiness, together
+with a successful journey, and a quick return in safety. Amen.
+
+ "(Signed) MOSES NORTON, Governor.
+
+ "Dated at Prince of Wales's Fort,
+ 7th December 1770."
+
+[Sidenote: 7th.]
+
+On the seventh of December I set out on my third journey; and the
+weather, considering the season of the year, was for some days pretty
+mild. One of Matonabbee's wives being ill, occasioned us to walk so
+slow, that {66} it was the thirteenth before we arrived at Seal River;
+at which time two men and their wives left us, whose loads, when added
+to those of the remainder of my crew, made a very material difference,
+especially as Matonabbee's wife was so ill as to be obliged to be hauled
+on a sledge.
+
+[Sidenote: 16th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. December.]
+
+Finding deer and all other game very scarce, and not knowing how long it
+might be before we could reach any place where they were in greater
+plenty, the Indians walked as far each day as their loads and other
+circumstances would conveniently permit. On the sixteenth, we arrived at
+Egg River, where Matonabbee and the rest of my crew had laid up some
+provisions and other necessaries, when on their journey to the Fort. On
+going to the place where they thought the provisions had been carefully
+secured from all kinds of wild beasts, they had the mortification to
+find that some of their countrymen, with whom the Governor had first
+traded and dispatched from the Fort, had robbed the store of every
+article, as well as of some of their most useful implements. This loss
+was more severely felt, as there was a total want of every kind of game;
+and the Indians, not expecting to meet with so great a disappointment,
+had not used that economy in the expenditure of the oatmeal and other
+provisions which they had received at the Fort, as they probably would
+have done, had they not relied firmly on finding a supply at this place.
+This disappointment and loss was borne by the Indians with the greatest
+fortitude; and I did not hear {67} one of them breathe the least hint of
+revenge in case they should ever discover the offenders; the only effect
+it had on them was, that of making them put the best foot foremost. This
+was thought so necessary, that for some time we walked every day from
+morning till night. The days, however, being short, our sledges heavy,
+and some of the road very bad, our progress seldom exceeded sixteen or
+eighteen miles a day, and some days we did not travel so much.
+
+[Sidenote: 18th.]
+
+On the eighteenth, as we were continuing our course to the North West,
+up a small creek that empties itself into Egg River, we saw the tracks
+of many deer which had crossed that part a few days before; at that time
+there was not a fresh track to be seen: some of the Indians, however,
+who had lately passed that way, had killed more than they had occasion
+for, so that several joints of good meat were found in their old
+tent-places; which, though only sufficient for one good meal, were very
+acceptable, as we had been in exceeding straitened circumstances for
+many days.
+
+[Sidenote: 19th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 27th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. December.]
+
+On the nineteenth, we pursued our course in the North West quarter; and,
+after leaving the above-mentioned creek, traversed nothing but entire
+barren ground, with empty bellies, till the twenty-seventh; for though
+we arrived at some woods on the twenty-sixth, and saw a few deer, four
+of which the Indians killed, they were {68} at so great a distance from
+the place on which we lay, that it was the twenty-seventh before the
+meat was brought to the tents. Here the Indians proposed to continue one
+day, under pretence of repairing their sledges and snow shoes; but from
+the little attention they paid to those repairs, I was led to think that
+the want of food was the chief thing that detained them, as they never
+ceased eating the whole day. Indeed for many days before we had in
+great want, and for the last three days had not tasted a morsel of any
+thing, except a pipe of tobacco and a drink of snow water; and as we
+walked daily from morning till night, and were all heavy laden, our
+strength began to fail. I must confess that I never spent so dull a
+Christmas; and when I recollected the merry season which was then
+passing, and reflected on the immense quantities, and great variety of
+delicacies which were then expending in every part of Christendom, and
+that with a profusion bordering on waste, I could not refrain from
+wishing myself again in Europe, if it had been only to have had an
+opportunity of alleviating the extreme hunger which I suffered with the
+refuse of the table of any one of my acquaintance. My Indians, however,
+still kept in good spirits; and as we were then across all the barren
+ground, and saw a few fresh tracks of deer, they began to think that the
+worst of the road was over for that winter, and flattered me with the
+expectation of soon meeting with deer and other game in greater plenty
+than we had done since our departure from the Fort.
+
+[Sidenote: 28th.]
+
+{69} Early in the morning of the twenty-eighth, we again set out, and
+directed our course to the Westward, through thick shrubby woods,
+consisting chiefly of ill-shaped stunted pines, with small dwarf
+junipers, intermixed here and there, particularly round the margins of
+ponds and swamps, with dwarf willow bushes; and among the rocks and
+sides of the hills were also some small poplars.[46]
+
+[Sidenote: 30th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. December.]
+
+On the thirtieth, we arrived at the East side of Island Lake,[47] where
+the Indians killed two large buck deer; but the rutting season was so
+lately over, that their flesh was only eatable by those who could not
+procure better food. In the evening, Matonabbee was taken very ill; and
+from the nature of his complaint, I judged his illness to have proceeded
+from the enormous quantity of meat that he had eat on the
+twenty-seventh, as he had been indisposed ever since that time. Nothing
+is more common with those Indians, after they have eat as much at a
+sitting as would serve six moderate men, than to find themselves out of
+order; but not one of them can bear to hear that it is the effect of
+eating too much: in defence of which they say, that the meanest of the
+animal creation knows when hunger is satisfied, and will leave off
+accordingly. This, however, is a false assertion, advanced knowingly in
+support of an absurd argument; for it is well known by them, as well as
+all the Southern Indians, that the black bear, who, for size and the
+delicacy of its flesh, may justly be called a respectable animal, is so
+far from knowing {70} when its hunger is satisfied, that, in the Summer,
+when the berries are ripe, it will gorge to such a degree, that it
+frequently, and even daily, vomits up great quantities of new-swallowed
+fruit, before it has undergone any change in the stomach, and
+immediately renews its repast with as much eagerness as before.
+
+[Sidenote: 1770. December.]
+
+Notwithstanding the Northern Indians are at times so voracious, yet they
+bear hunger with a degree of fortitude which, as Mr. Ellis justly
+observes of the Southern Indians, "is much easier to admire than to
+imitate." I have more than once seen the Northern Indians, at the end of
+three or four days fasting, as merry and jocose on the subject, as if
+they had voluntarily imposed it on themselves; and would ask each other
+in the plainest terms, and in the merriest mood, if they had any
+inclination for an intrigue with a strange woman? I must acknowledge
+that examples of this kind were of infinite service to me, as they
+tended to keep up my spirits on those occasions with a degree of
+fortitude that would have been impossible for me to have done had the
+Indians behaved in a contrary manner, and expressed any apprehension of
+starving.
+
+[Sidenote: 31st.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. January. 1st.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. January.]
+
+Early in the morning of the thirty-first, we continued our journey, and
+walked about fourteen miles to the Westward on Island Lake, where we
+fixed our residence; but Matonabbee was at this time so ill as to be
+obliged to be hauled on a sledge the whole day. The {71} next morning,
+however, he so far recovered as to be capable of walking; when we
+proceeded on to the West and West by North, about sixteen miles farther
+on the same Lake, till we arrived at two tents, which contained the
+remainder of the wives and families of my guides, who had been waiting
+there for the return of their husbands from the Fort. Here we found only
+two men, though there were upward of twenty women and children; and as
+those two men had no gun or ammunition, they had no other method of
+supporting themselves and the women, but by catching fish, and snaring a
+few rabbits:[48] the latter were scarce, but the former were easily
+caught in considerable numbers either with nets or hooks. The species of
+fish generally caught in the nets are tittemeg, pike, and barble; and
+the only sorts caught with hooks are trout, pike, burbut, and a small
+fish, erroneously called by the English tench: the Southern Indians call
+it the toothed tittemeg, and the Northern Indians call it _saint eah_.
+They are delicate eating; being nearly as firm as a perch, and generally
+very fat. They seldom exceed a foot in length, and in shape much
+resemble a gurnard, except that of having a very long broad fin on the
+back, like a perch, but this fin is not armed with similar spikes. The
+scales are large, and of a sooty brown. They are generally most esteemed
+when broiled or roasted with the scales on, of course the skin is not
+eaten.
+
+[Sidenote: 3d.]
+
+{72} As the Captain [Matonabbee] and one man were indisposed, we did not
+move on the second of January; but early in the morning of the third set
+out, and walked about seven miles to the North Westward, five of which
+were on the above mentioned Lake; when the Indians having killed two
+deer, we put up for the night.
+
+Island Lake (near the center) is in latitude 60 deg. 45' North, and 102 deg. 25'
+West longitude, from London; and is, at the part we crossed, about
+thirty-five miles wide: but from the North East to the South West it is
+much larger, and entirely full of islands, so near to each other as to
+make the whole Lake resemble a jumble of serpentine rivers and creeks;
+and it is celebrated by the natives as abounding with great plenty of
+fine fish during the beginning of the Winter. At different parts of this
+Lake most part of the wives and families of those Northern Indians who
+visit Prince of Wales's Fort in October and November generally reside,
+and wait for their return; as there is little fear of their being in
+want of provisions, even without the assistance of a gun and ammunition,
+which is a point of real consequence to them. The Lake is plentifully
+supplied with water from several small rivulets and creeks which run
+into it at the South West end; and it empties itself by means of other
+small rivers which run to the North East, the principal of which is
+Nemace-a-seepee-a-fish, or Little Fish River. Many of the islands, {73}
+as well as the main land round this Lake, abound with dwarf woods,
+chiefly pines; but in some parts intermixed with larch and small birch
+trees. The land, like all the rest which lies to the North of Seal
+River, is hilly, and full of rocks; and though none of the hills are
+high, yet as few of the woods grow on their summits, they in general
+show their snowy heads far above the woods which grow in the vallies, or
+those which are scattered about their sides.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. January.]
+
+After leaving Island Lake, we continued our old course between the West
+and North West, and travelled at the easy rate of eight or nine miles a
+day. Provisions of all kinds were scarce till the sixteenth, when the
+Indians killed twelve deer. This induced us to put up, though early in
+the day; and finding great plenty of deer in the neighbourhood of our
+little encampment, it was agreed by all parties to remain a few days, in
+order to dry and pound some meat to make it lighter for carriage.
+
+[Sidenote: 22d.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. January.]
+
+Having, by the twenty-second, provided a sufficient stock of provision,
+properly prepared, to carry with us, and repaired our sledges and
+snow-shoes, we again pursued our course in the North West quarter; and
+in the afternoon spoke with a stranger, an Indian, who had one of
+Matonabbee's wives under his care. He did not remain in our company
+above an hour, as he only smoked part of a few pipes with his friends,
+and returned to his tent, which could not {74} be far distant from the
+place where we lay that night, as the woman and her two children joined
+us next morning, before we had taken down our tent and made ready for
+moving. Those people were the first strangers whom we had met since we
+left the Fort, though we had travelled several hundred miles; which is a
+proof that this part of the country is but thinly inhabited. It is a
+truth well known to the natives, and doubtless founded on experience,
+that there are many very extensive tracts of land in those parts, which
+are incapable of affording support to any number of the human race even
+during the short time they are passing through them, in the capacity of
+migrants, from one place to another; much less are they capable of
+affording a constant support to those who might wish to make them their
+fixed residence at any season of the year. It is true, that few rivers
+or lakes in those parts are entirely destitute of fish; but the
+uncertainty of meeting with a sufficient supply for any considerable
+time together, makes the natives very cautious how they put their whole
+dependance on that article, as it has too frequently been the means of
+many hundreds being starved to death.
+
+[Sidenote: 23d.]
+
+By the twenty-third, deer were so plentiful that the Indians seemed to
+think that, unless the season, contrary to expectation and general
+experience, should prove unfavourable, there would be no fear of our
+being in want of {75} provisions during the rest of the Winter, as deer
+had always been known to be in great plenty in the direction which they
+intended to walk.
+
+[Sidenote: February. 3d.]
+
+On the third of February, we continued our course to the West by North
+and West North West,[49] and were so near the edge of the woods, that
+the barren ground was in sight to the Northward. As the woods trended
+away to the West, we were obliged to alter our course to West by South,
+for the sake of keeping among them, as well as the deer. In the course
+of this day's walk we saw several strangers, some of whom remained in
+our company, while others went on their respective ways.
+
+[Sidenote: 6th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. February.]
+
+On the sixth, we crossed the main branch of Cathawhachaga River;[50]
+which, at that part, is about three quarters of a mile broad; and after
+walking three miles farther, came to the side of Cossed Whoie,[51] or
+Partridge Lake; but the day being far spent, and the weather excessively
+cold, we put up for the night.
+
+[Sidenote: 7th.]
+
+Early in the morning of the seventh, the weather being serene and clear,
+we set out, and crossed the above mentioned Lake; which at that part is
+about fourteen miles wide; but from the South South West to North North
+East is much larger. It is impossible to describe the intenseness of the
+cold which we experienced this day; and the dispatch we made in crossing
+the lake is almost incredible, as it was {76} performed by the greatest
+part of my crew in less than two hours; though some of the women, who
+were heavy laden, took a much longer time. Several of the Indians were
+much frozen, but none of them more disagreeably so than one of
+Matonabbee's wives, whose thighs and buttocks were in a manner incrusted
+with frost; and when thawed, several blisters arose, nearly as large as
+sheeps' bladders. The pain the poor woman suffered on this occasion was
+greatly aggravated by the laughter and jeering of her companions, who
+said that she was rightly served for belting her clothes so high. I must
+acknowledge that I was not in the number of those who pitied her, as I
+thought she took too much pains to shew a clean heel and good leg; her
+garters being always in sight, which, though by no means considered here
+as bordering on indecency, is by far too airy to withstand the rigorous
+cold of a severe winter in a high Northern latitude. I doubt not that
+the laughter of her companions was excited by similar ideas.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. February.]
+
+When we got on the West side of Partridge Lake we continued our course
+for many days toward the West by South and West South West; when deer
+were so plentiful, and the Indians killed such vast numbers, that
+notwithstanding we frequently remained three, four, or five days in a
+place, to eat up the spoils of our hunting, yet at our departure we
+frequently left great quantities of good meat behind us, which we could
+neither eat nor carry with us. {77} This conduct is the more excusable
+among people whose wandering manner of life and contracted ideas make
+every thing appear to them as the effect of mere chance. The great
+uncertainty of their ever visiting this or that part a second time,
+induces them to think there is nothing either wrong or improvident in
+living on the best the country will afford, as they are passing through
+it from place to place; and they seem willing that those who come after
+them should take their chance, as they have done.
+
+[Sidenote: 21st.]
+
+On the twenty-first, we crossed The-whole-kyed Whoie, or Snowbird
+Lake,[52] which at that part was about twelve or thirteen miles wide,
+though from North to South it is much larger. As deer were as plentiful
+as before, we expended much time in killing and eating them. This
+Matonabbee assured me was the best way we could employ ourselves, as the
+season would by no means permit us to proceed in a direct line for the
+Copper-mine River; but when the Spring advanced, and the deer began to
+draw out to the barren ground, he would then, he said, proceed in such a
+manner as to leave no room to doubt of our arrival at the Copper-mine
+River in proper time.
+
+[Sidenote: March. 2d.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. March. 3d.]
+
+On the second of March, we lay by the side of Whooldyah'd Whoie or Pike
+Lake,[53] and not far from Doo-baunt Whoie River. On the next day we
+began to cross the above mentioned Lake, but after walking seven miles
+on it to the West South West, we arrived at a large tent of Northern
+{78} Indians, who had been living there from the beginning of the
+Winter, and had found a plentiful subsistence by catching deer in a
+pound. This kind of employment is performed in the following manner:
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
+
+When the Indians design to impound deer, they look out for one of the
+paths in which a number of them have trod, and which is observed to be
+still frequented by them. When these paths cross a lake, a wide river,
+or a barren plain, they are found to be much the best for the purpose;
+and if the path run through a cluster of woods, capable of affording
+materials for building the pound, it adds considerably to the
+commodiousness of the situation. The pound is built by making a strong
+fence with brushy trees, without observing any degree of regularity, and
+the work is continued to any extent, according to the pleasure of the
+builders. I have seen some that were not less than a mile round, and am
+informed that there are others still more extensive. The door, or
+entrance of the pound, is not larger than a common gate, and the inside
+is so crowded with small counter-hedges as very much to resemble a maze;
+in every opening of which they set a snare, made with thongs of
+parchment deer-skins well twisted together, which are amazingly strong.
+One end of the snare is usually made fast to a growing pole; but if no
+one of a sufficient size can be found near the place where the snare is
+set, a loose pole is substituted in its room, which is always of such
+size and length that a deer cannot drag it {79} far before it gets
+entangled among the other woods, which are all left standing except what
+is found necessary for making the fence, hedges, &c.
+
+[Illustration: _Photo: J. B. Tyrrell, July 19, 1893._
+WHOLDIAH LAKE AS SEEN FROM THE HILLS TO THE SOUTH]
+
+[Illustration: _Photo: J. B. Tyrrell, August 2, 1893._
+GROVE OF SPRUCE BESIDE DUBAWNT RIVER,
+WITHIN THE BARREN LANDS]
+
+The pound being thus prepared, a row of small brush-wood is stuck up in
+the snow on each side of the door or entrance; and these hedge-rows are
+continued along the open part of the lake, river, or plain, where
+neither stick nor stump besides is to be seen, which makes them the more
+distinctly observed. These poles, or brush-wood, are generally placed at
+the distance of fifteen or twenty yards from each other, and ranged in
+such a manner as to form two sides of a long acute angle, growing
+gradually wider in proportion to the distance they extend from the
+entrance of the pound, which sometimes is not less than two or three
+miles; while the deer's path is exactly along the middle, between the
+two rows of brush-wood.
+
+Indians employed on this service always pitch their tent on or near to
+an eminence that affords a commanding prospect of the path leading to
+the pound; and when they see any deer going that way, men, women, and
+children walk along the lake or river-side under cover of the woods,
+till they get behind them, then step forth to open view, and proceed
+towards the pound in the form of a crescent. The poor timorous deer
+finding themselves pursued, and at the same time taking the two rows of
+brushy poles to be two ranks of people stationed {80} to prevent their
+passing on either side, run straight forward in the path till they get
+into the pound. The Indians then close in, and block up the entrance
+with some brushy trees, that have been cut down and lie at hand for that
+purpose. The deer being thus enclosed, the women and children walk round
+the pound, to prevent them from breaking or jumping over the fence,
+while the men are employed spearing such as are entangled in the snares,
+and shooting with bows and arrows those which remain loose in the
+pound.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
+
+This method of hunting, if it deserves the name, is sometimes so
+successful, that many families subsist by it without having occasion to
+move their tents above once or twice during the course of a whole
+winter; and when the Spring advances, both the deer and Indians draw out
+to the Eastward, on the ground which is entirely barren, or at least
+what is so called in those parts, as it neither produces trees or shrubs
+of any kind, so that moss and some little grass is all the herbage which
+is to be found on it. Such an easy way of procuring a comfortable
+maintenance in the Winter months, (which is by far the worst time of the
+year), is wonderfully well adapted to the support of the aged and
+infirm, but is too apt to occasion a habitual indolence in the young and
+active, who frequently spend a whole Winter in this indolent manner: and
+as those parts of the country are almost destitute of every animal of
+the furr kind, it cannot be {81} supposed that those who indulge
+themselves in this indolent method of procuring food can be masters of
+any thing for trade; whereas those who do not get their livelihood at so
+easy a rate, generally procure furrs enough during the Winter to
+purchase a sufficient supply of ammunition, and other European goods, to
+last them another year. This is nearly the language of the more
+industrious among them, who, of course, are of most importance and value
+to the Hudson's Bay Company, as it is from them the furrs are procured
+which compose the greatest part of Churchill trade. But in my opinion,
+there cannot exist a stronger proof that mankind was not created to
+enjoy happiness in this world, than the conduct of the miserable beings
+who inhabit this wretched part of it; as none but the aged and infirm,
+the women and children, a few of the more indolent and unambitious part
+of them, will submit to remain in the parts where food and clothing are
+procured in this easy manner, because no animals are produced there
+whose furrs are valuable. And what do the more industrious gain by
+giving themselves all this additional trouble? The real wants of these
+people are few, and easily supplied; a hatchet, an ice-chissel, a file,
+and a knife, are all that is required to enable them, with a little
+industry, to procure a comfortable livelihood; and those who endeavour
+to possess more, are always the most unhappy, and may, in fact, be said
+to be only slaves and carriers to the rest, whose ambition never leads
+them to any thing beyond the means of procuring food {82} and clothing.
+It is true, the carriers pride themselves much on the respect which is
+shewn to them at the Factory; to obtain which they frequently run great
+risques of being starved to death in their way thither and back; and all
+that they can possibly get there for the furrs they procure after a
+year's toil, seldom amounts to more than is sufficient to yield a bare
+subsistence, and a few furrs for the ensuing year's market; while those
+whom they call indolent and mean-spirited live generally in a state of
+plenty, without trouble or risque; and consequently must be the most
+happy, and, in truth, the most independent also. It must be allowed that
+they are by far the greatest philosophers, as they never give themselves
+the trouble to acquire what they can do well enough without. The deer
+they kill, furnishes them with food, and a variety of warm and
+comfortable clothing, either with or without the hair, according as the
+seasons require; and it must be very hard indeed, if they cannot get
+furrs enough in the course of two or three years, to purchase a hatchet,
+and such other edge-tools as are necessary for their purpose. Indeed,
+those who take no concern at all about procuring furrs, have generally
+an opportunity of providing themselves with all their real wants from
+their more industrious countrymen, in exchange for provisions, and
+ready-dressed skins for clothing.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
+
+It is undoubtedly the duty of every one of the Company's servants to
+encourage a spirit of industry among {83} the natives, and to use every
+means in their power to induce them to procure furrs and other
+commodities for trade, by assuring them of a ready purchase and good
+payment for every thing they bring to the Factory: and I can truly say,
+that this has ever been the grand object of my attention. But I must at
+the same time confess, that such conduct is by no means for the real
+benefit of the poor Indians; it being well known that those who have the
+least intercourse with the Factories, are by far the happiest. As their
+whole aim is to procure a comfortable subsistence, they take the most
+prudent methods to accomplish it; and by always following the lead of
+the deer, are seldom exposed to the griping hand of famine, so
+frequently felt by those who are called the annual traders. It is true,
+that there are few of the Indians, whose manner of life I have just
+described, but have once in their lives at least visited Prince of
+Wales's Fort; and the hardships and dangers which most of them
+experienced on those occasions, have left such a lasting impression on
+their minds that nothing can induce them to repeat their visits: nor is
+it, in fact, the interest of the Company that people of this easy turn,
+and who require only as much iron-work at a time as can be purchased
+with three or four beaver skins, and that only once in two or three
+years, should be invited to the Factories; because what they beg and
+steal while there, is worth, in the way of trade, three times the
+quantity of furrs which they bring. For this reason, it is much more for
+the interest of the Company that the {84} annual traders should buy up
+all those small quantities of furrs, and bring them in their own name,
+than that a parcel of beggars should be encouraged to come to the
+Factory with scarcely as many furrs as will pay for the victuals they
+eat while they are on the plantation.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
+
+I have often heard it observed, that the Indians who attend the
+deer-pounds might, in the course of a Winter, collect a vast number of
+pelts, which would well deserve the attention of those who are called
+carriers or traders; but it is a truth, though unknown to those
+speculators, that the deer skins at that season are not only as thin as
+a bladder, but are also full of warbles, which render them of little or
+no value. Indeed, were they a more marketable commodity than they
+really are, the remote situation of those pounds from the Company's
+Factories, must for ever be an unsurmountable barrier to the Indians
+bringing any of those skins to trade. The same observation may be made
+of all the other Northern Indians, whose chief support, the whole year
+round, is venison; but the want of heavy draught in Winter, and
+water-carriage in Summer, will not permit them to bring many deer skins
+to market, not even those that are in season, and for which there has
+always been great encouragement given.
+
+[Sidenote: 4th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 7th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 8th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 9th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
+
+We stopped only one night in company with the Indians whom we met on
+Pike Lake, and in the morning of the fourth, proceeded to cross the
+remainder of that {85} Lake; but, though the weather was fine, and
+though the Lake was not more than twenty-seven miles broad at the place
+where we crossed it, yet the Indians lost so much time at play, that it
+was the seventh before we arrived on the West side of it. During the
+whole time we were crossing it, each night we found either points of
+land, or islands, to put up in. On the eighth, we lay a little to the
+East North East of Black Bear Hill,[54] where the Indians killed two
+deer, which were the first we had seen for ten days; but having plenty
+of dried meat and fat with us, we were by no means in want during any
+part of that time. On the ninth, we proceeded on our course to the
+Westward, and soon met with as great plenty of deer as we had seen
+during any part of our journey; which, no doubt, made things go on
+smooth and easy: and as the Spring advanced, the rigour of the Winter
+naturally abated, so that at times we had fine pleasant weather
+over-head, though it was never so warm as to occasion any thaw, unless
+in such places as lay exposed to the mid-day sun, and were sheltered
+from all the cold winds.
+
+[Sidenote: 19th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 20th.]
+
+On the nineteenth, as we were continuing our course to the West and West
+by South, we saw the tracks of several strangers; and on following the
+main path, we arrived that night at five tents of Northern Indians, who
+had resided there great part of the Winter, snaring deer in the same
+manner as those before mentioned. Indeed, it should {86} seem that this,
+as well as some other places, had been frequented more than once on this
+occasion; for the wood that had been cut down for fewel, and other uses,
+was almost incredible. Before morning, the weather became so bad, and
+the storm continued to rage with such violence, that we did not move for
+several days; and as some of the Indians we met with at this place were
+going to Prince of Wales's Fort in the Summer, I embraced the
+opportunity of sending by them a Letter to the Chief at that Fort,
+agreeably to the tenor of my instructions. By summing up my courses and
+distances from my last observation, for the weather at that time would
+not permit me to observe, I judged myself to be in latitude 61 deg. 30'
+North, and about 19 deg. 60' of longitude to the West of Churchill River.
+This, and some accounts of the usage I received from the natives, with
+my opinion of the future success of the journey, formed the contents of
+my Letter.
+
+[Sidenote: 23d.]
+
+[Sidenote: 26th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. March.]
+
+On the twenty-third, the weather became fine and moderate, so we once
+more pursued our way, and the next day, as well as on the twenty-sixth,
+saw several more tents of Northern Indians, who were employed in the
+same manner as those we had formerly met; but some of them having had
+bad success, and being relations or acquaintances of part of my crew,
+joined our company, and proceeded with us to the Westward. Though the
+deer did not then keep regular paths, so as to enable the Indians to
+catch them in pounds, yet they were to be met {87} with in great
+abundance in scattered herds; so that my companions killed as many as
+they pleased with their guns.
+
+[Sidenote: April. 8th.]
+
+We still continued our course to the West and West by South, and on the
+eighth of April, arrived at a small Lake, called Thelewey-aza-yeth;[55]
+but with what propriety it is so called I cannot discover, for the
+meaning of Thelewey-aza-yeth is Little Fish Hill: probably so called
+from a high hill which stands on a long point near the West end of the
+Lake. On an island in this Lake we pitched our tents, and the Indians
+finding deer very numerous, determined to stay here some time, in order
+to dry and pound meat to take with us; for they well knew, by the season
+of the year, that the deer were then drawing out to the barren ground,
+and as the Indians proposed to walk due North on our leaving the Lake,
+it was uncertain when we should again meet with any more. As several
+Indians had during the Winter joined our party, our number had now
+increased to seven tents, which in the whole contained not less than
+seventy persons.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. April.]
+
+Agreeably to the Indians' proposals we remained at Thelewey-aza-yeth ten
+days; during which time my companions were busily employed (at their
+intervals from hunting) in preparing small staves of birch-wood, about
+one and a quarter inch square, and seven or eight feet long. These serve
+as tent-poles all the Summer, {88} while on the barren ground; and as
+the fall advances, are converted into snowshoe frames for Winter use.
+Birchrind, together with timbers and other wood-work for building
+canoes, were also another object of the Indian's attention while at this
+place; but as the canoes were not to be set up till our arrival at
+Clowey, (which was many miles distant,) all the wood-work was reduced to
+its proper size, for the sake of making it light for carriage.
+
+As to myself, I had little to do, except to make a few observations for
+determining the latitude, bringing up my journal, and filling up my
+chart to the present time. I found the latitude of this place 61 deg. 30'
+North, and its longitude, by my account, 19 deg. West of Prince of Wales's
+Fort.
+
+[Sidenote: 18th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. April.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. April.]
+
+Having a good stock of dried provisions, and most of the necessary work
+for canoes all ready, on the eighteenth we moved about nine or ten miles
+to the North North West, and then came to a tent of Northern Indians who
+were tenting on the North side of Thelewey-aza River. From these Indians
+Matonabbee purchased another wife; so that he had now no less than
+seven, most of whom would for size have made good grenadiers. He prided
+himself much in the height and strength of his wives, and would
+frequently say, few women would carry or haul heavier loads; and though
+they had, in general, a very masculine appearance, yet he preferred them
+to those of a {89} more delicate form and moderate stature. In a country
+like this, where a partner in excessive hard labour is the chief motive
+for the union, and the softer endearments of a conjugal life are only
+considered as a secondary object, there seems to be great propriety in
+such a choice; but if all the men were of this way of thinking, what
+would become of the greater part of the women, who in general are but of
+low stature, and many of them of a most delicate make, though not of the
+exactest proportion, or most beautiful mould? Take them in a body, the
+women are as destitute of real beauty as any nation I ever saw, though
+there are some few of them, when young, who are tolerable; but the care
+of a family, added to their constant hard labour, soon make the most
+beautiful among them look old and wrinkled, even before they are thirty;
+and several of the more ordinary ones at that age are perfect antidotes
+to love and gallantry. This, however, does not render them less dear and
+valuable to their owners, which is a lucky circumstance for those women,
+and a certain proof that there is no such thing as any rule or standard
+for beauty. Ask a Northern Indian, what is beauty? he will answer, a
+broad flat face, small eyes, high cheek-bones, three or four broad black
+lines across each cheek, a low forehead, a large broad chin, a clumsy
+hook-nose, a tawny hide, and breasts hanging down to the belt. Those
+beauties are greatly heightened, or at least rendered more valuable,
+when the possessor is capable of dressing all kinds of skins, converting
+them into the different parts {90} of their clothing, and able to carry
+eight or ten[AA] stone in Summer, or haul a much greater weight in
+Winter. These, and other similar accomplishments, are all that are
+sought after, or expected, of a Northern Indian woman. As to their
+temper, it is of little consequence; for the men have a wonderful
+facility in making the most stubborn comply with as much alacrity as
+could possibly be expected from those of the mildest and most obliging
+turn of mind; so that the only real difference is, the one obeys through
+fear, and the other complies cheerfully from a willing mind; both
+knowing that what is commanded must be done. They are, in fact, all kept
+at a great distance, and the rank they hold in the opinion of the men
+cannot be better expressed or explained, than by observing the method of
+treating or serving them at meals, which would appear very humiliating,
+to an European woman, though custom makes it sit light on those whose
+lot it is to bear it. It is necessary to observe, that when the men kill
+any large beast, the women are always sent to bring it to the tent: when
+it is brought there, every operation it undergoes, such as splitting,
+drying, pounding, &c. is performed by the women. When any thing is to be
+prepared for eating, it is the women who cook it; and when it is done,
+the wives and daughters of the greatest Captains in the country are
+never served, till all the males, even those who are in the capacity of
+servants, have eaten what they think proper; {91} and in times of
+scarcity it is frequently their lot to be left without a single morsel.
+It is, however, natural to think they take the liberty of helping
+themselves in secret; but this must be done with great prudence, as
+capital embezzlements of provisions in such times are looked on as
+affairs of real consequence, and frequently subject them to a very
+severe beating. If they are practised by a woman whose youth and
+inattention to domestic concerns cannot plead in her favour, they will
+for ever be a blot in her character, and few men will chuse to have her
+for a wife.
+
+[Sidenote: 20th.]
+
+Finding plenty of good birch growing by the side of Theley-aza River, we
+remained there for a few days, in order to complete all the wood-work
+for the canoes, as well as for every other use for which we could
+possibly want it on the barren ground, during our Summer's cruise. On
+the twentieth, Matonabbee sent one of his brothers, and some others,
+a-head, with birch-rind and wood-work for a canoe, and gave them orders
+to proceed to a small Lake near the barren ground called Clowey, where
+they were desired to make all possible haste in building the canoe, that
+it might be ready on our arrival.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. April.]
+
+Having finished such wood-work as the Indians thought would be
+necessary, and having augmented our stock of dried meat and fat, the
+twenty-first was appointed for moving; but one of the women having been
+taken in labour, and it being rather an extraordinary case, we {92} were
+detained more than two days. The instant, however, the poor woman was
+delivered, which was not until she had suffered all the pains usually
+felt on those occasions for near fifty-two hours, the signal was made
+for moving when the poor creature took her infant on her back and set
+out with the rest of the company; and though another person had the
+humanity to haul her sledge for her, (for one day only,) she was obliged
+to carry a considerable load beside her little charge, and was
+frequently obliged to wade knee-deep in water and wet snow. Her very
+looks, exclusive of her moans, were a sufficient proof of the great pain
+she endured, insomuch that although she was a person I greatly disliked,
+her distress at this time so overcame my prejudice, that I never felt
+more for any of her sex in my life; indeed her sighs pierced me to the
+soul, and rendered me very miserable, as it was not in my power to
+relieve her.
+
+When a Northern Indian woman is taken in labour, a small tent is erected
+for her, at such a distance from the other tents that her cries cannot
+easily be heard, and the other women and young girls are her constant
+visitants: no male, except children in arms, ever offers to approach
+her. It is a circumstance perhaps to be lamented, that these people
+never attempt to assist each other on those occasions, even in the most
+critical cases. This is in some measure owing to delicacy, but more
+probably to an opinion they entertain that nature is {93} abundantly
+sufficient to perform every thing required, without any external help
+whatever. When I informed them of the assistance which European women
+derive from the skill and attention of our midwives, they treated it
+with the utmost contempt; ironically observing, "that the many
+hump-backs, bandy-legs, and other deformities, so frequent among the
+English, were undoubtedly owing to the great skill of the persons who
+assisted in bringing them into the world, and to the extraordinary care
+of their nurses afterward."
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. April.]
+
+A Northern Indian woman after child-birth is reckoned unclean for a
+month or five weeks; during which time she always remains in a small
+tent placed at a little distance from the others, with only a female
+acquaintance or two; and during the whole time the father never sees the
+child. Their reason for this practice is, that children when first born
+are sometimes not very sightly, having in general large heads, and but
+little hair, and are, moreover, often discoloured by the force of the
+labour; so that were the father to see them to such great disadvantage,
+he might probably take a dislike to them, which never afterward could be
+removed.
+
+The names of the children are always given to them by the parents, or
+some person near of kin. Those of the boys are various, and generally
+derived from some place, season, or animal; the names of the girls are
+chiefly {94} taken from some part or property of a Martin; such as, the
+White Martin, the Black Martin, the Summer Martin, the Martin's Head,
+the Martin's Foot, the Martin's Heart, the Martin's Tail, &c.[AB]
+
+[Sidenote: 23d.]
+
+[Sidenote: May. 3d.]
+
+On the twenty-third, as I hinted above, we began to move forward, and to
+shape our course nearly North; but the weather was in general so hot,
+and so much snow had, in consequence, been melted, as made it bad
+walking in snow-shoes, and such exceeding heavy hauling, that it was the
+third of May before we could arrive at Clowey,[56] though the distance
+was not above eighty-five miles from Thelewey-aza-yeth. In our way we
+crossed part of two small Lakes, called Tittameg Lake and Scartack Lake;
+neither of which are of any note, though both abound with fine fish.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[Z] Mr. Norton was an Indian;[45] he was born at Prince of Wales's Fort,
+but had been in England nine years, and considering the small sum which
+was expended in his education, had made some progress in literature. At
+his return to Hudson's Bay he entered into all the abominable vices of
+his countrymen. He kept for his own use five or six of the finest Indian
+girls which he could select; and notwithstanding his own uncommon
+propensity to the fair sex, took every means in his power to prevent any
+European from having intercourse with the women of the country; for
+which purpose he proceeded to the most ridiculous length. To his own
+friends and country he was so partial, that he set more value on, and
+shewed more respect to one of their favourite dogs, than he ever did to
+his first officer. Among his miserable and ignorant countrymen he passed
+for a proficient in physic, and always kept a box of poison, to
+administer to those who refused him their wives or daughters.
+
+With all these bad qualities, no man took more pains to inculcate
+virtue, morality, and continence on others; always painting, in the most
+odious colours, the jealous and revengeful disposition of the Indians,
+when any attempt was made to violate the chastity of their wives or
+daughters. Lectures of this kind from a man of established virtue might
+have had some effect; but when they came from one who was known to live
+in open defiance of every law, human and divine, they were always heard
+with indignation, and considered as the hypocritical cant of a selfish
+debauchee, who wished to engross every woman in the country to himself.
+
+His apartments were not only convenient but elegant, and always crowded
+with favourite Indians: at night he locked the doors, and put the keys
+under his pillow; so that in the morning his dining-room was generally,
+for the want of necessary conveniences, worse than a hog-stye. As he
+advanced in years his jealousy increased, and he actually poisoned two
+of his women because he thought them partial to other objects more
+suitable to their ages. He was a most notorious smuggler; but though he
+put many thousands into the pockets of the Captains, he seldom put a
+shilling into his own.
+
+An inflammation in his bowels occasioned his death on the 29th of
+December 1773; and though he died in the most excruciating pain, he
+retained his jealousy to the last; for a few minutes before he expired,
+happening to see an officer laying hold of the hand of one of his women
+who was standing by the fire, he bellowed out, in as loud a voice as his
+situation would admit, "God d----n you for a b----h, if I live I'll
+knock out your brains." A few minutes after making this elegant
+apostrophe, he expired in the greatest agonies that can possibly be
+conceived.
+
+This I declare to be the real character and manner of life of the late
+Mr. Moses Norton.
+
+[45] He was a son of Richard Norton, an Englishman, and a former
+Governor of Fort Prince of Wales, by an Indian woman. He was undoubtedly
+a man of forceful character, and was able to retain the confidence of
+the directors of the Company in London, but whether he was the moral
+degenerate described by Hearne is uncertain.
+
+[46] _Populus tremuloides_ (Michx.).
+
+[47] The name by which the Chipewyan Indians of Fort Churchill know this
+lake is Nueltin (meaning Frozen-Island) Lake, which name seems to have
+been corrupted on Mackenzie's map into "North Lined Lake." On the Cook
+map it is marked Menishtick Lake, which is simply the Cree name for
+Island Lake. There is no record of any one having visited Island Lake
+since Hearne's time, but in 1894, while on the way to the Kazan River, I
+explored two of the upper branches of the Thlewiaza River, which flows
+into the lake, and was told by the Indians that the distance
+north-eastward down the river to this lake was not very great. This
+information, if correct, would place the lake rather farther south than
+it is placed by Hearne.
+
+[48] _Lepus americanus_ (Erxleben).
+
+[49] Between Island Lake and the Cathawhachaga River, the map indicates
+that he crossed Fatt Lake, which is probably the lake now known to the
+Indians of Reindeer Lake as Twal-kai-tua or Fat-fish Lake, and said by
+them to lie east of Kasba Lake, though its exact position has not been
+determined. On the Pennant and Mackenzie maps it is called Wiethen Lake.
+
+[50] The Cathawhachaga or Kazan River would appear to have been crossed
+about five miles below where it leaves Kasba Lake, as it is here about a
+quarter of a mile wide, while between this place and the lake it is for
+the most part a swift stream varying from one to three hundred yards in
+width. His crossing-place would therefore be in latitude 60 deg. 37' N.,
+while his own latitude for the crossing-place, as given on his map, is
+61 deg. 32' N., which would be far out on the barren lands, beyond the
+northern limit of the woods. Thus, almost as soon as he left the track
+followed by him on his former journey, his surveys become very
+inaccurate. This is so much at variance with the approximate accuracy of
+his surveys on his second journey, that either the Elton quadrant
+carried by him was quite useless, or else he did not make use of it at
+all.
+
+[51] Cossed Whoie, spelt Cassad on the Cook map, and Cassed on the
+Pennant map. This lake lies at the source of the Kazan River, and is now
+known as Kasba Lake. He crossed it north of the point where the Kazan
+River flows from its eastern side. My survey of the lake, made in 1894,
+did not extend north of its outlet, but, judging from what I could see
+of it, and from the information obtainable from the Chipewyan Indians of
+the vicinity, the width here given for the lake is much too great.
+
+[52] The-whole-kyed (Whoie) or Snowbird Lake, known to the Indians of
+Lake Athabasca as Thel-wel-ky Lake. The course from Kasba Lake is given
+in the text as W. by S. and W.S.W., and the time occupied in travelling
+it as thirteen days, while on Hearne's map the course is shown as
+westward and the distance twenty miles.
+
+[53] The name Whooldyah'd Lake had been applied to the lake at the
+source of Dubawnt River, which I explored in the summer of 1893. The
+lake was known to the Indians of the vicinity as Pelican Lake, and they
+assured me that there was no lake on the river of the name of
+Whooldyah'd or Pike Lake. The identification of this lake with the one
+crossed by Hearne is reasonably, but not perfectly, certain.
+
+[54] It had taken him thirteen days to travel from Wholdiah Lake to this
+camp, and, assuming a rate of four miles a day, he was fifty-two miles
+west of that lake. As his course was about westerly, his position would
+be in latitude 60 deg. 20' north and longitude 11 deg. 30' west of Churchill.
+
+[55] The exact position of this lake (Thelewey-aza-yeth) has not yet
+been determined. In the text it is given in latitude 61 deg. 30' north,
+longitude 19 deg. west of Prince of Wales Fort, while on the map it is
+placed in latitude 61 deg. 15' and 19 deg. 30' west of Prince of Wales Fort, or
+one hundred and fifty miles west of Wholdiah Lake. The direction
+travelled from the crossing of Wholdiah Lake is shown as a little south
+of west, and as the south end of the latter lake is in latitude 60 deg. 20',
+it is reasonable to suppose that Thelewey-aza-yeth Lake is at least a
+degree farther south than it is shown on the map, and, judging from the
+known approximate position of Hill Island Lake, which he crossed on his
+way back from the Coppermine, it is much farther east than the position
+assigned to it on the map.
+
+[AA] The stone here meant is fourteen pounds.
+
+[AB] Matonabbee had eight wives, and they were all called Martins.
+
+[56] Lake Clowey is marked on the map as discharging by a stream into
+Great Slave Lake, but its exact position is not known. On the map it is
+placed in latitude 62 deg. 50', which is probably not very far from its
+correct position. From the description here given, it would appear to be
+near the divide between the watershed of Great Slave Lake and Thelon
+River. L'Abbe Petitot in _Geographie de L'Athabaskaw-Mackenzie_
+identifies the Clowey River, which flows from this lake into Great Slave
+Lake, with the T'ezus-desse or Poudrerie (Snowdrift) River, which flows
+into Christie Bay of Great Slave Lake.
+
+
+
+
+{95} CHAP. V.
+
+ Transactions at Clowey, and on our Journey, till our Arrival at
+ the Copper-mine River.
+
+ _Several strange Indians join us--Indians employed building
+ canoes; description and use of them--More Indians join us, to
+ the amount of some hundreds--Leave Clowey--Receive intelligence
+ that Keelshies was near us--Two young men dispatched for my
+ letters and goods--Arrive at Peshew Lake; cross part of it, and
+ make a large smoke--One of Matonabbee's wives elopes--Some
+ remarks on the natives--Keelshies joins us, and delivers my
+ letters, but the goods were all expended--A Northern Indian
+ wishes to take one of Matonabbee's wives from him; matters
+ compromised, but had like to have proved fatal to my
+ progress--Cross Peshew Lake, when I make proper arrangements for
+ the remainder of my journey--Many Indians join our party, in
+ order to make war on the Esquimaux at the Copper
+ River--Preparations made for that purpose while at
+ Clowey--Proceed on our journey to the North--Some remarks on the
+ way--Cross Cogead Lake on the ice--The Sun did not set--Arrive
+ at Congecathawhachaga--Find several Copper Indians
+ there--Remarks and transactions during our stay at
+ Congecathawhachaga--Proceed on our journey--Weather very
+ bad--Arrive at the Stoney Mountains--Some account of them--Cross
+ part of Buffalo Lake on the ice--Saw many musk-oxen--Description
+ of them--Went with some Indians to view Grizzlebear Hill--Join a
+ strange Northern Indian Leader, called O'lye, in company with
+ some Copper Indians--Their behaviour to me--Arrive at the
+ Coppermine River._
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+The Lake Clowey is not much more than twelve miles broad in the widest
+part. A small river which runs into it on the West side, is said by the
+Indians to join the Athapuscow Lake.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+{96} On our arrival at Clowey on the third of May, we found that the
+Captain's brother, and those who were sent a-head with him from
+Theley-aza River, had only got there two days before us; and, on account
+of the weather, had not made the least progress in building the canoe,
+the plan of which they had taken with them. The same day we got to
+Clowey several other Indians joined us from different quarters, with
+intent to build their canoes at the same place. Some of those Indians
+had resided within four or five miles, to the South-East of Clowey, all
+the Winter; and had procured a plentiful livelihood by snaring deer, in
+the manner which has been already described.
+
+[Sidenote: 18th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 19th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 20th.]
+
+Immediately after our arrival at Clowey, the Indians began to build
+their canoes, and embraced every convenient opportunity for that
+purpose: but as warm and dry weather only is fit for this business,
+which was by no means the case at present, it was the eighteenth of May
+before the canoes belonging to my party could be completed. On the
+nineteenth we agreed to proceed on our journey; but Matonabbee's canoe
+meeting with some damage, which took near a whole day to repair, we were
+detained till the twentieth.
+
+Those vessels, though made of the same materials with the canoes of the
+Southern Indians, differ from them both in shape and construction; they
+are also much smaller and {97} lighter; and though very slight and
+simple in their construction, are nevertheless the best that could
+possibly be contrived for the use of those poor people, who are
+frequently obliged to carry them a hundred, and sometimes a hundred and
+fifty miles at a time, without having occasion to put them into the
+water. Indeed, the chief use of these canoes is to ferry over unfordable
+rivers; though sometimes, and at a few places, it must be acknowledged,
+that they are of great service in killing deer, as they enable the
+Indians to cross rivers and the narrow parts of lakes; they are also
+useful in killing swans, geese, ducks, &c. in the moulting season.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+All the tools used by an Indian in building his canoe, as well as in
+making his snow-shoes, and every other kind of wood-work, consist of a
+hatchet, a knife, a file, and an awl; in the use of which they are so
+dextrous, that every thing they make is executed with a neatness not to
+be excelled by the most expert mechanic, assisted with every tool he
+could wish.
+
+[Illustration: INDIAN IMPLEMENTS
+
+_Reference_
+A _The Bottom of the Canoe_
+B _The Forepart_
+C _The Frame compleat_
+D _A set of Timbers bent and lashed in their proper
+shape for drying_
+E _A Canoe compleat_
+F _A Paddle_
+G _A spear to kill Deer with in the Water_
+H _The method of carrying the Canoe in Summer_
+
+_S. H. delin._
+
+_Reference to the Skeleton_
+1 _The Stem_
+2 _The Stern Post_
+3 _Two forked Sticks supporting the Stem and Stern_
+4 _The Gunwalls_
+5 _Small Rods placed between the Timbers and the Birchrind_
+6 _The Timbers_
+7 _The Kelsin_
+8 _Large Stones to keep the Bottom steady, till the sides
+are sewed to_
+]
+
+In shape the Northern Indian canoe bears some resemblance to a weaver's
+shuttle; being flat-bottomed, with straight upright sides, and sharp at
+each end; but the stern is by far the widest part, as there the baggage
+is generally laid, and occasionally a second person, who always lies
+down at full length in the bottom of the canoe. In this manner they
+carry one another across rivers and the narrow {98} parts of lakes in
+those little vessels, which seldom exceed twelve or thirteen feet in
+length, and are from twenty inches to two feet broad in the widest part.
+The head, or fore part, is unnecessarily long, and narrow; and is all
+covered over with birch-bark, which adds considerably to the weight,
+without contributing to the burthen of the vessel. In general, these
+Indians make use of the single paddle, though a few have double ones,
+like the Esquimaux: the latter, however, are seldom used, but by those
+who lie in wait to kill deer as they cross rivers and narrow lakes.[AC]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+During our stay at Clowey we were joined by upward of two hundred
+Indians from different quarters, most of whom built canoes at this
+place; but as I was under the protection of a principal man, no one
+offered to molest {99} me, nor can I say they were very clamorous for
+any thing I had. This was undoubtedly owing to Matonabbee's informing
+them of my true situation; which was, that I had not, by any means,
+sufficient necessaries for myself, much less to give away. The few goods
+which I had with me were intended to be reserved for the Copper and
+Dogribbed Indians, who never visit the Company's Factories. Tobacco was,
+however, always given away; for every one of any note, who joined us,
+expected to be treated with a few pipes, and on some occasions it was
+scarcely possible to get off without presenting a few inches[AD] to
+them; which, with the constant supplies which I was obliged to furnish
+my own crew, decreased that article of my stock so fast, that
+notwithstanding I had yet advanced so small a part of my journey, more
+than one half of my store was expended. Gun-powder and shot also were
+articles commonly asked for by most of the Indians we met; and in
+general these were dealt round to them with a liberal hand by my guide
+Matonabbee. I must, however, do him the justice to acknowledge, that
+what he distributed was all his own, which he had purchased at the
+Factory; to my certain knowledge he bartered one hundred and fifty
+martins' skins for powder only; besides a great number of beaver, and
+other furrs, for shot, ball, iron-work, and tobacco, purposely to give
+away among his countrymen; as he had certainly as many of these articles
+given to him as were, in {100} his opinion, sufficient for our support
+during our journey out and home.
+
+[Sidenote: 20th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+Matonabbee's canoe having been repaired, on the twentieth we left
+Clowey, and proceeded Northward. That morning a small gang of strangers
+joined us, who informed my guide, that Captain Keelshies was within a
+day's walk to the Southward. Keelshies was the man by whom I had sent a
+letter to Prince of Wales's Fort, from Cathawhachaga, in the beginning
+of July one thousand seven hundred and seventy; but not long after that,
+having the misfortune to break my quadrant, I was obliged to return to
+the Fort a second time; and though we saw many smokes, and spoke with
+several Indians on my return that year, yet he and I missed each other
+on the barren ground, and I had not seen or heard of him since that
+time.
+
+[Sidenote: 21st.]
+
+As Matonabbee was desirous that I should receive my letters, and also
+the goods I had written for, he dispatched two of his young men to bring
+them. We continued our journey to the Northward; and the next day saw
+several large smokes at a great distance to the Eastward on the barren
+ground, which were supposed to be made by some parties of Indians bound
+to Prince of Wales's Fort with furrs and other commodities for trade.
+
+[Sidenote: 22d.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+On the twenty-second and twenty-third, we proceeded to the North, at the
+rate of fourteen or fifteen miles a day; and in the evening of the
+latter, got clear of all {101} the woods, and lay on the barren
+ground.[57] The same evening the two young men who were sent for my
+letters, &c. returned, and told me that Keelshies had promised to join
+us in a few days, and deliver the things to me with his own hand.
+
+[Sidenote: 24th.]
+
+The twenty-fourth proved bad and rainy weather, so that we only walked
+about seven miles, when finding a few blasted stumps of trees, we
+pitched our tents. It was well we did so, for toward night we had
+excessively bad weather, with loud thunder, strong lightning, and heavy
+rain, attended with a very hard gale of wind from the South West; toward
+the next morning, however, the wind veered round to the North West, and
+the weather became intensely cold and frosty. We walked that day about
+eight miles to the Northward, when we were obliged to put up, being
+almost benumbed with cold. There we found a few dry stumps, as we had
+done the day before, which served us for fewel.[AE]
+
+[Sidenote: 26th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May. 27th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 28th.]
+
+{102} The weather on the twenty-sixth was so bad, with snow and thick
+drifting sleet, that we did not move; but the next morning proving fine
+and pleasant, we dried our things, and walked about twelve miles to the
+Northward; most of the way on the ice of a small river which runs into
+Peshew Lake.[AF][58] We then saw a smoke to the Southward, which we
+judged to be made by Keelshies, so we put up for the night by the side
+of the above-mentioned Lake, where I expected we should have waited for
+his arrival; but, to my great surprise, on the morrow we again set
+forward, and walked twenty-two miles to the Northward on Peshew Lake,
+and in the afternoon pitched our tents on an island, where, by my
+desire, the Indians made a large smoke, and proposed to stay a day or
+two for Captain Keelshies.
+
+[Illustration: _Photo: J. W. Tyrrell, 1900._
+LAST WOODS ON EAST SHORE, ARTILLERY LAKE]
+
+[Illustration: _Photo: J. W. Tyrrell, 1900._
+WEST SHORE, ARTILLERY LAKE
+IN LAT. 62 deg. 56']
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+In the night, one of Matonabbee's wives and another woman eloped: it was
+supposed they went off to the Eastward, in order to meet their former
+husbands, from {103} whom they had been sometime before taken by force.
+This affair made more noise and bustle than I could have supposed; and
+Matonabbee seemed entirely disconcerted, and quite inconsolable for the
+loss of his wife. She was certainly by far the handsomest of all his
+flock, of a moderate size, and had a fair complexion; she apparently
+possessed a mild temper, and very engaging manners. In fact, she seemed
+to have every good quality that could be expected in a Northern Indian
+woman, and that could render her an agreeable companion to an inhabitant
+of this part of the world. She had not, however, appeared happy in her
+late situation; and chose rather to be the sole wife of a sprightly
+young fellow of no note, (though very capable of maintaining her,) than
+to have the seventh or eighth share of the affection of the greatest man
+in the country. I am sorry to mention an incident which happened while
+we were building the canoes at Clowey, and which by no means does
+honour to Matonabbee: it is no less a crime than that of having actually
+stabbed the husband of the above-mentioned girl in three places; and had
+it not been for timely assistance, would certainly have murdered him,
+for no other reason than because the poor man had spoken disrespectfully
+of him for having taken his wife away by force. The cool deliberation
+with which Matonabbee committed this bloody action, convinced me it had
+been a long premeditated design; for he no sooner heard of the man's
+arrival, than he opened one of his wives' bundles, and, with the
+greatest {104} composure, took out a new long box-handled knife, went
+into the man's tent, and, without any preface whatever, took him by the
+collar, and began to execute his horrid design. The poor man
+anticipating his danger, fell on his face, and called for assistance;
+but before any could be had he received three wounds in the back.
+Fortunately for him, they all happened on the shoulder-blade, so that
+his life was spared. When Matonabbee returned to his tent, after
+committing this horrid deed, he sat down as composedly as if nothing had
+happened, called for water to wash his bloody hands and knife, smoked
+his pipe as usual, seemed to be perfectly at ease, and asked if I did
+not think he had done right?
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+It has ever been the custom among those people for the men to wrestle
+for any woman to whom they are attached; and, of course, the strongest
+party always carries off the prize. A weak man, unless he be a good
+hunter and well-beloved, is seldom permitted to keep a wife that a
+stronger man thinks worth his notice: for at any time when the wives of
+those strong wrestlers are heavy-laden either with furrs or provisions,
+they make no scruple of tearing any other man's wife from his bosom, and
+making her bear a part of his luggage. This custom prevails throughout
+all their tribes, and causes a great spirit of emulation among their
+youth, who are upon all occasions, from their childhood, trying their
+strength and skill in wrestling. This enables them to protect their
+property, and particularly their wives, {105} from the hands of those
+powerful ravishers; some of whom make almost a livelihood by taking what
+they please from the weaker parties, without making them any return.
+Indeed, it is represented as an act of great generosity, if they
+condescend to make an unequal exchange; as, in general, abuse and insult
+are the only return for the loss which is sustained.
+
+The way in which they tear the women and other property from one
+another, though it has the appearance of the greatest brutality, can
+scarcely be called fighting. I never knew any of them receive the least
+hurt in these rencontres; the whole business consists in hauling each
+other about by the hair of the head: they are seldom known either to
+strike or kick one another. It is not uncommon for one of them to cut
+off his hair and to grease his ears, immediately before the contest
+begins. This, however, is done privately; and it is sometimes truly
+laughable, to see one of the parties strutting about with an air of
+great importance, and calling out, "Where is he? Why does he not come
+out?" when the other will bolt out with a clean shorned head and greased
+ears, rush on his antagonist, seize him by the hair, and though perhaps
+a much weaker man, soon drag him to the ground, while the stronger is
+not able to lay hold on him. It is very frequent on those occasions for
+each party to have spies, to watch the other's motions, which puts them
+more on a footing of equality. For want of hair to pull, they {106}
+seize each other about the waist, with legs wide extended, and try their
+strength, by endeavouring to vie who can first throw the other down.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+On these wrestling occasions the standers-by never attempt to interfere
+in the contest; even one brother offers not to assist another, unless it
+be with advice, which, as it is always delivered openly on the field
+during the contest, may, in fact, be said to be equally favourable to
+both parties. It sometimes happens that one of the wrestlers is superior
+in strength to the other; and if a woman be the cause of the contest,
+the weaker is frequently unwilling to yield, notwithstanding he is
+greatly overpowered. When this happens to be the case, the relations and
+friends, or other bye-standers, will sometimes join to persuade the
+weaker combatant to give up the contest, lest, by continuing it, he
+should get bruised and hurt, without the least probability of being able
+to protect what he is contending for. I observed that very few of those
+people were dissatisfied with the wives which had fallen to their lot,
+for whenever any considerable number of them were in company, scarcely a
+day passed without some overtures being made for contests of this kind;
+and it was often very unpleasant to me, to see the object of the contest
+sitting in pensive silence watching her fate, while her husband and his
+rival were contending for the prize. I have indeed not only felt pity
+for those poor wretched victims, but the utmost indignation, when I
+{107} have seen them won, perhaps, by a man whom they mortally hated. On
+those occasions their grief and reluctance to follow their new lord has
+been so great, that the business has often ended in the greatest
+brutality; for, in the struggle, I have seen the poor girls stripped
+quite naked, and carried by main force to their new lodgings. At other
+times it was pleasant enough to see a fine girl led off the field from a
+husband she disliked, with a tear in one eye and a finger on the other:
+for custom, or delicacy if you please, has taught them to think it
+necessary to whimper a little, let the change be ever so much to their
+inclination. I have throughout this account given the women the
+appellation of girls, which is pretty applicable, as the objects of
+contest are generally young, and without any family: few of the men
+chuse to be at the trouble of maintaining other people's children,
+except on particular occasions, which will be taken notice of hereafter.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+Some of the old men, who are famous on account of their supposed skill
+in conjuration, have great influence in persuading the rabble from
+committing those outrages; but the humanity of these sages is seldom
+known to extend beyond their own families. In defence of them they will
+exert their utmost influence; but when their own relations are guilty of
+the same crime, they seldom interfere. This partial conduct creates some
+secret, and several open enemies; but the generality of their neighbours
+are deterred, through fear or superstition, from {108} executing their
+revenge, and even from talking disrespectfully of them, unless it be
+behind their backs; which is a vice of which almost every Indian in this
+country, without exception, is guilty.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+Notwithstanding the Northern Indians are so covetous, and pay so little
+regard to private property as to take every advantage of bodily strength
+to rob their neighbours, not only of their goods, but of their wives,
+yet they are, in other respects, the mildest tribe, or nation, that is
+to be found on the borders of Hudson's Bay: for let their affronts or
+losses be ever so great, they never will seek any other revenge than
+that of wrestling. As for murder, which is so common among all the
+tribes of Southern Indians, it is seldom heard of among them. A murderer
+is shunned and detested by all the tribe, and is obliged to wander up
+and down, forlorn and forsaken even by his own relations and former
+friends. In that respect a murderer may truly be compared to Cain, after
+he had killed his brother Abel. The cool reception he meets with by all
+who know him, occasions him to grow melancholy, and he never leaves any
+place but the whole company say "There goes the murderer!" The women, it
+is true, sometimes receive an unlucky blow from their husbands for
+misbehaviour, which occasions their death; but this is thought nothing
+of: and for one man or woman to kill another out of revenge, or through
+jealousy, or on any other account, is so extraordinary, that very few
+are now {109} existing who have been guilty of it. At the present moment
+I know not one, beside Matonabbee, who ever made an attempt of that
+nature; and he is, in every other respect, a man of such universal good
+sense, and, as an Indian, of such great humanity, that I am at a loss
+how to account for his having been guilty of such a crime, unless it be
+by his having lived among the Southern Indians so long, as to become
+tainted with their blood-thirsty, revengeful, and vindictive
+disposition.
+
+[Sidenote: 29th.]
+
+Early in the morning of the twenty-ninth, Captain Keelshies joined us.
+He delivered to me a packet of letters, and a two-quart keg of French
+brandy; but assured me, that the powder, shot, tobacco, knives, &c.
+which he received at the Fort for me, were all expended. He endeavoured
+to make some apology for this, by saying, that some of his relations
+died in the Winter, and that he had, according to their custom, thrown
+all his own things away; after which he was obliged to have recourse to
+my ammunition and other goods, to support himself and a numerous family.
+The very affecting manner in which he related this story, often crying
+like a child, was a great proof of his extreme sorrow, which he wished
+to persuade me arose from the recollection of his having embezzled so
+much of my property; but I was of a different opinion, and attributed
+his grief to arise from the remembrance of his deceased relations.
+However, as a small recompence for my loss, he presented me with four
+{110} ready-dressed moose-skins, which was, he said, the only
+retribution he could then make. The moose-skins, though not the
+twentieth part of the value of the goods which he had embezzled, were in
+reality more acceptable to me, than the ammunition and the other
+articles would have been, on account of their great use as shoe-leather,
+which at that time was a very scarce article with us, whereas we had
+plenty of powder and shot.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+On the same day that Keelshies joined us, an Indian man, who had been
+some time in our company, insisted on taking one of Matonabbee's wives
+from him by force, unless he complied with his demands, which were, that
+Matonabbee should give him a certain quantity of ammunition, some pieces
+of iron-work, a kettle, and several other articles; every one of which,
+Matonabbee was obliged to deliver, or lose the woman; for the other man
+far excelled him in strength. Matonabbee was more exasperated on this
+occasion, as the same man had sold him the woman no longer ago than the
+nineteenth of the preceding April. Having expended all the goods he then
+possessed, however, he was determined to make another bargain for her;
+and as she was what may be called a valuable woman in their estimation;
+that is, one who was not only tolerably personable, but reckoned very
+skilful in manufacturing the different kinds of leather, skins, and
+furrs, and at the same time very clever in the performance of every
+other domestic duty required of the sex in this part of the {111} world;
+Matonabbee was more unwilling to part with her, especially as he had so
+lately suffered a loss of the same kind.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+[Sidenote: 29th.]
+
+This dispute, which was after some hours decided by words and presents,
+had like to have proved fatal to my expedition; for Matonabbee, who at
+that time thought himself as great a man as then lived, took this
+affront so much to heart, especially as it was offered in my presence,
+that he almost determined not to proceed any farther toward the
+Coppermine River, and was on the point of striking off to the Westward,
+with an intent to join the Athapuscow Indians, and continue with them:
+he being perfectly well acquainted with all their leaders, and most of
+the principal Indians of that country, from whom, during a former
+residence among them of several years, he said he had met with more
+civility than he ever did from his own countrymen. As Matonabbee seemed
+resolutely bent on his design, I had every reason to think that my third
+expedition would prove equally unsuccessful with the two former. I was
+not, however, under the least apprehension for my own safety, as he
+promised to take me with him, and procure me a passage to Prince of
+Wales's Fort, with some of the Athapuscow Indians, who at that time
+annually visited the Factory in the way of trade. After waiting till I
+thought Matonabbee's passion had a little abated, I used every argument
+of which I was master in favour of his proceeding on the journey;
+assuring him {112} not only of the future esteem of the present Governor
+of Prince of Wales's Fort, but also of that of all his successors as
+long as he lived; and that even the Hudson's Bay Company themselves
+would be ready to acknowledge his assiduity and perseverance, in
+conducting a business which had so much the appearance of proving
+advantageous to them. After some conversation of this kind, and a good
+deal of intreaty, he at length consented to proceed, and promised to
+make all possible haste. Though it was then late in the afternoon, he
+gave orders for moving, and accordingly we walked about seven miles that
+night, and put up on another island in Peshew Lake. The preceding
+afternoon the Indians had killed a few deer; but our number was then so
+great, that eight or ten deer would scarcely afford us all a taste.
+These deer were the first we had seen since our leaving the
+neighbourhood of Thelewey-aza-yeth; so that we had lived all the time on
+the dried meat which had been prepared before we left that place in
+April.
+
+[Sidenote: 30th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+The thirtieth proved bad, rainy weather; we walked, however, about ten
+miles to the Northward, when we arrived on the North side of Peshew
+Lake, and put up. Here Matonabbee immediately began to make every
+necessary arrangement for facilitating the executing of our design; and
+as he had promised to make all possible haste, he thought it expedient
+to leave most of his wives and all his children in the care of some
+Indians, then in our company, who had his orders to proceed to the {113}
+Northward at their leisure; and who, at a particular place appointed by
+him, were to wait our return from the Copper-mine River. Having formed
+this resolution, Matonabbee selected two of his young wives who had no
+children, to accompany us; and in order to make their loads as light as
+possible, it was agreed that we should not take more ammunition with us
+than was really necessary for our support, till we might expect again to
+join those Indians and the women and children. The same measures were
+also adopted by all the other Indians of my party; particularly those
+who had a plurality of wives, and a number of children.
+
+[Sidenote: 31st.]
+
+As these matters took some time to adjust, it was near nine o'clock in
+the evening of the thirty-first before we could set out; and then it was
+with much difficulty that Matonabbee could persuade his other wives from
+following him, with their children and all their lumber; for such was
+their unwillingness to be left behind, that he was obliged to use his
+authority before they would consent, consequently they parted in anger;
+and we no sooner began our march, than they set up a most woeful cry,
+and continued to yell most piteously as long as we were within hearing.
+This mournful scene had so little effect on my party, that they walked
+away laughing, and as merry as ever. The few who expressed any regret at
+their departure from those whom they were to leave behind, {114}
+confined their regard wholly to their children, particularly to the
+youngest, scarcely ever mentioning their mother.
+
+Though it was so late when we left the women, we walked about ten miles
+that night before we stopped. In our way we saw many deer; several of
+which the Indians killed. To talk of travelling and killing deer in the
+middle of the night, may at first view have the appearance of romance;
+but our wonder will speedily abate, when it is considered that we were
+then to the Northward of 64 deg. of North latitude, and that, in consequence
+of it, though the Sun did not remain the whole night above the horizon,
+yet the time it remained below it was so short, and its depression even
+at midnight so small at this season of the year, that the light, in
+clear weather, was quite sufficient for the purpose both of walking, and
+hunting any kind of game.[59]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+It should have been observed, that during our stay at Clowey a great
+number of Indians entered into a combination with those of my party to
+accompany us to the Copper-mine River; and with no other intent than to
+murder the Esquimaux, who are understood by the Copper Indians to
+frequent that river in considerable numbers. This scheme,
+notwithstanding the trouble and fatigue, as well as danger, with which
+it must be obviously attended, was nevertheless so universally approved
+by those people, that for some time almost every man who joined {115} us
+proposed to be of the party. Accordingly, each volunteer, as well as
+those who were properly of my party, prepared a target, or shield,
+before we left the woods of Clowey. Those targets were composed of thin
+boards, about three quarters of an inch thick, two feet broad, and three
+feet long; and were intended to ward off the arrows of the Esquimaux.
+Notwithstanding these preparations, when we came to leave the women and
+children, as has been already mentioned, only sixty volunteers would go
+with us; the rest, who were nearly as many more, though they had all
+prepared targets, reflecting that they had a great distance to walk, and
+that no advantage could be expected from the expedition, very prudently
+begged to be excused, saying, that they could not be spared for so long
+a time from the maintenance of their wives and families; and
+particularly, as they did not see any then in our company, who seemed
+willing to encumber themselves with such a charge. This seemed to be a
+mere evasion, for I am clearly of opinion that poverty on one side, and
+avarice on the other, were the only impediments to their joining our
+party; had they possessed as many European goods to squander away among
+their countrymen as Matonabbee and those of my party did, in all
+probability many might have been found who would have been glad to have
+accompanied us.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. May.]
+
+When I was acquainted with the intentions of my companions, and saw the
+warlike preparations that were carrying on, I endeavoured as much as
+possible to persuade {116} them from putting their inhuman design into
+execution; but so far were my intreaties from having the wished-for
+effect, that it was concluded I was actuated by cowardice; and they
+told me, with great marks of derision, that I was afraid of the
+Esquimaux. As I knew my personal safety depended in a great measure on
+the favourable opinion they entertained of me in this respect, I was
+obliged to change my tone, and replied, that I did not care if they
+rendered the name and race of the Esquimaux extinct; adding at the same
+time, that though I was no enemy to the Esquimaux, and did not see the
+necessity of attacking them without cause, yet if I should find it
+necessary to do it, for the protection of any one of my company, my own
+safety out of the question, so far from being afraid of a poor
+defenceless Esquimaux, whom I despised more than feared, nothing should
+be wanting on my part to protect all who were with me. This declaration
+was received with great satisfaction; and I never afterwards ventured to
+interfere with any of their war-plans. Indeed, when I came to consider
+seriously, I saw evidently that it was the highest folly for an
+individual like me, and in my situation, to attempt to turn the current
+of a national prejudice which had subsisted between those two nations
+from the earliest periods, or at least as long as they had been
+acquainted with the existence of each other.
+
+[Sidenote: June. 1st.]
+
+[Sidenote: 16th.]
+
+Having got rid of all the women, children, dogs, heavy baggage, and
+other incumbrances, on the first of June we {117} pursued our journey to
+the Northward with great speed; but the weather was in general so
+precarious, and the snow, sleet, and rain so frequent, that
+notwithstanding we embraced every opportunity which offered, it was the
+sixteenth of June before we arrived in the latitude of 67 deg. 30', where
+Matonabbee had proposed that the women and children should wait our
+return from the Copper-mine River.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. June.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. June.]
+
+In our way hither we crossed several lakes on the ice; of which
+Thoy-noy-kyed Lake[60] and Thoy-coy-lyned Lake[61] were the principal.
+We also crossed a few inconsiderable creeks and rivers,[62] which were
+only useful as they furnished a small supply of fish to the natives. The
+weather, as I have before observed, was in general disagreeable, with a
+great deal of rain and snow. To make up for that inconvenience, however,
+the deer were so plentiful, that the Indians killed not only a
+sufficient quantity for our daily support, but frequently great numbers
+merely for the fat, marrow and tongues. To induce them to desist from
+this practice, I often interested myself, and endeavoured, as much as
+possible, to convince them in the clearest terms of which I was master,
+of the great impropriety of such waste; particularly at a time of the
+year when their skins could not be of any use for clothing, and when the
+anxiety to proceed on our journey would not permit us to stay long
+enough in one place to eat up half the spoils of their hunting. As
+national customs, however, are not easily {118} overcome, my
+remonstrances proved ineffectual; and I was always answered, that it was
+certainly right to kill plenty, and live on the best, when and where it
+was to be got, for that it would be impossible to do it where every
+thing was scarce: and they insisted on it, that killing plenty of deer
+and other game in one part of the country, could never make them scarcer
+in another. Indeed, they were so accustomed to kill every thing that
+came within their reach, that few of them could pass by a small bird's
+nest, without slaying the young ones, or destroying the eggs.
+
+[Sidenote: 20th.]
+
+From the seventeenth to the twentieth, we walked between seventy and
+eighty miles to the North West and North North West; the greater part of
+the way by Cogead Lake[63]; but the Lake being then frozen, we crossed
+all the creeks and bays of it on the ice.
+
+[Sidenote: 21st.]
+
+On the twenty-first we had bad rainy weather, with so thick a fog that
+we could not see our way: about ten o'clock at night, however, it became
+fine and clear, and the Sun shone very bright; indeed it did not set all
+that night, which was a convincing proof, without any observation, that
+we were then considerably to the North of the Arctic Polar Circle.
+
+[Sidenote: 22d.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. June.]
+
+As soon as the fine weather began, we set out and walked about seven or
+eight miles to the Northward, when we {119} came to a branch of
+Conge-ca-tha-wha-chaga River[64]; on the North side of which we found
+several Copper Indians, who were assembled, according to annual custom,
+to kill deer as they cross the river in their little canoes.
+
+The ice being now broken up, we were, for the first time this Summer,
+obliged to make use of our canoes to ferry across the river: which would
+have proved very tedious, had it not been for the kindness of the Copper
+Indians, who sent all their canoes to our assistance. Though our number
+was not much less than one hundred and fifty, we had only three canoes,
+and those being of the common size, could only carry two persons each,
+without baggage. It is true, when water is smooth, and a raft of three
+or four of those canoes is well secured by poles lashed across them,
+they will carry a much greater weight in proportion, and be much safer,
+as there is scarcely a possibility of their oversetting; and this is the
+general mode adopted by the people of this country in crossing rivers
+when they have more than one canoe with them.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. June.]
+
+Having arrived on the North side of this river, we found that
+Matonabbee, and several others in our company, were personally
+acquainted with most of the Copper Indians whom we found there. The
+latter seemed highly pleased at the interview with our party, and
+endeavoured, by every means in their power, to convince our company of
+their readiness to serve us to the utmost; so that by the {120} time we
+had got our tents pitched, the strangers had provided a large quantity
+of dried meat and fat, by way of a feast, to which they invited most of
+the principal Indians who accompanied me, as well as Matonabbee and
+myself, who were presented with some of the very best.
+
+It is natural to suppose, that immediately after our arrival the Copper
+Indians would be made acquainted with the nature and intention of our
+journey. This was no sooner done than they expressed their entire
+approbation, and many of them seemed willing and desirous of giving
+every assistance; particularly by lending us several canoes, which they
+assured us would be very useful in the remaining part of our journey,
+and contribute both to our ease and dispatch. It must be observed, that
+these canoes were not entirely entrusted to my crew, but carried by the
+owners themselves who accompanied us; as it would have been very
+uncertain where to have found them at our return from the Copper River.
+
+Agreeably to my instructions, I smoked my calumet of peace with the
+principal of the Copper Indians, who seemed highly pleased on the
+occasion; and, from a conversation held on the subject of my journey, I
+found they were delighted with the hopes of having an European
+settlement in their neighbourhood, and seemed to have no idea that any
+impediment could prevent such a scheme from being carried into
+execution. Climates and {121} seasons had no weight with them; nor could
+they see where the difficulty lay in getting to them; for though they
+acknowledged that they had never seen the sea at the mouth of the Copper
+River clear of ice, yet they could see nothing that should hinder a ship
+from approaching it; and they innocently enough observed, that the water
+was always so smooth between the ice and shore, that even small boats
+might get there with great ease and safety. How a ship was to get
+between the ice and the shore, never once occurred to them.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. June.]
+
+Whether it was from real motives of hospitality, or from the great
+advantages which they expected to reap by my discoveries, I know not;
+but I must confess that their civility far exceeded what I could expect
+from so uncivilized a tribe, and I was exceedingly sorry that I had
+nothing of value to offer them. However, such articles as I had, I
+distributed among them, and they were thankfully received by them.
+Though they have some European commodities among them, which they
+purchase from the Northern Indians, the same articles from the hands of
+an Englishman were more prized. As I was the first whom they had ever
+seen, and in all probability might be the last, it was curious to see
+how they flocked about me, and expressed as much desire to examine me
+from top to toe, as an European Naturalist would a non-descript animal.
+They, however, found and pronounced me to be a perfect human being,
+except in the colour of my hair {122} and eyes: the former, they said,
+was like the stained hair of a buffaloe's tail, and the latter, being
+light, were like those of a gull. The whiteness of my skin also was, in
+their opinion, no ornament, as they said it resembled meat which had
+been sodden in water till all the blood was extracted. On the whole, I
+was viewed as so great a curiosity in this part of the world, that
+during my stay there, whenever I combed my head, some or other of them
+never failed to ask for the hairs that came off, which they carefully
+wrapped up, saying, "When I see you again, you shall again see your
+hair."
+
+[Sidenote: 23d.]
+
+The day after our arrival at Congecathawhachaga, Matonabbee dispatched
+his brother, and several Copper Indians, to Copper-mine River, with
+orders to acquaint any Indians they might meet, with the reason of my
+visiting those parts, and also when they might probably expect us at
+that river. By the bearers of this message I sent a present of tobacco
+and some other things, to induce any strangers they met to be ready to
+give us assistance, either by advice, or in any other way which might be
+required.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. June.]
+
+As Matonabbee and the other Indians thought it advisable to leave all
+the women at this place, and proceed to the Copper-mine River without
+them, it was thought necessary to continue here a few days, to kill as
+many deer as would be sufficient for their support during {123} our
+absence. And notwithstanding deer were so plentiful, yet our numbers
+were so large, and our daily consumption was so great, that several days
+elapsed before the men could provide the women with a sufficient
+quantity; and then they had no other way of preserving it, than by
+cutting it in thin slices and drying it in the Sun. Meat, when thus
+prepared, is not only very portable, but palatable; as all the blood and
+juices are still remaining in the meat, it is very nourishing and
+wholesome food; and may, with care, be kept a whole year without the
+least danger of spoiling. It is necessary, however, to air it frequently
+during the warm weather, otherwise it is liable to grow mouldy: but as
+soon as the chill air of the fall begins, it requires no farther trouble
+till next Summer.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. June.]
+
+We had not been many days at Congecathawhachaga before I had reason to
+be greatly concerned at the behaviour of several of my crew to the
+Copper Indians. They not only took many of their young women, furrs, and
+ready-dressed skins for clothing, but also several of their bows and
+arrows, which were the only implements they had to procure food and
+raiment, for the future support of themselves, their wives, and
+families. It may probably be thought, that as these weapons are of so
+simple a form, and so easily constructed, they might soon be replaced,
+without any other trouble or expense than a little labour; but this
+supposition can only hold good in places where proper materials are
+easily procured, which was not the case here: {124} if it had, they
+would not have been an object of plunder. In the midst of a forest of
+trees, the wood that would make a Northern Indian a bow and a few
+arrows, or indeed a bow and arrows ready made, are not of much value; no
+more than the man's trouble that makes them: but carry that bow and
+arrows several hundred miles from any woods and place where those are
+the only weapons in use, their intrinsic value will be found to
+increase, in the same proportion as the materials which are made are
+less attainable.[AG]
+
+To do Matonabbee justice on this occasion, I must say that he
+endeavoured as much as possible to persuade his countrymen from taking
+either furrs, clothing, or bows, from the Copper Indians, without making
+them some satisfactory return; but if he did not encourage, neither did
+he endeavour to hinder them from taking as many women as they pleased.
+Indeed, the Copper Indian women seem to be much esteemed by our Northern
+traders; for what reason I know not, as they are in reality the same
+people in every respect; and their language differs not so much as the
+dialects of some of the nearest counties in England do from each other.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. June.]
+
+It is not surprising that a plurality of wives is customary among these
+people, as it is so well adapted to {125} their situation and manner of
+life. In my opinion no race of people under the Sun have a greater
+occasion for such an indulgence. Their annual hunt, in quest of furrs,
+is so remote from any European settlement, as to render them the
+greatest travellers in the known world; and as they have neither horse
+nor water carriage, every good hunter is under the necessity of having
+several persons to assist in carrying his furrs to the Company's Fort,
+as well as carrying back the European goods which he receives in
+exchange for them. No persons in this country are so proper for this
+work as the women, because they are inured to carry and haul heavy loads
+from their childhood, and to do all manner of drudgery; so that those
+men who are capable of providing for three, four, five, six, or more
+women, generally find them humble and faithful servants, affectionate
+wives, and fond and indulgent mothers to their children. Though custom
+makes this way of life sit apparently easy on the generality of the
+women, and though, in general, the whole of their wants seem to be
+comprized in food and clothing only, yet nature at times gets the better
+of custom, and the spirit of jealousy makes its appearance among them:
+however, as the husband is always arbitrator, he soon settles the
+business, though perhaps not always to the entire satisfaction of the
+parties.
+
+Much does it redound to the honour of the Northern Indian women when I
+affirm, that they are the mildest and most virtuous females I have seen
+in any part of North {126} America; though some think this is more owing
+to habit, custom, and the fear of their husbands, than from real
+inclination. It is undoubtedly well known that none can manage a
+Northern Indian woman so well as a Northern Indian man; and when any of
+them have been permitted to remain at the Fort, they have, for the sake
+of gain, been easily prevailed on to deviate from that character; and a
+few have, by degrees, become as abandoned as the Southern Indians, who
+are remarkable throughout all their tribes for being the most debauched
+wretches under the Sun. So far from laying any restraint on their
+sensual appetites, as long as youth and inclination last, they give
+themselves up to all manner of even incestuous debauchery; and that in
+so beastly a manner when they are intoxicated, a state to which they are
+peculiarly addicted, that the brute creation are not less regardless of
+decency. I know that some few Europeans, who have had little opportunity
+of seeing them, and of enquiring into their manners, have been very
+lavish in their praise; but every one who has had much intercourse with
+them, and penetration and industry enough to study their dispositions,
+will agree, that no accomplishments whatever in a man, is sufficient to
+conciliate the affections, or preserve the chastity of a Southern Indian
+woman.[AH]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. June.]
+
+{127} The Northern Indian women are in general so far from being like
+those I have above described, that it is very {128} uncommon to hear of
+their ever being guilty of incontinency, not even those who are confined
+to the sixth or even eighth part of a man.
+
+It is true, that were I to form my opinion of those women from the
+behaviour of such as I have been more particularly acquainted with, I
+should have little reason to say much in their favour; but impartiality
+will not {129} permit me to make a few of the worst characters a
+standard for the general conduct of all of them. Indeed it is but
+reasonable to think that travellers and interlopers will be always
+served with the worst commodities, though perhaps they pay the best
+price for what they have.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. June.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. June.]
+
+It may appear strange, that while I am extolling the chastity of the
+Northern Indian women, I should acknowledge that it is a very common
+custom among the men of this country to exchange a night's lodging with
+each other's wives. But this is so far from being considered as an act
+which is criminal, that it is esteemed by them as one of the strongest
+ties of friendship between two families; and in case of the death of
+either man, the other considers himself bound to support the children of
+the deceased. Those people are so far from viewing this engagement as a
+mere ceremony, like most of our Christian god-fathers and god-mothers,
+who, notwithstanding their vows are made in the most solemn manner, and
+in the presence of both God and man, scarcely ever afterward remember
+what they have promised, that there is not an instance of a Northern
+Indian having once neglected the duty which he is supposed to have taken
+upon himself to perform. The Southern Indians, with all their bad
+qualities, are remarkably humane and charitable to the widows and
+children of departed friends; and as their situation and manner of life
+enable them to do more acts of charity with less trouble {130} than
+falls to the lot of a Northern Indian, few widows or orphans are ever
+unprovided for among them.
+
+Though the Northern Indian men make no scruple of having two or three
+sisters for wives at one time, yet they are very particular in observing
+a proper distance in the consanguinity of those they admit to the
+above-mentioned intercourse with their wives. The Southern Indians are
+less scrupulous on those occasions; for among them it is not at all
+uncommon for one brother to make free with another brother's wife or
+daughter;[AI] but this is held in abhorrence by the Northern Indians.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1st.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+{131} By the time the Indians had killed as many deer as they thought
+would be sufficient for the support of the women during our absence, it
+was the first of July; and during this time I had two good observations,
+both by meridional and double altitudes; the mean of which determined
+the latitude of Congecathawhachaga[65] to be 68 deg. 46' North; and its
+longitude, by account, was 24 deg. 2' West from Prince of Wales's Fort, or
+118 deg. 15' West of the meridian of London.
+
+[Sidenote: 2d.]
+
+On the second, the weather proved very bad, with much snow and sleet;
+about nine o'clock at night, however, it grew more moderate, and
+somewhat clearer, so that we set out, and walked about ten miles to the
+North by West, when we lay down to take a little sleep. At our departure
+from Congecathawhachaga, several Indians who had entered the war list,
+rather chose to stay behind with the women; but their loss was amply
+supplied by Copper Indians, who accompanied us in the double capacity of
+guides and warriors.
+
+[Sidenote: 3d.]
+
+On the third the weather was equally bad with that of the preceding day;
+we made shift, however, to walk ten or eleven miles in the same
+direction we had done the day before, and at last were obliged to put
+up, not being able to see our way for snow and thick drift. By putting
+up, no more is to be understood than that we got to leeward of a {132}
+great stone, or into the crevices of the rocks, where we regaled
+ourselves with such provisions as we had brought with us, smoked our
+pipes, or went to sleep, till the weather permitted us to proceed on our
+journey.
+
+[Sidenote: 4th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+On the fourth, we had rather better weather, though constant light snow,
+which made it very disagreeable under foot. We nevertheless walked
+twenty-seven miles to the North West, fourteen of which were on what the
+Indians call the Stony Mountains; and surely no part of the world better
+deserves that name. On our first approaching these mountains, they
+appeared to be a confused heap of stones, utterly inaccessible to the
+foot of man: but having some Copper Indians with us who knew the best
+road, we made a tolerable shift to get on, though not without being
+obliged frequently to crawl on our hands and knees. Notwithstanding the
+intricacy of the road, there is a very visible path the whole way across
+these mountains, even in the most difficult parts: and also on the
+smooth rocks, and those parts which are capable of receiving an
+impression, the path is as plain and well-beaten, as any bye foot-path
+in England. By the side of this path there are, in different parts,
+several large, flat, or table stones, which are covered with many
+thousands of small pebbles. These the Copper Indians say have been
+gradually increased by passengers going to and from the mines; and on
+its being observed to us that it was the {133} universal custom for
+every one to add a stone to the heap, each of us took up a small stone
+in order to increase the number, for good luck.
+
+Just as we arrived at the foot of the Stony Mountains, three of the
+Indians turned back; saying, that from every appearance, the remainder
+of the journey seemed likely to be attended with more trouble than would
+counterbalance the pleasure they could promise themselves by going to
+war with the Esquimaux.
+
+[Sidenote: 5th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 6th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+On the fifth, as the weather was so bad, with constant snow, sleet, and
+rain, that we could not see our way, we did not offer to move: but the
+sixth proving moderate, and quite fair till toward noon, we set out in
+the morning, and walked about eleven miles to the North West; when
+perceiving bad weather at hand, we began to look out for shelter among
+the rocks, as we had done the four preceding nights, having neither
+tents nor tent-poles with us. The next morning fifteen more of the
+Indians deserted us, being quite sick of the road, and the uncommon
+badness of the weather. Indeed, though these people are all enured to
+hardships, yet their complaint on the present occasion was not without
+reason: for, from our leaving Congecathawhachaga we had scarcely a dry
+garment of any kind, or any thing to screen us from the inclemency of
+the weather, except rocks and {134} caves; the best of which were but
+damp and unwholesome lodging. In some the water was constantly dropping
+from the rock that formed the roof, which made our place of retreat
+little better than the open air; and we had not been able to make one
+spark of fire (except what was sufficient to light a pipe) from the
+time of our leaving the women on the second instant; it is true, in some
+places there was a little moss, but the constant sleet and rain made it
+so wet, as to render it as impossible to set fire to it as it would be
+to a wet sponge.
+
+We had no sooner entered our places of retreat, than we regaled
+ourselves with some raw venison which the Indians had killed that
+morning; the small stock of dried provisions we took with us when we
+left the women being now all expended.
+
+Agreeably to our expectations, a very sudden and heavy gale of wind came
+on from the North West, attended with so great a fall of snow, that the
+oldest Indian in company said, he never saw it exceeded at any time of
+the year, much less in the middle of Summer. The gale was soon over, and
+by degrees it became a perfect calm: but the flakes of snow were so
+large as to surpass all credibility, and fell in such vast quantities,
+that though the shower only lasted nine hours, we were in danger of
+being smothered in our caves.
+
+[Sidenote: 7th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+{135} On the seventh, we had a fresh breeze at North West, with some
+flying showers of small rain, and at the same time a constant warm
+sunshine, which soon dissolved the greatest part of the new-fallen snow.
+Early in the morning we crawled out of our holes, which were on the
+North side of the Stony Mountains, and walked about eighteen or twenty
+miles to the North West by West. In our way we crossed part of a large
+lake on the ice, which was then far from being broken up. This lake I
+distinguished by the name of Buffalo, or Musk-Ox Lake,[66] from the
+number of those animals[67] that we found grazing on the margin of it;
+many of which the Indians killed, but finding them lean, only took some
+of the bulls' hides for shoe-soals. At night the bad weather returned,
+with a strong gale of wind at North East, and very cold rain and sleet.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+This was the first time we had seen any of the musk-oxen since we left
+the Factory. It has been observed that we saw a great number of them in
+my first unsuccessful attempt, before I had got an hundred miles from
+the Factory; and indeed I once perceived the tracks of two of those
+animals within nine miles of Prince of Wales's Fort. Great numbers of
+them also were met with in my second journey to the North: several of
+which my companions killed, particularly on the seventeenth of July one
+thousand seven hundred and seventy. They are also found at times in
+considerable numbers near the sea-coast of Hudson's Bay, {136} all the
+way from Knapp's Bay to Wager Water, but are most plentiful within the
+Arctic Circle. In those high latitudes I have frequently seen many herds
+of them in the course of a day's walk, and some of those herds did not
+contain less than eighty or an hundred head. The number of bulls is very
+few in proportion to the cows; for it is rare to see more than two or
+three full-grown bulls with the largest herd: and from the number of the
+males that are found dead, the Indians are of opinion that they kill
+each other in contending for the females. In the rutting season they are
+so jealous of the cows, that they run at either man or beast who offers
+to approach them; and have been observed to run and bellow even at
+ravens, and other large birds, which chanced to light near them. They
+delight in the most stony and mountainous parts of the barren ground,
+and are seldom found at any great distance from the woods. Though they
+are a beast of great magnitude, and apparently of a very unwieldy
+inactive structure, yet they climb the rocks with great ease and
+agility, and are nearly as sure-footed as a goat: like it too, they will
+feed on any thing; though they seem fondest of grass, yet in Winter,
+when that article cannot be had in sufficient quantity, they will eat
+moss, or any other herbage they can find, as also the tops of willows
+and the tender branches of the pine tree. They take the bull in August,
+and bring forth their young the latter end of May, or beginning of June;
+and they never have more than one at a time.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+{137} The musk-ox, when full grown, is as large as the generality, or at
+least as the middling size, of English black cattle;[AJ] but their legs,
+though large, are not so long; nor is their tail longer than that of a
+bear; and, like the tail of that animal, it always bends downward and
+inward, so that it is entirely hid by the long hair of the rump and hind
+quarters: the hunch on their shoulders is not large, being little more
+in proportion than that of a deer: their hair is in some parts very
+long, particularly on the belly, sides, and hind quarters; but the
+longest hair about them, particularly the bulls, is under the throat,
+extending from the chin to the lower part of the chest, between the
+fore-legs; it there hangs down like a horse's mane inverted, and is full
+as long, which makes the animal have a most formidable appearance. It is
+of the hair from this part that the Esquimaux make their musketto {138}
+wigs, and not from the tail, as is asserted by Mr. Ellis;[AK] their
+tails, and the hair which is on them, being too short for that purpose.
+In Winter they are provided with a thick fine wool, or furr, that grows
+at the root of the long hair, and shields them from the intense cold to
+which they are exposed during that season; but as the Summer advances,
+this furr loosens from the skin, and, by frequently rolling themselves
+on the ground, it works out to the end of the hair, and in time drops
+off, leaving little for their Summer clothing except the long hair. The
+season is so short in those high latitudes, that the new fleece begins
+to appear, almost as soon as the old one drops off; so that by the time
+the cold becomes severe, they are again provided with a Winter-dress.
+
+The flesh of the musk-ox noways resembles that of the Western buffalo,
+but is more like that of the moose or elk; and the fat is of a clear
+white, slightly tinged with a light azure. The calves and young heifers
+are good eating; but the flesh of the bulls both smells and tastes so
+strong of musk, as to render it very disagreeable: even the knife that
+cuts the flesh of an old bull will smell so strong of musk, that nothing
+but scouring the blade quite bright can remove it, and the handle will
+retain the scent for a long time. Though no part of a bull is free from
+this smell, yet the parts of generation, in particular the _urethra_,
+are by far the most strongly impregnated. The {139} urine itself must
+contain the scent in a very great degree; for the sheaths of the bull's
+_penis_ are corroded with a brown gummy substance, which is nearly as
+high-scented with musk as that said to be produced by the civet cat; and
+after having been kept for several years, seems not to lose any of its
+quality.
+
+[Sidenote: 8th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+On the eighth, the weather was fine and moderate, though not without
+some showers of rain. Early in the morning we set out, and walked
+eighteen miles to the Northward. The Indians killed some deer; so we put
+up by the side of a small creek, that afforded a few willows, with which
+we made a fire for the first time since our leaving Congecathawhachaga;
+consequently it was here that we cooked our first meal for a whole week.
+This, as may naturally be supposed, was well relished by all parties,
+the Indians as well as myself. And as the Sun had, in the course of the
+day, dried our clothing, in spite of the small showers of rain, we felt
+ourselves more comfortable than we had done since we left the women. The
+place where we lay that night, is not far from Grizzled Bear Hill; which
+takes its name from the numbers of those animals that are frequently
+known to resort thither for the purpose of bringing forth their young in
+a cave that is found there. The wonderful description which the Copper
+Indians gave of this place exciting the curiosity of several of my
+companions as well as myself, we went to view it; but on our arrival at
+it {140} found little worth remarking about it, being no more than a
+high lump of earth, of a loamy quality, of which kind there are several
+others in the same neighbourhood, all standing in the middle of a large
+marsh, which makes them resemble so many islands in a lake. The sides of
+these hills are quite perpendicular; and the height of Grizzled Bear
+Hill, which is the largest, is about twenty feet above the level ground
+that surrounds it. Their summits are covered with a thick sod of moss
+and long grass, which in some places projects over the edge; and as the
+sides are constantly mouldering away, and washing down with every shower
+of rain during the short Summer, they must in time be levelled with the
+marsh in which they are situated. At present those islands, as I call
+them, are excellent places of retreat for the birds which migrate there
+to breed; as they can bring forth their young in perfect safety from
+every beast except the Quiquehatch,[68] which, from the sharpness of its
+claws and the amazing strength of its legs, is capable of ascending the
+most difficult precipices.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+On the side of the hill that I went to survey, there is a large cave
+which penetrates a considerable way into the rock, and may probably have
+been the work of the bears, as we could discover visible marks that some
+of those beasts had been there that Spring. This, though deemed very
+curious by some of my companions, did not appear so to me, as it neither
+engaged my attention, nor raised my {141} surprise, half so much as the
+sight of the many hills and dry ridges on the East side of the marsh,
+which are turned over like ploughed land by those animals, in searching
+for ground-squirrels,[69] and perhaps mice, which constitute a favourite
+part of their food. It is surprising to see the extent of their
+researches in quest of those animals, and still more to view the
+enormous stones rolled out of their beds by the bears on those
+occasions. At first I thought these long and deep furrows had been
+effected by lightning; but the natives assured me they never knew
+anything of the kind happen in those parts, and that it was entirely the
+work of the bears seeking for their prey.
+
+[Sidenote: 9th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 10th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+On the ninth, the weather was moderate and cloudy, with some flying
+showers of rain. We set out early in the morning, and walked about forty
+miles to the North and North by East. In our way we saw plenty of deer
+and musk-oxen: several of the former the Indians killed, but a smart
+shower of rain coming on just as we were going to put up, made the moss
+so wet as to render it impracticable to light a fire. The next day
+proving fine and clear, we set out in the morning, and walked twenty
+miles to the North by West and North North West; but about noon the
+weather became so hot and sultry as to render walking very disagreeable;
+we therefore put up on the top of a high hill, and as the moss was then
+dry, lighted a fire, and should have made a comfortable meal, and been
+otherwise tolerably happy, had it not been {142} for the muskettoes,
+which were uncommonly numerous, and their stings almost insufferable.
+The same day Matonabbee sent several Indians a-head, with orders to
+proceed to the Copper-mine River as fast as possible, and acquaint any
+Indians they might meet, of our approach. By those Indians I also sent
+some small presents, as the surest means to induce any strangers they
+found, to come to our assistance.
+
+[Sidenote: 11th.]
+
+The eleventh was hot and sultry, like the preceding day. In the morning
+we walked ten or eleven miles to the North West, and then met a Northern
+Indian Leader, called Oule-eye, and his family, who were, in company
+with several Copper Indians, killing deer with bows and arrows and
+spears, as they crossed a little river, by the side of which we put up,
+as did also the above-mentioned Indians.[AL] That afternoon I smoked my
+calumet of peace with these strangers, and found them a quite different
+set of people, at least in principle, from those I had seen at
+Congecathawhachaga: for though they had great plenty of provisions, they
+neither offered me nor my companions a mouthful, and would, if they had
+been permitted, have taken the last garment from off my back, and robbed
+me of every article I possessed. Even my Northern companions could not
+help taking notice of such unaccountable behaviour. Nothing but their
+poverty {143} protected them from being plundered by those of my crew;
+and had any of their women been worth notice, they would most assuredly
+have been pressed into our service.
+
+[Sidenote: 12th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 13th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+The twelfth was so exceedingly hot and sultry, that we did not move; but
+early in the morning of the thirteenth, after my companions had taken
+what dry provisions they chose from our unsociable strangers, we set
+out, and walked about fifteen or sixteen miles to the North and North by
+East, in expectation of arriving at the Copper-mine River that day; but
+when we had reached the top of a long chain of hills, between which we
+were told the river ran, we found it to be no more than a branch of it
+which empties itself into the main river about forty miles from its
+influx into the sea. At that time all the Copper Indians were dispatched
+different ways, so that there was not one in company, who knew the
+shortest cut to the main river. Seeing some woods to the Westward, and
+judging that the current of the rivulet ran that way, we concluded that
+the main river lay in that direction, and was not very remote from our
+present situation. We therefore directed our course by the side of it,
+when the Indians met with several very fine buck deer, which they
+destroyed; and as that part we now traversed afforded plenty of good
+fire-wood, we put up, and cooked the most comfortable meal to which we
+had sat down for some months. As such favourable opportunities of
+indulging the appetite happen but seldom, it is a general {144} rule
+with the Indians, which we did not neglect, to exert every art in
+dressing our food which the most refined skill in Indian cookery has
+been able to invent, and which consists chiefly in boiling, broiling,
+and roasting: but of all the dishes cooked by those people, a _beeatee_,
+as it is called in their language, is certainly the most delicious, at
+least for a change, that can be prepared from a deer only, without any
+other ingredient. It is a kind of haggis, made with the blood, a good
+quantity of fat shred small, some of the tenderest of the flesh,
+together with the heart and lungs cut, or more commonly torn into small
+shivers; all which is put into the stomach, and roasted, by being
+suspended before the fire by a string. Care must be taken that it does
+not get too much heat at first, as the bag would thereby be liable to be
+burnt, and the contents be let out. When it is sufficiently done, it
+will emit steam, in the same manner as a fowl or a joint of meat; which
+is as much as to say, Come, eat me now: and if it be taken in time,
+before the blood and other contents are too much done, it is certainly a
+most delicious morsel, even without pepper, salt, or any other
+seasoning.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+After regaling ourselves in the most plentiful manner, and taking a few
+hours rest, (for it was almost impossible to sleep for the muskettoes,)
+we once more set forward, directing our course to the North West by
+West; and after walking about nine or ten miles, arrived at that long
+wished-for spot, the Copper-mine River.[70]
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[AC] See the Plate, where Fig. A represents the bottom of the canoe,
+Fig. B being the fore-part. Fig. C is the complete frame of one before
+it is covered with the bark of the birch-tree; it is represented on an
+artificial bank, which the natives raise to build it on. Fig. D is an
+end-view of a set of timbers, bent and lashed in their proper shape, and
+left to dry. Fig. E is the representation of a complete canoe. Fig. F
+represents one of their paddles. Fig. G a spear with which they kill
+deer; and Fig. H, their mode of carrying the canoe.
+
+The following references are to the several parts of the canoe: Fig. C.
+1. The stem. 2. The stern-post. 3. Two forked sticks supporting the stem
+and stern-post. 4. The gunwales. 5. Small rods placed between the
+timbers and birch-bark that covers them. 6. The timbers. 7. The keelson.
+8. Large stones placed there to keep the bottom steady till the sides
+are sewed on.
+
+[AD] The tobacco used in Hudson's Bay is the Brasil tobacco; which is
+twisted into the form of a rope, of near an inch diameter, and then
+wound into a large roll; from which it is taken by measures of length,
+for the natives.
+
+[57] Thus, four days after leaving Clowey, travelling in a northerly
+direction, they passed out of the wooded region and reached the barren
+grounds, though it is evident that there had been open barren grounds to
+the east of them for most of the way. Their course probably lay along
+the height of land east of Artillery Lake. The northern edge of the
+forest and southern line of the barren grounds crosses this lake near
+the middle, the most northern woods on its eastern shore being in
+latitude 63 deg. 4' N., while on its western side the woods extend north to
+latitude 63 deg. 11' N.
+
+Artillery Lake is thus described by J. W. Tyrrell, who visited it in May
+1900:--
+
+"Artillery Lake was reached by our outfit on the 26th of May, more than
+two weeks after it had been first visited by Fairchild and Acres, when
+exploring and 'brushing' the trail for our voyageurs. Then its ice had
+been as solid as in winter, showing no signs of disruption or decay,
+whereas now it was rapidly decomposing, forming what is known as
+candle-ice, and making much open water along the shores. It lies in a
+north-easterly and south-westerly direction, and is fifty-five miles in
+length, ... and the superficial area of the lake is about one hundred
+and ninety square miles. Its shores are bold and high, in some places
+about two hundred feet above the lake, and for the most part they
+present a bare, desolate appearance, especially on the easterly shore
+where few trees of any kind can be seen.
+
+"Such small groves as were found are shown on the map, but on the
+westerly side, about ten miles from the south end, the shore is quite
+well timbered with small spruce, and they continue northerly, although
+thinly scattered, for a distance of twenty miles, eight miles farther
+north than the last grove on the east shore. There the woods cease
+entirely." (Report on an Exploratory Survey between Great Slave Lake and
+Hudson Bay. By J. W. Tyrrell. Ann. Report, Dept. of the Interior,
+Ottawa, 1901. App. 26, Part III., pp. 17-18.)
+
+[AE] I have observed, during my several journies in those parts, that
+all the way to the North of Seal River the edge of the wood is faced
+with old withered stumps, and trees which have been blown down by the
+wind. They are mostly of the sort which is called here Juniper, but were
+seldom of any considerable size. Those blasted trees are found in some
+parts to extend to the distance of twenty miles from the living woods,
+and detached patches of them are much farther off; which is a proof that
+the cold has been increasing in those parts for some ages. Indeed, some
+of the older Northern Indians have assured me, that they have heard
+their fathers and grandfathers say, they remembered the greatest part of
+those places where the trees are now blasted and dead, in a flourishing
+state; and that they were remarkable for abounding with deer. It is a
+well-known fact, that many deer are fond of frequenting those plains
+where the juniper trees abound near barren grounds, particularly in fine
+weather during the Winter; but in heavy gales of wind they either take
+shelter in the thick woods, or go out on the open plains. The Indians,
+who never want a reason for any thing, say, that the deer quit the thin
+straggling woods during the high winds, because the nodding of the
+trees, when at a considerable distance from each other, frightens them;
+but in the midst of a thick forest, the constant rustling of the
+branches lulls them into security, and renders them an easy prey to a
+skilful hunter.
+
+[This appears to have been the last wood seen before reaching the
+Coppermine River.
+
+The wood known as juniper on Hudson Bay is the American larch, _Larix
+laricina_ (Du Roi) which extends to the edge of the barren grounds.]
+
+[AF] Probably the same with Partridge Lake in the Map.
+
+[58] Between Clowey and Peshew or Cat Lake, the map shows that their
+course was across Partridge Lake. The exact position of this lake was
+made known by Mr. Warburton Pike and afterwards by James W. Tyrrell, who
+crossed from Great Slave Lake to Hudson Bay in 1900. It is a small lake
+on the river between Artillery and Clinton-Colden Lakes, and lies just a
+little north of the southern edge of the barren lands. The name given to
+it on the Cook map is Cossadgath and on the Mackenzie map Cassandgath
+Lake, which are evidently modifications of the Chipewyan word for
+Ptarmigan or "White Partridge." With regard to the limits of Hearne's
+course in an east and west direction, it is quite clear that he passed
+to the east of Great Slave Lake and to the west of the belt of timber on
+Hanbury River, so that he must have passed in the vicinity of this lake
+if he did not pass over it.
+
+Peshew is the Cree word for Wild Cat or Lynx, and therefore Peshew Lake
+should be the Cat Lake of the map, and not Partridge Lake as stated in
+the note, which was evidently inserted by Dr. Douglas after the author's
+death. Peshew or Cat Lake has been identified by Sir George Back, and
+following him by Sir John Richardson, as Artillery Lake, but this
+identification is almost certainly wrong. The shores of the southern
+half of Artillery Lake are wooded, while the Cat Lake of Hearne was
+three days' journey at least north of the southern edge of the barren
+lands. I think, therefore, that the Peshew or Cat Lake of this map is
+the lake which was named by Sir George Back, Clinton-Colden Lake, and
+which is known by this name on our present maps. Besides, though this
+argument may have little weight, Hearne's map shows Partridge and Cat
+Lakes in approximately the same positions in latitude as Partridge Lake
+(Kasba) and Clinton-Colden Lake respectively. On the Cook and Mackenzie
+maps, Cat Lake is shown as Cheesadawd Lake, which is certainly the same
+word as Tchize-ta, which Abbe Petitot says means Gite-du-Lynx or
+Home-of-the-Wild-Cat Lake. Petitot, however, states that this is the
+name of the lake which is now known as Walmsley Lake. Rt. Rev. J.
+Lofthouse, Bishop of Keewatin, also informs me that the Chipewyan name
+for Wild Cat or Lynx Lake is Seeza-tua. Another complication is brought
+in by the Pennant map, which leaves Hearne's Cat Lake unnamed, and
+applies the name Peshew (Cat) Lake to the Lake known on Hearne's map as
+No-name Lake. This is much more nearly in the position of Walmsley Lake
+of the present maps. It is therefore difficult to avoid the conclusion
+that Hearne trusted to his memory for the names of these lakes, and that
+his memory failed him here. It is quite possible that after crossing
+Partridge Lake the Indians changed their course, for some reason or
+other, and turned west or south of west to Walmsley Lake, and that in
+the excitement of meeting Keelshies, just from Churchill with a
+two-quart keg of brandy, Hearne neglected to make note of the change in
+the course.
+
+[59] Some of the women and children were thus left on the north side of
+Peshew, probably Clinton-Colden Lake, and in that case he is correct in
+saying that they were north of latitude 64 deg.. At the town of Dawson, in
+the Yukon territory, which is in about the same latitude, there is
+sufficient light to work and travel at midnight between the 10th of May
+and the 1st of August.
+
+[60] The map shows that he changed his course a little more to the west
+from the north shore of Clinton-Colden Lake, but actually he altered his
+course more than is there shown, and, while his map is reasonably
+correct thus far, it here becomes very inaccurate, and his distances are
+greatly exaggerated from this point to the mouth of the Coppermine
+River, during the time when the party was hurrying, with the lightest
+equipment possible, across the barren lands. The first lake crossed is
+said to have been Thoy-noy-kyed Lake, which is identified by Sir John
+Richardson as Tha-na-koi or Sand Hill Mount or Aylmer Lake. This lake is
+placed by Hearne about seventy-five miles from Cat (Clinton-Colden)
+Lake, while actually it is only a very few miles from it, forming, with
+it, but one body of water with a rapid between them. On the Cook map it
+is shown as having its discharge in a stream flowing south-westward into
+the east end of Great Slave Lake. If his Cat Lake should prove to be
+Walmsley Lake his distances would not be quite so inaccurate, for
+Walmsley and Aylmer Lakes are about fifty miles apart.
+
+[61] Thoy-coy-lyned Lake has not been definitely located, and as there
+are very many lakes still unknown in that country, there is little use
+in making a guess at its position. Between it and Cogead Lake, the women
+of the party were all left behind at a point which he places in latitude
+67 deg. 30', but which must have been much farther south, as we shall see.
+
+[62] One of these streams, just north of Thoy-coy-lyned Lake, is called
+on the map Thlewey-chuck, which means Great-fish River. This can hardly
+be the Great Fish River which rises in Sussex Lake and empties into the
+Arctic Ocean south of King William Island, but it may be a river
+mentioned by Petitot under the name _L'uetchor des tchege_, which is
+said by him to flow southward into Great Slave Lake. Or it may be some
+other stream known by the same name to the Chipewyan Indians.
+
+[63] COGEAD LAKE.--This lake has been identified by Sir J. Richardson
+with Contwoy-to or Rum Lake of Franklin, the name which it bore in his
+day among the Copper Indians. Sir J. Franklin says of it: "The lake is
+called by them Contwoy-to or Rum Lake, in consequence of Mr. Hearne
+having here given the Indians who accompanied him some of that liquor."
+It lies in N. latitude 65 deg. 50', a long way south of the Arctic circle,
+and therefore Hearne is in error in the next paragraph when he says that
+the sun "did not set all that night." Mr. Frank Russell visited this
+district in 1894, and he speaks of a large lake called by the Indians
+Ko-[)a]-k[)a]-tcai-t[)i] which he thinks must be the Rum Lake of
+Franklin, and consequently the Cogead Lake of Hearne ("Explorations in
+the Far North," by Frank Russell, 1898, p. 113).
+
+[64] This place has also been identified by Sir John Franklin, who says:
+"We subsequently learned from the Copper Indians that the part at which
+we had crossed the (Anatessy) river was the Congecathawhachaga of
+Hearne, of which I had little idea at the time" ("First Journey," p.
+405). Sir John Richardson ("Polar Regions," p. 126) makes the following
+statement with regard to the identification of this place:
+
+"Travelling without incumbrance, the war-party, with Hearne in company,
+reached a river of some size called Congecawthawhachaga, on the 21st of
+June, and there they met a large body of the Copper Indians or Red
+Knives, one of whom, then a boy named Cascathry, was well known in
+1820-21 to Sir John Franklin. This boy joined the war-party, and in his
+old age remembered the circumstances well. Hearne says that he
+ascertained with his Elton's quadrant the position of the ferry over the
+river to be 68 deg. 46' north, and 118 deg. 15' west of London. According to Sir
+John Franklin's observations it lies in 66 deg. 14' N., long. 112 deg. W."
+
+[AG] See Postlethwayt on the article of Labour.
+
+[AH] Notwithstanding this is the general character of the Southern
+Indian women, as they are called on the coasts of Hudson's Bay, and who
+are the same tribe with the Canadian Indians, I am happy to have it in
+my power to insert a few lines to the memory of one of them, whom I knew
+from her infancy, and who, I can truly affirm, was directly the reverse
+of the picture I have drawn.
+
+MARY, the daughter of MOSES NORTON, many years Chief at Prince of
+Wales's Fort, in Hudson's Bay, though born and brought up in a country
+of all others the least favourable to virtue and virtuous principles,
+possessed them, and every other good and amiable quality, in a most
+eminent degree.
+
+Without the assistance of religion, and with no education but what she
+received among the dissolute natives of her country, she would have
+shone with superior lustre in any other country: for, if an engaging
+person, gentle manners, an easy freedom, arising from a consciousness of
+innocence, an amiable modesty, and an unrivalled delicacy of sentiment,
+are graces and virtues which render a woman lovely, none ever had
+greater pretensions to general esteem and regard: while her benevolence,
+humanity, and scrupulous adherence to truth and honesty, would have done
+honour to the most enlightened and devout Christian.
+
+Dutiful, obedient, and affectionate to her parents; steady and faithful
+to her friends; grateful and humble to her benefactors; easily forgiving
+and forgetting injuries; careful not to offend any, and courteous and
+kind to all; she was, nevertheless, suffered to perish by the rigours of
+cold and hunger, amidst her own relations, at a time when the griping
+hand of famine was by no means severely felt by any other member of
+their company; and it may truly be said that she fell a martyr to the
+principles of virtue. This happened in the Winter of the year 1782,
+after the French had destroyed Prince of Wales's Fort; at which time she
+was in the twenty-second year of her age.
+
+Human nature shudders at the bare recital of such brutality, and reason
+shrinks from the task of accounting for the decrees of Providence on
+such occasions as this: but they are the strongest assurances of a
+future state, so infinitely superior to the present, that the enjoyment
+of every pleasure in this world by the most worthless and abandoned
+wretch, or the most innocent and virtuous woman perishing by the most
+excruciating of all deaths, are matters equally indifferent. But,
+
+ "Peace to the ashes, and the virtuous mind,
+ Of her who lived in peace with all mankind;
+ Learn'd from the heart, unknowing of disguise,
+ Truth in her thoughts, and candour in her eyes;
+ Stranger alike to envy and to pride,
+ Good sense her light, and Nature all her guide;
+ But now removed from all the ills of life,
+ Here rests the pleasing friend and faithful wife."--WALLER.
+
+Her father was, undoubtedly, very blamable for bringing her up in the
+tender manner which he did, rendering her by that means not only
+incapable of bearing the fatigues and hardships which the rest of her
+countrywomen think little of, but of providing for herself. This is,
+indeed, too frequent a practice among Europeans in that country, who
+bring up their children in so indulgent a manner, that when they retire,
+and leave their offspring behind, they find themselves so helpless, as
+to be unable to provide for the few wants to which they are subject. The
+late Mr. Ferdinand Jacobs, many years Chief at York Fort, was the only
+person whom I ever knew that acted in a different manner; though no man
+could possibly be fonder of his children in other respects, yet as there
+were some that he could not bring to England, he had them brought up
+entirely among the natives; so that when he left the country, they
+scarcely ever felt the loss, though they regretted the absence of a fond
+and indulgent parent.
+
+[AI] Most of the Southern Indians, as well as the Athapuscow and
+Neheaway tribes, are entirely without scruple in this respect. It is
+notoriously known, that many of them cohabit occasionally with their own
+mothers, and frequently espouse their sisters and daughters. I have
+known several of them who, after having lived in that state for some
+time with their daughters, have given them to their sons, and all
+parties been perfectly reconciled to it.
+
+In fact, notwithstanding the severity of the climate, the licentiousness
+of the inhabitants cannot be exceeded by any of the Eastern nations,
+whose luxurious manner of life, and genial clime, seem more adapted to
+excite extraordinary passions, than the severe cold of the frigid Zone.
+
+It is true, that few of those who live under the immediate protection of
+the English ever take either their sisters or daughters for wives, which
+is probably owing to the fear of incurring their displeasure; but it is
+well known that acts of incest too often take place among them, though
+perhaps not so frequently as among the foreign Indians.
+
+[65] As seen on page 153, the latitude given for this place is 2 deg. 32'
+too far north. Almost any quadrant, however bad, would permit of taking
+an observation closer than this; but as the error is approximately two
+and a half degrees, his mistake in observing the double altitude would
+be five degrees, and if he took an observation at all it is possible
+that this error was in making the calculations or in transcribing,
+rather than in taking, the observation.
+
+[66] The position of this lake has not since been determined, and as the
+name Musk-Ox Lake seems to be one given by Hearne himself, and as the
+Indian name is not given, it will be difficult at any time to identify
+it.
+
+[67] _Ovibos moschatus_ (Zimm.).
+
+[AJ] Mr. Dragge says, in his Voyage ["An Account of a Voyage for the
+Discovery of a North-West Passage," by the Clerk of the _California_,
+London, 1748], vol. ii. p. 260, that the musk-ox is lower than a deer,
+but larger as to belly and quarters; which is very far from the truth;
+they are of the size I have here described them, and the Indians always
+estimate the flesh of a full-grown cow to be equal in quantity to three
+deer. I am sorry also to be obliged to contradict my friend Mr. Graham,
+who says that the flesh of this animal is carried on sledges to Prince
+of Wales's Fort, to the amount of three or four thousand pounds
+annually. To the amount of near one thousand pounds may have been
+purchased from the natives in some particular years, but it more
+frequently happens that not an ounce is brought one year out of five. In
+fact, it is by no means esteemed by the Company's servants, and of
+course no great encouragement is given to introduce it; but if it had
+been otherwise, their general situation is so remote from the
+settlement, that it would not be worth the Indians while to haul it to
+the Fort. So that, in fact, all that has ever been carried to Prince of
+Wales's Fort, has most assuredly been killed out of a herd that has been
+accidentally found within a moderate distance of the settlement; perhaps
+an hundred miles, which is only thought a step by an Indian.
+
+[AK] Voyage to Hudson's Bay, p. 232.
+
+[68] _Gulo luscus_ Linn. See p. 346.
+
+[69] _Citellus parryi_ Richardson.--E. A. P.
+
+[AL] This river runs nearly North East, and in all probability empties
+itself into the Northern Ocean, not far from the Copper River.
+
+[70] He reached the Coppermine River at Sandstone Rapids, having
+travelled one hundred and forty-five miles north-westward from
+Congecathawhachaga in thirteen days, making an average of eleven miles a
+day, or, omitting the two days on which the party did not travel, an
+average of thirteen miles a day. The distance stated in the text is one
+hundred and eighty-eight miles. Considering the very rough nature of the
+country over which he was travelling, this is not a very extravagant
+estimate nor a very unreasonable error. While his estimate of distance
+is not very bad, his direction should have been N. 58 deg. W. instead of N.
+23 deg. W., as shown on his map. Mr. Frank Russell, who crossed the
+Coppermine River in the spring of 1894 while on a hunt for musk oxen,
+says that its present Chipewyan name is Tson Te ("Explorations in the
+Far North," p. 112).
+
+In 1821 Sir John Franklin explored and surveyed this river from Point
+Lake to the Arctic Ocean, a distance of about two hundred and
+seventy-five miles. Its length above Point Lake is not known, but it is
+probably about two hundred miles. A short distance below Point Lake
+Franklin says that it "is about two hundred yards wide and ten feet
+deep, and flows very rapidly over a rocky bottom" ("First Journey," p.
+327).
+
+Sir John Richardson writes of the river farther north as follows: "The
+river contracting to a width of a hundred and twenty yards at length
+forces itself through the _Rocky Defile_, a narrow channel which it has
+cut during a lapse of ages in the shelving foot of a hill" ("First
+Journey," p. 527).
+
+
+
+
+{145} CHAP. VI.
+
+ Transactions at the Copper-mine River, and till we joined all
+ the women to the South of Cogead Lake.
+
+ _Some Copper Indians join us--Indians send three spies down the
+ river--Begin my survey--Spies return, and give an account of
+ five tents of Esquimaux--Indians consult the best method to
+ steal on them in the night, and kill them while asleep--Cross
+ the river--Proceedings of the Indians as they advance towards
+ the Esquimaux tents--The Indians begin the massacre while the
+ poor Esquimaux are asleep, and slay them all--Much affected at
+ the sight of one young woman killed close to my feet--The
+ behaviour of the Indians on this occasion--Their brutish
+ treatment of the dead bodies--Seven more tents seen on the
+ opposite side of the river--The Indians harass them, till they
+ fly to a shoal in the river for safety--Behaviour of the Indians
+ after killing those Esquimaux--Cross the river, and proceed to
+ the tents on that side--Plunder their tents, and destroy their
+ utensils--Continue my survey to the river's mouth--Remarks
+ there--Set out on my return--Arrive at one of the
+ Coppermines--Remarks on it--Many attempts made to induce the
+ Copper Indians to carry their own goods to market--Obstacles to
+ it--Villany and cruelty of Keelshies to some of those poor
+ Indians--Leave the Copper-mine, and walk at an amazing rate till
+ we join the women, by the side of Cogead Whoie--Much
+ foot-foundered--The appearance very alarming, but soon changes
+ for the better--Proceed to the Southward, and join the remainder
+ of the women and children--Many other Indians arrive with them._
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July. 14th].
+
+We had scarcely arrived at the Copper-mine River when four Copper
+Indians joined us, and brought with them two canoes. They had seen all
+the Indians who were sent from us at various times, except Matonabbee's
+{146} brother, and three others that were first dispatched from
+Congecathawhachaga.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+On my arrival here I was not a little surprised to find the river differ
+so much from the description which the Indians had given of it at the
+Factory; for, instead of being so large as to be navigable for shipping,
+as it had been represented by them, it was at that part scarcely
+navigable for an Indian canoe, being no more than one hundred and eighty
+yards wide, every where full of shoals, and no less than three falls
+were in sight at first view.
+
+Near the water's edge there is some wood; but not one tree grows on or
+near the top of the hills between which the river runs. There appears to
+have been formerly a much greater quantity than there is at present; but
+the trees seem to have been set on fire some years ago, and, in
+consequence, there is at present ten sticks lying on the ground, for one
+green one which is growing beside them. The whole timber appears to have
+been, even in its greatest prosperity, of so crooked and dwarfish a
+growth as to render it of little use for any purpose but fire-wood.
+
+Soon after our arrival at the river-side, three Indians were sent off as
+spies, in order to see if any Esquimaux were inhabiting the river-side
+between us and the sea. After walking about three-quarters of a mile by
+the side of the river, we put up, when most of the Indians went a {147}
+hunting, and killed several musk-oxen and some deer. They were employed
+all the remainder of the day and night in splitting and drying the meat
+by the fire. As we were not then in want of provisions, and as deer and
+other animals were so plentiful, that each day's journey might have
+provided for itself, I was at a loss to account for this unusual
+oeconomy of my companions; but was soon informed, that those
+preparations were made with a view to have victuals enough ready-cooked
+to serve us to the river's mouth, without being obliged to kill any in
+our way, as the report of the guns, and the smoke of the fires, would be
+liable to alarm the natives, if any should be near at hand, and give
+them an opportunity of escaping.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July. 15th.]
+
+Early in the morning of the fifteenth, we set out, when I immediately
+began my survey, which I continued about ten miles down the river, till
+heavy rain coming on we were obliged to put up; and the place where we
+lay that night was the end, or edge of the woods, the whole space
+between it and the sea being entirely barren hills and wide open
+marshes. In the course of this day's survey, I found the river as full
+of shoals as the part which I had seen before; and in many places it was
+so greatly diminished in its width, that in our way we passed by two
+more capital falls.
+
+[Sidenote: 16th.]
+
+Early in the morning of the sixteenth, the weather being fine and
+pleasant, I again proceeded with my survey, and continued it for ten
+miles farther down the river; {148} but still found it the same as
+before, being every where full of falls and shoals. At this time (it
+being about noon) the three men who had been sent as spies met us on
+their return, and informed my companions that five tents of Esquimaux
+were on the west side of the river. The situation, they said, was very
+convenient for surprising them; and, according to their account, I
+judged it to be about twelve miles from the place we met the spies. When
+the Indians received this intelligence, no farther attendance or
+attention was paid to my survey, but their whole thoughts were
+immediately engaged in planning the best method of attack, and how they
+might steal on the poor Esquimaux the ensuing night, and kill them all
+while asleep. To accomplish this bloody design more effectually, the
+Indians thought it necessary to cross the river as soon as possible;
+and, by the account of the spies, it appeared that no part was more
+convenient for the purpose than that where we had met them, it being
+there very smooth, and at a considerable distance from any fall.
+Accordingly, after the Indians had put all their guns, spears, targets,
+&c. in good order, we crossed the river, which took up some time.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+When we arrived on the West side of the river, each painted the front of
+his target or shield; some with the figure of the Sun, others with that
+of the Moon, several with different kinds of birds and beasts of prey,
+and many with the images of imaginary beings, which, {149} according to
+their silly notions, are the inhabitants of the different elements,
+Earth, Sea, Air, &c.
+
+On enquiring the reason of their doing so, I learned that each man
+painted his shield with the image of that being on which he relied most
+for success in the intended engagement. Some were contented with a
+single representation; while others, doubtful, as I suppose, of the
+quality and power of any single being, had their shields covered to the
+very margin with a group of hieroglyphics, quite unintelligible to every
+one except the painter. Indeed, from the hurry in which this business
+was necessarily done, the want of every colour but red and black, and
+the deficiency of skill in the artist, most of those paintings had more
+the appearance of a number of accidental blotches, than "of any thing
+that is on the earth, or in the water under the earth"; and though some
+few of them conveyed a tolerable idea of the thing intended, yet even
+these were many degrees worse than our country sign-paintings in
+England.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+When this piece of superstition was completed, we began to advance
+toward the Esquimaux tents; but were very careful to avoid crossing any
+hills, or talking loud, for fear of being seen or overheard by the
+inhabitants; by which means the distance was not only much greater than
+it otherwise would have been, but, for the sake of keeping in the lowest
+grounds, we were obliged to walk through {150} entire swamps of stiff
+marly clay, sometimes up to the knees. Our course, however, on this
+occasion, though very serpentine, was not altogether so remote from the
+river as entirely to exclude me from a view of it the whole way: on the
+contrary, several times (according to the situation of the ground) we
+advanced so near it, as to give me an opportunity of convincing myself
+that it was as unnavigable as it was in those parts which I had
+surveyed before, and which entirely corresponded with the accounts
+given of it by the spies.
+
+It is perhaps worth remarking, that my crew, though an undisciplined
+rabble, and by no means accustomed to war or command, seemingly acted on
+this horrid occasion with the utmost uniformity of sentiment. There was
+not among them the least altercation or separate opinion; all were
+united in the general cause, and as ready to follow where Matonabbee
+led, as he appeared to be ready to lead, according to the advice of an
+old Copper Indian, who had joined us on our first arrival at the river
+where this bloody business was first proposed.
+
+Never was reciprocity of interest more generally regarded among a number
+of people, than it was on the present occasion by my crew, for not one
+was a moment in want of any thing that another could spare; and if ever
+the spirit of disinterested friendship expanded the heart of a Northern
+Indian, it was here exhibited in the most {151} extensive meaning of the
+word. Property of every kind that could be of general use now ceased to
+be private, and every one who had any thing which came under that
+description, seemed proud of an opportunity of giving it, or lending it
+to those who had none, or were most in want of it.
+
+The number of my crew was so much greater than that which five tents
+could contain, and the warlike manner in which they were equipped so
+greatly superior to what could be expected of the poor Esquimaux, that
+no less than a total massacre of every one of them was likely to be the
+case, unless Providence should work a miracle for their deliverance.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+The land was so situated that we walked under cover of the rocks and
+hills till we were within two hundred yards of the tents. There we lay
+in ambush for some time, watching the motions of the Esquimaux; and here
+the Indians would have advised me to stay till the fight was over, but
+to this I could by no means consent; for I considered that when the
+Esquimaux came to be surprised, they would try every way to escape, and
+if they found me alone, not knowing me from an enemy, they would
+probably proceed to violence against me when no person was near to
+assist. For this reason I determined to accompany them, telling them at
+the same time, that I would not have any hand in the murder they were
+about to commit, {152} unless I found it necessary for my own safety.
+The Indians were not displeased at this proposal; one of them
+immediately fixed me a spear, and another lent me a broad bayonet for my
+protection, but at that time I could not be provided with a target; nor
+did I want to be encumbered with such an unnecessary piece of lumber.
+
+While we lay in ambush, the Indians performed the last ceremonies which
+were thought necessary before the engagement. These chiefly consisted in
+painting their faces; some all black, some all red, and others with a
+mixture of the two; and to prevent their hair from blowing into their
+eyes, it was either tied before and behind, and on both sides, or else
+cut short all round. The next thing they considered was to make
+themselves as light as possible for running; which they did, by pulling
+off their stockings, and either cutting off the sleeves of their
+jackets, or rolling them up close to their armpits; and though the
+muskettoes at that time were so numerous as to surpass all credibility,
+yet some of the Indians actually pulled off their jackets and entered
+the lists quite naked, except their breech-cloths and shoes. Fearing I
+might have occasion to run with the rest, I thought it also advisable to
+pull off my stockings and cap, and to tie my hair as close up as
+possible.
+
+[Sidenote: 17th.]
+
+By the time the Indians had made themselves thus completely frightful,
+it was near one o'clock in the {153} morning of the seventeenth; when
+finding all the Esquimaux quiet in their tents, they rushed forth from
+their ambuscade, and fell on the poor unsuspecting creatures,
+unperceived till close at the very eves of their tents, when they soon
+began the bloody massacre, while I stood neuter in the rear.
+
+[Illustration: _From "Franklin's First Journey."_
+BLOODY FALLS, COPPERMINE RIVER]
+
+[Illustration: COPPER IMPLEMENTS FROM COPPERMINE RIVER]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+In a few seconds the horrible scene commenced; it was shocking beyond
+description; the poor unhappy victims were surprised in the midst of
+their sleep, and had neither time nor power to make any resistance; men,
+women, and children, in all upward of twenty, ran out of their tents
+stark naked, and endeavoured to make their escape; but the Indians
+having possession of all the land-side, to no place could they fly for
+shelter. One alternative only remained, that of jumping into the river;
+but, as none of them attempted it, they all fell a sacrifice to Indian
+barbarity!
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+The shrieks and groans of the poor expiring wretches were truly
+dreadful; and my horror was much increased at seeing a young girl,
+seemingly about eighteen years of age, killed so near me, that when the
+first spear was stuck into her side she fell down at my feet, and
+twisted round my legs, so that it was with difficulty that I could
+disengage myself from her dying grasps. As two Indian men pursued this
+unfortunate victim, I solicited very hard for her life; but the
+murderers made no reply till they had {154} stuck both their spears
+through her body, and transfixed her to the ground. They then looked me
+sternly in the face, and began to ridicule me, by asking if I wanted an
+Esquimaux wife; and paid not the smallest regard to the shrieks and
+agony of the poor wretch, who was twining round their spears like an
+eel! Indeed, after receiving much abusive language from them on the
+occasion, I was at length obliged to desire that they would be more
+expeditious in dispatching their victim out of her misery, otherwise I
+should be obliged, out of pity, to assist in the friendly office of
+putting an end to the existence of a fellow-creature who was so cruelly
+wounded. On this request being made, one of the Indians hastily drew his
+spear from the place where it was first lodged, and pierced it through
+her breast near the heart. The love of life, however, even in this most
+miserable state, was so predominant, that though this might justly be
+called the most merciful act that could be done for the poor creature,
+it seemed to be unwelcome, for though much exhausted by pain and loss of
+blood, she made several efforts to ward off the friendly blow. My
+situation and the terror of my mind at beholding this butchery, cannot
+easily be conceived, much less described; though I summed up all the
+fortitude I was master of on the occasion, it was with difficulty that I
+could refrain from tears; and I am confident that my features must have
+feelingly expressed how sincerely I was affected at the barbarous scene
+I then {155} witnessed; even at this hour I cannot reflect on the
+transactions of that horrid day without shedding tears.
+
+The brutish manner in which these savages used the bodies they had so
+cruelly bereaved of life was so shocking, that it would be indecent to
+describe it; particularly their curiosity in examining, and the remarks
+they made, on the formation of the women; which, they pretended to say,
+differed materially from that of their own. For my own part I must
+acknowledge, that however favourable the opportunity for determining
+that point might have been, yet my thoughts at the time were too much
+agitated to admit of any such remarks; and I firmly believe, that had
+there actually been as much difference between them as there is said to
+be between the Hottentots and those of Europe, it would not have been in
+my power to have marked the distinction. I have reason to think,
+however, that there is no ground for the assertion; and really believe
+that the declaration of the Indians on this occasion, was utterly void
+of truth, and proceeded only from the implacable hatred they bore to the
+whole tribe of people of whom I am speaking.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+When the Indians had completed the murder of the poor Esquimaux, seven
+other tents on the East side of the river immediately engaged their
+attention: very luckily, however, our canoes and baggage had been left
+at a little distance up the river, so that they had no way of {156}
+crossing to get at them. The river at this part being little more than
+eighty yards wide, they began firing at them from the West side. The
+poor Esquimaux on the opposite shore, though all up in arms, did not
+attempt to abandon their tents; and they were so unacquainted with the
+nature of fire-arms, that when the bullets struck the ground, they ran
+in crowds to see what was sent them, and seemed anxious to examine all
+the pieces of lead which they found flattened against the rocks. At
+length one of the Esquimaux men was shot in the calf of his leg, which
+put them in great confusion. They all immediately embarked in their
+little canoes, and paddled to a shoal in the middle of the river, which
+being somewhat more than a gun-shot from any part of the shore, put them
+out of the reach of our barbarians.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+When the savages discovered that the surviving Esquimaux had gained the
+shore above mentioned, the Northern Indians began to plunder the tents
+of the deceased of all the copper utensils they could find; such as
+hatchets, bayonets, knives, &c. after which they assembled on the top of
+an adjacent high hill, and standing all in a cluster, so as to form a
+solid circle, with their spears erect in the air, gave many shouts of
+victory, constantly clashing their spears against each other, and
+frequently calling out _tima! tima!_[AM] by way of derision to the poor
+surviving {157} Esquimaux, who were standing on the shoal almost
+knee-deep in water. After parading the hill for some time, it was agreed
+to return up the river to the place where we had left our canoes and
+baggage, which was about half a mile distant, and then to cross the
+river again and plunder the seven tents on the East side. This
+resolution was immediately put in force; and as ferrying across with
+only three or four canoes[AN] took a considerable time, and as we were,
+from the crookedness of the river and the form of the land, entirely
+under cover, several of the poor surviving Esquimaux, thinking probably
+that we were gone about our business, and meant to trouble them no more,
+had returned from the shoal to their habitations. When we approached
+their tents, which we did under cover of the rocks, we found them busily
+employed tying up bundles. These the Indians seized with their usual
+ferocity; on which, the Esquimaux having their canoes lying ready in the
+water, immediately embarked, and all of them got safe to the former
+shoal, except an old man, who was so intent on collecting his things,
+that the Indians coming upon him before he could reach his canoe, he
+fell a sacrifice to their fury: I verily believe not less than twenty
+had a hand in his death, as his whole body was like a cullender. It is
+here necessary to observe that the spies {158} when on the look-out,
+could not see these seven tents, though close under them, as the bank,
+on which they stood, stretched over them.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+[Sidenote: 17th.]
+
+It ought to have been mentioned in its proper place, that in making our
+retreat up the river, after killing the Esquimaux on the West side, we
+saw an old woman sitting by the side of the water, killing salmon,[71]
+which lay at the foot of the fall as thick as a shoal of herrings.
+Whether from the noise of the fall, or a natural defect in the old
+woman's hearing, it is hard to determine, but certain it is, she had no
+knowledge of the tragical scene which had been so lately transacted at
+the tents, though she was not more than two hundred yards from the
+place. When we first perceived her, she seemed perfectly at ease, and
+was entirely surrounded with the produce of her labour. From her manner
+of behaviour, and the appearance of her eyes, which were as red as
+blood, it is more than probable that her sight was not very good; for
+she scarcely discerned that the Indians were enemies, till they were
+within twice the length of their spears of her. It was in vain that she
+attempted to fly, for the wretches of my crew transfixed her to the
+ground in a few seconds, and butchered her in the most savage manner.
+There was scarcely a man among them who had not a thrust at her with his
+spear; and many in doing this, aimed at torture, rather than immediate
+death, as they not only poked out her eyes, {159} but stabbed her in
+many parts very remote from those which are vital.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+It may appear strange, that a person supposed to be almost blind should
+be employed in the business of fishing, and particularly with any degree
+of success; but when the multitude of fish is taken into the account,
+the wonder will cease. Indeed they were so numerous at the foot of the
+fall, that when a light pole, armed with a few spikes, which was the
+instrument the old woman used, was put under water, and hauled up with a
+jerk, it was scarcely possible to miss them. Some of my Indians tried
+the method, for curiosity, with the old woman's staff, and seldom got
+less than two at a jerk, sometimes three or four. Those fish, though
+very fine, and beautifully red, are but small, seldom weighing more (as
+near as I could judge) than six or seven pounds, and in general much
+less. Their numbers at this place were almost incredible, perhaps equal
+to any thing that is related of the salmon in Kamschatka, or any other
+part of the world. It does not appear that the Esquimaux have any other
+method of catching the fish, unless it be by spears and darts; for no
+appearance of nets was discovered either at their tents, or on any part
+of the shore. This is the case with all the Esquimaux on the West side
+of Hudson's Bay; spearing in Summer, and angling in Winter, are the only
+methods they have yet devised to catch fish, though at {160} times their
+whole dependence for support is on that article.[AO]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+{161} When the Indians had plundered the seven tents of all the copper
+utensils, which seemed the only thing worth {162} their notice, they
+threw all the tents and tent-poles into the river, destroyed a vast
+quantity of dried salmon, musk-oxen flesh, and other provisions; broke
+all the stone kettles; and, in fact, did all the mischief they possibly
+could to distress the poor creatures they could not murder, and who were
+standing on the shoal before mentioned, obliged to be woeful spectators
+of their great, or perhaps irreparable loss.
+
+After the Indians had completed this piece of wantonness we sat down,
+and made a good meal of fresh salmon, which were as numerous at the
+place where we now rested, as they were on the West side of the river.
+When we had finished our meal, which was the first we had enjoyed for
+many hours, the Indians told me that they were again ready to assist me
+in making an end of my survey. It was then about five o'clock in the
+morning of the seventeenth, the sea being in sight from the North West
+by West to the North East, about eight miles distant. I therefore set
+instantly about commencing my survey, and pursued it to the mouth of the
+river, which I found all the way so full of shoals and falls that it was
+not navigable even for a boat, and that it emptied itself into the sea
+over a ridge or bar. {163} The tide was then out; but I judged from the
+marks which I saw on the edge of the ice, that it flowed about twelve
+or fourteen feet, which will only reach a little way within the river's
+mouth. The tide being out, the water in the river was perfectly fresh;
+but I am certain of its being the sea, or some branch of it, by the
+quantity of whalebone and seal-skins which the Esquimaux had at their
+tents, and also by the number of seals[72] which I saw on the ice. At
+the mouth of the river, the sea is full of islands and shoals, as far as
+I could see with the assistance of a good pocket telescope. The ice was
+not then broke up, but was melted away for about three quarters of a
+mile from the main shore, and to a little distance round the islands and
+shoals.
+
+[Sidenote: 18th.]
+
+By the time I had completed this survey, it was about one in the morning
+of the eighteenth; but in those high latitudes, and at this season of
+the year, the Sun is always at a good height above the horizon, so that
+we had not only day light, 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; but by
+the extraordinary care I took in observing the courses and distances
+when I walked from Congecathawhachaga, where I had two good
+observations, the latitude may be depended upon within twenty miles at
+the utmost. For the sake of form, {164} 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.[73]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+Having finished this business, we set out on our return, and walked
+about twelve miles to the South by East, when we stopped and took a
+little sleep, which was the first time that any of us had closed our
+eyes from the fifteenth instant, and it was now six o'clock in the
+morning of the eighteenth. Here the Indians killed a musk-ox, but the
+moss being very wet, we could not make a fire, so that we were obliged
+to eat the meat raw, which was intolerable, as it happened to be an old
+beast.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+Before I proceed farther on my return, it may not be improper to give
+some account of the river, and the country adjacent; its productions,
+and the animals which constantly inhabit those dreary regions, as well
+as those that only migrate thither in Summer, in order to breed and rear
+their young, unmolested by man. That I may do this to better purpose,
+it will be necessary to go back to the place where I first came to the
+river, which was about forty miles from its mouth.
+
+Beside the stunted pines already mentioned, there are some tufts of
+dwarf willows; plenty of Wishacumpuckey,[74] (as the English call it,
+and which they use as tea); some {165} jackasheypuck, which the natives
+use as tobacco; and a few cranberry and heathberry bushes; but not the
+least appearance of any fruit.
+
+The woods grow gradually thinner and smaller as you approach the sea;
+and the last little tuft of pines that I saw is about thirty miles from
+the mouth of the river, so that we meet with nothing between that spot
+and the sea-side but barren hills and marshes.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+The general course of the river is about North by East; but in some
+places it is very crooked, and its breadth varies from twenty yards to
+four or five hundred. The banks are in general a solid rock, both sides
+of which correspond so exactly with each other, as to leave no doubt
+that the channel of the river has been caused by some terrible
+convulsion of nature; and the stream is supplied by a variety of little
+rivulets, that rush down the sides of the hills, occasioned chiefly by
+the melting of the snow. Some of the Indians say, that this river takes
+its rise from the North West side of Large White Stone Lake, which is at
+the distance of near three hundred miles on a straight line; but I can
+scarcely think that is the case, unless there be many intervening lakes,
+which are supplied by the vast quantity of water that is collected in so
+great an extent of hilly and mountainous country: for were it otherwise,
+I should imagine that the multitude of small rivers, which must empty
+themselves into the main stream in the course of so {166} great a
+distance, would have formed a much deeper and stronger current than I
+discovered, and occasioned an annual deluge at the breaking up of the
+ice in the Spring, of which there was not the least appearance, except
+at Bloody Fall, where the river was contracted to the breadth of about
+twenty yards. It was at the foot of this fall that my Indians killed the
+Esquimaux; which was the reason why I distinguished it by that
+appellation. From this fall, which is about eight miles from the
+sea-side, there are very few hills, and those not high. The land between
+them is a stiff loam and clay, which, in some parts, produces patches of
+pretty good grass, and in others tallish dwarf willows: at the foot of
+the hills also there is plenty of fine scurvy-grass.
+
+The Esquimaux at this river are but low in stature, none exceeding the
+middle size, and though broad set, are neither well-made nor strong
+bodied. Their complexion is of a dirty copper colour; some of the women,
+however, are more fair and ruddy. Their dress much resembles that of the
+Greenlanders in Davis's Straits, except the women's boots, which are not
+stiffened out with whalebone, and the tails of their jackets are not
+more than a foot long.
+
+Their arms and fishing-tackle are bows and arrows, spears, lances,
+darts, &c. which exactly resemble those made use of by the Esquimaux in
+Hudson's Straits, and {167} which have been well described by
+Crantz[AP]; but, for want of good edge-tools, are far inferior to them
+in workmanship. Their arrows are either shod with a triangular piece of
+black stone, like slate, or a piece of copper; but most commonly the
+former.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+The body of their canoes is on the same construction as that of the
+other Esquimaux, and there is no unnecessary prow-projection beyond the
+body of the vessel; these, like their arms and other utensils, are, for
+the want of better tools, by no means so neat as those I have seen in
+Hudson's Bay and Straits. The double-bladed paddle is in universal use
+among all the tribes of this people.
+
+Their tents are made of parchment deer-skins in the hair, and are
+pitched in a circular form, the same as those of the Esquimaux in
+Hudson's Bay. These tents are undoubtedly no more than their Summer
+habitations, for I saw the remains of two miserable hovels, which, from
+the situation, the structure, and the vast quantity of bones, old shoes,
+scraps of skins, and other rubbish lying near them, had certainly been
+some of their Winter retreats. These houses were situated on the South
+side of a hill; one half of them were under-ground, and the upper parts
+closely set round with poles, meeting at the top in a conical form, like
+their Summer-houses or tents. These tents, {168} when inhabited, had
+undoubtedly been covered with skins; and in Winter entirely overspread
+with the snow-drift, which must have greatly contributed to their
+warmth. They were so small, that they did not contain more than six or
+eight persons each; and even that number of any other people would have
+found them but miserable habitations.
+
+Their household furniture chiefly consists of stone kettles, and wooden
+troughs of various sizes; also dishes, scoops, and spoons, made of the
+buffalo or musk-ox horns. Their kettles are formed of a pepper and salt
+coloured stone; and though the texture appears to be very coarse, and as
+porous as a dripstone, yet they are perfectly tight, and will sound as
+clear as a china bowl. Some of those kettles are so large as to be
+capable of containing five or six gallons; and though it is impossible
+these poor people can perform this arduous work with any other tools
+than harder stones, yet they are by far superior to any that I had ever
+seen in Hudson's Bay; every one of them being ornamented with neat
+mouldings round the rim, and some of the large ones with a kind of
+flute-work at each corner. In shape they were a long square, something
+wider at the top than bottom, like a knife-tray, and strong handles of
+the solid stone were left at each end to lift them up.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+Their hatchets are made of a thick lump of copper, about five or six
+inches long, and from one and a half to two inches square; they are
+bevelled away at one end like a {169} mortice-chissel. This is lashed
+into the end of a piece of wood about twelve or fourteen inches long, in
+such a manner as to act like an adze: in general they are applied to the
+wood like a chissel, and driven in with a heavy club, instead of a
+mallet. Neither the weight of the tool nor the sharpness of the metal
+will admit of their being handled either as adze or axe, with any degree
+of success.
+
+The men's bayonets and women's knives are also made of copper; the
+former are in shape like the ace of spades, with the handle of deers
+horn a foot long, and the latter exactly resemble those described by
+Crantz. Samples of both these implements I formerly sent home to James
+Fitzgerald, Esq. then one of the Hudson's Bay Committee.
+
+Among all the spoils of the twelve tents which my companions plundered,
+only two small pieces of iron were found; one of which was about an inch
+and a half long, and three eighths of an inch broad, made into a woman's
+knife; the other was barely an inch long, and a quarter of an inch wide.
+This last was rivetted into a piece of ivory, so as to form a man's
+knife, known in Hudson's Bay by the name of _Mokeatoggan_, and is the
+only instrument used by them in shaping all their wood-work.
+
+Those people had a fine and numerous breed of dogs, with sharp erect
+ears, sharp noses, bushy tails, &c. {170} exactly like those seen among
+the Esquimaux in Hudson's Bay and Straits. They were all tethered to
+stones, to prevent them, as I suppose, from eating the fish that were
+spread all over the rocks to dry. I do not recollect that my companions
+killed or hurt one of those animals; but after we had left the tents,
+they often wished they had taken some of those fine dogs with them.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+Though the dress, canoes, utensils, and many other articles belonging to
+these people, are very similar to those of Hudson's Bay, yet there is
+one custom that prevails among them--namely, that of the men having all
+the hair of their heads pulled out by the roots--which pronounces them
+to be of a different tribe from any hitherto seen either on the coast of
+Labradore, Hudson's Bay, or Davis's Straits. The women wore their hair
+at full length, and exactly in the same stile as all the other Esquimaux
+women do whom I have seen.
+
+When at the sea-side, (at the mouth of the Copper River,) besides seeing
+many seals on the ice, I also observed several flocks of sea-fowl flying
+about the shores; such as, gulls, black-heads, loons, old wives,
+ha-ha-wie's, dunter geese, arctic gulls, and willicks. In the adjacent
+ponds also were some swans and geese in a moulting state, and in the
+marshes some curlews and plover; plenty of hawks-eyes, (i.e. the green
+plover,) and some yellow-legs;[75] also several other small birds, that
+visit those Northern parts in the {171} Spring to breed and moult, and
+which doubtless return Southward as the fall advances. My reason for
+this conjecture is founded on a certain knowledge that all those birds
+migrate in Hudson's Bay; and it is but reasonable to think that they are
+less capable of withstanding the rigour of such a long and cold Winter
+as they must necessarily experience in a country which is so many
+degrees within the Arctic Circle, as that is where I now saw them.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+That the musk-oxen, deer, bears, wolves, wolvarines, foxes, Alpine
+hares,[76] white owls, ravens, partridges, ground-squirrels, common
+squirrels, ermins, mice, &c. are the constant inhabitants of those
+parts, is not to be doubted. In many places, by the sides of the hills,
+where the snow lay to a great depth, the dung of the musk-oxen and deer
+was lying in such long and continued heaps, as clearly to point out that
+those places had been their much-frequented paths during the preceding
+Winter. There were also many other similar appearances on the hills, and
+other parts, where the snow was entirely thawed away, without any print
+of a foot being visible in the moss; which is a certain proof that these
+long ridges of dung must have been dropped in the snow as the beasts
+were passing and repassing over it in the Winter. There are likewise
+similar proofs that the Alpine hare[77] and the partridge[78] do not
+migrate, but remain there the whole year: the latter we found in
+considerable flocks among the tufts of willows which grow near the sea.
+
+{172} It is perhaps not generally known, even to the curious, therefore
+may not be unworthy of observation, that the dung of the musk-ox, though
+so large an animal, is not larger, and at the same time so near the
+shape and colour of that of the Alpine hare, that the difference is not
+easily distinguished but by the natives, though in general the quantity
+may lead to a discovery of the animal to which it belongs.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+I did not see any birds peculiar to those parts, except what the Copper
+Indians call the "Alarm Bird," or "Bird of Warning."[79] In size and
+colour it resembles a Cobadekoock, and is of the owl genus. The name is
+said to be well adapted to its qualities; for when it perceives any
+people, or beast, it directs its way towards them immediately, and after
+hovering over them some time, flies round them in circles, or goes
+a-head in the same direction in which they walk. They repeat their
+visits frequently; and if they see any other moving objects, fly
+alternately from one party to the other, hover over them for some time,
+and make a loud screaming noise, like the crying of a child. In this
+manner they are said sometimes to follow passengers a whole day. The
+Copper Indians put great confidence in those birds, and say they are
+frequently apprized by them of the approach of strangers, and conducted
+by them to herds of deer and musk-oxen; which, without their assistance,
+in all probability, they never could have found.
+
+{173} The Esquimaux seem not to have imbibed the same opinion of those
+birds; for if they had, they must have been apprized of our approach
+toward their tents, because all the time the Indians lay in ambush,
+(before they began the massacre,) a large flock of those birds were
+continually flying about, and hovering alternately over them and the
+tents, making a noise sufficient to awaken any man out of the soundest
+sleep.
+
+After a sleep of five or six hours we once more set out, and walked
+eighteen or nineteen miles to the South South East, when we arrived at
+one of the copper mines, which lies, from the river's mouth about South
+South East, distant about twenty-nine or thirty miles.
+
+This mine, if it deserve that appellation, is no more than an entire
+jumble of rocks and gravel, which has been rent many ways by an
+earthquake. Through these ruins there runs a small river; but no part of
+it, at the time I was there, was more than knee-deep.[80]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+The Indians who were the occasion of my undertaking this journey,
+represented this mine to be so rich and valuable, that if a factory were
+built at the river, a ship might be ballasted with the ore, instead of
+stone; and that with the same ease and dispatch as is done with stones
+at Churchill River. By their account the hills were entirely composed of
+that metal, all in handy lumps, like {174} a heap of pebbles. But their
+account differed so much from the truth, that I and almost all my
+companions expended near four hours in search of some of this metal,
+with such poor success, that among us all, only one piece of any size
+could be found. This, however, was remarkably good, and weighed above
+four pounds.[AQ] I believe the copper has formerly been in much greater
+plenty; for in many places, both on the surface and in the cavities and
+crevices of the rocks, the stones are much tinged with verdigrise.
+
+It may not be unworthy the notice of the curious, or undeserving a place
+in my Journal, to remark, that the Indians imagine that every bit of
+copper they find resembles some object in nature; but by what I saw of
+the large piece, and some smaller ones which were found by my
+companions, it requires a great share of invention to make this out. I
+found that different people had different ideas on the subject, for the
+large piece of copper above mentioned had not been found long before it
+had twenty different names. One saying that it resembled this animal,
+and another that it represented a particular part of another; at last it
+was generally allowed to resemble an Alpine hare couchant: for my part,
+I must confess that I could not see it had the least resemblance to any
+thing to which they compared it. It would be endless to {175} enumerate
+the different parts of a deer, and other animals, which the Indians say
+the best pieces of copper resemble: it may therefore be sufficient to
+say, that the largest pieces, with the fewest branches and the least
+dross, are the best for their use; as by the help of fire, and two
+stones, they can beat it out to any shape they wish.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+Before Churchill River was settled by the Hudson's Bay Company, which
+was not more than fifty years previous to this journey being undertaken,
+the Northern Indians had no other metal but copper among them, except a
+small quantity of iron-work, which a party of them who visited York Fort
+about the year one thousand seven hundred and thirteen, or one thousand
+seven hundred and fourteen, purchased; and a few pieces of old iron
+found at Churchill River, which had undoubtedly been left there by
+Captain Monk. This being the case, numbers of them from all quarters
+used every Summer to resort to these hills in search of copper; of which
+they made hatchets, ice-chissels, bayonets, knives, awls, arrow-heads,
+&c.[AR] The many {176} paths that had been beaten by the Indians on
+these occasions, and which are yet, in many places, very perfect,
+especially on the dry ridges and hills, is surprising; in the vallies
+and marshy grounds, however, they are mostly grown over with herbage, so
+as not to be discerned.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+The Copper Indians set a great value on their native metal even to this
+day; and prefer it to iron, for almost every use except that of a
+hatchet, a knife, and an awl: for these three necessary implements,
+copper makes but a very poor substitute. When they exchange copper for
+iron-work with our trading Northern Indians, which is but seldom, the
+standard is an ice-chissel of copper for an ice-chissel of iron, or an
+ice-chissel and a few arrow-heads of copper, for a half-worn hatchet;
+but when they barter furrs with our Indians, the established rule is to
+give ten times the price for every thing they purchase that is given for
+them at the Company's Factory. Thus, a hatchet that is bought at the
+Factory for one beaver-skin, or one cat-skin, or three ordinary martins'
+skins, is sold to {177} those people at the advanced price of one
+thousand _per cent._; they also pay in proportion, for knives, and every
+other smaller piece of iron-work. For a small brass kettle of two
+pounds, or two pounds and a half weight, they pay sixty martins, or
+twenty beaver in other kinds of furrs.[AS] If the kettles are not
+bruised, or ill-used in any other respect, the Northern traders have the
+conscience at times to exact something more. It is at this extravagant
+price that all the Copper and Dog-ribbed Indians, who traffic with our
+yearly traders, supply themselves with iron-work, &c.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+From those two tribes our Northern Indians used formerly to purchase
+most of the furrs they brought to the Company's Factory; for their own
+country produced very few of those articles, and being, at that time, at
+war with the Southern Indians, they were prevented from penetrating far
+enough backwards to meet with many animals of the furr kind; so that
+deer-skins, and {178} such furrs as they could extort from the Copper
+and Dog-ribbed Indians, composed the whole of their trade; which, on an
+average of many years, and indeed till very lately, seldom or ever
+exceeded six thousand _Made Beaver per annum_.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+At present happy it is for them, and greatly to the advantage of the
+Company, that they are in perfect peace, and live in friendship with
+their Southern neighbours. The good effect of this harmony is already so
+visible, that within a few years the trade from that quarter has
+increased many thousands of Made Beaver annually; some years even to the
+amount of eleven thousand skins.[AT] Besides {179} the advantage arising
+to the Company from this increase, the poor Northern Indians reap
+innumerable benefits from a fine and plentiful country, with the produce
+of which they annually load themselves for trade, without giving the
+least offence to the proper inhabitants.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+Several attempts have been made to induce the Copper and Dog-ribbed
+Indians to visit the Company's Fort at Churchill River, and for that
+purpose many presents have been sent, but they never were attended with
+any success. And though several of the Copper Indians have visited
+Churchill, in the capacity of servants to the Northern Indians, and were
+generally sent back loaded with presents for their countrymen, yet the
+Northern Indians always plundered them of the whole soon after they left
+the Fort. This kind of treatment, added to the many inconveniences that
+attend so long a journey, are great obstacles in their way; otherwise it
+would be as possible for them to bring their own goods to market, as for
+the Northern Indians to go so far to purchase them on their own account,
+{180} and have the same distance to bring them as the first proprietors
+would have had. But it is a political scheme of our Northern traders to
+prevent such an intercourse, as it would greatly lessen their
+consequence and emolument. Superstition, indeed, will, in all
+probability, be a lasting barrier against those people ever having a
+settled communication with our Factory; as few of them chuse to travel
+in countries so remote from their own, under a pretence that the change
+of air and provisions (though exactly the same to which they are
+accustomed) are highly prejudicial to their health; and that not one out
+of three of those who have undertaken the journey, have ever lived to
+return. The first of these reasons is evidently no more than gross
+superstition; and though the latter is but too true, it has always been
+owing to the treachery and cruelty of the Northern Indians, who took
+them under their protection.
+
+It is but a few years since, that Captain Keelshies, who is frequently
+mentioned in this Journal, took twelve of these people under his charge,
+all heavy laden with the most valuable furrs; and long before they
+arrived at the Fort, he and the rest of his crew had got all the furrs
+from them, in payment for provisions for their support, and obliged them
+to carry the furrs on their account.
+
+On their arrival at Prince of Wales's Fort, Keelshies laid claim to
+great merit for having brought those strangers, {181} so richly laden,
+to the Factory, and assured the Governor that he might, in future,
+expect a great increase in trade from that quarter, through his interest
+and assiduity. One of the strangers was dubbed with the name of Captain,
+and treated accordingly, while at the Fort; that is, he was dressed out
+in the best manner; and at his departure, both himself and all his
+countrymen were loaded with presents, in hopes that they would not only
+repeat the visit themselves, but by displaying so much generosity, many
+of their countrymen would be induced to accompany them.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+There seems to be great propriety in the conduct of the Governor[AU] on
+this occasion; but however well-intended, it had quite the contrary
+effect, for Keelshies and the rest of his execrable gang, not content
+with sharing all the furrs those poor people had carried to the Fort,
+determined to get also all the European goods that had been given to
+them by the Governor. As neither Keelshies nor any of his gang had the
+courage to kill the Copper Indians, they concerted a deep-laid scheme
+for their destruction; which was to leave them on an island. With this
+view, when they got to the proposed spot, the Northern Indians took care
+to have all the baggage belonging to the Copper Indians ferried across
+to the main, and having stripped them of such parts of their clothing as
+they {182} thought worthy their notice, went off with all the canoes,
+leaving them all behind on the island, where they perished for want.
+When I was on my journey to the Fort in June one thousand seven hundred
+and seventy two, I saw the bones of those poor people, and had the
+foregoing account from my guide Matonabbee; but it was not made known to
+the Governor for some years afterward, for fear of prejudicing him
+against Keelshies.
+
+A similar circumstance had nearly happened to a Copper Indian who
+accompanied me to the Fort in one thousand seven hundred and
+seventy-two: after we were all ferried across Seal River, and the poor
+man's bundle of furrs on the South-side, he was left alone on the
+opposite shore; and no one except Matonabbee would go over for him. The
+wind at that time blew so hard, that Matonabbee stripped himself quite
+naked, to be ready for swimming in case the canoe should overset; but he
+soon brought the Copper Indian safe over, to the no small mortification
+of the wretch who had the charge of him, and who would gladly have
+possessed the bundle of furrs at the expence of the poor man's life.
+
+When the Northern Indians returned from the Factory that year, the above
+Copper Indian put himself under the protection of Matonabbee, who
+accompanied him as far North, as the latitude 64 deg., where they saw some
+Copper Indians, among whom was the young man's father, into {183} whose
+hands Matonabbee delivered him in good health, with all his goods safe,
+and in good order.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+Soon after we had left the Coppermine, there came on a thick fog with
+rain, and at intervals heavy showers of snow. This kind of weather
+continued for some days; and at times it was so thick, that we were
+obliged to stop for several hours together, as we were unable to see our
+way, and the road was remarkably rocky and intricate.
+
+[Sidenote: 22d.]
+
+At three o'clock in the morning of the twenty-second, Matonabbee's
+brother and one of the Copper Indians, who had been first dispatched
+a-head from Congecathawhachaga, overtook us. During their absence they
+had not discovered any Indians who could have been serviceable to my
+expedition. They had, however, been at the Copper River, and seeing some
+marks set up there to direct them to return, they had made the best of
+their way, and had not slept from the time they left the river till they
+joined us, though the distance was not less than a hundred miles. When
+they arrived we were asleep, but we soon awakened, and began to proceed
+on our journey. That day we walked forty-two miles; and in our way
+passed Buffalo Lake: at night, we put up about the middle of the Stony
+Mountains. The weather was excessively hot and sultry.
+
+[Sidenote: 23d.]
+
+{184} On the twenty-third, the weather continued much the same as on the
+preceding day. Early in the morning we set out, and walked forty-five
+miles the first day, during which the Indians killed several fine fat
+buck deer.
+
+[Sidenote: 24th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+About one o'clock in the morning of the twenty-fourth, we stopped and
+took a little refreshment, as we had also done about noon the preceding
+day; but the Indians had been so long from their wives and families,
+that they promised not to sleep till they saw them, especially as we
+were then in sight of the hills of Congecathawhachaga,[83] where we had
+left the last of them. After resting about an hour, we proceeded on our
+way, and at six in the morning arrived at Congecathawhachaga; when, to
+our great disappointment, we found that all our women had got set across
+the river before the Copper Indians left that part; so that when we
+arrived, not an Indian was to be found, except an old man and his
+family, who had arrived in our absence, and was waiting at the
+crossing-place with some furrs for Matonabbee, who was so nearly related
+to the old man as to be his son-in-law, having one of his daughters for
+a wife. The old man had another with him, who was also offered to the
+great man, but not accepted.
+
+Our stay at this place may be said to have been of very short duration;
+for on seeing a large smoke to the Southward, we immediately crossed the
+river, and walked towards it, {185} when we found that the women had
+indeed been there some days before, but were gone; and at their
+departure had set the moss on fire, which was then burning, and
+occasioned the smoke we had seen. By this time the afternoon was far
+advanced; we pursued, however, our course in the direction which the
+women took, for their track we could easily discover in the moss. We had
+not gone far, before we saw another smoke at a great distance, for which
+we shaped our course; and, notwithstanding we redoubled our pace, it was
+eleven o'clock at night before we reached it; when, to our great
+mortification, we found it to be the place where the women had slept the
+night before; having in the morning, at their departure, set fire to the
+moss which was then burning.
+
+[Sidenote: 25th.]
+
+The Indians, finding that their wives were so near as to be within one
+of their ordinary day's walk, which seldom exceeded ten or twelve miles,
+determined not to rest till they had joined them. Accordingly we pursued
+our course, and about two o'clock in the morning of the twenty-fifth,
+came up with some of the women, who had then pitched their tents by the
+side of Cogead Lake.[84]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+From our leaving the Copper-mine River to this time we had travelled so
+hard, and taken so little rest by the way, that my feet and legs had
+swelled considerably, and I had become quite stiff at the ankles. In
+this situation I had {186} so little power to direct my feet when
+walking, that I frequently knocked them against the stones with such
+force, as not only to jar and disorder them, but my legs also; and the
+nails of my toes were bruised to such a degree, that several of them
+festered and dropped off. To add to this mishap, the skin was entirely
+chafed off from the tops of both my feet, and between every toe; so that
+the sand and gravel, which I could by no means exclude, irritated the
+raw parts so much, that for a whole day before we arrived at the women's
+tents, I left the print of my feet in blood almost at every step I took.
+Several of the Indians began to complain that their feet also were sore;
+but, on examination, not one of them was the twentieth part in so bad a
+state as mine.
+
+This being the first time I had been in such a situation, or seen
+anybody foot-foundered, I was much alarmed, and under great
+apprehensions for the consequences. Though I was but little fatigued in
+body, yet the excruciating pain I suffered when walking, had such an
+effect on my spirits, that if the Indians had continued to travel two or
+three days longer at that unmerciful rate, I must unavoidably have been
+left behind; for my feet were in many places quite honey-combed, by the
+dirt and gravel eating into the raw flesh.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+As soon as we arrived at the women's tents, the first thing I did, was
+to wash and clean my feet in {187} warm water; then I bathed the swelled
+parts with spirits of wine, and dressed those that were raw with
+Turner's cerate; soon after which I betook myself to rest. As we did not
+move on the following day, I perceived that the swelling abated, and the
+raw parts of my feet were not quite so much inflamed. This change for
+the better gave me the strongest assurance that rest was the principal
+thing wanted to effect a speedy and complete cure of my painful, though
+in reality very simple disorder, (foot-foundering,) which I had before
+considered to be an affair of the greatest consequence.
+
+[Sidenote: 27th.]
+
+Rest, however, though essential to my speedy recovery, could not at this
+time be procured; for as the Indians were desirous of joining the
+remainder of their wives and families as soon as possible, they would
+not stop even a single day; so that on the twenty-seventh we again began
+to move; and though they moved at the rate of eight or nine miles a day,
+it was with the utmost difficulty that I could follow them. Indeed the
+weather proved remarkably fine and pleasant, and the ground was in
+general pretty dry, and free from stones; which contributed greatly to
+my ease in walking, and enabled me to keep up with the natives.
+
+[Sidenote: 31st.]
+
+[Sidenote: August. 1st.]
+
+[Sidenote: 5th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
+
+On the thirty-first of July, we arrived at the place[85] where the wives
+and families of my companions had been ordered to wait our return from
+the Copper-mine River. Here we found several tents of Indians; but those
+{188} belonging to Matonabbee, and some others of my crew, had not
+arrived. We saw, however, a large smoke to the Eastward, which we
+supposed had been made by them, as no other Indians were expected from
+that quarter. Accordingly, the next morning, Matonabbee sent some of his
+young men in quest of them, and on the fifth, they all joined us; when,
+contrary to expectation, a great number of other Indians were with them;
+in all, to the amount of more than forty tents. Among those Indians, was
+the man who Matonabbee stabbed when we were at Clowey. With the greatest
+submission he led his wife to Matonabbee's tent, set her down by his
+side, and retired, without saying a word. Matonabbee took no notice of
+her, though she was bathed in tears; and by degrees, after reclining
+herself on her elbow for some time, she lay down, and, sobbing, said,
+_see'd dinne_, _see'd dinne!_ which is, My husband, my husband! On which
+Matonabbee told her, that if she had respected him as such, she would
+not have run away from him; and that she was at liberty to go where she
+pleased. On which she got up, with seeming reluctance, though most
+assuredly with a light heart, and returned to her former husband's tent.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[AM] _Tima_ in the Esquimaux language is a friendly word similar to
+_what cheer?_
+
+[AN] When the fifteen Indians turned back at the Stony Mountains, they
+took two or three canoes with them; some of our crew that were sent
+a-head as messengers had not yet returned, which occasioned the number
+of our canoes to be so small.
+
+[71] Probably some form of the wide-ranging _Salmo alpinus_.--E. A. P.
+
+[AO] When the Esquimaux who reside near Churchill River travel in
+Winter, it is always from lake to lake, or from river to river, where
+they have formed magazines of provisions, and heaps of moss for firing.
+As some of those places are at a considerable distance from each other,
+and some of the lakes of considerable width, they frequently pitch their
+tents on the ice, and instead of having a fire, which the severity of
+the climate so much requires, they cut holes in the ice within their
+tents, and there sit and angle for fish; if they meet with any success,
+the fish are eaten alive out of the water; and when they are thirsty,
+water, their usual beverage, is at hand.
+
+When I first entered into the employment of the Hudson's Bay Company, it
+was as Mate of one of their sloops which was employed in trading with
+the Esquimaux: I had therefore frequent opportunities of observing the
+miserable manner in which those people live. In the course of our trade
+with them we frequently purchased several seal-skin bags, which we
+supposed were full of oil; but on opening them have sometimes found
+great quantities of venison, seals, and sea-horse paws, as well as
+salmon: and as these were of no use to us, we always returned them to
+the Indians, who eagerly devoured them, though some of the articles had
+been perhaps a whole year in that state; and they seemed to exult
+greatly in having so over-reached us in the way of trade, as to have
+sometimes one third of their bargain returned.
+
+This method of preserving their food, though it effectually guards it
+from the external air, and from the flies, does not prevent putrefaction
+entirely, though it renders its progress very slow. Pure train oil is of
+such a quality that it never freezes solid in the coldest Winters; a
+happy circumstance for those people, who are condemned to live in the
+most rigorous climate without the assistance of fire. While these
+magazines last, they have nothing more to do when hunger assails them,
+but to open one of the bags, take out a side of venison, a few seals,
+sea-horse paws, or some half-rotten salmon, and without any preparation,
+sit down and make a meal; and the lake or river by which they pitch
+their tent, affords them water, which is their constant drink. Besides
+the extraordinary food already mentioned, they have several other dishes
+equally disgusting to an European palate; I will only mention one, as it
+was more frequently part of their repast when I visited their tents,
+than any other, except fish. The dish I allude to, is made of the raw
+liver of a deer, cut in small pieces of about an inch square, and mixed
+up with the contents of the stomach of the same animal; and the farther
+digestion has taken place, the better it is suited to their taste. It is
+impossible to describe or conceive the pleasure they seem to enjoy when
+eating such unaccountable food: nay, I have even seen them eat whole
+handfuls of maggots that were produced in meat by fly-blows; and it is
+their constant custom, when their noses bleed by any accident, to lick
+their blood into their mouths, and swallow it. Indeed, if we consider
+the inhospitable part of the globe they are destined to inhabit, and the
+great distresses to which they are frequently driven by hunger in
+consequence of it, we shall no longer be surprized at finding they can
+relish any thing in common with the meanest of the animal creation, but
+rather admire the wisdom and kindness of Providence in forming the
+palates and powers of all creatures in such a manner as is best adapted
+to the food, climate, and every other circumstance which may be incident
+to their respective situations.
+
+It is no less true, that these people, when I first knew them, would not
+eat any of our provisions, sugar, raisins, figs, or even bread; for
+though some of them would put a bit of it into their mouths, they soon
+spit it out again with evident marks of dislike; so that they had no
+greater relish for our food than we had for theirs. At present, however,
+they will eat any part of our provisions, either fresh or salted; and
+some of them will drink a draft of porter, or a little brandy and water;
+and they are now so far civilized, and attached to the English, that I
+am persuaded any of the Company's servants who could habituate
+themselves to their diet and manner of life, might now live as secure
+under their protection, as under that of any of the tribes of Indians
+who border on Hudson's Bay.
+
+They live in a state of perfect freedom; no one apparently claiming the
+superiority over, or acknowledging the least subordination to another,
+except what is due from children to their parents, or such of their kin
+as take care of them when they are young and incapable of providing for
+themselves. There is, however, reason to think that, when grown up to
+manhood, they pay some attention to the advice of the old men, on
+account of their experience.
+
+[72] Several species inhabit the region; the commonest is the ringed or
+fetid seal (_Phoca hispida_).--E. A. P.
+
+[73] In the summer of 1821, fifty years after Hearne's visit, Sir John
+Franklin, accompanied by Sir John Richardson and Sir George Back,
+descended and surveyed the Coppermine River from Point Lake to the sea.
+He was at the Bloody Falls from the 15th to the 18th of July, exactly
+fifty years after Hearne, and found the latitude to be 67 deg. 42' 35" N. He
+speaks of it as follows:
+
+"Several human skulls which bore the marks of violence, and many bones
+were strewed about the ground near the encampment, and as the spot
+exactly answers the description, given by Mr. Hearne, of the place where
+the Chipewyans who accompanied him perpetrated the dreadful massacre on
+the Esquimaux, we had no doubt of this being the place. This rapid is a
+sort of shelving cascade, about three hundred yards in length, having a
+descent of from ten to fifteen feet. It is bounded on each side by high
+walls of red sandstone, upon which rests a series of lofty green hills.
+The surrounding scenery was accurately delineated in a sketch taken by
+Mr. Hood" ("First Journey," pp. 349-350).
+
+In 1838 Thomas Simpson determined the latitude of Bloody Falls as 67 deg.
+42' 52" ("Narrative of Discoveries," Thomas Simpson, p. 261).
+
+Sir John Richardson revisited the lower part of the Coppermine River in
+1826, and again in 1848, and he knew it better than any other white man.
+Speaking of Hearne, he says: "His description of the lower part of the
+Coppermine River is evidently that of one who has been on the spot."
+
+"He appears to have fallen on the Coppermine River first at the
+Sandstone rapids of Franklin, and to have traced it to Bloody Falls; but
+as, contrary to his usual practice, he under-rates the distance from
+thence to the coast, we are led to conclude that he did not actually go
+down to the sea, but was content to view it from the top of the hill
+which overhangs the falls; and, indeed, it is not very probable that he
+could have induced the Indians, over whom he had little influence, to
+accompany him on his survey, after they had completed the massacre which
+was the object of their long and laborious journey; nor, had he gone
+actually to the mouth of the river, would he have mentioned marks of a
+tide fourteen feet high" (Back, pp. 147-151).
+
+Hearne's description of the occurrence of the timber on the banks of the
+river, is particularly accurate, and I am inclined to give him credit
+for having been at or near the mouth of the river, even though his
+statement in regard to the rise and fall of the tide is inaccurate.
+
+[74] Wishacumpuckey is one of the species of _Ledum_; jackasheypuck =
+_Arctostaphylos uvaursi_ Spreng.; cranberry = _Vaccinium vitisidaea_
+Linn.; heathberry probably = _Empetrum nigrum_ Linn.--E. A. P.
+
+[AP] See Hist. of Greenland, vol. i. pp. 132-156.
+
+[75] Gull = _Larus_; blackhead = _Sterna paradisaea_ Bruenn; loon =
+_Gavia_; old-wife = _Harelda hyemalis_ Linn.; ha-ha-wie = _Harelda
+hyemalis_ Linn.; hawks-eye = _Charadrius dominicus_ Muell.; yellow-legs =
+_Totanus flavipes_ Gmel.--E. A. P.
+
+[76] For descriptions of these mammals see Chapter X.
+
+[77] _Lepus arcticus canus_ Preble.
+
+[78] _Lagopus lagopus_ (Linn.)
+
+[79] The Alarm bird is probably the Short-eared Owl, _Asio flammeus_
+(Pontoppidan), a common summer inhabitant of the Barren Grounds. The
+Cobadekoock is the Hawk Owl, which seldom goes north of the woods.--E.
+A. P.
+
+[80] The exact locality here described does not appear to have been
+visited by any white man since 1771, but Sir John Richardson visited the
+Copper Mountains in 1821, and the following description by him will give
+some idea of their character:
+
+"The Copper Mountains appear to form a range running S.E. and N.W. The
+great mass of rock in the mountains seems to consist of felspar in
+various conditions; sometimes in the form of felspar rock or claystone,
+sometimes coloured by hornblende, and approaching to greenstone, but
+most generally in the form of dark reddish-brown amygdaloid. The
+amygdaloidal masses, contained in the amygdaloid, are either entirely
+pistacite, or pistacite enclosing calc-spar. Scales of native copper are
+very generally disseminated through this rock, through a species of trap
+tuff which nearly resembled it, and also through a reddish sandstone on
+which it appears to rest. When the felspar assumed the appearance of a
+slaty claystone, which it did towards the base of the mountains on the
+banks of the river, we observed no copper in it. The rough and in
+general rounded and more elevated parts of the mountain, are composed of
+the amygdaloid; but between the eminences there occur many narrow and
+deep valleys, which are bounded by perpendicular mural precipices of
+greenstone. It is in these valleys, amongst the loose soil, that the
+Indians search for copper. Amongst the specimens we picked up in these
+valleys, were plates of native copper; masses of pistacite containing
+native copper; of trap rock with associated native copper, green
+malachite, copper glance or variegated copper ore and iron-shot copper
+green; and of greenish-grey prehnite in trap (the trap is felspar,
+deeply coloured with hornblende), with disseminated native copper; the
+copper, in some specimens, was crystallized in rhomboidal dodecahedrons.
+We also found some large tabular fragments, evidently portions of a vein
+consisting of prehnite, associated with calcareous spar, and native
+copper. The Indians dig wherever they observe the prehnite lying on the
+soil, experience having taught them that the largest pieces of copper
+are found associated with it. We did not observe the vein in its
+original repository, nor does it appear that the Indians have found it,
+but judging from the specimens just mentioned, it most probably
+traverses felspathose trap. We also picked up some fragments of a
+greenish-grey coloured rock, apparently sandstone, with disseminated
+variegated copper ore and copper glance; likewise rhomboidal fragments
+of white calcareous spar, and some rock crystals. The Indians report
+that they have found copper in every part of this range, which they have
+examined for thirty or forty miles to the N.W., and that the Esquimaux
+come hither to search for that metal. We afterwards found some
+ice-chisels in possession of the latter people twelve or fourteen inches
+long, and half-an-inch in diameter, formed of pure copper.
+
+"To the northward of the Copper Mountains, at the distance of ten miles,
+in a direct line, a similar range of trap hills occurs, having, however,
+less altitude. The intermediate country is uneven, but not hilly, and
+consists of a deep sandy soil, which, when cut through by the rivulets,
+discloses extensive beds of light-brownish red sandstone, which appears
+to belong to the new red sandstone formation. The same rock having a
+thin slaty structure, and dipping to the northward, forms perpendicular
+walls to the river, whose bed lies a hundred and fifty feet below the
+level of the plain. The eminences in the plain are well clothed with
+grass, and free from the large loose stones so common on the Barren
+Grounds, but the ridges of trap are nearly destitute of vegetation.
+
+"Beyond the last-mentioned trap range, which is about twenty miles from
+the sea, the country becomes still more level, the same kind of
+sandstone continuing as a subsoil. The plains nourish only a coarse
+short grass, and the trees which had latterly dwindled to small clumps,
+growing only on low points on the edge of the river under shelter of the
+high bank, entirely disappear. A few ranges of trap hills intersect this
+plain also, but they have much less elevation than those we passed
+higher up the stream.
+
+"The river in its section of the plain, as far as Bloody Fall, presents
+alternately cliffs of reddish sandstone, and red-coloured slaty
+indurated clay or marl, and shelving white clay banks. At Bloody Fall,
+the stream cuts through a thick bed of dark, purplish-red felspar rock,
+similar to that observed at the Rocky Defile (page 527), and associated,
+as at that place, with a rock composed principally of light red felspar
+and quartz, but which is probably a species of red secondary granite. At
+the Bloody Fall, the felspar rock is covered to the depth of six or
+seven hundred feet with a bed of greyish white, and rather tenacious
+clay, which being deeply intersected with ravines, forms steep hills.
+Nearer the sea, the river is bounded by very steep cliffs of
+yellowish-white sand; and on the sea-coast, the above-mentioned red
+granite reappears on the west bank of the river, forming a rugged ridge
+about two hundred and fifty feet high" ("First Journey," pp. 528-530).
+
+Sir John Franklin makes the following reference to the Copper Mountains,
+which he visited in July 1821:
+
+"We rejoined our hunters at the foot of the Copper Mountains, and found
+they had killed three musk-oxen. This circumstance determined us on
+encamping to dry the meat, as there was wood at the spot. We availed
+ourselves of this delay to visit the Copper Mountains in search of
+specimens of the ore, agreeably to my instructions; and a party of
+twenty-one persons, consisting of the officers, some of the voyagers,
+and all the Indians, set off on that excursion. We travelled for nine
+hours over a considerable space of ground, but found only a few small
+pieces of native copper. The range we ascended was on the west side of
+the river, extending W.N.W. and E.S.E. The mountains varied in height
+from twelve to fifteen hundred feet. The uniformity of the mountains is
+interrupted by narrow valleys, traversed by small streams. The best
+specimens of metal we procured were among the stones in these valleys,
+and it was in such situations that our guides desired us to search most
+carefully. It would appear, that when the Indians see any sparry
+substance projecting above the surface, they dig there; but they have no
+other rule to direct them, and have never found the metal in its
+original repository. Our guides reported that they had found copper in
+large pieces in every part of this range, for two days' walk to the
+north-west, and that the Esquimaux come hither to search for it. The
+annual visits which the Copper Indians were accustomed to make to these
+mountains, when most of their weapons and utensils were made of copper,
+have been discontinued since they have been enabled to obtain a supply
+of ice-chisels and other instruments of iron by the establishment of
+trading posts near their hunting grounds. That none of those who
+accompanied us had visited them for many years was evident, from their
+ignorance of the spots most abundant in metal.
+
+"The impracticability of navigating the river upwards from the sea, and
+the want of wood for forming an establishment, would prove insuperable
+objections to rendering the collection of copper at this part worthy of
+mercantile speculation" ("First Journey," p. 340-1).
+
+[AQ] This piece of Copper is now in the possession of the Hudson's Bay
+Company.
+
+[AR] There is a strange tradition among those people, that the first
+person who discovered those mines was a woman, and that she conducted
+them to the place for several years; but as she was the only woman in
+company, some of the men took such liberties with her as made her vow
+revenge on them; and she is said to have been a great conjurer.
+Accordingly when the men had loaded themselves with copper, and were
+going to return, she refused to accompany them, and said she would sit
+on the mine till she sunk into the ground, and that the copper should
+sink with her. The next year, when the men went for more copper, they
+found her sunk up to the waist, though still alive, and the quantity of
+copper much decreased; and on their repeating their visit the year
+following, she had quite disappeared, and all the principal part of the
+mine with her; so that after that period nothing remained on the surface
+but a few small pieces, and those were scattered at a considerable
+distance from each other. Before that period they say the copper lay on
+the surface in such large heaps, that the Indians had nothing to do but
+turn it over, and pick such pieces as would best suit the different uses
+for which they intended it.[81]
+
+[81] A slightly different version of this tradition is given by Sir John
+Franklin, who heard it at Fort Chipewyan in 1820 from an old Chipewyan
+Indian named "Rabbit's Head," a stepson of Matonabbee. See Franklin's
+"First Journey," pp. 145-7.
+
+[AS] What is meant by Beaver in other kind of furrs, must be understood
+as follows: For the easier trading with the Indians, as well as for the
+more correctly keeping their accounts, the Hudson's Bay Company have
+made a full-grown beaver-skin the standard by which they rate all other
+furrs, according to their respective values. Thus in several species of
+furrs, one skin is valued at the rate of four beaver-skins; some at
+three, and others at two; whereas those of an inferior quality are rated
+at one; and those of still less value considered so inferior to that of
+a beaver, that from six to twenty of their skins are only valued as
+equal to one beaver skin in the way of trade, and do not fetch
+one-fourth of the price at the London market. In this manner the term
+"Made Beaver" is to be understood.
+
+[AT] Since this Journal was written, the Northern Indians, by annually
+visiting their Southern friends, the Athapuscow Indians, have contracted
+the small-pox, which has carried off nine-tenths of them, and
+particularly those people who composed the trade at Churchill Factory.
+The few survivors follow the example of their Southern neighbours, and
+all trade with the Canadians, who are settled in the heart of the
+Athapuscow country: so that a very few years has proved my
+short-sightedness, and that it would have been much more to the
+advantage of the Company, as well as have prevented the depopulation of
+the Northern Indian country, if they had still remained at war with the
+Southern tribes, and never attempted to better their situation. At the
+same time, it is impossible to say what increase of trade might not, in
+time, have arisen from a constant and regular traffic with the different
+tribes of Copper and Dog-ribbed Indians. But having been totally
+neglected for several years, they have now sunk into their original
+barbarism and extreme indigence; and a war has ensued between the two
+tribes, for the sake of a few remnants of iron-work which was left among
+them; and the Dog-ribbed Indians were so numerous, and so successful, as
+to destroy almost the whole race of the Copper Indians.
+
+While I was writing this Note, I was informed by some Northern Indians,
+that the few which remain of the Copper tribe have found their way to
+one of the Canadian houses in the Athapuscow Indians' country, where
+they get supplied with every thing at less, or about half the price they
+were formerly obliged to give; so that the few surviving Northern
+Indians, as well as the Hudson's Bay Company, have now lost every shadow
+of any future trade from that quarter, unless the Company will establish
+a settlement with the Athapuscow country, and undersell the
+Canadians.[82]
+
+[82] In 1778 Peter Pond, a fur trader from Montreal, had built a trading
+post on the east bank of Athabasca River, about thirty miles up-stream
+from Athabasca Lake, and in 1786, after the formation of the North-West
+Company, Laurent Leroux and Cuthbert Grant, two of the employees of this
+Company, had descended Slave River to Great Slave Lake and had
+established a trading post on its southern shore. The Copper Indians
+traded at the latter post, while the Northern or Chipewyan Indians
+resorted to the more southern and older post on the Athabasca River.
+Among the members of this latter tribe, who had been accustomed to make
+long pilgrimages to Churchill in order to procure implements and
+utensils of various kinds in exchange for furs, but who afterwards found
+that they could buy such goods as they needed more advantageously from
+the traders on the Athabasca River, very much nearer home, was a man
+known to those traders as "English Chief." This Indian accompanied Sir
+Alexander Mackenzie, one of the partners of the North-West Company, and
+one of those who would have been spoken of by Hearne as _Canadians_, on
+his journey from Lake Athabasca to the Arctic Ocean in 1789.
+
+This note also throws an interesting light on the date on which the
+journal was written, for the first outbreak of small-pox, which swept
+off the Indians of Western Canada, occurred in 1781, and therefore the
+journal itself was written before that date, while Hearne was living as
+Governor at Fort Prince of Wales. The note would appear to have been
+written about 1787, after the destruction of Fort Prince of Wales, and
+while Hearne was living at Fort Churchill, five miles south of the old
+fort, and before he finally returned to England.
+
+[AU] Mr. Moses Norton.
+
+[83] The party had thus reached Congecathawhachaga on the morning of the
+seventh day after leaving Bloody Falls or the mouth of the Coppermine
+River, the distance in a direct line being about one hundred and sixty
+miles. If they travelled in a direct line they averaged twenty-five
+miles a day, but the windings of the journey would add something to this
+distance.
+
+[84] Contwoito Lake, described on page 152.
+
+[85] The exact position of this place, to which the women and children
+had moved from the north shore of Cat or Clinton-Colden Lake, is not
+certain, but it was evidently on some of the lakes or streams marked on
+his map as lying between Cogead (Contwoito) and Point Lakes.
+
+
+
+
+{189} CHAP. VII.
+
+ Remarks from the Time the Women joined us till our Arrival at
+ the Athapuscow Lake.
+
+ _Several of the Indians sick--Method used by the conjurers to
+ relieve one man, who recovers--Matonabbee and his crew proceed
+ to the South West--Most of the other Indians separate, and go
+ their respective ways--Pass by White Stone Lake--Many deer
+ killed merely for their skins--Remarks thereon, and on the deer,
+ respecting seasons and places--Arrive at Point Lake--One of the
+ Indian's wives being sick, is left behind to perish
+ above-ground--Weather very bad, but deer plenty--Stay some time
+ at Point Lake to dry meat, &c.--Winter set in--Superstitious
+ customs observed by my companions, after they had killed the
+ Esquimaux at Copper River--A violent gale of wind oversets my
+ tent and breaks my quadrant--Some Copper and Dog-ribbed Indians
+ join us--Indians propose to go to the Athapuscow Country to kill
+ moose--Leave Point Lake, and arrive at the wood's edge--Arrive
+ at Anawd Lake--Transactions there--Remarkable instance of a man
+ being cured of the palsey by the conjurers--Leave Anawd
+ Lake--Arrive at the great Athapuscow Lake._
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. August.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. August.]
+
+Several of the Indians being very ill, the conjurers, who are always the
+doctors, and pretend to perform great cures, began to try their skill to
+effect their recovery. Here it is necessary to remark, that they use no
+medicine either for internal or external complaints, but perform all
+their cures by charms. In ordinary cases, sucking the part affected,
+blowing, and singing to it; {190} haughing, spitting, and at the same
+time uttering a heap of unintelligible jargon, compose the whole process
+of the cure. For some inward complaints; such as, griping in the
+intestines, difficulty of making water, &c., it is very common to see
+those jugglers blowing into the _anus_, or into the parts adjacent,
+till their eyes are almost starting out of their heads: and this
+operation is performed indifferently on all, without regard either to
+age or sex. The accumulation of so large a quantity of wind is at times
+apt to occasion some extraordinary emotions, which are not easily
+suppressed by a sick person; and as there is no vent for it but by the
+channel through which it was conveyed thither, it sometimes occasions an
+odd scene between the doctor and his patient; which I once wantonly
+called an engagement, but for which I was afterward exceedingly sorry,
+as it highly offended several of the Indians; particularly the juggler
+and the sick person, both of whom were men I much esteemed, and, except
+in that moment of levity, it had ever been no less my inclination than
+my interest to shew them every respect that my situation would admit.
+
+I have often admired the great pains these jugglers take to deceive
+their credulous countrymen, while at the same time they are
+indefatigably industrious and persevering in their efforts to relieve
+them. Being naturally not very delicate, they frequently continue their
+windy process so long, that I have more than once seen the doctor quit
+his patient with his face and breast in a very disagreeable condition.
+However {191} laughable this may appear to an European, custom makes it
+very indecent, in their opinion, to turn any thing of the kind to
+ridicule.
+
+When a friend for whom they have a particular regard is, as they
+suppose, dangerously ill, beside the above methods, they have recourse
+to another very extraordinary piece of superstition; which is no less
+than that of pretending to swallow hatchets, ice-chissels, broad
+bayonets, knives, and the like; out of a superstitious notion that
+undertaking such desperate feats will have some influence in appeasing
+death, and procure a respite for their patient.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. August.]
+
+On such extraordinary occasions a conjuring-house is erected, by driving
+the ends of four long small sticks, or poles, into the ground at right
+angles, so as to form a square of four, five, six, or seven feet, as may
+be required. The tops of the poles are tied together, and all is close
+covered with a tent-cloth or other skin, exactly in the shape of a small
+square tent, except that there is no vacancy left at the top to admit
+the light. In the middle of this house, or tent, the patient is laid,
+and is soon followed by the conjurer, or conjurers. Sometimes five or
+six of them give their joint-assistance; but before they enter, they
+strip themselves quite naked, and as soon as they get into the house,
+the door being well closed, they kneel round the sick person or persons,
+and begin to suck {192} and blow at the parts affected, and then in a
+very short space of time sing and talk as if conversing with familiar
+spirits, which they say appear to them in the shape of different beasts
+and birds of prey. When they have had sufficient conference with those
+necessary agents, or shadows, as they term them, they ask for the
+hatchet, bayonet, or the like, which is always prepared by another
+person, with a long string fastened to it by the haft, for the
+convenience of hauling it up again after they have swallowed it; for
+they very wisely admit this to be a very necessary precaution, as hard
+and compact bodies, such as iron and steel, would be very difficult to
+digest, even by the men who are enabled to swallow them. Besides, as
+those tools are in themselves very useful, and not always to be
+procured, it would be very ungenerous in the conjurers to digest them,
+when it is known that barely swallowing them and hauling them up again
+is fully sufficient to answer every purpose that is expected from them.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. August. 6th.]
+
+At the time when the forty and odd tents of Indians joined us, one man
+was so dangerously ill, that it was thought necessary the conjurers
+should use some of those wonderful experiments for his recovery; one of
+them therefore immediately consented to swallow a broad bayonet.
+Accordingly, a conjuring-house was erected in the manner above
+described, into which the patient was conveyed, and he was soon
+followed by the conjurer, who, after a long preparatory discourse, and
+the necessary {193} conference with his familiar spirits, or shadows, as
+they call them, advanced to the door and asked for the bayonet, which
+was then ready prepared, by having a string fastened to it, and a short
+piece of wood tied to the other end of the string, to prevent him from
+swallowing it. I could not help observing that the length of the bit of
+wood was not more than the breadth of the bayonet; however, as it
+answered the intended purpose, it did equally well as if it had been as
+long as a handspike.
+
+Though I am not so credulous as to believe that the conjurer absolutely
+swallowed the bayonet, yet I must acknowledge that in the twinkling of
+an eye he conveyed it to--God knows where; and the small piece of wood,
+or one exactly like it, was confined close to his teeth. He then paraded
+backward and forward before the conjuring-house for a short time, when
+he feigned to be greatly disordered in his stomach and bowels; and,
+after making many wry faces, and groaning most hideously, he put his
+body into several distorted attitudes, very suitable to the occasion. He
+then returned to the door of the conjuring-house, and after making many
+strong efforts to vomit, by the help of the string he at length, and
+after tugging at it some time, produced the bayonet, which apparently he
+hauled out of his mouth, to the no small surprize of all present. He
+then looked round with an air of exultation, and strutted into the
+conjuring-house, where he renewed his incantations, and continued them
+without intermission twenty-four hours. {194} Though I was not close to
+his elbow when he performed the above feat, yet I thought myself near
+enough (and I can assure my readers I was all attention) to have
+detected him. Indeed I must confess that it appeared to me to be a very
+nice piece of deception, especially as it was performed by a man quite
+naked.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. August.]
+
+Not long after this slight-of-hand work was over, some of the Indians
+asked me what I thought of it; to which I answered, that I was too far
+off to see it so plain as I could wish; which indeed was no more than
+the strictest truth, because I was not near enough to detect the
+deception. The sick man, however, soon recovered; and in a few days
+afterwards we left that place and proceeded to the South West.
+
+[Sidenote: 9th.]
+
+On the ninth of August, we once more pursued our journey, and continued
+our course in the South West quarter, generally walking about seven or
+eight miles a day. All the Indians, however, who had been in our
+company, except twelve tents, struck off different ways. As to myself,
+having had several days rest, my feet were completely healed, though the
+skin remained very tender for some time.
+
+[Sidenote: 19th-25th.]
+
+From the nineteenth to the twenty-fifth, we walked by the side of
+Thaye-chuck-gyed Whoie,[86] or Large Whitestone Lake, which is about
+forty miles long from the North {195} East to the South West, but of
+very unequal breadth. A river from the North West side of this lake is
+said to run in a serpentine manner a long way to the Westward; and then
+tending to the Northward, composes the main branch of the Copper-mine
+River, as has been already mentioned; which may or may not be true. It
+is certain, however, that there are many rivulets which empty themselves
+into this lake from the South East; but as they are all small streams,
+they may probably be no more than what is sufficient to supply the
+constant decrease occasioned by the exhalations, which, during the short
+Summer, so high a Northern latitude always affords.
+
+Deer were very plentiful the whole way; the Indians killed great numbers
+of them daily, merely for the sake of their skins; and at this time of
+the year their pelts are in good season, and the hair of a proper length
+for clothing.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. August.]
+
+The great destruction which is made of the deer in those parts at this
+season of the year only, is almost incredible; and as they are never
+known to have more than one young one at a time, it is wonderful they do
+not become scarce; but so far from being the case, that the oldest
+Northern Indian in all their tribe will affirm that the deer are as
+plentiful now as they ever have been; and though they are remarkably
+scarce some years near Churchill River, yet it is said, and with great
+probability of truth, that they are {196} more plentiful in other parts
+of the country than they were formerly. The scarcity or abundance of
+these animals in different places at the same season is caused, in a
+great measure, by the winds which prevail for some time before; for the
+deer are supposed by the natives to walk always in the direction from
+which the wind blows, except when they migrate from East to West, or
+from West to East, in search of the opposite sex, for the purpose of
+propagating their species.
+
+It requires the prime part of the skins of from eight to ten deer to
+make a complete suit of warm clothing for a grown person during the
+Winter; all of which should, if possible, be killed in the month of
+August, or early in September; for after that time the hair is too long,
+and at the same time so loose in the pelt, that it will drop off with
+the slightest injury.
+
+Beside these skins, which must be in the hair, each person requires
+several others to be dressed into leather, for stockings and shoes, and
+light Summer clothing; several more are also wanted in a parchment
+state, to make _clewla_ as they call it, or thongs to make netting for
+their snow-shoes, snares for deer, sewing for their sledges, and, in
+fact, for every other use where strings or lines of any kind are
+required: so that each person, on an average, expends, in the course of
+a year, upwards of twenty deer skins in {197} clothing and other
+domestic uses, exclusive of tent cloths, bags, and many other things
+which it is impossible to remember, and unnecessary to enumerate.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. August.]
+
+All skins for the above-mentioned purposes are, if possible, procured
+between the beginning of August and the middle of October; for when the
+rutting season is over, and the Winter sets in, the deer-skins are not
+only very thin, but in general full of worms and warbles[87]; which
+render them of little use, unless it be to cut into fine thongs, of
+which they make fishing-nets, and nets for the heels and toes of their
+snow-shoes. Indeed the chief use that is made of them in Winter is for
+the purpose of food; and really when the hair is properly taken off, and
+all the warbles are squeezed out, if they are well-boiled, they are far
+from being disagreeable. The Indians, however, never could persuade me
+to eat the warbles, of which some of them are remarkably fond,
+particularly the children. They are always eaten raw and alive, out of
+the skin; and are said, by those who like them, to be as fine as
+gooseberries. But the very idea of eating such things, exclusive of
+their appearance, (many of them being as large as the first joint of the
+little finger,) was quite sufficient to give me an unalterable disgust
+to such a repast; and when I acknowledge that the warbles out of the
+deers backs, and the domestic lice, were the only two things I ever saw
+my {198} companions eat, of which I could not, or did not, partake, I
+trust I shall not be reckoned over-delicate in my appetite.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. August.]
+
+The month of October is the rutting season with the deer in those parts,
+and after the time of their courtship is over, the bucks separate from
+the does; the former proceed to the Westward, to take shelter in the
+woods during the Winter, and the latter keep out in the barren ground
+the whole year. This, though a general rule, is not without some
+exceptions; for I have frequently seen many does in the woods, though
+they bore no proportion to the number of bucks. This rule, therefore,
+only stands good respecting the deer to the North of Churchill River;
+for the deer to the Southward live promiscuously among the woods, as
+well as in the plains, and along the banks of rivers, lakes, &c. the
+whole year.
+
+The old buck's horns are very large, with many branches, and always drop
+off in the month of November, which is about the time they begin to
+approach the woods. This is undoubtedly wisely ordered by Providence,
+the better to enable them to escape from their enemies through the
+woods; otherwise they would become an easy prey to wolves and other
+beasts, and be liable to get entangled among the trees, even in ranging
+about in search of food. The same opinion may probably be admitted of
+the Southern deer, which always reside among {199} the woods; but the
+Northern deer, though by far the smallest in this country, have much the
+largest horns, and the branches are so long, and at the same time spread
+so wide, as to make them more liable to be entangled among the
+under-woods, than any other species of deer that I have noticed. The
+young bucks in those parts do not shed their horns so soon as the old
+ones: I have frequently seen them killed at or near Christmas, and could
+discover no appearance of their horns being loose. The does do not shed
+their horns till the Summer; so that when the buck's horns are ready to
+drop off, the horns of the does are all hairy, and scarcely come to
+their full growth.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. August.]
+
+The deer in those parts are generally in motion from East to West, or
+from West to East, according to the season, or the prevailing winds; and
+that is the principal reason why the Northern Indians are always
+shifting their station. From November till May, the bucks continue to
+the Westward, among the woods, when their horns begin to sprout; after
+which they proceed on to the Eastward, to the barren grounds; and the
+does that have been on the barren ground all the Winter, are taught by
+instinct to advance to the Westward to meet them, in order to propagate
+their species. Immediately after the rutting season is over, they
+separate, as hath been mentioned above. The old vulgar saying, so
+generally received among the lower class of people in England,
+concerning the bucks shedding their yards, or more properly the glands
+of the {200} _penis_, yearly, whether it be true in England or not, is
+certainly not true in any of the countries bordering on Hudson's Bay. A
+long residence among the Indians has enabled me to confirm this
+assertion with great confidence, as I have seen deer killed every day
+throughout the year; and when I have mentioned this circumstance to the
+Indians, either Northern or Southern, they always assured me that they
+never observed any such symptoms. With equal truth I can assert, and
+that from ocular demonstration, that the animal which is called the
+Alpine Hare in Hudson's Bay, actually undergoes something similar to
+that which is vulgarly ascribed to the English deer. I have seen and
+handled several of them, who had been killed just after they had coupled
+in the Spring, with the _penises_ hanging out, dried up, and shrivelled,
+like the navel-string of young animals; and on examination I always
+found a passage through them for the urine to pass. I have thought
+proper to give this remark a place in my Journal, because, in all
+probability, it is not generally known, even to those gentlemen who have
+made natural history their chief study; and if their researches are of
+any real utility to mankind, it is surely to be regretted that
+Providence should have placed the greatest part of them too remote from
+want to be obliged to travel for ocular proofs of what they assert in
+their publications; they are therefore wisely content to stay at home,
+and enjoy the blessings with which they are endowed, resting satisfied
+to collect such information for their own amusement, and the
+gratification of the public, as those {201} who are necessitated to be
+travellers are able or willing to give them. It is true, and I am sorry
+it is so, that I come under the latter description; but hope I have not,
+or shall not, in the course of this Journal, advance any thing that will
+not stand the test of experiment, and the skill of the most competent
+judges.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. September.]
+
+After leaving White Stone Lake, we continued our course in the South
+West quarter, seldom walking more than twelve miles a day, and
+frequently not half that distance.
+
+[Sidenote: 3d.]
+
+On the third of September, we arrived at a small river belonging to
+Point Lake, but the weather at this time proved so boisterous, and there
+was so much rain, snow, and frost, alternately, that we were obliged to
+wait several days before we could cross it in our canoes; and the water
+was too deep, and the current too rapid, to attempt fording it. During
+this interruption, however, our time was not entirely lost, as deer were
+so plentiful that the Indians killed numbers of them, as well for the
+sake of their skins, as for their flesh, which was at present in
+excellent order, and the skins in proper season for the sundry uses for
+which they are destined.
+
+[Sidenote: 7th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 8th.]
+
+In the afternoon of the seventh, the weather became fine and moderate,
+when we all were ferried across the river; and the next morning shaped
+our course to the {202} South West, by the side of Point Lake. After
+three days journey, which only consisted of about eighteen miles, we
+came to a few small scrubby woods,[88] which were the first that we had
+seen from the twenty-fifth of May, except those we had perceived at the
+Copper-mine River.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. September.]
+
+One of the Indian's wives, who for some time had been in a consumption,
+had for a few days past become so weak as to be incapable of travelling,
+which, among those people, is the most deplorable state to which a human
+being can possibly be brought. Whether she had been given over by the
+doctors, or that it was for want of friends among them, I cannot tell,
+but certain it is, that no expedients were taken for her recovery; so
+that, without much ceremony, she was left unassisted, to perish
+above-ground.
+
+Though this was the first instance of the kind I had seen, it is the
+common, and indeed the constant practice of those Indians; for when a
+grown person is so ill, especially in the Summer, as not to be able to
+walk, and too heavy to be carried, they say it is better to leave one
+who is past recovery, than for the whole family to sit down by them and
+starve to death; well knowing that they cannot be of any service to the
+afflicted. On those occasions, therefore, the friends or relations of
+the sick generally leave them some victuals and water; and, if the
+situation of the place will afford it, a little firing. When {203} those
+articles are provided, the person to be left is acquainted with the road
+which the others intend to go; and then, after covering them well up
+with deer skins, &c. they take their leave, and walk away crying.
+
+Sometimes persons thus left, recover; and come up with their friends, or
+wander about till they meet with other Indians, whom they accompany till
+they again join their relations. Instances of this kind are seldom
+known. The poor woman above mentioned, however, came up with us three
+several times, after having been left in the manner described. At
+length, poor creature! she dropt behind, and no one attempted to go back
+in search of her.
+
+A custom apparently so unnatural is perhaps not to be found among any
+other of the human race: if properly considered, however, it may with
+justice be ascribed to necessity and self-preservation, rather than to
+the want of humanity and social feeling, which ought to be the
+characteristic of men, as the noblest part of the creation. Necessity,
+added to national custom, contributes principally to make scenes of this
+kind less shocking to those people, than they must appear to the more
+civilized part of mankind.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. September.]
+
+During the early part of September, the weather was in general cold with
+much sleet and snow; which seemed to {204} promise that the Winter would
+set in early. Deer at this time being very plentiful, and the few woods
+we met with affording tent-poles and firing, the Indians proposed to
+remain where we were some time, in order to dress skins, and provide our
+Winter clothing; also to make snow-shoes and temporary sledges, as well
+as to prepare a large quantity of dried meat and fat to carry with us;
+for by the accounts of the Indians, they have always experienced a great
+scarcity of deer, and every other kind of game, in the direction they
+proposed we should go when we left Point Lake.
+
+[Sidenote: 28th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 30th.]
+
+Toward the middle of the month, the weather became quite mild and open,
+and continued so till the end of it; but there was so much constant and
+incessant rain, that it rotted most of our tents. On the twenty-eighth,
+however, the wind settled in the North West quarter, when the weather
+grew so cold, that by the thirtieth all the ponds, lakes, and other
+standing waters, were frozen over so hard that we were enabled to cross
+them on the ice without danger.
+
+Among the various superstitious customs of those people, it is worth
+remarking, and ought to have been mentioned in its proper place, that
+immediately after my companions had killed the Esquimaux at the Copper
+River, they considered themselves in a state of uncleanness, which
+induced them to practise some very curious and unusual ceremonies. {205}
+In the first place, all who were absolutely concerned in the murder were
+prohibited from cooking any kind of victuals, either for themselves or
+others. As luckily there were two in company who had not shed blood,
+they were employed always as cooks till we joined the women. This
+circumstance was exceedingly favourable on my side; for had there been
+no persons of the above description in company, that task, I was told,
+would have fallen on me; which would have been no less fatiguing and
+troublesome, than humiliating and vexatious.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. September.]
+
+When the victuals were cooked, all the murderers took a kind of red
+earth, or oker, and painted all the space between the nose and chin, as
+well as the greater part of their cheeks, almost to the ears, before
+they would taste a bit, and would not drink out of any other dish, or
+smoke out of any other pipe, but their own; and none of the others
+seemed willing to drink or smoke out of theirs.
+
+We had no sooner joined the women, at our return from the expedition,
+than there seemed to be an universal spirit of emulation among them,
+vying who should first make a suit of ornaments for their husbands,
+which consisted of bracelets for the wrists, and a band for the
+forehead, composed of porcupine quills and moose-hair, curiously wrought
+on leather.
+
+The custom of painting the mouth and part of the cheeks before each
+meal, and drinking and smoking out {206} of their own utensils, was
+strictly and invariably observed, till the Winter began to set in; and
+during the whole of that time they would never kiss any of their wives
+or children. They refrained also from eating many parts of the deer and
+other animals, particularly the head, entrails, and blood; and during
+their uncleanness, their victuals were never sodden in water, but dried
+in the sun, eaten quite raw, or broiled, when a fire fit for the purpose
+could be procured.
+
+When the time arrived that was to put an end to these ceremonies, the
+men, without a female being present, made a fire at some distance from
+the tents, into which they threw all their ornaments, pipe-stems, and
+dishes, which were soon consumed to ashes; after which a feast was
+prepared, consisting of such articles as they had long been prohibited
+from eating; and when all was over, each man was at liberty to eat,
+drink, and smoke as he pleased; and also to kiss his wives and children
+at discretion, which they seemed to do with more raptures than I had
+ever known them do it either before or since.
+
+[Sidenote: October. 6th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. October.]
+
+October came in very roughly, attended with heavy falls of snow, and
+much drift. On the sixth at night, a heavy gale of wind from the North
+West put us in great disorder; for though the few woods we passed had
+furnished us with tent-poles and fewel, yet they did not afford us the
+least shelter whatever. The wind blew with such {207} violence, that in
+spite of all our endeavours, it overset several of the tents, and mine,
+among the rest, shared the disaster, which I cannot sufficiently lament,
+as the but-ends of the weather tent-poles fell on the quadrant,[89] and
+though it was in a strong wainscot case, two of the bubbles, the index,
+and several other parts were broken, which rendered it entirely useless.
+This being the case, I did not think it worth carriage, but broke it to
+pieces, and gave the brass-work to the Indians, who cut it into small
+lumps, and made use of it instead of ball.
+
+[Sidenote: 23d.]
+
+On the twenty-third of October, several Copper and a few Dog-ribbed
+Indians came to our tents laden with furrs, which they sold to some of
+my crew for such iron-work as they had to give in exchange. This visit,
+I afterwards found, was by appointment of the Copper Indians whom we had
+seen at Congecathawhachaga, and who, in their way to us, had met the
+Dog-ribbed Indians, who were also glad of so favourable an opportunity
+of purchasing some of those valuable articles, though at a very
+extravagant price: for one of the Indians in my company, though not
+properly of my party, got no less than forty beaver skins, and sixty
+martins, for one piece of iron which he had stole when he was last at
+the Fort.[AV]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. October.]
+
+{208} One of those strangers had about forty beaver skins, with which he
+intended to pay Matonabbee an old debt; but one of the other Indians
+seized the whole, notwithstanding he knew it to be in fact Matonabbee's
+property. This treatment, together with many other insults, which he had
+received during my abode with him, made him renew his old resolution of
+leaving his own country, and going to reside with the Athapuscow
+Indians.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. October.]
+
+As the most interesting part of my journey was now over, I did not think
+it necessary to interfere in his private affairs; and therefore did not
+endeavour to influence him either one way or the other: out of
+complaisance, therefore, rather than any thing else, I told him, that I
+thought such behaviour very uncourteous, especially in a man of his rank
+and dignity. As to the reason of his determination, I did not think it
+worth while to enquire into it; but, by his discourse with the other
+Indians, I soon understood that they all intended to make an excursion
+into the country of the Athapuscow Indians, in order to kill moose and
+beaver. The former of those animals are never found in the Northern
+Indian territories; and the latter are so scarce in those Northern
+parts, that during the whole Winter of one thousand seven hundred and
+seventy, {209} I did not see more than two beaver houses. Martins are
+also scarce in those parts; for during the above period, I do not think
+that more than six or eight were killed by all the Indians in my
+company. This exceedingly small number, among so many people, may with
+great truth be attributed to the indolence of the Indians, and the
+wandering life which they lead, rather than to the great scarcity of the
+martins. It is true, that our moving so frequently from place to place,
+did at times make it not an object worth while to build traps; but had
+they taken the advantage of all favourable opportunities, and been
+possessed of half the industry of the Company's servants in the Bay,
+they might with great ease have caught as many hundreds, if not some
+thousands; and when we consider the extent of ground which we walked
+over in that time, such a number would not have been any proof of the
+martins being very plentiful.
+
+Except a few martins; wolves, quiquehatches, foxes, and otters, are the
+chief furrs to be met with in those parts, and few of the Northern
+Indians chuse to kill either the wolf or the quiquehatch, under a notion
+that they are something more than common animals. Indeed, I have known
+some of them so bigotted to this opinion, that having by chance killed a
+quiquehatch by a gun which had been set for a fox, they have left it
+where it was killed, and would not take off its skin. Notwithstanding
+this {210} silly notion, which is too frequently to be observed among
+those people, it generally happens that there are some in every gang who
+are less scrupulous, so that none of those furrs are ever left to rot;
+and even those who make a point of not killing the animals themselves,
+are ready to receive their skins from other Indians, and carry them to
+the Fort for trade.
+
+[Sidenote: 30th.]
+
+[Sidenote: November. 1st.]
+
+By the thirtieth of October, all our clothing, snowshoes, and temporary
+sledges, being completed, we once more began to prepare for moving, and
+on the following day set out, and walked five or six miles to the
+Southward.
+
+[Sidenote: 5th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. November.]
+
+From the first to the fifth of November we walked on the ice of a large
+lake, which, though very considerable both in length and breadth, is not
+distinguished by any general name; on which account I gave it the name
+of No Name Lake.[90] On the South side of this lake we found some wood,
+which was very acceptable, being the first that we had seen since we
+left Point Lake.
+
+No Name Lake is about fifty miles long from North to South, and,
+according to the account of the Indians, is thirty-five miles wide from
+East to West. It is said to abound with fine fish; but the weather at
+the time we crossed it was so cold, as to render it impossible to sit on
+the ice any {211} length of time to angle. A few exceedingly fine trout,
+and some very large pike, however, were caught by my companions.
+
+When we arrived on the South side of the above lake, we shaped our
+course to the South West; and though the weather was in general very
+cold, yet as we every night found tufts of wood, in which we could pitch
+our tents, we were enabled to make a better defence against the weather,
+than we had had it in our power to do for some time past.
+
+[Sidenote: 10th.]
+
+On the tenth of November, we arrived at the edge of the main woods; at
+which time the Indians began to make proper sledges, some snow-shoes,
+&c. after which we proceeded again to the South West. But deer and all
+other kinds of game were so scarce the whole way, that, except a few
+partridges, nothing was killed by any in company: we had, nevertheless,
+plenty of the provision which had been prepared at Point Lake.
+
+[Sidenote: 20th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. November.]
+
+On the twentieth of the same month, we arrived at Anaw'd Whoie,[91] or
+the Indian Lake. In our way we crossed part of Methy Lake,[92] and
+walked near eighty miles on a small river belonging to it, which empties
+itself into the Great Athapuscow[93] Lake.[AW] While we were walking
+{212} on the above little river, the Indians set fishing-nets under the
+ice every night; but their labour was attended with so little success,
+that all they caught served only as a delicacy, or to make a little
+change in our diet; for the quantity was too trifling to occasion any
+considerable saving of our other provisions.
+
+Anaw'd Lake, though so small as not to exceed twenty miles wide in the
+broadest part, is celebrated by the natives for abounding with plenty of
+fish during the Winter; accordingly the Indians set all their nets,
+which were not a few, and met with such success, that in about ten days
+the roes only were as much as all the women could haul after them.
+
+Tittimeg and barble, with a few small pike, were the only fish caught at
+this part; the roes of which, particularly those of the tittimeg, are
+more esteemed by the Northern Indians, to take with them on a journey,
+than the fish itself; for about two pounds weight of these roes, when
+well bruised, will make near four gallons of broth, as thick as common
+burgoe; and if properly managed, will be as white as rice, which makes
+it very pleasing to the eye, and no less agreeable to the palate.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. November.]
+
+The land round this lake is very hilly, though not mountainous, and
+chiefly consists of rocks and loose stones; there must, however, be a
+small portion of soil {213} on the surface, as it is in most parts well
+clothed with tall poplars, pines, fir, and birch; particularly in the
+vallies, where the poplars, pine, and birch seem to thrive best; but the
+firs were as large, and in as flourishing a state, on the very summit of
+the hills, as in any other part.
+
+Rabbits[94] were here so plentiful, particularly on the South and South
+East side of the lake, that several of the Indians caught twenty or
+thirty in a night with snares; and the wood-partridges[95] were so
+numerous in the fir trees, and so tame, that I have known an Indian kill
+near twenty of them in a day with his bow and arrows. The Northern
+Indians call this species of the partridge Day; and though their flesh
+is generally very black and bitter, occasioned by their feeding on the
+brush of the fir tree, yet they make a variety, or change of diet, and
+are thought exceedingly good, particularly by the natives, who, though
+capable of living so hard, and at times eating very ungrateful food, are
+nevertheless as fond of variety as any people whom I ever saw; and will
+go as great lengths, according to their circumstances, to gratify their
+palates, as the greatest epicure in England. As a proof of this
+assertion, I have frequently known Matonabbee, and others who could
+afford it, for the sake of variety only, send some of their young men to
+kill a few partridges at the expence of more ammunition than would have
+killed deer sufficient to have maintained their families many days;
+whereas the partridges were always eaten up at one meal: and to {214}
+heighten the luxury on these occasions, the partridges are boiled in a
+kettle of sheer fat, which it must be allowed renders them beyond all
+description finer flavoured than when boiled in water or common broth. I
+have also eat deer-skins boiled in fat, which were exceedingly good.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. November.]
+
+As during our stay at Anaw'd Lake several of the Indians were sickly,
+the doctors undertook to administer relief; particularly to one man, who
+had been hauled on a sledge by his brother for two months. His disorder
+was the dead palsey, which affected one side, from the crown of his head
+to the sole of his foot. Besides this dreadful disorder, he had some
+inward complaints, with a total loss of appetite; so that he was reduced
+to a mere skeleton, and so weak as to be scarcely capable of speaking.
+In this deplorable condition, he was laid in the center of a large
+conjuring-house, made much after the manner as that which has been
+already described. And that nothing might be wanting toward his
+recovery, the same man who deceived me in swallowing a bayonet in the
+Summer, now offered to swallow a large piece of board, about the size of
+a barrel-stave, in order to effect his recovery. The piece of board was
+prepared by another man, and painted according to the direction of the
+juggler, with a rude representation of some beast of prey on one side,
+and on the reverse was painted, according to their rude method, a
+resemblance of the sky.
+
+{215} Without entering into a long detail of the preparations for this
+feat, I shall at once proceed to observe, that after the conjurer had
+held the necessary conference with his invisible spirits, or shadows, he
+asked if I was present; for he had heard of my saying that I did not see
+him swallow the bayonet fair; and on being answered in the affirmative,
+he desired me to come nearer; on which the mob made a lane for me to
+pass, and I advanced close to him, and found him standing at the
+conjuring-house door as naked as he was born.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. November.]
+
+When the piece of board was delivered to him, he proposed at first only
+to shove one-third of it down his throat, and then walk round the
+company afterward to shove down another third; and so proceed till he
+had swallowed the whole, except a small piece of the end, which was left
+behind to haul it up again. When he put it to his mouth it apparently
+slipped down his throat like lightning, and only left about three inches
+sticking without his lips; after walking backwards and forwards three
+times, he hauled it up again, and ran into the conjuring-house with
+great precipitation. This he did to all appearance with great ease and
+composure; and notwithstanding I was all attention on the occasion, I
+could not detect the deceit; and as to the reality of its being a piece
+of wood that he pretended to swallow, there is not the least reason to
+doubt of it, for I had it in my hand, both before and immediately after
+the ceremony.
+
+{216} To prevent a variety of opinions on this occasion, and to lessen
+the apparent magnitude of the miracle, as well as to give some colour to
+my scepticism, which might otherwise perhaps appear ridiculous, it is
+necessary to observe, that this feat was performed in a dark and
+excessively cold night; and although there was a large fire at some
+distance, which reflected a good light, yet there was great room for
+collusion: for though the conjurer himself was quite naked, there were
+several of his fraternity well-clothed, who attended him very close
+during the time of his attempting to swallow the board, as well as at
+the time of his hauling it up again.
+
+For these reasons it is necessary also to observe, that on the day
+preceding the performance of this piece of deception, in one of my
+hunting excursions, I accidentally came across the conjurer as he was
+sitting under a bush, several miles from the tents, where he was busily
+employed shaping a piece of wood exactly like that part which stuck out
+of his mouth after he had pretended to swallow the remainder of the
+piece. The shape of the piece which I saw him making was this,
+[Illustration]; which exactly resembled the forked end of the main
+piece, the shape of which was this, [Illustration]. So that when his
+attendants had concealed the main piece, it was easy for him to stick
+the small point into his mouth, as it was reduced at the small end to a
+proper size for the purpose.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. November.]
+
+{217} Similar proofs may easily be urged against his swallowing the
+bayonet in the Summer, as no person less ignorant than themselves can
+possibly place any belief in the reality of those feats; yet on the
+whole, they must be allowed a considerable share of dexterity in the
+performance of those tricks, and a wonderful deal of perseverance in
+what they do for the relief of those whom they undertake to cure.
+
+Not long after the above performance had taken place, some of the
+Indians began to ask me what I thought of it. As I could not have any
+plea for saying that I was far off, and at the same time not caring to
+affront them by hinting my suspicions of the deceit, I was some time at
+a loss for an answer: I urged, however, the impossibility of a man's
+swallowing a piece of wood, that was not only much longer than his whole
+back, but nearly twice as broad as he could extend his mouth. On which
+some of them laughed at my ignorance, as they were pleased to call it;
+and said, that the spirits in waiting swallowed, or otherwise concealed,
+the stick, and only left the forked end apparently sticking out of the
+conjurer's mouth. My guide, Matonabbee, with all his other good sense,
+was so bigotted to the reality of those performances, that he assured me
+in the strongest terms, he had seen a man, who was then in company,
+swallow a child's cradle, with as much ease as he could fold up a piece
+of paper, and put it into his mouth; and that when he hauled it up
+again, not the {218} mark of a tooth, or of any violence, was to be
+discovered about it.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. November.]
+
+This story so far exceeded the feats which I had seen with the bayonet
+and board, that, for the sake of keeping up the farce, I began to be
+very inquisitive about the spirits which appear to them on those
+occasions, and their form; when I was told that they appeared in various
+shapes, for almost every conjurer had his peculiar attendant; but that
+the spirit which attended the man who pretended to swallow the piece of
+wood, they said, generally appeared to him in the shape of a cloud. This
+I thought very apropos to the present occasion; and I must confess that
+I never had so thick a cloud thrown before my eyes before or since; and
+had it not been by accident, that I saw him make a counterpart to the
+piece of wood said to be swallowed, I should have been still at a loss
+how to account for so extraordinary a piece of deception, performed by a
+man who was entirely naked.
+
+As soon as our conjurer had executed the above feat, and entered the
+conjuring-house, as already mentioned, five other men and an old woman,
+all of whom were great professors of that art, stripped themselves quite
+naked and followed him, when they soon began to suck, blow, sing, and
+dance, round the poor paralytic; and continued so to do for three days
+and four nights, without taking the least rest or refreshment, not even
+so much as a drop of water. {219} When these poor deluding and deluded
+people came out of the conjuring-house, their mouths were so parched
+with thirst as to be quite black, and their throats so sore, that they
+were scarcely able to articulate a single word, except those that stand
+for _yes_ and _no_ in their language.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. November.]
+
+After so long an abstinence they were very careful not to eat or drink
+too much at one time, particularly for the first day; and indeed some of
+them, to appearance, were almost as bad as the poor man they had been
+endeavouring to relieve. But great part of this was feigned; for they
+lay on their backs with their eyes fixed, as if in the agonies of death,
+and were treated like young children; one person sat constantly by them,
+moistening their mouths with fat, and now and then giving them a drop of
+water. At other times a small bit of meat was put into their mouths, or
+a pipe held for them to smoke. This farce only lasted for the first day;
+after which they seemed to be perfectly well, except the hoarseness,
+which continued for a considerable time afterwards. And it is truly
+wonderful, though the strictest truth, that when the poor sick man was
+taken from the conjuring-house, he had not only recovered his appetite
+to an amazing degree, but was able to move all the fingers and toes of
+the side that had been so long dead. In three weeks he recovered so far
+as to be capable of walking, and at the end of six weeks went a hunting
+for his family. He was one of the persons[AX] {220} particularly engaged
+to provide for me during my journey; and after his recovery from this
+dreadful disorder, accompanied me back to Prince of Wales's Fort in June
+one thousand seven hundred and seventy-two; and since that time he has
+frequently visited the Factory, though he never had a healthy look
+afterwards, and at times seemed troubled with a nervous complaint. It
+may be added, that he had been formerly of a remarkable lively
+disposition; but after his last illness he always appeared thoughtful,
+sometimes gloomy, and, in fact, the disorder seemed to have changed his
+whole nature; for before that dreadful paralytic stroke, he was
+distinguished for his good-nature and benevolent disposition; was
+entirely free from every appearance of avarice; and the whole of his
+wishes seemed confined within the narrow limits of possessing as many
+goods as were absolutely necessary, with his own industry, to enable him
+to support his family from season to season; but after this event, he
+was the most fractious, quarrelsome, discontented, and covetous wretch
+alive.
+
+Though the ordinary trick of these conjurers may be easily detected, and
+justly exploded, being no more than the tricks of common jugglers, yet
+the apparent good effect of their labours on the sick and diseased is
+not so easily accounted for. Perhaps the implicit confidence placed in
+them by the sick may, at times, leave the mind so perfectly at rest, as
+to cause the disorder to take a favourable turn; and a few successful
+cases are quite sufficient to establish the doctor's character and
+reputation: {221} But how this consideration could operate in the case I
+have just mentioned I am at a loss to say; such, however, was the fact,
+and I leave it to be accounted for by others.
+
+[Illustration: A WINTER VIEW IN THE ATHAPUSCOW LAKE
+By Samuel Hearne, 1771]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. November.]
+
+When these jugglers take a dislike to, and threaten a secret revenge on
+any person, it often proves fatal to that person; as, from a firm belief
+that the conjurer has power over his life, he permits the very thoughts
+of it to prey on his spirits, till by degrees it brings on a disorder
+which puts an end to his existence:[AY] and sometimes a threat of this
+{222} kind causes the death of a whole family; and that without any
+blood being shed, or the least apparent molestation being offered to any
+of the parties.
+
+[Sidenote: December. 1st.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+Having dried as many fish and fish-roes as we could conveniently take
+with us, we once more packed up our stores, and, on the first day of
+December, set out, and continued our course to the South West, leaving
+Anaw'd Lake on the South West. Several of the Indians being out of
+order, we made but short days journies.
+
+From the first to the thirteenth, we walked along a course of small
+lakes, joined to each other by small rivers, or creeks, that have
+communication with Anaw'd Lake.
+
+In our way we caught daily a few fish by angling, and saw many beaver
+houses; but these were generally in so difficult a situation, and had so
+many stones in the composition of them, that the Indians killed but few,
+and that at a great expence of labour and tools.
+
+[Sidenote: 13th.]
+
+On the thirteenth, one of the Indians killed two deer, which were the
+first that we had seen since the twentieth {223} of October. So that
+during a period of near two months, we had lived on the dried meat that
+we had prepared at Point Lake, and a few fish; of which the latter was
+not very considerable in quantity, except what was caught at Anaw'd
+Lake. It is true, we also caught a few rabbits, and at times the
+wood-partridges were so plentiful, that the Indians killed considerable
+numbers of them with their bows and arrows; but the number of mouths was
+so great, that all which was caught from our leaving Point Lake, though
+if enumerated, they might appear very considerable, would not have
+afforded us all a bare subsistence; for though I and some others
+experienced no real want, yet there were many in our company who could
+scarcely be said to live, and would not have existed at all, had it not
+been for the dry meat we had with us.
+
+[Sidenote: 24th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+When we left the above-mentioned lakes we shaped a course more to the
+Southward, and on the twenty-fourth, arrived at the North side of the
+great Athapuscow Lake.[96] In our way we saw many Indian deer,[97] and
+beaver were very plentiful, many of which the Indians killed; but the
+days were so short, that the Sun only took a circuit of a few points of
+the compass above the horizon, and did not, at its greatest altitude,
+rise half-way up the trees. The brilliancy of the _Aurora Borealis_,
+however, and of the Stars, even without the assistance of the Moon, made
+some amends for that deficiency; for it was frequently so light all
+night, that I could see to read a very small print. {224} The Indians
+make no difference between night and day when they are hunting of
+beaver; but those _nocturnal_ lights are always found insufficient for
+the purpose of hunting deer or moose.
+
+[Illustration: _Photo: J. P. Tyrrell, July 30, 1893._
+HERD OF CARIBOU ON THE BANKS OF DUBAWNT RIVER]
+
+[Illustration: _Photo: J. P. Tyrrell, July 31, 1893._
+DRYING CARIBOU MEAT]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+I do not remember to have met with any travellers into high Northern
+latitudes, who remarked their having heard the Northern Lights make any
+noise in the air as they vary their colours or position; which may
+probably be owing to the want of perfect silence at the time they made
+their observations on those meteors. I can positively affirm, that in
+still nights I have frequently heard them make a rustling and crackling
+noise, like the waving of a large flag in a fresh gale of wind. This is
+not peculiar to the place of which I am now writing, as I have heard the
+same noise very plain at Churchill River; and in all probability it is
+only for want of attention that it has not been heard in every part of
+the Northern hemisphere where they have been known to shine with any
+considerable degree of lustre. It is, however, very probable that these
+lights are sometimes much nearer the Earth than they are at others,
+according to the state of the atmosphere, and this may have a great
+effect on the sound: but the truth or falsehood of this conjecture I
+leave to the determinations of those who are better skilled in natural
+philosophy than I can pretend to be.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+Indian deer (the only species found in those parts, except the moose)
+are so much larger than those which {225} frequent the barren grounds to
+the North of Churchill River, that a small doe is equal in size to a
+Northern buck. The hair of the former is of a sandy red during the
+Winter; and their horns, though much stronger, are not so long and
+branchy as are those of the latter kind. Neither is the flesh of those
+deer so much esteemed by the Northern Indians, as that of the smaller
+kind, which inhabit the more Eastern and Northern parts of the country.
+Indeed, it must be allowed to be much coarser, and of a different
+flavour; inasmuch as the large Lincolnshire mutton differs from grass
+lamb. I must acknowledge, however, that I always thought it very good.
+This is that species of deer which are found so plentiful near York Fort
+and Severn River. They are also at times found in considerable numbers
+near Churchill River; and I have seen them killed as far North, near the
+sea-side, as Seal River: But the small Northern Indian deer are seldom
+known to cross Churchill River, except in some very extraordinary cold
+seasons, and when the Northern winds have prevailed much in the
+preceding fall; for those visits are always made in the Winter. But
+though I own that the flesh of the large Southern deer is very good, I
+must at the same time confess that the flesh of the small Northern deer,
+whether buck or doe, in their proper season, is by far more delicious
+and the finest I have ever eaten, either in this country or any other;
+and is of that peculiar quality, that it never cloys. I can affirm this
+from my own experience; {226} for after living on it entirely, as it may
+be said, for twelve or eighteen months successively, I scarcely ever
+wished for a change of food; though when fish or fowl came in my way, it
+was very agreeable.
+
+The beaver[98] being so plentiful, the attention of my companions was
+chiefly engaged on them, as they not only furnished delicious food, but
+their skins proved a valuable acquisition, being a principal article of
+trade, as well as a serviceable one for clothing, &c.
+
+The situation of the beaver-houses is various. Where the beavers are
+numerous they are found to inhabit lakes, ponds, and rivers, as well as
+those narrow creeks which connect the numerous lakes with which this
+country abounds; but the two latter are generally chosen by them when
+the depth of water and other circumstances are suitable, as they have
+then the advantage of a current to convey wood and other necessaries to
+their habitations, and because, in general, they are more difficult to
+be taken, than those that are built in standing water.
+
+There is no one particular part of a lake, pond, river, or creek, of
+which the beavers make choice for building their houses on, in
+preference to another; for they sometimes build on points, sometimes in
+the hollow of a bay, and often on small islands; they always chuse,
+however, {227} those parts that have such a depth of water as will
+resist the frost in Winter, and prevent it from freezing to the bottom.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+The beaver that build their houses in small rivers or creeks, in which
+the water is liable to be drained off when the back supplies are dried
+up by the frost, are wonderfully taught by instinct to provide against
+that evil, by making a dam quite across the river, at a convenient
+distance from their houses. This I look upon as the most curious piece
+of workmanship that is performed by the beaver; not so much for the
+neatness of the work, as for its strength and real service; and at the
+same time it discovers such a degree of sagacity and foresight in the
+animal, of approaching evils, as is little inferior to that of the human
+species, and is certainly peculiar to those animals.
+
+The beaver-dams differ in shape according to the nature of the place in
+which they are built. If the water in the river or creek have but little
+motion, the dam is almost straight; but when the current is more rapid,
+it is always made with a considerable curve, convex towards the stream.
+The materials made use of in those dams are drift-wood, green willows,
+birch, and poplars, if they can be got; also mud and stones, intermixed
+in such a manner as must evidently contribute to the strength of the
+dam; but in these dams there is no other order or method observed, {228}
+except that of the work being carried on with a regular sweep, and all
+the parts being made of equal strength.
+
+In places which have been long frequented by beaver undisturbed, their
+dams, by frequent repairing, become a solid bank, capable of resisting a
+great force both of water and ice; and as the willow, poplar, and birch
+generally take root and shoot up, they by degrees form a kind of
+regular-planted hedge, which I have seen in some places so tall, that
+birds have built their nests among the branches.
+
+Though the beaver which build their houses in lakes and other standing
+waters, may enjoy a sufficient quantity of their favourite element
+without the assistance of a dam, the trouble of getting wood and other
+necessaries to their habitations without the help of a current, must in
+some measure counterbalance the other advantages which are reaped from
+such a situation; for it must be observed, that the beaver which build
+in rivers and creeks, always cut their wood above their houses, so that
+the current, with little trouble, conveys it to the place required.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+The beaver-houses are built of the same materials as their dams, and are
+always proportioned in size to the number of inhabitants, which seldom
+exceed four old, and six or eight young ones; though, by chance, I have
+seen above double that number.
+
+{229} These houses, though not altogether unworthy of admiration, fall
+very short of the general description given of them; for instead of
+order or regulation being observed in rearing them, they are of a much
+ruder structure than their dams.
+
+Those who have undertaken to describe the inside of beaver-houses, as
+having several apartments appropriated to various uses; such as eating,
+sleeping, store-houses for provisions, and one for their natural
+occasions, &c. must have been very little acquainted with the subject;
+or, which is still worse, guilty of attempting to impose on the
+credulous, by representing the greatest falsehoods as real facts. Many
+years constant residence among the Indians, during which I had an
+opportunity of seeing several hundreds of those houses, has enabled me
+to affirm that every thing of the kind is entirely void of truth; for,
+notwithstanding the sagacity of those animals, it has never been
+observed that they aim at any other conveniencies in their houses, than
+to have a dry place to lie on; and there they usually eat their
+victuals, which they occasionally take out of the water.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+It frequently happens, that some of the large houses are found to have
+one or more partitions, if they deserve that appellation; but that is no
+more than a part of the main building, left by the sagacity of the
+beaver to support the roof. On such occasions it is common for those
+{230} different apartments, as some are pleased to call them, to have no
+communication with each other but by water; so that in fact they may be
+called double or treble houses, rather than different apartments of the
+same house. I have seen a large beaver-house built in a small island,
+that had near a dozen apartments under one roof: and, two or three of
+these only excepted, none of them had any communication with each other
+but by water. As there were beaver enough to inhabit each apartment, it
+is more than probable that each family knew its own, and always entered
+at their own door, without having any farther connection with their
+neighbours than a friendly intercourse; and to join their united labours
+in erecting their separate habitations, and building their dams where
+required. It is difficult to say whether their interest on other
+occasions was anyways reciprocal. The Indians of my party killed twelve
+old beaver, and twenty-five young and half-grown ones out of the house
+above mentioned; and on examination found that several had escaped their
+vigilance, and could not be taken but at the expence of more trouble
+than would be sufficient to take double the number in a less difficult
+situation.[AZ]
+
+Travellers who assert that the beaver have two doors to their houses,
+one on the land-side, and the other next the {231} water, seem to be
+less acquainted with those animals than others who assign them an
+elegant suite of apartments. Such a proceeding would be quite contrary
+to their manner of life, and at the same time would render their houses
+of no use, either to protect them from their enemies, or guard them
+against the extreme cold in Winter.
+
+The quiquehatches, or wolvereens, are great enemies to the beaver; and
+if there were a passage into their houses on the land-side, would not
+leave one of them alive wherever they came.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+I cannot refrain from smiling, when I read the accounts of different
+Authors who have written on the oeconomy of those animals, as there
+seems to be a contest between them, who shall most exceed in fiction.
+But the Compiler of the Wonders of Nature and Art seems, in my opinion,
+to have succeeded best in this respect; as he has not only collected all
+the fictions into which other writers on the subject have run, but has
+so greatly improved on them, that little remains to be added to his
+account of the beaver, beside a vocabulary of their language, a code of
+their laws, and a sketch of their religion, to make it the most complete
+natural history of that animal which can possibly be offered to the
+public.
+
+There cannot be a greater imposition, or indeed a grosser insult, on
+common understanding, than the wish {232} to make us believe the stories
+of some of the works ascribed to the beaver; and though it is not to be
+supposed that the compiler of a general work can be intimately
+acquainted with every subject of which it may be necessary to treat, yet
+a very moderate share of understanding is surely sufficient to guard him
+against giving credit to such marvellous tales, however smoothly they
+may be told, or however boldly they may be asserted, by the romancing
+traveller.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+To deny that the beaver is possessed of a very considerable degree of
+sagacity, would be as absurd in me, as it is in those Authors who think
+they cannot allow them too much. I shall willingly grant them their full
+share; but it is impossible for any one to conceive how, or by what
+means, a beaver, whose full height when standing erect does not exceed
+two feet and a half, or three feet at most, and whose fore-paws are not
+much larger than a half-crown piece, can "drive stakes as thick as a
+man's leg into the ground three or four feet deep." Their "wattling
+those stakes with twigs," is equally absurd; and their "plaistering the
+inside of their houses with a composition of mud and straw," and
+"swimming with mud and stones on their tails," are still more
+incredible. The form and size of the animal, notwithstanding all its
+sagacity, will not admit of its performing such feats; and it would be
+as impossible for a beaver to use its tail as a trowel, except on the
+surface of the ground on which it walks, as it {233} would have been for
+Sir James Thornhill to have painted the dome of St. Paul's cathedral
+without the assistance of scaffolding. The joints of their tail will not
+admit of their turning it over their backs on any occasion whatever, as
+it has a natural inclination to bend downwards; and it is not without
+some considerable exertion that they can keep it from trailing on the
+ground. This being the case, they cannot sit erect like a squirrel,
+which is their common posture: particularly when eating, or when they
+are cleaning themselves, as a cat or squirrel does, without having their
+tails bent forward between their legs; and which may not improperly be
+called their trencher.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+So far are the beaver from driving stakes into the ground when building
+their houses, that they lay most of the wood crosswise, and nearly
+horizontal, and without any other order than that of leaving a hollow or
+cavity in the middle; when any unnecessary branches project inward, they
+cut them off with their teeth, and throw them in among the rest, to
+prevent the mud from falling through the roof. It is a mistaken notion,
+that the wood-work is first completed and then plaistered; for the whole
+of their houses, as well as their dams, are from the foundation one mass
+of wood and mud, mixed with stones, if they can be procured. The mud is
+always taken from the edge of the bank, or the bottom of the creek or
+pond, near the door of the house; and though their fore-paws are so
+small, yet it is held close up between them, under their throat, {234}
+that they carry both mud and stones; while they always drag the wood
+with their teeth.
+
+All their work is executed in the night; and they are so expeditious in
+completing it, that in the course of one night I have known them to have
+collected as much mud at their houses as to have amounted to some
+thousands of their little handfuls; and when any mixture of grass or
+straw has appeared in it, it has been, most assuredly, mere chance,
+owing to the nature of the ground from which they had taken it. As to
+their designedly making a composition for that purpose, it is entirely
+void of truth.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+It is a great piece of policy in those animals, to cover, or plaister,
+as it is usually called, the outside of their houses every fall with
+fresh mud, and as late as possible in the Autumn, even when the frost
+becomes pretty severe; as by this means it soon freezes as hard as a
+stone, and prevents their common enemy, the quiquehatch, from disturbing
+them during the Winter. And as they are frequently seen to walk over
+their work, and sometimes to give a flap with their tail, particularly
+when plunging into the water, this has, without doubt, given rise to the
+vulgar opinion that they use their tails as a trowel, with which they
+plaister their houses; whereas that flapping of the tail is no more than
+a custom, which they always preserve, even when they become tame and
+domestic, and more particularly so when they are startled.
+
+{235} Their food chiefly consists of a large root, something resembling
+a cabbage-stalk, which grows at the bottom of the lakes and rivers. They
+eat also the bark of trees, particularly that of the poplar, birch, and
+willow; but the ice preventing them from getting to the land in Winter,
+they have not any barks to feed upon during that season, except that of
+such sticks as they cut down in Summer, and throw into the water
+opposite the doors of their houses; and as they generally eat a great
+deal, the roots above mentioned constitute a chief part of their food
+during the Winter. In Summer they vary their diet, by eating various
+kinds of herbage, and such berries as grow near their haunts during that
+season.
+
+When the ice breaks up in the Spring, the beaver always leave their
+houses, and rove about the whole Summer, probably in search of a more
+commodious situation; but in case of not succeeding in their endeavours,
+they return again to their old habitations a little before the fall of
+the leaf, and lay in their Winter stock of woods. They seldom begin to
+repair the houses till the frost commences, and never finish the
+outer-coat till the cold is pretty severe, as hath been already
+mentioned.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+When they shift their habitations, or when the increase of their number
+renders it necessary to make some addition to their houses, or to erect
+new ones, they begin felling {236} the wood for these purposes early in
+the Summer, but seldom begin to build till the middle or latter end of
+August, and never complete their houses till the cold weather be set in.
+
+Notwithstanding what has been so repeatedly reported of those animals
+assembling in great bodies, and jointly erecting large towns, cities,
+and commonwealths, as they have sometimes been called, I am confident,
+from many circumstances, that even where the greatest numbers of beaver
+are situated in the neighbourhood of each other, their labours are not
+carried on jointly in the erection of their different habitations, nor
+have they any reciprocal interest, except it be such as live immediately
+under the same roof; and then it extends no farther than to build or
+keep a dam which is common to several houses. In such cases it is
+natural to think that every one who receives benefit from such dams,
+should assist in erecting it, being sensible of its utility to all.
+
+Persons who attempt to take beaver in Winter should be thoroughly
+acquainted with their manner of life, otherwise they will have endless
+trouble to effect their purpose, and probably without success in the
+end; because they have always a number of holes in the banks, which
+serve them as places of retreat when any injury is offered to their
+houses; and in general it is in those holes that they are taken.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+{237} When the beaver which are situated in a small river or creek are
+to be taken, the Indians sometimes find it necessary to stake the river
+across, to prevent them from passing; after which, they endeavour to
+find out all their holes or places of retreat in the banks. This
+requires much practice and experience to accomplish, and is performed in
+the following manner: Every man being furnished with an ice-chisel,
+lashes it to the end of a small staff about four or five feet long; he
+then walks along the edge of the banks, and keeps knocking his chisels
+against the ice. Those who are well acquainted with that kind of work
+well know by the sound of the ice when they are opposite to any of the
+beavers' holes or vaults.
+
+As soon as they suspect any, they cut a hole through the ice big enough
+to admit an old beaver; and in this manner proceed till they have found
+out all their places of retreat, or at least as many of them as
+possible. While the principal men are thus employed, some of the
+understrappers, and the women, are busy in breaking open the house,
+which at times is no easy task; for I have frequently known these houses
+to be five and six feet thick; and one in particular, was more than
+eight feet thick on the crown. When the beaver find that their
+habitations are invaded, they fly to their holes in the banks for
+shelter; and on being perceived by the Indians, which is easily done, by
+attending to the motion of the water, they block up the entrance with
+stakes of wood, and then haul the beaver out of its hole, either by
+hand, if they can reach it, or with a large hook {238} made for that
+purpose, which is fastened to the end of a long stick.
+
+In this kind of hunting, every man has the sole right to all the beaver
+caught by him in the holes or vaults; and as this is a constant rule,
+each person takes care to mark such as he discovers, by sticking up the
+branch of a tree, or some other distinguishing post, by which he may
+know them. All that are caught in the house also are the property of the
+person who finds it.
+
+The same regulations are observed, and the same process used in taking
+beaver that are found in lakes and other standing waters, except it be
+that of staking the lake across, which would be both unnecessary and
+impossible. Taking beaver-houses in these situations is generally
+attended with less trouble and more success than in the former.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+The beaver is an animal which cannot keep under water long at a time; so
+that when their houses are broke open, and all their places of retreat
+discovered, they have but one choice left, as it may be called, either
+to be taken in their houses or their vaults: in general they prefer the
+latter; for where there is one beaver caught in the house, many
+thousands are taken in their vaults in the banks. Sometimes they are
+caught in nets, and in the Summer very frequently in traps. In Winter
+they are very fat and {239} delicious; but the trouble of rearing their
+young, the thinness of their hair, and their constantly roving from
+place to place, with the trouble they have in providing against the
+approach of Winter, generally keep them very poor during the Summer
+season, at which time their flesh is but indifferent eating, and their
+skins of so little value, that the Indians generally singe them, even to
+the amount of many thousands in one Summer. They have from two to five
+young, at a time. Mr. Dobbs, in his Account of Hudson's Bay, enumerates
+no less than eight different kinds of beaver[99]; but it must be
+understood that they are all of one kind and species; his distinctions
+arise wholly from the different seasons of the year in which they are
+killed, and the different uses to which their skins are applied, which
+is the sole reason that they vary so much in value.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+Joseph Lefranc, or Mr. Dobbs for him, says, that a good hunter can kill
+six hundred beaver in one season, and can only carry one hundred to
+market. If that was really the case in Lefranc's time, the canoes must
+have been much smaller than they are at present; for it is well known
+that the generality of the canoes which have visited the Company's
+Factories for the last forty or fifty years, are capable of carrying
+three hundred beaver-skins with great ease, exclusive of the Indians
+luggage, provisions, &c.[100]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+{240} If ever a particular Indian killed six hundred beaver in one
+Winter, (which is rather to be doubted), it is more than probable that
+many in his company did not kill twenty, and perhaps some none at all,
+so that by distributing them among those who had bad success, and others
+who had no abilities for that kind of hunting, there would be no
+necessity of leaving them to rot, or for singing them in the fire, as
+related by that Author. During my residence among the Indians I have
+known some individuals kill more beaver, and other heavy furrs, in the
+course of a Winter, than their wives could manage; but the overplus was
+never wantonly destroyed, but always given to their relations, or to
+those who had been less successful; so that the whole of the great
+hunters' labours were always brought to the Factory. It is indeed too
+frequently a custom among the Southern Indians to singe many otters, as
+well as beaver; but this is seldom done, except in Summer, when their
+skins are of so little value as to be scarcely worth the duty; on which
+account it has been always thought impolitic to encourage the natives to
+kill such valuable animals at a time when their skins are not in season.
+
+The white beaver, mentioned by Lefranc, are so rare, that instead of
+being "blown upon by the Company's Factors," as he asserts, I rather
+doubt whether one-tenth of them ever saw one during the time of their
+residence in this country. In the course of twenty years experience in
+the countries {241} about Hudson's Bay, though I travelled six hundred
+miles to the West of the sea-coast, I never saw but one white
+beaver-skin, and it had many reddish and brown hairs along the ridge of
+the back, and the sides and belly were of a glossy silvery white. It was
+deemed by the Indians a great curiosity; and I offered three times the
+usual price for a few of them, if they could be got; but in the course
+of ten years that I remained there afterward, I could not procure
+another; which is a convincing proof there is no such thing as a breed
+of that kind, and that a variation from the usual colour is very rare.
+
+Black beaver, and that of a beautiful gloss, are not uncommon: perhaps
+they are more plentiful at Churchill than at any other Factory in the
+Bay; but it is rare to get more than twelve or fifteen of their skins in
+the course of one year's trade.
+
+Lefranc, as an Indian, must have known better than to have informed Mr.
+Dobbs that the beaver have from ten to fifteen young at a time; or if he
+did, he must have deceived him wilfully; for the Indians, by killing
+them in all stages of gestation, have abundant opportunities of
+ascertaining the usual number of their offspring. I have seen some
+hundreds of them killed at the seasons favourable for those
+observations, and never could discover more than six young in one
+female, and that only in two {242} instances; for the usual number, as I
+have before observed, is from two to five.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+Besides this unerring method of ascertaining the real number of young
+which any animal has at a time, there is another rule to go by, with
+respect to the beaver, which experience has proved to the Indians never
+to vary or deceive them, that is by dissection; for on examining the
+womb of a beaver, even at a time when not with young, there is always
+found a hardish round knob for every young she had at the last litter.
+This is a circumstance I have been particularly careful to examine, and
+can affirm it to be true, from real experience.
+
+Most of the accounts, nay I may say all the accounts now extant,
+respecting the beaver, are taken from the authority of the French who
+have resided in Canada; but those accounts differ so much from the real
+state and oeconomy of all the beaver to the North of that place, as to
+leave great room to suspect the truth of them altogether. In the first
+place, the assertion that they have two doors to their houses, one on
+the land-side, and the other next the water, is, as I have before
+observed, quite contrary to fact and common sense, as it would render
+their houses of no use to them, either as places of shelter from the
+inclemency of the extreme cold in Winter, or as a retreat from their
+common enemy the quiquehatch. The only thing {243} that could have made
+M. Du Pratz, and other French writers, conjecture that such a thing did
+exist, must have been from having seen some old beaver houses which had
+been taken by the Indians; for they are always obliged to make a hole in
+one side of the house before they can drive them out; and it is more
+than probable that in so mild a climate as Canada, the Indians do
+generally make those holes on the land-side,[BA] which without doubt
+gave rise to the suggestion.
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1771. December.]
+
+In respect to the beaver dunging in their houses, as some persons
+assert, it is quite wrong, as they always plunge into the water to do
+it. I am the better enabled to make this assertion, from having kept
+several of them till they became so domesticated as to answer to their
+name, and follow those to whom they were accustomed, in the same manner
+as a dog would do; and they were as much pleased at being fondled, as
+any animal I ever saw. I had a house built for them, and a small piece
+of water before the door, into which they always plunged when they
+wanted to ease nature; and their dung being of a light substance,
+immediately rises and floats on the surface, {244} then separates and
+subsides to the bottom. When the Winter sets in so as to freeze the
+water solid, they still continue their custom of coming out of their
+house, and dunging and making water on the ice; and when the weather was
+so cold that I was obliged to take them into my house, they always went
+into a large tub of water which I set for that purpose; so that they
+made not the least dirt, though they were kept in my own sitting-room,
+where they were the constant companions of the Indian women and
+children, and were so fond of their company, that when the Indians were
+absent for any considerable time, the beaver discovered great signs of
+uneasiness, and on their return shewed equal marks of pleasure, by
+fondling on them, crawling into their laps, laying on their backs,
+sitting erect like a squirrel, and behaving to them like children who
+see their parents but seldom. In general, during the Winter they lived
+on the same food as the women did, and were remarkably fond of rice and
+plum-pudding: they would eat partridges and fresh venison very freely,
+but I never tried them with fish, though I have heard they will at times
+prey on them. In fact, there are few of the granivorous animals that may
+not be brought to be carnivorous. It is well known that our domestic
+poultry will eat animal food: thousands of geese that come to London
+market are fattened on tallow-craps; and our horses in Hudson's Bay
+would not only eat all kinds of animal food, but also drink freely of
+the wash, or pot-liquor, intended for the {245} hogs. And we are assured
+by the most authentic Authors, that in Iceland, not only black cattle,
+but also the sheep, are almost entirely fed on fish and fish-bones
+during the Winter season. Even in the Isles of Orkney, and that in
+Summer, the sheep attend the ebbing of the tide as regular as the
+Esquimaux curlew, and go down to the shore which the tide has left, to
+feed on the sea-weed. This, however, is through necessity, for even the
+famous Island of Pomona[BB] will not afford them an existence above
+high-water-mark.
+
+With respect to the inferior, or slave-beaver, of which some Authors
+speak, it is, in my opinion, very difficult for those who are best
+acquainted with the oeconomy of this animal to determine whether there
+are any that deserve that appellation or not. It sometimes happens, that
+a beaver is caught, which has but a very indifferent coat, and which has
+broad patches on the back, and shoulders almost wholly without hair.
+This is the only foundation for asserting that there is an inferior, or
+slave-beaver, among them. And when one of the above description is
+taken, it is perhaps too hastily inferred that the hair is worn off from
+those parts by carrying heavy loads: whereas it is most probable that it
+is caused by a disorder that attacks them somewhat similar to the mange;
+for {246} were that falling off of the hair occasioned by performing
+extra labour, it is natural to think that instances of it would be more
+frequent than there are; as it is rare to see one of them in the course
+of seven or ten years. I have seen a whole house of those animals that
+had nothing on the surface of their bodies but the fine soft down; all
+the long hairs having molted off. This and every other deviation from
+the general run is undoubtedly owing to some particular disorder.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[86] Sir John Richardson says of Thaye-chuck-gyed Lake that it lies a
+short way to the northward of Point Lake.
+
+[87] These are larvae of a fly (_Hypoderma liniata?_), the eggs of which
+are laid in the skins of the deer in the early part of the summer. Here
+they develop to the size of buckshot or larger, and those portions of
+the skin covering them become very thin, so that when the hide is taken
+off and tanned it is so full of holes, a quarter of an inch or more in
+diameter, as to be almost entirely useless.
+
+[88] Sir John Franklin crossed Point Lake in 1821, and the "small
+scrubby woods" on its banks were noted by him, when he descended and
+surveyed the Coppermine River from it to the sea. Hearne places the
+south side of this lake on his map in North latitude 65 deg. 45', only about
+thirty-five miles north of its true position. Caspar Whitney crossed
+Point Lake in the spring of 1895, and calls it Ecka tua (Fat-Water
+Lake). ("On Snowshoes to the Barren Grounds." By Caspar Whitney, p.
+209.) Russell, in speaking of the Coppermine River which he crossed in
+April 1894, says, "It takes its rise in a large lake, called Ek-a Tooh,
+which is two days' journey in length." ("Explorations in the Far North."
+By Frank Russell, p. 112.)
+
+[89] There is no evidence that any observations for latitude had been
+taken since he left Congecathawhachaga. Possibly the quadrant had been
+left behind with the women at that place, to be picked up again when he
+returned. But now, with the destruction of the quadrant, all uncertainty
+as to the character of the remainder of his survey is set at rest. His
+distances were estimated, and the general directions were doubtless
+taken with a magnetic compass, while observations for latitude were
+impossible.
+
+[AV] The piece of iron above mentioned was the coulter of a
+new-fashioned plough, invented by Captain John Fowler, late Governor of
+Churchill River, with which he had a large piece of ground ploughed, and
+afterwards sowed with oats: but the part being nothing but a hot burning
+sand, like the Spanish lines at Gibraltar, the success may easily be
+guessed; which was, that it did not produce a single grain.
+
+[90] This lake is identified by Sir John Richardson as the Providence
+Lake of Franklin and of the present maps, but it is more likely to be
+Mackay Lake, which is much more nearly the size of lake here described,
+and the description of the woods on the south shore agrees closely with
+the description of Lake Mackay given by Mr. Warburton Pike, who visited
+that region in 1890. This determination agrees also with the statement
+of Hearne, that No Name Lake lies but a short distance north of the edge
+of the "main woods," for the northern edge of the forest crosses the
+country from east to west, a few miles south of this lake. On Caspar
+Whitney's map of his trip through the barren grounds this lake is called
+King or Grizzly Bear Lake. Mr. C. Harding, the officer in charge of Fort
+Resolution, the Hudson Bay Company's post on Great Slave Lake, has sent
+me the following Chipewyan Indian names of lakes, &c., in this region:--
+
+ ENGLISH. CHIPEWYAN. MEANING.
+ Mackay Lake. Clayki thua. White Sand Lake.
+ Le Gras Lake. A ka thua. Fat Lake.
+ (doubtless the same as Point Lake).
+ Aylmer Lake. Chlueata thua. Caribou swimming among
+ the ice Lake.
+ Artillery Lake. Atacho thua. Caribou crossing in the
+ middle of the lake Lake.
+ Coppermine River. Sanka taza. Copper River.
+ Musk Ox Mountain. Edegadaniyatha.
+
+[91] Mr. Harding informs me this is a lake lying a short distance south
+of Mackay Lake, and now known as "Lake of the Enemy." Anaw'd is
+doubtless the same word as Enna, which is the Chipewyan name for a Cree
+Indian.
+
+Away to the west of this another large lake is indicated on the map,
+doubtless from the reports of the Indians, but no name is attached to
+it. On the Cook map this western lake is called Edlande Lake.
+
+[92] L'abbe Petitot states (_op. cit._, p. 143) that there are five
+rivers flowing into the north side of McLeod Bay of Great Slave Lake,
+and the little stream which flows from Methy Lake is doubtless one of
+these, and possibly Hoarfrost River. In that case Methy Lake is almost
+certainly Cook Lake, which agrees with Hearne's description inasmuch as
+it lies just within the edge of the woods.
+
+[93] Great Slave Lake.
+
+[AW] The course of this river is nearly South West.
+
+[94] _Lepus americanus_ (Erxl.).--E. A. P.
+
+[95] _Canachites canadensis_ (Linn.).--E. A. P.
+
+[AX] His name was Cos-abyagh, the Northern Indian name for the Rock
+Partridge.
+
+[AY] As a proof of this, Matonabbee, (who always thought me possessed of
+this art,) on his arrival at Prince of Wales's Fort in the Winter of
+1778, informed me, that a man whom I had never seen but once, had
+treated him in such a manner that he was afraid of his life; in
+consequence of which he pressed me very much to kill him, though I was
+then several hundreds of miles distant: On which, to please this great
+man to whom I owed so much, and not expecting that any harm could
+possibly arise from it, I drew a rough sketch of two human figures on a
+piece of paper, in the attitude of wrestling: in the hand of one of
+them, I drew the figure of a bayonet pointing to the breast of the
+other. This is me, said I to Matonabbee, pointing to the figure which
+was holding the bayonet; and the other, is your enemy. Opposite to those
+figures I drew a pine-tree, over which I placed a large human eye, and
+out of the tree projected a human hand. This paper I gave to Matonabbee,
+with instructions to make it as publicly known as possible. Sure enough,
+the following year, when he came in to trade, he informed me that the
+man was dead, though at that time he was not less than three hundred
+miles from Prince of Wales's Fort. He assured me that the man was in
+perfect health when he heard of my design against him; but almost
+immediately afterwards became quite gloomy, and refusing all kind of
+sustenance, in a very few days died. After this I was frequently applied
+to on the same account, both by Matonabbee and other leading Indians,
+but never thought proper to comply with their requests; by which means I
+not only preserved the credit I gained on the first attempt, but always
+kept them in awe, and in some degree of respect and obedience to me. In
+fact, strange as it may appear, it is almost absolutely necessary that
+the chiefs at this place should profess something a little supernatural,
+to be able to deal with those people. The circumstance here recorded is
+a fact well known to Mr. William Jefferson, who succeeded me at
+Churchill Factory, as well as to all the officers and many of the common
+men who were at Prince of Wales's Fort at the time.
+
+[96] The lake which he has now reached and which he calls Athapuscow
+Lake, Arathapescow Lake of the Cook and Pennant maps, is Great Slave
+Lake of the present maps, or the Slave Lake of Alexander Mackenzie, and
+not the lake now known as Athabasca Lake; and the point at which he
+reached it was somewhere east of the entrance to the North Arm.
+According to l'Abbe Petitot, the name Athabasca is a Cree word,
+referring to a reedy, grassy mouth of a river, and means "The Herbaceous
+Network." It does not appear to have been the original name of any
+particular place or lake, but was doubtless applied to this lake by
+Hearne on account of the great marsh which covers much of the delta of
+Slave River, and later it was applied to the lake now known as Athabasca
+Lake on account of the character of the delta at the mouth of Athabasca
+River, near which Peter Pond, a trader from Montreal, established in
+1778 the first trading-post on the Mackenzie waters. His map of 1785
+designates the lake Arabasca Lake. Petitot states (Royal Geographical
+Society, vol. v. N.S. 1883, p. 728) that Great Slave Lake is called
+"'Thu-tue,' or 'Lake of the Breasts,' by the Chipewyans, because its
+eastern part is terminated by two extensive bays, in outline fancifully
+resembling the female bosom."
+
+[97] Indian Deer = Wood Caribou (_Rangifer caribou_ (Gmel.)).--E. A. P.
+
+[98] _Castor canadensis_ Kuhl.
+
+[AZ] The difficulty here alluded to, was the numberless vaults the
+beaver had in the sides of the pond, and the immense thickness of the
+house in some parts.
+
+[99] The eight different kinds of beavers referred to by Mr. Dobbs are
+rather eight different grades of beaver-skins classified on a strictly
+commercial basis. His statement is:
+
+"There are eight kinds of Beavers received at the Farmer's Office.
+
+"The first is the fat Winter Beaver, kill'd in Winter, which is worth
+5s. 6d. per Pound.
+
+"The Second is the fat Summer Beaver, killed in Summer, and is worth 2s.
+9d.
+
+"The third the dry Winter Beaver, and fourth the Bordeau, is much the
+same, and are worth 3s. 6d.
+
+"The fifth the dry Summer Beaver is worth very little, about 1s. 9d. per
+Pound.
+
+"The sixth is the Coat Beaver, which is worn till it is half greased,
+and is worth 4s. 6d. per Pound.
+
+"The 7th the Muscovite dry Beaver, of a fine Skin, covered over with a
+silky Hair; they wear it in Russia, and comb away all the short Down,
+which they make into Stuffs and other Works, leaving nothing but the
+silky Hair; this is worth 4s. 6d. per Pound.
+
+"The eighth is the Mittain Beaver, cut out for that Purpose to make
+Mittains, to preserve them from the Cold, and are greased by being used,
+and are worth 1s. 9d. per Pound." ("An Account of the Countries
+adjoining to Hudson's Bay." By Arthur Dobbs, London, 1744, pp. 25-26.)
+
+On a later page, quoting Joseph Lefranc: "The Beavers, he says, are of
+three Colours; the brown reddish Colour, the black, and the white; the
+first is the cheapest; the black is most valued by the Company, and in
+England; the white, tho' most valued in Canada, giving 18 Shillings,
+when others gave 5 or 6 Shillings, is blown upon by the Company's
+Factors at the Bay, they not allowing so much for these as for the
+others; and therefore the Indians use them at home, or burn off the
+Hair, when they roast the Beavers like Pigs, at an Entertainment when
+they feast together; he says these Skins are extremely white, and have a
+fine Lustre, no Snow being whiter, and have a fine long Fur or Hair; he
+has seen 15 taken of that Colour out of one Lodge or Pond." (Ibid., pp.
+39-40.)
+
+White Beavers are not often caught. One skin which I obtained from the
+vicinity of the Winnipeg River, in Eastern Manitoba, had a decidedly
+pinkish tint.
+
+[100] As dried Beaver skins weigh on an average from one and a half to
+two pounds, 300 skins would weigh on an average from 450 to 600 lbs.,
+which is a heavier load than most of the birch-bark canoes made by the
+Chipewyans will carry in addition to the Indians and their necessary
+baggage and provisions. Dobbs's statement that 100 Beaver skins is a
+load for an Indian canoe is more nearly correct.
+
+[BA] The Northern Indians think that the sagacity of the beaver directs
+them to make that part of their house which fronts the North much
+thicker than any other part, with a view of defending themselves from
+the cold winds which generally blow from that quarter during the Winter;
+and for this reason the Northern Indians generally break open that side
+of the beaver-houses which exactly front the South.
+
+[BB] This being the largest of the Orkney Islands, is called by the
+inhabitants the Main Land.
+
+
+
+
+{247} CHAP. VIII.
+
+ Transactions and Remarks from our Arrival on the South Side of
+ the Athapuscow Lake, till our Arrival at Prince of Wales's Fort
+ on Churchill River.
+
+ _Cross the Athapuscow Lake--Description of it and its
+ productions, as far as could be discovered in Winter, when the
+ snow was on the ground--Fish found in the lake--Description of
+ the buffalo;--of the moose or elk, and the method of dressing
+ their skins--Find a woman alone that had not seen a human face
+ for more than seven months--Her account how she came to be in
+ that situation; and her curious method of procuring a
+ livelihood--Many of my Indians wrestled for her--Arrive at the
+ Great Athapuscow River--Walk along the side of the River for
+ several days, and then strike off to the Eastward--Difficulty in
+ getting through the woods in many places--Meet with some strange
+ Northern Indians on their return from the Fort--Meet more
+ strangers, whom my companions plundered, and from whom they took
+ one of their young women--Curious manner of life which those
+ strangers lead, and the reason they gave for roving so far from
+ their usual residence--Leave the fine level country of the
+ Athapuscows, and arrive at the Stony Hills of the Northern
+ Indian Country--Meet some strange Northern Indians, one of whom
+ carried a letter for me to Prince of Wales's Fort, in March one
+ thousand seven hundred and seventy-one, and now gave me an
+ answer to it, dated twentieth of June following--Indians begin
+ preparing wood-work and birch-rind for canoes--The equinoctial
+ gale very severe--Indian method of running the moose deer down
+ by speed of foot--Arrival at Theeleyaza River--See some
+ strangers--The brutality of my companions--A tremendous gale and
+ snow-drift--Meet with more strangers;--Remarks on it--Leave all
+ the elderly people and children, {248} and proceed directly to
+ the Fort--Stop to build canoes, and then advance--Several of the
+ Indians die through hunger, and many others are obliged to
+ decline the journey for want of ammunition--A violent storm and
+ inundation, that forced us to the top of a high hill, where we
+ suffered great distress for more than two days--Kill several
+ deer--The Indians method of preserving the flesh without the
+ assistance of salt--See several Indians that were going to
+ Knapp's Bay--Game of all kinds remarkably plentiful--Arrive at
+ the Factory._
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+[Sidenote: 9th.]
+
+After expending some days in hunting beaver, we proceeded to cross the
+Athapuscow Lake; but as we had lost much time in hunting deer and
+beaver, which were very plentiful on some of the islands, it was the
+ninth of January before we arrived on the South side.
+
+This lake, from the best information which I could get from the natives,
+is about one hundred and twenty leagues long from East to West, and
+twenty wide from North to South. The point where we crossed it is said
+to be the narrowest. It is full of islands; most of which are clothed
+with fine tall poplars, birch, and pines, and are well stocked with
+Indian deer. On some of the large islands we also found several beaver;
+but this must be understood only of such islands as had large ponds in
+them; for not one beaver-house was to be seen on the margin of any of
+them.[101]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+The lake is stored with great quantities of very fine fish; particularly
+between the islands, which in some {249} parts are so close to each
+other as to form very narrow channels, like little rivers, in which I
+found (when angling for fish) a considerable current setting to the
+Eastward.
+
+The fish that are common in this lake, as well as in most of the other
+lakes in this country, are pike, trout, perch, barble, tittameg, and
+methy[102]; the two last are names given by the natives to two species
+of fish which are found only in this country. Besides these, we also
+caught another kind of fish, which is said by the Northern Indians to be
+peculiar to this lake; at least none of the same kind have been met with
+in any other. The body of this fish much resembles a pike in shape; but
+the scales, which are very large and stiff, are of a beautifully bright
+silver colour; the mouth is large, and situated like that of a pike; but
+when open, much resembles that of a sturgeon; and though not provided
+with any teeth, takes a bait as ravenously as a pike or a trout. The
+sizes we caught were from two feet long to four feet. Their flesh,
+though delicately white, is very soft, and has so rank a taste, that
+many of the Indians, except they are in absolute want, will not eat it.
+The Northern Indians call this fish Shees.[103] The trout in this lake
+are of the largest size I ever saw; some that were caught by my
+companions could not, I think, be less than thirty-five or forty pounds
+weight. Pike are also of an incredible size in this extensive water;
+here they are seldom {250} molested, and have multitudes of smaller fish
+to prey upon. If I say that I have seen some of these fish that were
+upwards of forty pounds weight, I am sure I do not exceed the truth.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+Immediately on our arrival on the South side of the Athapuscow Lake, the
+scene was agreeably altered, from an entire jumble of rocks and hills,
+for such is all the land on the North side, to a fine level country, in
+which there was not a hill to be seen, or a stone to be found: so that
+such of my companions as had not brass kettles, loaded their sledges
+with stones from some of the last islands, to boil their victuals with
+in their birch-rind kettles, which will not admit of being exposed to
+the fire. They therefore heat stones and drop them into the water in the
+kettle to make it boil.
+
+Buffalo,[104] moose, and beaver were very plentiful; and we could
+discover, in many parts through which we passed, the tracks of martins,
+foxes, quiquehatches, and other animals of the furr kind: so that they
+were by no means scarce: but my companions never gave themselves the
+least trouble to catch any of the three last mentioned animals; for the
+buffalo, moose, and beaver engaged all their attention; perhaps
+principally so on account of the excellency of their flesh; whereas the
+flesh of the fox and quiquehatch are never eaten by those people, except
+when they are in the greatest distress, and then merely to save {251}
+life. Their reasons for this shall be given in a subsequent part of my
+Journal.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+The buffalo in those parts, I think, are in general much larger than the
+English black cattle; particularly the bulls, which, though they may not
+in reality be taller than the largest size of the English oxen, yet to
+me always appeared to be much larger. In fact, they are so heavy, that
+when six or eight Indians are in company at the skinning of a large
+bull, they never attempt to turn it over while entire, but when the
+upper side is skinned, they cut off the leg and shoulder, rip up the
+belly, take out all the intestines, cut off the head, and make it as
+light as possible, before they turn it to skin the under side. The skin
+is in some places of an incredible thickness, particularly about the
+neck, where it often exceeds an inch. The horns are short, black, and
+almost straight, but very thick at the roots or base.
+
+The head of an old bull is of a great size and weight indeed: some which
+I have seen were so large, that I could not without difficulty lift them
+from the ground;[BC] {252} but the heads of the cows are much smaller.
+Their tails are, in general, about a foot long, though some appear to
+be, exclusive of the long brush of hair at the end, longer. The hair on
+the tails of the bulls is generally of a fine glossy black; but the
+brush at the end of the cows' tails is always of a rusty brown, probably
+owing to being stained with their urine.
+
+The hair of the body is soft and curled, somewhat approaching to wool;
+it is generally of a sandy brown, and of an equal length and thickness
+all over the body: but on the head and neck it is much longer than it is
+on any other part.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+The Indians, after reducing all the parts of the skin to an equal
+thickness by scraping, dress them in the hair for clothing; when they
+are light, soft, warm, and durable. They also dress some of those skins
+into leather without the hair, of which they make tents and shoes; but
+the grain is remarkably open and spungy, by no means equal in goodness
+to that of the skin of the moose: nor am I certain that the curriers or
+tanners in Europe could manufacture these skins in such a manner as to
+render them of any considerable value; for, to appearance, they are of
+the same quality with the skins of the musk-ox, which are held in so
+little estimation in England, that when a number of them was sent home
+from Churchill Factory, the Company issued out orders the year
+following, that unless they could be purchased from the Indians at the
+rate of four {253} skins for one beaver, they would not answer the
+expence of sending home; a great proof of their being of very little
+value.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+The buffalos chiefly delight in wide open plains, which in those parts
+produce very long coarse grass, or rather a kind of small flags and
+rushes, upon which they feed; but when pursued they always take to the
+woods. They are of such an amazing strength, that when they fly through
+the woods from a pursuer, they frequently brush down trees as thick as a
+man's arm; and be the snow ever so deep, such is their strength and
+agility that they are enabled to plunge through it faster than the
+swiftest Indian can run in snow-shoes. To this I have been an
+eye-witness many times, and once had the vanity to think that I could
+have kept pace with them; but though I was at that time celebrated for
+being particularly fleet of foot in snow-shoes, I soon found that I was
+no match for the buffalos, notwithstanding they were then plunging
+through such deep snow, that their bellies made a trench in it as large
+as if many heavy sacks had been hauled through it. Of all the large
+beasts in those parts the buffalo is easiest to kill, and the moose are
+the most difficult; neither are the deer very easy to come at, except in
+windy weather: indeed it requires much practice, and a great deal of
+patience, to slay any of them, as they will by no means suffer a direct
+approach, unless the hunter be entirely sheltered by woods or willows.
+The flesh of the buffalo {254} is exceedingly good eating; and so
+entirely free from any disagreeable smell or taste, that it resembles
+beef as nearly as possible: the flesh of the cows, when some time gone
+with calf, is esteemed the finest; and the young calves, cut out of
+their bellies, are reckoned a great delicacy indeed. The hunch on their
+backs, or more properly on their shoulders, is not a large fleshy lump,
+as some suppose, but is occasioned by the bones that form the withers
+being continued to a greater length than in most other animals. The
+flesh which surrounds this part being so equally intermixed with fat and
+lean, is reckoned among the nicest bits. The weight, however, is by no
+means equal to what has been commonly reported. The tongue is also very
+delicate; and what is most extraordinary, when the beasts are in the
+poorest state, which happens regularly at certain seasons, their tongues
+are then very fat and fine; some say, fatter than when they are in the
+best order; the truth of which, I will not confirm. They are so esteemed
+here, however, that many of them are brought down to the Company's
+Factory at York as presents, and are esteemed a great luxury, probably
+for no other reason but that they are far-fetched; for they are by no
+means so large, and I think them not so fine, as a neat's tongue in
+England.
+
+The moose[105] deer is also a large beast, often exceeding the largest
+horse both in height and bulk; but the length of the legs, the bulk of
+the body, the shortness of the neck, {255} and the uncommon length of
+the head and ears, without any appearance of a tail, make them have a
+very awkward appearance. The males far exceed the females in size, and
+differ from them in colour. The hair of the male, which is long, hollow,
+and soft, like that of a deer, is at the points nearly black, but a
+little way under the surface it is of an ash colour, and at the roots
+perfectly white. The hair of the female is of a sandy brown, and in some
+parts, particularly under the throat, the belly, and the flank, is
+nearly white at the surface, and most delicately so at the root.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+Their legs are so long, and their necks so short, that they cannot graze
+on level ground like other animals, but are obliged to brouze on the
+tops of large plants and the leaves of trees during the Summer; and in
+Winter they always feed on the tops of willows, and the small branches
+of the birch-tree; on which account they are never found during that
+season but in such places as can afford them a plentiful supply of their
+favourite food: and though they have no fore-teeth in the upper-jaw, yet
+I have often seen willows and small birch-trees cropped by them, in the
+same manner as if they had been cut by a gardener's sheers, though some
+of them were not smaller than common pipe-stems; they seem particularly
+partial to the red willow.
+
+In Summer they are generally found to frequent the banks of rivers and
+lakes, probably with no other view {256} than to have the benefit of
+getting into the water, to avoid the innumerable multitudes of muskettos
+and other flies that pester them exceedingly during that season. There
+is also a variety of water-plants, of which the moose are very fond, and
+which are adapted to their necessities in a peculiar manner during the
+Summer season, as they can easily brouze on them when nearly emerged in
+water, to avoid the torment of the flies.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+The head of the moose is, as I have observed, remarkably long and large,
+not very unlike that of a horse; but the nose and nostrils are at least
+twice as large. The ears are about a foot long, and large; and they
+always stand erect. Their faculty of hearing is supposed to be more
+acute than either their sight or scent; which makes it very difficult to
+kill them, especially as the Indians in those parts have no other method
+of doing it but by creeping after them, among the trees and bushes, till
+they get within gun-shot; taking care always to keep to leeward of the
+moose, for fear of being overheard. In Summer, when they frequent the
+margins of rivers and lakes, they are often killed by the Indians in the
+water, while they are crossing rivers, or swimming from the main to
+islands, &c. When pursued in this manner, they are the most inoffensive
+of all animals, never making any resistance; and the young ones are so
+simple, that I remember to have seen an Indian paddle his canoe up to
+one of them, and take it by the poll without the least opposition: the
+poor {257} harmless animal seeming at the same time as contented
+along-side the canoe, as if swimming by the side of its dam, and looking
+up in our faces with the same fearless innocence that a house-lamb
+would, making use of its fore-foot almost every instant to clear its
+eyes of muskettos, which at that time were remarkably numerous.
+
+I have also seen women and boys kill the old moose in this situation, by
+knocking them on the head with a hatchet; and in the Summer of one
+thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, when I was on my passage from
+Cumberland House to York Fort, two boys killed a fine buck moose in the
+water, by forcing a stick up its fundament; for they had neither gun,
+bow, nor arrows with them. The common deer are far more dangerous to
+approach in canoes, as they kick up their hind legs with such violence
+as to endanger any birch-rind canoe that comes within their reach; for
+which reason all the Indians who kill deer upon the water are provided
+with a long stick that will reach far beyond the head of the canoe.
+
+The moose are also the easiest to tame and domesticate of any of the
+deer kind. I have repeatedly seen them at Churchill as tame as
+sheep,[BD] and even more so; for they {258} would follow their keeper
+any distance from home, and at his call return with him, without the
+least trouble, or ever offering to deviate from the path.[BE]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+The flesh of the moose is very good, though the grain is but coarse, and
+it is much tougher than any other kind of venison. The nose is most
+excellent, as is also the tongue, though by no means so fat and delicate
+as that of the common deer. It is perhaps worth remarking, that the
+livers of the moose are never found, not even at any time of the year;
+and, like the other deer, they have no gall. The fat of the intestines
+is hard, like suet; but all the external fat is soft, like that of a
+breast of mutton, and when put into a bladder, is as fine as marrow. In
+this they differ from all the other species of deer, of which the
+external fat is as hard as that of the kidnies.
+
+{259} The moose in all their actions and attitudes appear very uncouth,
+and when disturbed, never run, only make a kind of trot, which the
+length of their legs enables them to do with great swiftness, and
+apparently with much ease; but were the country they inhabit free from
+under-wood, and dry underfoot, so that horsemen and dogs might follow
+them, they would become an easy prey, as they are both tender-footed and
+short-winded: But of this more hereafter.[BF]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+The skins of the moose, when dressed by the natives, make excellent
+tent-covers and shoe-leather; and in fact every other part of their
+clothing. These, like the skins of the buffalo, are of very unequal
+thickness. Some of the Indian women, who are acquainted with the
+manufacture of them, will, by means of scraping, render them as even as
+a piece of thick cloth, and when well dressed they are very soft; but
+not being dressed in oil, they always grow hard after being wet, unless
+great care be taken to keep rubbing them all the time they are drying.
+The same may be said of all the Indian-dressed leather, except that of
+the wewaskish,[106] which will wash as well as shammoy-leather, and
+always preserve its softness.
+
+{260} The female moose never have any horns, but the males have them of
+a prodigious size and weight, and very different in shape from those of
+the common deer. The extremity of each horn is palmated to the size of a
+common shovel, from which a few short branches shoot out; and the shaft
+of the horn is frequently as large as a common man's wrist. They shed
+them annually like the common deer. The horns of the moose are
+frequently found to exceed sixty pounds weight; and their texture,
+though of a large size and of such rapid growth, is much harder than any
+other species of deer-horns in those parts.
+
+Though the flesh of the moose is esteemed by most Indians both for its
+flavour and substance, yet the Northern Indians of my crew did not
+reckon either it or the flesh of the buffalo substantial food. This I
+should think entirely proceeded from prejudice, especially with respect
+to the moose; but the flesh of the buffalo, though so fine to the eye,
+and pleasing to the taste, is so light and easy of digestion, as not to
+be deemed substantial food by any Indian in this country, either
+Northern or Southern. The moose have from one to three young at a time,
+and generally bring them forth in the latter end of April, or beginning
+of May.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January. 11th.]
+
+Soon after our arrival on the South-side of Athapuscow Lake, Matonabbee
+proposed continuing our course in the {261} South West quarter, in hopes
+of meeting some of the Athapuscow Indians; because I wished, if
+possible, to purchase a tent, and other ready-dressed skins from them;
+as a supply of those articles would at this time have been of material
+service to us, being in great want both of tents and shoe-leather: and
+though my companions were daily killing either moose or buffalo, the
+weather was so excessively cold, as to render dressing their skins not
+only very troublesome, but almost impracticable, especially to the
+generality of the Northern Indians, who are not well acquainted with the
+manufacture of that kind of leather.
+
+To dress those skins according to the Indian method, a lather is made of
+the brains and some of the softest fat or marrow of the animal, in which
+the skin is well soaked, when it is taken out, and not only dried by the
+heat of a fire, but hung up in the smoke for several days; it is then
+taken down, and well soaked and washed in warm water, till the grain of
+the skin is perfectly open, and has imbibed a sufficient quantity of
+water, after which it is taken out and wrung as dry as possible, and
+then dried by the heat of a slow fire; care being taken to rub and
+stretch it as long as any moisture remains in the skin. By this simple
+method, and by scraping them afterwards, some of the moose skins are
+made very delicate both to the eye and the touch.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+{262} On the eleventh of January, as some of my companions were hunting,
+they saw the track of a strange snow-shoe, which they followed; and at a
+considerable distance came to a little hut, where they discovered a
+young woman sitting alone. As they found that she understood their
+language, they brought her with them to the tents. On examination, she
+proved to be one of the Western Dog-ribbed Indians, who had been taken
+prisoner by the Athapuscow Indians in the Summer of one thousand seven
+hundred and seventy; and in the following Summer, when the Indians that
+took her prisoner were near this part, she had eloped from them, with an
+intent to return to her own country; but the distance being so great,
+and having, after she was taken prisoner, been carried in a canoe the
+whole way, the turnings and windings of the rivers and lakes were so
+numerous, that she forgot the track; so she built the hut in which we
+found her, to protect her from the weather during the Winter, and here
+she had resided from the first setting in of the fall.
+
+From her account of the moons passed since her elopement, it appeared
+that she had been near seven months without seeing a human face; during
+all which time she had supported herself very well by snaring
+partridges, rabbits, and squirrels; she had also killed two or three
+beaver, and some porcupines. That she did not seem to have been in want
+is evident, as she had a small stock of {263} provisions by her when she
+was discovered; and was in good health and condition, and I think one of
+the finest women, of a real Indian, that I have seen in any part of
+North America.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+The methods practised by this poor creature to procure a livelihood were
+truly admirable, and are great proofs that necessity is the real mother
+of invention. When the few deer-sinews that she had an opportunity of
+taking with her were all expended in making snares, and sewing her
+clothing, she had nothing to supply their place but the sinews of the
+rabbits legs and feet; these she twisted together for that purpose with
+great dexterity and success. The rabbits, &c. which she caught in those
+snares, not only furnished her with a comfortable subsistence, but of
+the skins she made a suit of neat and warm clothing for the Winter. It
+is scarcely possible to conceive that a person in her forlorn situation
+could be so composed as to be capable of contriving or executing any
+thing that was not absolutely necessary to her existence; but there were
+sufficient proofs that she had extended her care much farther, as all
+her clothing, beside being calculated for real service, shewed great
+taste, and exhibited no little variety of ornament. The materials,
+though rude, were very curiously wrought, and so judiciously placed, as
+to make the whole of her garb have a very pleasing, though rather
+romantic appearance.
+
+{264} Her leisure hours from hunting had been employed in twisting the
+inner rind or bark of willows into small lines, like net-twine, of which
+she had some hundred fathoms by her; with this she intended to make a
+fishing-net as soon as the Spring advanced. It is of the inner bark of
+willows, twisted in this manner, that the Dog-ribbed Indians make their
+fishing-nets; and they are much preferable to those made by the Northern
+Indians.[BG]
+
+Five or six inches of an iron hoop, made into a knife, and the shank of
+an arrow-head of iron, which served her as an awl, were all the metals
+this poor woman had with her when she eloped; and with these implements
+she had made herself complete snow-shoes, and several other useful
+articles.
+
+Her method of making a fire was equally singular and curious, having no
+other materials for that purpose than two hard sulphurous stones. These,
+by long friction and hard knocking, produced a few sparks, which at
+length communicated to some touchwood; but as this method was attended
+with great trouble, and not always with success, she did {265} not
+suffer her fire to go out all the Winter. Hence we may conclude that she
+had no idea of producing fire by friction, in the manner practised by
+the Esquimaux, and many other uncivilized nations; because if she had,
+the above-mentioned precaution would have been unnecessary.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+The singularity of the circumstance, the comeliness of her person, and
+her approved accomplishments, occasioned a strong contest between
+several of the Indians of my party, who should have her for a wife; and
+the poor girl was actually won and lost at wrestling by near half a
+score different men the same evening. My guide, Matonabbee, who at that
+time had no less than seven wives, all women grown, besides a young girl
+of eleven or twelve years old, would have put in for the prize also, had
+not one of his wives made him ashamed of it, by telling him that he had
+already more wives than he could properly attend. This piece of satire,
+however true, proved fatal to the poor girl who dared to make so open a
+declaration; for the great man, Matonabbee, who would willingly have
+been thought equal to eight or ten men in every respect, took it as such
+an affront, that he fell on her with both hands and feet, and bruised
+her to such a degree, that after lingering some time she died.
+
+When the Athapuscow Indians took the above Dog-ribbed Indian woman
+prisoner, they, according to the universal custom of those savages,
+surprised her and her party in {266} the night, and killed every soul in
+the tent, except herself and three other young women. Among those whom
+they killed, were her father, mother, and husband. Her young child, four
+or five months old, she concealed in a bundle of clothing, and took with
+her undiscovered in the night; but when she arrived at the place where
+the Athapuscow Indians had left their wives (which was not far distant),
+they began to examine her bundle, and finding the child, one of the
+women took it from her, and killed it on the spot.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+This last piece of barbarity gave her such a disgust to those Indians,
+that notwithstanding the man who took care of her treated her in every
+respect as his wife, and was, she said, remarkably kind to, and even
+fond of her; so far was she from being able to reconcile herself to any
+of the tribe, that she rather chose to expose herself to misery and
+want, than live in ease and affluence among persons who had so cruelly
+murdered her infant.[BH] The {267} poor woman's relation of this
+shocking story, which she delivered in a very affecting manner, only
+excited laughter among the savages of my party.
+
+In a conversation with this woman soon afterward, she told us, that her
+country lies so far to the Westward, that she had never seen iron, or
+any other kind of metal, till she was taken prisoner. All of her tribe,
+she observed, made their hatchets and ice-chisels of deer's horns, and
+their knives of stones and bones; that their arrows were shod with a
+kind of slate, bones, and deer's horns; and the instruments which they
+employed to make their wood-work were nothing but beavers' teeth. Though
+they had frequently heard of the useful materials which the nations or
+tribes to the East of them were supplied with from the English, so far
+were they from drawing nearer, to be in the way of trading for
+iron-work, &c. that they were obliged to retreat farther back, to avoid
+the Athapuscow Indians, who made surprising slaughter among them, both
+in Winter and Summer.
+
+[Sidenote: 16th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+On the sixteenth, as we were continuing our course in the South West
+quarter, we arrived at the grand {268} Athapuscow River,[107] which at
+that part is about two miles wide, and empties itself into the great
+lake of the same name we had so lately crossed, and which has been
+already described.
+
+The woods about this river, particularly the pines and poplars, are the
+tallest and stoutest I have seen in any part of North America. The birch
+also grows to a considerable size, and some species of the willow are
+likewise tall: but none of them have any trunk, like those in England.
+
+The bank of the river in most parts is very high, and in some places not
+less than a hundred feet above the ordinary surface of the water. As the
+soil is of a loamy quality, it is very subject to moulder or wash away
+by heavy rains, even during the short Summer allotted to this part of
+the globe. The breaking up of the ice in the Spring is annually attended
+with a great deluge, when, I am told, it is not uncommon to see whole
+points of land washed away by the inundations; and as the wood grows
+close to the edge of the banks, vast quantities of it are hurried down
+the stream by the irresistible force of the water and ice, and conveyed
+into the great lake already mentioned; on the shores and islands of
+which, there lies the greatest quantity of drift wood I ever saw. Some
+of this wood is large enough to make masts for the largest ships that
+are built. The banks of the river in general are so steep as to be
+inaccessible to either man or beast, except in some slacks, or gulleys,
+that have been wore down by heavy rains, {269} backwaters, or deluges;
+and even those slacks are, for the most part, very difficult to ascend,
+on account of the number of large trees which lie in the way.
+
+There are several low islands in this river, which are much frequented
+by the moose, for the sake of the fine willows they produce, which
+furnish them with a plentiful supply of their favourite food during the
+Winter. Some of those islands are also frequented by a number of
+rabbits; but as larger game could be procured in great plenty, those
+small animals were not deemed worthy our notice at present.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+Beside the grand river already mentioned, there are several others of
+less note, which empty themselves into the great Athapuscow Lake: There
+are also several small rivers and creeks on the North East side of the
+Lake that carry off the superfluous waters, some of which, after a
+variety of windings through the barren grounds to the North of Churchill
+River, are lost in the marshes and low grounds, while others, by means
+of many small channels and rivulets, are discharged into other rivers
+and lakes, and at last, doubtless, find their way into Hudson's Bay.
+These rivers, though numberless, are all so full of shoals and stones,
+as not to be navigable for an Indian canoe to any considerable distance;
+and if they were, it would be of little or no use to the natives, as
+none of them lead within several hundred miles of Churchill River.
+
+{270} Agreeably to Matonabbee's proposal, we continued our course up the
+Athapuscow River for many days, and though we passed several parts which
+we well knew to have been the former Winter-haunts of the Athapuscow
+Indians, yet we could not see the least trace of any of them having been
+there that season. In the preceding Summer, when they were in those
+parts, they had set fire to the woods; and though many months had
+elapsed from that time till our arrival there, and notwithstanding the
+snow was then very deep, the moss was still burning in many places,
+which at first deceived us very much, as we took it for the smoke of
+strange tents; but after going much out of our way, and searching very
+diligently, we could not discover the least track of a stranger.
+
+[Sidenote: 27th.]
+
+Thus disappointed in our expectations of meeting the Southern Indians,
+it was resolved (in Council, as it may be called) to expend as much time
+in hunting buffalo, moose, and beaver as we could, so that we might be
+able to reach Prince of Wales's Fort a little before the usual time of
+the ships arrival from England. Accordingly, after having walked upwards
+of forty miles by the side of Athapuscow River, on the twenty-seventh of
+January we struck off to the Eastward, and left the River at that part
+where it begins to tend due South.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. January.]
+
+In consequence of this determination of the Indians, we continued our
+course to the Eastward; but as game of all kinds was very plentiful, we
+made but short days {271} journies, and often remained two or three days
+in one place, to eat up the spoils or produce of the chace. The woods
+through which we were to pass were in many places so thick, that it was
+necessary to cut a path before the women could pass with their sledges;
+and in other places so much of the woods had formerly been set on fire
+and burnt, that we were frequently obliged to walk farther than we
+otherwise should have done, before we could find green brush enough to
+floor our tents.
+
+[Sidenote: February. 15th-24th.]
+
+From the fifteenth to the twenty-fourth of February, we walked along a
+small river that empties itself into the Lake Clowey,[108] near the part
+where we built canoes in May one thousand seven hundred and seventy-one.
+This little river is that which we mentioned in the former part of this
+Journal, as having communication with the Athapuscow Lake: but, from
+appearances, it is of no consequence whence it takes its rise, or where
+it empties itself, as one half of it is nearly dry three-fourths of the
+year. The intervening ponds, however, having sufficient depth of water,
+are, we may suppose, favourable situations for beaver, as many of their
+houses are to be found in those parts.
+
+[Sidenote: 24th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. February.]
+
+On the twenty-fourth, a strange Northern Indian leader, called
+Thlew-sa-nell-ie, and several of his followers, joined us from the
+Eastward. This leader presented Matonabbee and myself with a foot of
+tobacco each, and a two-quart {272} keg of brandy, which he intended as
+a present for the Southern Indians; but being informed by my companions,
+that there was not the least probability of meeting any, he did not
+think it worth any farther carriage. The tobacco was indeed very
+acceptable, as our stock of that article had been expended some time.
+Having been so long without tasting spirituous liquors, I would not
+partake of the brandy, but left it entirely to the Indians, to whom, as
+they were numerous, it was scarcely a taste for each. Few of the
+Northern Indians are fond of spirits, especially those who keep at a
+distance from the Fort: some who are near, and who usually shoot geese
+for us in the Spring, will drink it at free cost as fast as the Southern
+Indians, but few of them are ever so imprudent as to buy it.
+
+The little river lately mentioned, as well as the adjacent lakes and
+ponds, being well-stocked with beaver, and the land abounding with moose
+and buffalo, we were induced to make but slow progress in our journey.
+Many days were spent in hunting, feasting, and drying a large quantity
+of flesh to take with us, particularly that of the buffalo; for my
+companions knew by experience, that a few days walk to the Eastward of
+our present situation would bring us to a part where we should not see
+any of those animals.
+
+The strangers who had joined us on the twenty-fourth informed us, that
+all were well at Prince of Wales's Fort {273} when they left it last;
+which, according to their account of the Moons past since, must have
+been about the fifth of November one thousand seven hundred and
+seventy-one. These strangers only remained in our company one night
+before the Leader and part of his crew left us, and proceeded on their
+journey to the North Westward; but a few of them having procured some
+furrs in the early part of the Winter, joined our party, with an intent
+to accompany us to the Factory.
+
+[Sidenote: 28th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. February.]
+
+Having a good stock of dried meat, fat, &c. prepared in the best manner
+for carriage, on the twenty-eighth we shaped our course in the South
+East quarter, and proceeded at a much greater rate than we had lately
+done, as little or no time was now lost in hunting. The next day we saw
+the tracks of some strangers; and though I did not perceive any of them
+myself, some of my companions were at the trouble of searching for them,
+and finding them to be poor inoffensive people, plundered them not only
+of the few furrs which they had, but took also one of their young women
+from them.
+
+Every additional act of violence committed by my companions on the poor
+and distressed, served to increase my indignation and dislike; this last
+act, however, displeased me more than all their former actions, because
+it was committed on a set of harmless creatures, whose general manner of
+life renders them the most secluded from society of any of the human
+race.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. February.]
+
+{274} Matonabbee assured me, that for more than a generation past one
+family only, as it may be called, (and to which the young men belonged
+who were plundered by my companions,) have taken up their Winter abode
+in those woods,[109] which are situated so far on the barren ground as
+to be quite out of the track of any other Indians. From the best
+accounts that I could collect, the latitude of this place must be about
+631/2 deg. or 63 deg. at least; the longitude is very uncertain. From my own
+experience I can affirm, that it is some hundreds of miles both from the
+sea-side and the main woods to the Westward. Few of the trading Northern
+Indians have visited this place; but those who have, give a pleasing
+description of it, all agreeing that it is situated on the banks of a
+river which has communication with several fine lakes. As the current
+sets to the North Eastward, it empties itself, in all probability, into
+some part of Hudson's Bay; and, from the latitude, no part seems more
+likely for this communication, than Baker's Lake, at the head of
+Chesterfield's inlet. This, however, is mere conjecture; nor is it of
+any consequence, as navigation on any of the rivers in those parts is
+not only impracticable, but would be also unprofitable, as they do not
+lead into a country that produces any thing for trade, or that contains
+any inhabitants worth visiting.
+
+The accounts given of this place, and the manner of life of its
+inhabitants, would, if related at full length, fill a volume: let it
+suffice to observe, that the situation {275} is said to be remarkably
+favourable for every kind of game that the barren ground produces at the
+different seasons of the year; but the continuance of the game with them
+is in general uncertain, except that of fish and partridges. That being
+the case, the few who compose this little commonwealth, are, by long
+custom and the constant example of their forefathers, possessed of a
+provident turn of mind, with a degree of frugality unknown to every
+other tribe of Indians in this country except the Esquimaux.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. February.]
+
+Deer is said to visit this part of the country in astonishing numbers,
+both in Spring and Autumn, of which circumstances the inhabitants avail
+themselves, by killing and drying as much of their flesh as possible,
+particularly in the fall of the year; so that they seldom are in want
+of a good Winter's stock.
+
+Geese, ducks, and swans visit here in great plenty during their
+migrations both in the Spring and Fall, and by much art, joined to an
+insurmountable patience, are caught in considerable numbers in
+snares,[BI] and, {276} without doubt, make a very pleasing change in the
+food. It is also reported, (though I confess I doubt the truth of it,)
+{277} that a remarkable species of partridges as large as English fowls,
+are found in that part of the country only. Those, as well as the common
+partridges, it is said, are killed in considerable numbers, with snares,
+as well as with bows and arrows.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. February.]
+
+The river and lakes near the little forest where the family above
+mentioned had fixed their abode, abound with fine fish, particularly
+trout and barble, which are easily caught; the former with hooks, and
+the latter in nets. In fact, I have not seen or heard of any part of
+this country which seems to possess half the advantages requisite for a
+constant residence, that are ascribed to this little spot. The
+descendents, however, of the present inhabitants must in time evacuate
+it for want of wood, which is of so slow a growth in those regions, that
+what is used in one year, exclusive of what is cut down and carried away
+by the Esquimaux, must cost many years to replace.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. March.]
+
+It may probably be thought strange that any part of a community,
+apparently so commodiously situated, and happy within themselves, should
+be found at so great a distance from the rest of their tribe, and indeed
+nothing but necessity could possibly have urged them to undertake a
+journey of so many hundred miles as they have done; but no situation is
+without its inconveniences, and as their woods contain no birch-trees of
+sufficient size, or perhaps none of any size, this party had come so far
+to the {278} Westward to procure birch-rind for making two canoes, and
+some of the fungus that grows on the outside of the birch-tree, which is
+used by all the Indians in those parts for tinder. There are two sorts
+of these funguses which grow on the birch-trees; one is hard, the useful
+part of which much resembles rhubarb; the other is soft and smooth like
+velvet on the outside, and when laid on hot ashes for some time, and
+well beaten between two stones, is something like spunk. The former is
+called by the Northern Indians Jolt-thee, and is known all over the
+country bordering on Hudson's Bay by the name of Pesogan,[BJ] it being
+so called by the Southern {279} Indians. The latter is only used by the
+Northern tribes, and is called by them Clalte-ad-dee.
+
+[Sidenote: 1st.]
+
+By the first of March we began to leave the fine level country of the
+Athapuscows, and again to approach the stony mountains or hills which
+bound the Northern Indian country. Moose and beaver still continued to
+be plentiful; but no buffaloes could be seen after the twenty-ninth of
+February.
+
+[Sidenote: 14th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. March.]
+
+As we were continuing our course to the East South East, on the
+fourteenth we discovered the tracks of more strangers, and the next day
+came up with them. Among those Indians was the man who had carried a
+letter for me in March one thousand seven hundred and seventy-one, to
+the Chief at Prince of Wales's Fort, and to which he had brought an
+answer, dated the twenty-first of June. When this Indian received the
+letter from me, it was very uncertain what route we should take in our
+return from the Copper River, and, in all probability, he himself had
+not then determined on what spot he would pass the present Winter;
+consequently our meeting each other was merely accidental.
+
+These Indians having obtained a few furrs in the course of the Winter,
+joined our party, which now consisted of twenty tents, containing in the
+whole about two {280} hundred persons; and indeed our company had not
+been much less during the whole Winter.
+
+From the strangers who last joined us we received some ready-dressed
+moose-skins for tenting and shoe-leather; also some other skins for
+clothing, for all of which the Chief at the Factory was to pay on our
+arrival.
+
+I cannot sufficiently lament the loss of my quadrant, as the want of it
+must render the course of my journey from Point Lake, where it was
+broken, very uncertain; and my watch stopping while I was at the
+Athapuscow Lake, has contributed greatly to the misfortune, as I am now
+deprived of every means of estimating the distances which we walked with
+any degree of accuracy, particularly in thick weather, when the Sun
+could not be seen.
+
+[Sidenote: 16th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. March.]
+
+The Indians were employed at all convenient times in procuring
+birch-rind and making wood-work ready for building canoes; also in
+preparing small staffs of birch-wood, to take with them on the barren
+ground, to serve as tent-poles all the Summer; and which, as hath been
+already observed, they convert into snow-shoe frames when the Winter
+sets in. Here it may be proper to observe, that none of those incidental
+avocations interfere with, or retard the Indians in their journey; for
+they always take the advantage of every {281} opportunity which offers,
+as they pass along, and when they see a tree fit for their purpose, cut
+it down, and either strip off the bark, if that be what they want, or
+split the trunk in pieces; and after hewing it roughly with their
+hatchet, carry it to the tent, where in the evenings, or in the morning
+before they set out, they reduce it with their knives to the shape and
+size which is required.
+
+[Sidenote: 19th.]
+
+Provisions being plentiful, and the weather fine, we advanced a little
+each day; and on the nineteenth took up our lodgings by the side of
+Wholdyeah-chuck'd Whoie, or Large Pike Lake. In our way we crossed
+another small lake, where we caught some trout by angling, and killed a
+few deer and one moose.
+
+[Sidenote: 20th.]
+
+On the twentieth we crossed Large Pike Lake, which at that part was not
+more than seven miles wide; but from North North West to the South South
+East is much longer. The next day we arrived at Bedodid Lake,[111] which
+in general is not more than three miles wide, and in several places much
+less; but it is upward of forty miles long, which gives it the
+appearance of a river. It is said by the Indians to be shut up on all
+sides, and entirely surrounded with high land, which produces vast
+quantity of fir trees, but none of them grow to a great height in those
+parts: their branches, however, spread wider than those of firs of three
+times their height and thickness do in Europe; so that they resemble an
+apple-tree in shape, {282} more than any species of the pine. They seem
+rich in tar, as the wood of them will burn like a candle, and emit as
+strong a smell, and as much black smoke, as the staves of an old
+tar-barrel; for which reason no Indians chuse to burn it in their tents,
+or even out of doors, for the purpose of cooking their victuals.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. March.]
+
+The thaws began now to be very considerable, and the under-woods were so
+thick in these parts as to render travelling through them very
+difficult; we therefore took the advantage of walking on the ice of the
+above-mentioned Lake, which lay nearly in the direction of our course;
+but after proceeding about twenty-two miles on it, the Lake turned more
+toward the North, on which account we were obliged to leave it, striking
+off to the Eastward; and after walking fourteen miles farther, we
+arrived at Noo-shetht Whoie,[112] or the Hill-Island Lake, so called
+from a very high island which stands in it.
+
+[Sidenote: 31st.]
+
+From the twenty-eighth to the thirty-first of March, we had so hard a
+gale of wind from the South, as to render walking on lakes or open
+plains quite impossible, and the violence with which the trees were
+blown down made walking in the woods somewhat dangerous; but though
+several had narrow escapes, no accident happened.
+
+[Sidenote: April. 1st.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. April.]
+
+From the middle to the latter end of March, and in the beginning of
+April, though the thaw was not general, {283} yet in the middle of the
+day it was very considerable: it commonly froze hard in the nights; and
+the young men took the advantage of the mornings, when the snow was hard
+crusted over, and ran down many moose; for in those situations a man
+with a good pair of snow-shoes will scarcely make any impression on the
+snow, while the moose, and even the deer, will break through it at every
+step up to the belly. Notwithstanding this, however, it is very seldom
+that the Indians attempt to run deer down. The moose are so
+tender-footed, and so short-winded, that a good runner will generally
+tire them in less than a day, and very frequently in six or eight hours;
+though I have known some of the Indians continue the chace for two days,
+before they could come up with, and kill the game. On those occasions
+the Indians, in general, only take with them a knife or bayonet, and a
+little bag containing a set of fire-tackle, and are as lightly clothed
+as possible; some of them will carry a bow and two or three arrows, but
+I never knew any of them take a gun unless such as had been blown or
+bursted, and the barrels cut quite short, which, when reduced to the
+least possible size to be capable of doing any service, must be too
+great a weight for a man to run with in his hand for so many hours
+together.
+
+When the poor moose are incapable of making farther speed, they stand
+and keep their pursuers at bay with {284} their head and fore-feet; in
+the use of which they are very dexterous, especially the latter; so that
+the Indians who have neither a bow nor arrows, nor a short gun, with
+them, are generally obliged to lash their knives or bayonets to the end
+of a long stick, and stab the moose at a distance. For want of this
+necessary precaution, some of the boys and fool-hardy young men, who
+have attempted to rush in upon them, have frequently received such
+unlucky blows from their fore-feet, as to render their recovery very
+doubtful.
+
+The flesh of the moose, thus killed, is far from being well-tasted, and
+I should think must be very unwholesome, from being over-heated; as by
+running so many hours together, the animal must have been in a violent
+fever; the flesh being soft and clammy, must have a very disagreeable
+taste, neither resembling fish, flesh, nor fowl.[BK]
+
+The Southern Indians use dogs for this kind of hunting, which makes it
+easier and more expeditious; but the Northern tribes having no dogs
+trained to that exercise, are under the necessity of doing it
+themselves.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. April. 7th.]
+
+{285} On the seventh we crossed a part of Thee-lee-aza River: at which
+time the small Northern deer were remarkably plentiful, but the moose
+began to be very scarce, as none were killed after the third.
+
+[Sidenote: 12th.]
+
+On the twelfth, we saw several swans flying to the Northward; they were
+the first birds of passage we had seen that Spring, except a few
+snow-birds, which always precede the migrating birds, and consequently
+are with much propriety called the harbingers of Spring. The swans also
+precede all the other species of water-fowl, and migrate so early in the
+season, that they find no open water but at the falls of rivers, where
+they are readily met, and sometimes shot, in considerable numbers.
+
+[Sidenote: 14th.]
+
+On the fourteenth, we arrived at another part of Thee-lee-aza
+River,[113] and pitched our tents not far from some families of strange
+Northern Indians, who had been there some time snaring deer, and who
+were all so poor as not to have one gun among them.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. April.]
+
+The villains belonging to my crew were so far from administering to
+their relief, that they robbed them of almost every useful article in
+their possession; and to complete their cruelty, the men joined
+themselves in parties of six, eight, or ten in a gang, and dragged
+several of their young women to a little distance from their tents,
+{286} where they not only ravished them, but otherwise ill-treated them,
+and that in so barbarous a manner, as to endanger the lives of one or
+two of them. Humanity on this, as well as on several other similar
+occasions during my residence among those wretches, prompted me to
+upbraid them with their barbarity; but so far were my remonstrances from
+having the desired effect, that they afterwards made no scruple of
+telling me in the plainest terms, that if any female relation of mine
+had been there, she should have been served in the same manner.
+
+Deer being plentiful, we remained at this place ten days, in order to
+dry and prepare a quantity of the flesh and fat to carry with us; as
+this was the last time the Indians expected to see such plenty until
+they met them again on the barren ground. During our stay here, the
+Indians completed the wood-work for their canoes, and procured all their
+Summer tent-poles, &c.; and while we were employed in this necessary
+business, the thaw was so great that the bare ground began to appear in
+many places, and the ice in the rivers, where the water was shallow and
+the current rapid, began to break up; so that we were in daily
+expectation of seeing geese, ducks, and other birds of passage.
+
+[Sidenote: 25th.]
+
+On the twenty-fifth, the weather being cool and favourable for
+travelling, we once more set out, and that {287} day walked twenty miles
+to the Eastward; as some of the women had not joined us, we did not move
+on the two following days.
+
+[Sidenote: 28th.]
+
+On the twenty-eighth, having once more mustered all our forces, early in
+the morning we set out, and the next day passed by Thleweyaza Yeth,[114]
+the place at which we had prepared wood-work for canoes in the Spring
+one thousand seven hundred and seventy-one.
+
+[Sidenote: May. 1st.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. May.]
+
+As the morning of the first of May was exceedingly fine and pleasant,
+with a light air from the South, and a great thaw, we walked eight or
+nine miles to the East by North, when a heavy fall of snow came on,
+which was followed, or indeed more properly accompanied, by a hard gale
+of wind from the North West. At the time the bad weather began, we were
+on the top of a high barren hill, a considerable distance from any
+woods; judging it to be no more than a squall, we sat down, in
+expectation of its soon passing by. As the night, however, advanced, the
+gale increased to such a degree, that it was impossible for a man to
+stand upright; so that we were obliged to lie down, without any other
+defence against the weather, than putting our sledges and other lumber
+to windward of us, which in reality was of no real service, as it only
+harboured a great drift of snow, with which in some places we were
+covered to the depth of two or three feet; and as the night was not very
+cold, I found myself, {288} and many others who were with me, long
+before morning in a puddle of water, occasioned by the heat of our
+bodies melting the snow.
+
+[Sidenote: 2d.]
+
+[Sidenote: 3d.]
+
+The second proved fine pleasant weather, with warm sunshine. In the
+morning, having dried all our clothing, we proceeded on our journey. In
+the afternoon we arrived at the part at which my guide intended we
+should build our canoes; but having had some difference with his
+countrymen, he altered his mind, and determined to proceed to the
+Eastward, as long as the season would permit, before he attempted to
+perform that duty. Accordingly, on the third, we pursued our way, and as
+that and the following day were very cold, which made us walk briskly,
+we were enabled to make good days' journies; but the fifth was so hot
+and sultry, that we only walked about thirteen miles in our old course
+to the East by North, and then halted about three-quarters of a mile to
+the South of Black Bear Hill;[115] a place which I had seen in the
+Spring of one thousand seven hundred and seventy-one.
+
+[Sidenote: 6th.]
+
+On the sixth, the weather was equally hot with the preceding day; in the
+morning, however, we moved on eleven miles to the East, and then met
+several strange Indians, who informed us that a few others, who had a
+tolerable cargo of furrs, and were going to the Factory that Summer,
+were not far distant.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. May.]
+
+{289} On receiving this intelligence, my guide, Matonabbee, sent a
+messenger to desire their company. This was soon complied with, as it is
+an universal practice with the Indian Leaders, both Northern and
+Southern, when going to the Company's Factory, to use their influence
+and interest in canvassing for companions; as they find by experience
+that a large gang gains them much respect. Indeed, the generality of
+Europeans who reside in those parts, being utterly unacquainted with the
+manners and customs of the Indians, have conceived so high an opinion of
+those Leaders, and their authority, as to imagine that all who accompany
+them on those occasions are entirely devoted to their service and
+command all the year; but this is so far from being the case, that the
+authority of those great men, when absent from the Company's Factory,
+never extends beyond their own family; and the trifling respect which is
+shown them by their countrymen during their residence at the Factory,
+proceeds only from motives of interest.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. May.]
+
+The Leaders have a very disagreeable task to perform on those occasions;
+for they are not only obliged to be the mouthpiece, but the beggars for
+all their friends and relations for whom they have a regard, as well as
+for those whom at other times they have reason to fear. Those unwelcome
+commissions, which are imposed on them by their followers, joined to
+their own desire of being thought men of great consequence and interest
+with the English, {290} make them very troublesome. And if a Governor
+deny them any thing which they ask, though it be only to give away to
+the most worthless of their gang, they immediately turn sulky and
+impertinent to the highest degree; and however rational they may be at
+other times, are immediately divested of every degree of reason, and
+raise their demands to so exorbitant a pitch, that after they have
+received to the amount of five times the value of all the furrs they
+themselves have brought, they never cease begging during their stay at
+the Factory; and, after all, few of them go away thoroughly
+satisfied.[BL]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. May. 11th.]
+
+{291} After stopping four days at this place, Matonabbee, and all the
+Indians who were to accompany me to the Fort, agreed to leave the
+elderly people and young children here, in the care of some Indians who
+were capable of providing for them, and who had orders to proceed to a
+place called Cathawhachaga, on the barren grounds, and there wait the
+return of their relations from the Factory. Matters of this kind being
+settled, apparently to the entire satisfaction of all parties, we
+resumed our journey on the eleventh of May, and that at a much brisker
+pace than we could probably have done when all the old people and young
+children were with us. In the afternoon of the same day we met some
+other Northern Indians, who were also going to the Fort with furrs;
+those joined our party, and at night we all pitched our tents by the
+side of a river that empties itself into Doo-baunt Lake. This day all of
+us threw away our snow-shoes, as the ground was so bare in most places
+as not to require any such assistance; but sledges were occasionally
+serviceable for some time, particularly when we walked on the ice of
+rivers or lakes.
+
+[Sidenote: 12th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 18th.]
+
+{292} The weather on the twelfth was so exceedingly hot and sultry, and
+the water so deep on the top of the ice of the above-mentioned river, as
+to render walking on it not only very troublesome, but dangerous; so
+after advancing about five miles we pitched our tents, and the warm
+weather being likely to continue, the Indians immediately began to build
+their canoes, which were completed with such expedition, that in the
+afternoon of the eighteenth we again set forward on our journey, but the
+day being pretty far spent, we only walked about four miles, and put up
+for the night.
+
+[Sidenote: 19th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. May.]
+
+The morning of the nineteenth was fine pleasant weather; and as all the
+water was drained off from the top of the ice, it rendered walking on it
+both safe and easy; accordingly we set out pretty early, and that day
+walked upwards of twenty miles to the East North East on the
+above-mentioned river.[116] The next day proved so cold, that after
+walking about fifteen miles, we were obliged to put up; for having left
+Doo-baunt River, we were frequently obliged to wade above the knees
+through swamps of mud, water, and wet snow; which froze to our stockings
+and shoes in such a thick crust, as not only rendered walking very
+laborious, but at the same time subjected us to the danger of having our
+legs and feet frozen.
+
+[Sidenote: 21st.]
+
+The weather on the twenty-first was more severe than on the preceding
+day; but the swamps and ponds being {293} by that time frozen over, it
+was tolerable walking: we proceeded therefore on our journey, but the
+wind blew so fresh, that we had not walked sixteen miles, before we
+found that those who carried the canoes could not possibly keep up with
+us, so that we put up for the night. In the course of this day's journey
+we crossed the North West Bay of Wholdyah'd Lake; which, at that part,
+is called by the Northern Indians A Naw-nee-tha'd Whoie.[117] This day
+several of the Indians turned back, not being able to proceed for want
+of provisions. Game of all kinds indeed were so scarce, that, except a
+few geese, nothing had been killed by any of our party, from our leaving
+the women and children on the eleventh instant, nor had we seen one deer
+the whole way.
+
+[Sidenote: 22d.]
+
+The twenty-second proved more moderate, when all our party having
+joined, we again advanced to the North East, and after walking about
+thirteen miles, the Indians killed four deer. Our number, however, had
+now so increased, that four small Northern deer would scarcely afford us
+all a single meal.
+
+[Sidenote: 23d.]
+
+[Sidenote: 25th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. May.]
+
+The next day we continued our journey, generally walking in the North
+East quarter; and on the twenty-fifth, crossed the North bay of
+They-hole-kye'd Whoie, or Snow-bird Lake; and at night got clear of all
+woods, and lay on the barren ground. The same day several of the Indians
+struck off another way, not being able to {294} proceed to the Fort for
+want of ammunition. As we had for some days past made good journies, and
+at the same time were all heavy-laden, and in great distress for
+provisions, some of my companions were so weak as to be obliged to leave
+their bundles of furrs;[BM] and many others were so reduced as to be no
+longer capable of proceeding with us, having neither guns nor
+ammunition; so that their whole dependence for support was on the fish
+they might be able to catch; and though fish was pretty plentiful in
+most of the rivers and lakes hereabout, yet they were not always to be
+depended on for such an immediate supply of food as those poor people
+required.
+
+Though I had at this time a sufficient stock of ammunition to serve me
+and all my proper companions to the Fort, yet self-preservation being
+the first law of Nature, it was thought advisable to reserve the
+greatest part of it for our own use; especially as geese and other
+smaller birds were the only game now to be met with, and which, in times
+of scarcity, bears hard on the articles of powder and shot. Indeed most
+of the Indians who actually accompanied me the whole way to the Factory
+had some little ammunition remaining, which enabled them to travel in
+times of real scarcity better than those whom we left behind; and though
+{295} we assisted many of them, yet several of their women died for
+want. It is a melancholy truth, and a disgrace to the little humanity of
+which those people are possessed, to think, that in times of want the
+poor women always come off short; and when real distress approaches,
+many of them are permitted to starve, when the males are amply provided
+for.
+
+[Illustration: _Photo: J. B. Tyrrell, December 5, 1894._
+WOODS OF SPRUCE AND LARCH, SOUTH-WEST OF CHURCHILL]
+
+[Illustration: _Photo: J. B. Tyrrell, August 2, 1893._
+STONY SURFACE OF BARREN LANDS BESIDE DUBAWNT RIVER]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. May. 26th.]
+
+The twenty-sixth was fine and pleasant. In the morning we set out as
+usual, and after walking about five miles, the Indians killed three
+deer; as our numbers were greatly lessened, these served us for two or
+three meals, at a small expence of ammunition.
+
+[Sidenote: 30th.]
+
+[Sidenote: June. 3d.]
+
+In continuing our course to the Eastward, we crossed Cathawhachaga
+River, on the thirtieth of May,[118] on the ice, which broke up soon
+after the last person had crossed it. We had not been long on the East
+side of the river before we perceived bad weather near at hand, and
+began to make every preparation for it which our situation would admit,
+and that was but very indifferent, being on entire barren ground. It is
+true, we had complete sets of Summer tent-poles, and such tent-cloths as
+are generally used by the Northern Indians in that season; these were
+arranged in the best manner, and in such places as were most likely to
+afford us shelter from the threatening storm. The rain soon began to
+descend in such torrents as to make the river overflow to such a degree
+as soon to convert our first {296} place of retreat into an open sea,
+and oblige us in the middle of the night to assemble at the top of an
+adjacent hill, where the violence of the wind would not permit us to
+pitch a tent; so that the only shelter we could obtain was to take the
+tent-cloth about our shoulders, and sit with our backs to the wind; and
+in this situation we were obliged to remain without the least
+refreshment, till the morning of the third of June: in the course of
+which time the wind shifted all round the compass, but the bad weather
+still continued, so that we were constantly obliged to shift our
+position as the wind changed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. June.]
+
+The weather now became more moderate, though there was still a fresh
+gale from the North West, with hard frost and frequent showers of snow.
+Early in the morning, however, we proceeded on our journey, but the wet
+and cold I had experienced the two preceding days so benumbed my lower
+extremities, as to render walking for some time very troublesome. In the
+course of this day's journey we saw great numbers of geese flying to the
+Southward, a few of which we killed; but these were very
+disproportionate to the number of mouths we had to feed, and to make up
+for our long fasting.
+
+[Sidenote: 8th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. June.]
+
+From that time to the eighth we killed every day as many geese as were
+sufficient to preserve life; but on that day we perceived plenty of
+deer, five of which the Indians killed, which put us all into good
+spirits, and the {297} number of deer we then saw afforded great hopes
+of more plentiful times during the remainder of our journey. It is
+almost needless to add, that people in our distressed situation expended
+a little time in eating, and slicing some of the flesh ready for drying;
+but the drying it occasioned no delay, as we fastened it on the tops of
+the women's bundles, and dried it by the sun and wind while we were
+walking; and, strange as it may appear, meat thus prepared is not only
+very substantial food, but pleasant to the taste, and generally much
+esteemed by the natives. For my own part I must acknowledge, that it was
+not only agreeable to my palate, but after eating a meal of it, I have
+always found that I could travel longer without victuals, than after any
+other kind of food. All the dried meat prepared by the Southern Indians
+is performed by exposing it to the heat of a large fire, which soon
+exhausts all the fine juices from it, and when sufficiently dry to
+prevent putrefaction, is no more to be compared with that cured by the
+Northern Indians in the Sun, or by the heat of a very slow fire, than
+meat that has been boiled down for the sake of the soup, is to that
+which is only sufficiently boiled for eating: the latter has all the
+juices remaining, which, being easily dissolved by the heat and
+moisture of the stomach, proves a strong and nourishing food; whereas
+the former being entirely deprived of those qualities, can by no means
+have an equal claim to that character. Most of the Europeans, however,
+are fonder of it than they are of that cured by the {298} Northern
+Indians. The same may be said to the lean parts of the beast, which are
+first dried, and then reduced into a kind of powder. That done by the
+Northern Indians is entirely free from smoke, and quite soft and mellow
+in the mouth: whereas that which is prepared by the Southern tribes is
+generally as bitter as soot with smoke, and is as hard as the scraps of
+horn, &c. which are burnt to make hardening for the cutlers. I never
+knew, that any European was so fond of this as they are of that made by
+the Northern Indians.
+
+[Sidenote: 9th.]
+
+On the ninth, as we were continuing our course to the Factory, which
+then lay in the South East quarter, we saw several smokes to the North
+East, and the same day spoke with many Northern Indians, who were going
+to Knapp's Bay to meet the Churchill sloop. Several of those Indians had
+furrs with them, but having some time before taken up goods on trust at
+Prince of Wales's Fort, were taking that method to delay the payment of
+them. Defrauds of this kind have been practised by many of those people
+with great success, ever since the furr-trade has been established with
+the Northern Indians at Knapp's Bay; by which means debts to a
+considerable amount are annually lost to the Company, as well as their
+Governor in the Bay.
+
+Being desirous of improving every opportunity that the fine weather
+afforded, we did not lose much time in conversation with those Indians,
+but proceeded on our course {299} to the South East, while they
+continued theirs to the North East.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. June.]
+
+For many days after leaving those people, we had the good fortune to
+meet with plenty of provisions; and as the weather was for a long time
+remarkably fine and pleasant, our circumstances were altered so much for
+the better, that every thing seemed to contribute to our happiness, as
+if desirous to make some amends for the severe hunger, cold, and
+excessive hardships that we had suffered long before, and which had
+reduced us to the greatest misery and want.
+
+Deer was so plentiful a great part of the way, that the Indians killed
+as many as were wanted, without going out of their road; and every lake
+and river to which we came seemed willing to give us a change of diet,
+by affording us plenty of the finest fish, which we caught either with
+hooks or nets. Geese, partridges, gulls, and many other fowls, which are
+excellent eating, were also in such plenty, that it only required
+ammunition, in skilful hands, to have procured as many of them as we
+could desire.
+
+The only inconvenience we now felt was from frequent showers of heavy
+rain; but the intervals between these showers being very warm, and the
+Sun shining bright, that difficulty was easily overcome, especially as
+the belly was plentifully supplied with excellent victuals. Indeed the
+{300} very thoughts of being once more arrived so near home, made me
+capable of encountering every difficulty, even if it had been hunger
+itself in the most formidable shape.
+
+[Sidenote: 18th.]
+
+On the eighteenth, we arrived at Egg River, from which place, at the
+solicitation of my guide Matonabbee, I sent a letter post-haste to the
+Chief at Prince of Wales's Fort, advising him of my being so far
+advanced on my return. The weather at this time was very bad and rainy,
+which caused us to lose near a whole day; but upon the fine weather
+returning, we again proceeded at our usual rate of eighteen or twenty
+miles a day, sometimes more or less, according as the road, the weather,
+and other circumstances, would admit.[119]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. June.]
+
+Deer now began to be not quite so plentiful as they had been, though we
+met with enough for present use, which was all we wanted, each person
+having as much dried meat as he could conveniently carry, besides his
+furrs and other necessary baggage.
+
+[Sidenote: 26th.]
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. June.]
+
+[Sidenote: 29th.]
+
+Early in the morning of the twenty-sixth we arrived at Seal River;[BN]
+but the wind blowing right up it, made {301} so great a sea, that we
+were obliged to wait near ten hours before we could venture to cross it
+in our little canoes. {302} In the afternoon the weather grew more
+moderate, so that we were enabled to ferry over the river; after which
+we resumed our journey, and at night pitched our tents in some tufts of
+willows in sight of the woods of Po-co-thee-kis-co River, at which we
+arrived early in the morning of the twenty-eighth; but the wind again
+blowing very hard in the North East quarter, it was the afternoon of the
+twenty-ninth before we could attempt to cross it.
+
+[Sidenote: 1772. June.]
+
+Just at the time we were crossing the South branch of Po-co-thee-kis-co
+River, the Indians that were sent from Egg River with a letter to the
+Chief at Churchill, joined us on their return, and brought a little
+tobacco and some other articles which I had desired. Though it was late
+in the afternoon before we had all crossed the river, yet we walked that
+evening till after ten o'clock, and then put up on one of the
+Goose-hunting Islands, as they are generally called, about ten miles
+from the Factory. The next morning I arrived in good health at Prince of
+Wales's Fort, after having been absent eighteen months and twenty-three
+{303} days on this last expedition; but from my first setting out with
+Captain Chawchinaha, it was two years seven months and twenty-four days.
+
+Though my discoveries are not likely to prove of any material advantage
+to the Nation at large, or indeed to the Hudson's Bay Company, yet I
+have the pleasure to think that I have fully complied with the orders of
+my Masters, and that it has put a final end to all disputes concerning a
+North West Passage through Hudson's Bay. It will also wipe off, in some
+measure, the ill-grounded and unjust aspersions of Dobbs, Ellis, Robson,
+and the American Traveller; who have all taken much pains to condemn the
+conduct of the Hudson's Bay Company, as being averse from discoveries,
+and from enlarging their trade.[121]
+
+[Illustration: _Photo: J. B. Tyrrell, August 10, 1894._
+TWO CHIPEWYAN INDIANS FROM KAZAN RIVER]
+
+[Illustration: _Photo: J. B. Tyrrell, August 1, 1894._
+VALLEY OF THLEWIAZA RIVER]
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[101] Great Slave Lake is 288 miles long from east to west, very
+irregular in width, and its area is about 10,400 square miles, being the
+fifth in size among the great lakes of America. However, no reasonably
+complete survey has yet been made of it. The place where he crossed it
+from north to south is on the regular Indian route through the Simpson
+Islands. A fish peculiar to this lake is the inconnu (see p. 254, note
+103), which does not ascend the McKenzie River above the rapids at Fort
+Smith, and is not found in Athabasca Lake, so that if any confirmation
+were needed of the identity of his lake with Great Slave Lake, Hearne's
+reference to this fish would in itself be quite convincing. Hearne was
+the first white man to visit this lake, for it was not till 1785,
+between thirteen and fourteen years after his visit, that the traders of
+the North-West Company from Montreal reached and built a trading-post on
+it, east of the mouth of the Slave River. On Peter Pond's map of 1785,
+republished by L. J. Burpee, in his "Search for the Western Sea," 1908,
+page 182, the following interesting note is written across the space
+N.E. of Great Slave Lake: "Orchipoins Country et Road to Churchill,"
+showing clearly that Pond knew of the trade carried on by the northern
+Indians with the Hudson's Bay Company at Churchill.
+
+[102] Pike=_Esox lucius_ Linn.; trout=_Cristivomer namaycush_ Walbaum;
+perch=_Stizostedion vitreum_ Mitchill; barble=_Catastomus_;
+tittameg=whitefish (_Coregonus_); methy=_Lota macuiosa_ (Le Sueur).--E.
+A. P.
+
+[103] Shees. This is probably the earliest notice of the inconnu,
+_Stenodus Mackenzii_ (Richardson). This anadromous species inhabits in
+summer the principal rivers of Northern Alaska and Mackenzie, east to
+and including the Anderson. It is present in Great Slave Lake throughout
+the year, this being, as far as I know, the only inland lake thus
+distinguished.--E. A. P.
+
+[104] Buffalo. This is the earliest notice of the northern race of the
+bison, the so-called Wood Bison, _Bison bison Athabasca_ Rhoads. It was
+formerly very numerous and inhabited an extensive region (see Preble's
+"North Am. Fauna," No. 27, p. 144, 1908), but is now reduced to a few
+small herds, aggregating a few hundred individuals, which roam over a
+limited area south of Great Slave Lake.--E. A. P.
+
+[BC] It is remarked by Mr. Catesby, in his description of this animal,
+that no man can lift one of their heads. Those I saw in the Athapuscow
+country are such as I have described; and I am assured by the Company's
+servants, as well as the Indians who live near Hudson's House, that the
+buffalos there are much smaller; so that the species Mr. Catesby saw, or
+wrote of, must have been much larger, or have had very large heads; for
+it is well known that a man of any tolerable strength can lift two and a
+half, or three hundred pounds weight. I think that the heads of his
+buffalos are too heavy for the bodies, as the bodies of those I saw in
+the Athapuscow country appear to have been of equal weight with his.
+
+[105] _Alces Americanus_ (Clinton), still common throughout the
+region.--E. A. P.
+
+[BD] The moose formerly sent to his Majesty was from that place. A young
+male was also put on board the ship, but it died on the passage,
+otherwise it is probable they might have propagated in this country.
+
+[BE] Since the above was written, the same Indian that brought all the
+above-mentioned young moose to the Factory had, in the year 1777, two
+others, so tame, that when on his passage to Prince of Wales's Fort in a
+canoe, the moose always followed him along the bank of the river; and at
+night, or on any other occasion when the Indians landed, the young moose
+generally came and fondled on them, in the same manner as the most
+domestic animal would have done, and never offered to stray from the
+tents. Unfortunately, in crossing a deep bay in one of the lakes (on a
+fine day), all the Indians that were not interested in the safe-landing
+of those engaging creatures, paddled from point to point; and the man
+that owned them, not caring to go so far about by himself, accompanied
+the others, in hopes they would follow him round as usual; but at night
+the young moose did not arrive; and as the howling of some wolves was
+heard in that quarter, it was supposed they had been devoured by them,
+as they were never afterward seen.
+
+[BF] Mr. Du Pratz, in his description of this animal, says, it is never
+found farther North than Cape Breton and Nova Scotia; but I have seen
+them in great numbers in the Athapuscow Country, which cannot be much
+short of 60 deg. North latitude.
+
+[106] The deer here meant is the Wapati or Canadian Elk, the Cree name
+of which is Waskas[=u], or Wewaskas[=u].
+
+[BG] The Northern Indians make their fishing-nets with small thongs cut
+from raw deer-skins; which when dry appear very good, but after being
+soaked in water some time, grow so soft and slippery, that when large
+fish strike the net, the hitches are very apt to slip and let them
+escape. Beside this inconvenience, they are very liable to rot, unless
+they be frequently taken out of the water and dried.
+
+[BH] It is too common a case with most of the tribes of Southern Indians
+for the women to desire their husbands or friends, when going to war, to
+bring them a slave, that they may have the pleasure of killing it; and
+some of these inhuman women will accompany their husbands, and murder
+the women and children as fast as their husbands do the men.
+
+When I was at Cumberland House, (an inland settlement that I established
+for the Hudson's Bay Company in the year 1774,) I was particularly
+acquainted with a very young lady of this extraordinary turn; who, when
+I desired some Indians that were going to war to bring me a young slave,
+which I intended to have brought up as a domestic, Miss was equally
+desirous that one might be brought to her, for the cruel purpose of
+murdering it. It is scarcely possible to express my astonishment, on
+hearing such an extraordinary request made by a young creature scarcely
+sixteen years old; however, as soon as I recovered from my surprise, I
+ordered her to leave the settlement, which she did, with those who were
+going to war; and it is therefore probable she might not be disappointed
+in her request. The next year I was ordered to the command of Prince of
+Wales's Fort, and therefore never saw her afterward.
+
+[107] The map is very indefinite in this part of his course, and little
+dependence can be placed on his positions. The place where he came to
+the Slave (Athapuscow) River must have been some distance south of Great
+Slave Lake, and as he followed it upwards for forty miles to where it
+turned to the south, he probably reached some place not far from the
+rapids at Fort Smith, in latitude 60 deg. north, which is 15' south of the
+point indicated on his map as the place where he left the river and
+struck into the country to the east.
+
+[108] When the geography of the country between Athabasca and Great
+Slave Lakes becomes known, it may be possible to follow him here, but
+his map gives no indication of any stream in this vicinity flowing into
+Lake Clowey. He appears to have thought so little of the small river
+that he did not take the trouble to map it.
+
+[109] The reference here and on the following pages is certainly to the
+belt of forest which occurs on the banks of Thelon River and its
+tributary above its junction with the Dubawnt River. J. W. Tyrrell, who
+explored and surveyed this river in 1900, refers to it as follows:--
+
+"The investigations of the present expedition have, however, established
+both the existence and location of such an oasis; but, as predicted by
+Hearne, the primitive settlers have long since departed, although for
+some other reasons than lack of fuel.
+
+"In support of Hearne's story, and my belief that his reference was to
+the valley of the Thelon, it may be noted that some very old choppings
+were observed, as well as the decayed, moss-grown remains of some very
+old camps, whilst scarcely any recent signs of habitation exist.
+
+"The wooded, or partially-wooded, banks of the Thelon extend for a
+distance of about one hundred and seventy miles below the forks of the
+Hanbury. This distance is not to be understood as a continuous stretch
+of timber, but over that distance many fine spruce groves, as well as
+more or less continuous thinly-scattered trees are found. The largest
+trees measured from twelve to fifteen inches in diameter, but the
+average diameter would be about six inches." (Append. 26, Pt. III.
+Annual Report, Department of the Interior, Canada, 1901, pp. 7, 27.)
+
+[BI] To snare swans, geese, or ducks, in the water, it requires no other
+process than to make a number of hedges, or fences, project into the
+water, at right angles, from the banks of a river, lake, or pond; for it
+is observed that those birds generally swim near the margin, for the
+benefit of feeding on the grass, &c. Those fences are continued for some
+distance from the shore, and separated two or three yards from each
+other, so that openings are left sufficiently large to let the birds
+swim through. In each of those openings a snare is hung and fastened to
+a stake, which the bird, when intangled, cannot drag from the bottom;
+and to prevent the snare from being wafted out of its proper place by
+the wind, it is secured to the stakes which form the opening, with
+tender grass, which is easily broken.
+
+This method, though it has the appearance of being very simple, is
+nevertheless attended with much trouble, particularly when we consider
+the smallness of their canoes, and the great inconveniency they labour
+under in performing works of this kind in the water. Many of the stakes
+used on those occasions are of a considerable length and size, and the
+small branches which form the principal part of the hedges, are not
+arranged without much caution, for fear of oversetting the canoes,
+particularly where the water is deep, as it is in some of the lakes; and
+in many of the rivers the current is very swift, which renders this
+business equally troublesome. When the lakes and rivers are shallow, the
+natives are frequently at the pains to make fences from shore to shore.
+
+To snare those birds in their nests requires a considerable degree of
+art, and, as the natives say, a great deal of cleanliness; for they have
+observed, that when snares have been set by those whose hands were not
+clean, the birds would not go into the nest.
+
+Even the goose, though so simple a bird, is notoriously known to forsake
+her eggs, if they are breathed on by the Indians.
+
+The smaller species of birds which make their nest in the ground, are by
+no means so delicate, of course less care is necessary to snare them. It
+has been observed that all birds which build in the ground go into their
+nest at one particular side, and out of it on the opposite. The Indians,
+thoroughly convinced of this, always set the snares on the side on which
+the bird enters the nest; and if care be taken in setting them, seldom
+fail of seizing their object. For small birds, such as larks, and many
+others of equal size, the Indians only use two or three hairs out of
+their head; but for larger birds, particularly swans, geese, and ducks,
+they make snares of deer-sinews, twisted like packthread, and
+occasionally of a small thong cut from a parchment deer-skin.
+
+[BJ] The Indians, both Northern and Southern, have found by experience,
+that by boiling the pesogan in water for a considerable time, the
+texture is so much improved, that when thoroughly dried, some parts of
+it will be nearly as soft as spunge.
+
+Some of those funguses are as large as a man's head; the outside, which
+is very hard and black, and much indented with deep cracks, being of no
+use, is always chopped off with a hatchet. Besides the two sorts of
+touchwood already mentioned, there is another kind of it in those parts,
+that I think is infinitely preferable to either. This is found in old
+decayed poplars, and lies in flakes of various sizes and thickness; some
+is not thicker than shammoy leather, others are as thick as a shoe-sole.
+This, like the fungus of the birch-tree, is always moist when taken from
+the tree, but when dry, it is very soft and flexible, and takes fire
+readily from the spark of a steel; but it is much improved by being kept
+dry in a bag that has contained gunpowder. It is rather surprising that
+the Indians, whose mode of life I have just been describing, have never
+acquired the method of making fire by friction, like the Esquimaux. It
+is also equally surprising that they do not make use of the skin-canoes.
+Probably deer-skins cannot be manufactured to withstand the water;[110]
+for it is well known that the Esquimaux use always seal-skins for that
+purpose, though they are in the habit of killing great numbers of deer.
+
+[110] The Eskimos met with on the banks of the Kasan River in 1894 make
+their canoes entirely of deer-skin parchment.
+
+[111] The positions of these two lakes are not exactly known, but they
+doubtless lie near the regular Indian canoe route from the north Bay of
+Lake Athabasca to Great Slave Lake. The latter lake lies fourteen miles
+W. or S.W. of Noo-shetht Lake.
+
+[112] On Hearne's map the position of Noo-shetht Whoie or Newstheth tooy
+Lake in relation to the streams in the country is very indefinite, but
+on the Pennant map it is shown on a stream which flows northward into
+Great Slave Lake. In King's "Journey to the Shores of the Arctic Ocean,"
+vol. ii. p. 289, a copy of an Indian map of a canoe route northward from
+Lake Athabasca is published. Most of this route is down the Copper
+Indian (Yellow Knife or Rock) River, which flows into Great Slave Lake a
+short distance east of the mouth of Slave River, and one of the lakes
+there shown is Tazennatooy or Muddy Water Lake, while another is
+Newstheth tooy, the lake here referred to.
+
+[BK] Though I was a swift runner in those days, I never accompanied the
+Indians in one of those chaces, but have heard many of them say, that
+after a long one, the moose, when killed, did not produce more than a
+quart of blood, the remainder being all settled in the flesh; which, in
+that state, must be ten times worse tasted, than the spleen or milt of a
+bacon hog.
+
+[113] Thee-lee-aza River is called Theetinah River (Blue Fish River?) on
+the Pennant map, and Petitot speaks of it as a tributary of T'ezus or
+Snowdrift River, which also empties into the south side of Great Slave
+Lake.
+
+[114] The latitude of this lake had been determined by Hearne as 61 deg. 30'
+north, as previously stated on p. 127, and he had placed it on his map
+in latitude 61 deg. 15' north. In making the journey to the Coppermine River
+and back to the lake, he had occupied a little more than a year, having
+left it on April 18th, 1771, and returned to it on April 29th, 1772.
+
+[115] On the 8th of March 1771 they "lay a little to the E.N.E. of Black
+Bear Hill" (see p. 125), while now they are three quarters of a mile
+south of it. As this hill is but a short distance (two days' journey)
+west of Wholdiah Lake, the two routes laid down on the map are evidently
+incorrect, for the map shows his route home at this place at least
+thirty-five miles north of the route out, instead of south of it as
+indicated by the text.
+
+[BL] As a proof of this assertion I take the liberty, though a little
+foreign to the narrative of my journey, to insert one instance, out of
+many hundreds of the kind that happen at the different Factories in
+Hudson's Bay, but perhaps no where so frequently as at Churchill. In
+October 1776, my old guide, Matonabbee, came at the head of a large gang
+of Northern Indians, to trade at Prince of Wales's Fort; at which time I
+had the honour to command it. When the usual ceremonies had passed, I
+dressed him out as a Captain of the first rank, and also clothed his six
+wives from top to toe: after which, that is to say, during his stay at
+the Factory, which was ten days, he begged seven lieutenants' coats,
+fifteen common coats, eighteen hats, eighteen shirts, eight guns, one
+hundred and forty pounds weight of gunpowder, with shot, ball, and
+flints in proportion; together with many hatchets, ice chissels, files,
+bayonets, knives, and a great quantity of tobacco, cloth, blankets,
+combs, looking-glasses, stockings, handkerchiefs, &c. besides numberless
+small articles, such as awls, needles, paint, steels, &c. in all to the
+amount of upwards of seven hundred beaver in the way of trade, to give
+away among his followers. This was exclusive of his own present, which
+consisted of a variety of goods to the value of four hundred beaver
+more. But the most extraordinary of his demands was twelve pounds of
+powder, twenty-eight pounds of shot and ball, four pounds of tobacco,
+some articles of clothing, and several pieces of iron-work, &c. to give
+to two men who had hauled his tent and other lumber the preceding
+Winter. This demand was so very unreasonable, that I made some scruple,
+or at least hesitated to comply with it, hinting that he was the person
+who ought to satisfy those men for their services; but I was soon
+answered, that he did not expect to have been _denied such a trifle as
+that was_; and for the future he would carry his goods where he could
+get his own price for them. On my asking him where that was? he replied,
+in a very insolent tone, "To the Canadian Traders." I was glad to comply
+with his demands; and I here insert the anecdote, as a specimen of an
+Indian's conscience.
+
+[116] The river down which the party was travelling at this time would
+appear to have been a tributary of the Dubawnt River from the west.
+Unfortunately when I descended the Dubawnt River there were no Chipewyan
+Indians in the party, so that I was not able to learn the local names of
+the various lakes and natural features encountered, nor anything of the
+geography of the country beyond the range of vision, so that doubtless
+many streams joined the main river without being noticed by me. This is
+probably one of them.
+
+[117] The north end of Wholdiah Lake of the present maps is in latitude
+60 deg. 49' north, whereas the part crossed by Hearne, which he calls A
+Naw-nee-tha'd Whoie, is placed by him in latitude 61 deg. 50' north. It
+remains for some future explorer to account for this discrepancy, and
+give the exact situation of this place. That Hearne's position is much
+too far north is clear, for they were then in the woods, and the
+northern limit of the woods crosses the Dubawnt River about latitude 61 deg.
+30' N., twenty-three miles south of Hearne's course as indicated on his
+map.
+
+[BM] All the furrs thus left were properly secured in caves and crevices
+of the rocks, so as to withstand any attempt that might be made on them
+by beasts of prey, and were well shielded from the weather; so that, in
+all probability, few of them were lost.
+
+[118] As they were then on the barren lands, they probably crossed the
+Kazan River, somewhere about the north end of Ennadai Lake. There is a
+lake marked on the Mackenzie map as Nipach Lake which may possibly be
+intended to represent this latter lake. Although there are a few groves
+of spruce along the banks of this stream, north of the limit of the
+forest, no attempts seem to have been made by Hearne or his party to
+camp at them. The date here given is interesting as naming a time when
+one, at least, of the streams through the barren lands breaks up in
+spring.
+
+[119] In the text no indication is given of the course which he followed
+after crossing Kazan River, but his map shows that he followed the route
+of his journey outwards, crossing Fat, Island, Whiskey Jack, and
+Baralzoa Lakes. The Cook map, however, shows that he went round to the
+north of Island Lake, and doubtless he also went round the largest of
+the other lakes, for he would hardly dare to cross them in the little
+canoes which he and the Indians were using for crossing the streams.
+
+[BN] Mr. Jeremie is very incorrect in his account of the situation of
+this River, and its course. It is not easy to guess, whether the Copper
+or Dog-ribbed Indians be the nation he calls _Platscotez de Chiens_: if
+it be the former, he is much mistaken; for they have abundance of
+beaver, and other animals of the furr kind, in their country: and if the
+latter, he is equally wrong to assert that they have copper-mines in
+their country; for neither copper nor any other kind of metal is in use
+among them.
+
+Mr. Jeremie was not too modest when he said, (see Dobb's Account of
+Hudson's Bay, p. 19,) "he could not say any thing positively in going
+farther North;" for in my opinion he never was so far North or West as
+he pretends, otherwise he would have been more correct in his
+description of those parts.
+
+The Strait he mentions is undoubtedly no other than what is now called
+Chesterfield's Inlet, which, in some late and cold seasons, is not clear
+of ice the whole Summer: for I will affirm, that no Indian, either
+Northern or Southern, ever saw either Wager Water or Repulse Bay, except
+the two men who accompanied Captain Middleton; and though those men were
+selected from some hundreds for their universal knowledge of those
+parts, yet they knew nothing of the coast so far North as Marble Island.
+
+As a farther proof, that no Indians, except the Esquimaux, ever frequent
+such high latitudes, unless at a great distance from the sea, I must
+here mention, that so late as the year 1763, when Captain Christopher
+went to survey Chesterfield's Inlet, though he was furnished with the
+most intelligent and experienced Northern Indians that could be found,
+they did not know an inch of the land to the North of Whale Cove.
+
+Mr. Jeremie is also as much mistaken in what he says concerning
+Churchill River, as he was in the direction of Seal River; for he says
+that no woods were found but in some islands which lie about ten or
+twelve miles up the river. At the time he wrote, which was long before a
+settlement was made there, wood was in great plenty on both sides the
+river; and that within five miles of where Prince of Wales's Fort now
+stands. But as to the islands of which he speaks, if they ever existed,
+they have of late years most assuredly disappeared; for since the
+Company have had a settlement on that river, no one ever saw an island
+in it that produced timber, or wood of any description, within forty
+miles of the Fort. But the great number of stumps now remaining, from
+which, in all probability, the trees have been cut for firing, are
+sufficient to prove that when Churchill River was first settled, wood
+was then in great plenty; but in the course of seventy-six years
+residence in one place, it is natural to suppose it was much thinned
+near the Settlement. Indeed for some years past common fewel is so
+scarce near that Factory, that it is the chief employment of most of the
+servants for upward of seven months in the year, to procure as much wood
+as will supply the fires for a Winter, and a little timber for necessary
+repairs.[120]
+
+[120] Mr. Jeremie was in charge of York Factory for six years, from 1708
+to 1714, while it was in the hands of the French. His reference to the
+presence of native copper among the _Plascotez de Chiens_, or Dog Rib
+Indians, who inhabit the country between the mouth of the Mackenzie and
+the Coppermine River, is particularly interesting:--
+
+"Ils ont dans leur Pays une _Mine de Cuivre rouge_, si abondante & si
+pure, que, sans le passer par la forge, tel qu'ils le ramassent a la
+Mine, ils ne font que le frapper entre deux pierres, & en font tout ce
+qu'ils veulent. J'en ai vu fort souvent, parce que nos Sauvages en
+apportoient toutes les fois qu'ils alloient en guerre de ces cotez la."
+(_Jeremie._ "Relation du Detroit et de la Baie de Hudson," in "Recueil
+de Voyages au Nord." Par J. F. Bernard. 10 vols. 12mo. Amsterdam. 1724.
+Tom. v. p. 404.)
+
+[121] Of the life at Fort Prince of Wales under Moses Norton in 1771,
+during the year of Hearne's absence on the Coppermine River, we have the
+following interesting account by Andrew Graham, one of the factors of
+the Hudson's Bay Company:--
+
+"Prince of Wales Fort. On a peninsula at the entrance of the Churchill
+River. Most northern settlement of the Company. A stone fort, mounting
+forty-two cannon [an error, as there are embrasures for only forty
+cannon in the parapet of the fort], from six to twenty-four pounders.
+Opposite, on the south side of the river, Cape Merry Battery, mounting
+six twenty-four pounders, with lodge-house and powder magazine. The
+river 1006 yards wide. A ship can anchor six miles above the fort. Tides
+carry salt water twelve miles up the river. No springs near; drink snow
+water nine months of the year. In summer keep three draught horses to
+haul water and draw stones to finish building the forts.
+
+"Staff:--A chief factor and officers, with sixty servants and tradesmen.
+The council, with discretionary power, consists of chief factor, second
+factor, surgeon, sloop and brig masters, and captain of Company's ship
+when in port. These answer and sign the general letter, sent yearly to
+directors. The others are accountant, trader, steward, armourer,
+ship-wright, carpenter, cooper, blacksmith, mason, tailor, and
+labourers. These must not trade with natives, under penalties for so
+doing. Council mess together, also servants. Called by bell to duty,
+work from six to six in summer, eight to four in winter. Two watch in
+winter, three in summer. In emergencies, tradesmen must work at
+anything. Killing of partridges the most pleasant duty.
+
+"Company signs contract with servants for three or five years, with the
+remarkable clause: 'Company may recall them home at any time without
+satisfaction for the remaining time. Contract may be renewed, if
+servants or labourers wish, at expiry of term. Salary advanced forty
+shillings, if men have behaved well in first term. The land and sea
+officers' and tradesmen's salaries do not vary, but seamen's are raised
+in time of war.'
+
+"A ship of 200 tons burden, bearing provisions, arrives yearly in August
+or early September. Sails again in ten days, wind permitting, with cargo
+and those returning. Sailors alone get pay when at home.
+
+"The annual trade sent home from this fort is from ten to four thousand
+made beaver, in furs, pelts, castorum, goose feathers, and quills, and a
+small quantity of train oil and whale bone, part of which they receive
+from the Eskimos, and the rest from the white whale fishery. A black
+whale fishery is in hand, but it shows no progress." ("The Remarkable
+History of the Hudson's Bay Company." By George Bryce, 1900, pp. 108-9.)
+
+
+
+
+{304} CHAP. IX.
+
+ A short Description of the Northern Indians, also a farther
+ Account of their Country, Manufactures, Customs, &c.
+
+ _An account of the persons and tempers of the Northern
+ Indians--They possess a great deal of art and cunning--Are very
+ guilty of fraud when in their power, and generally exact more
+ for their furrs than any other tribe of Indians,--Always
+ dissatisfied, yet have their good qualities--The men in general
+ jealous of their wives--Their marriages--Girls always betrothed
+ when children, and their reasons for it--Great care and
+ confinement of young girls from the age of eight or nine years
+ old--Divorces common among those people--The women are less
+ prolific than in warmer countries--Remarkable piece of
+ superstition observed by the women at particular periods--Their
+ art in making it an excuse for a temporary separation from their
+ husbands on any little quarrel--Reckoned very unclean on those
+ occasions--The Northern Indians frequently, for the want of
+ firing, are obliged to eat their meat raw--Some through
+ necessity obliged to boil it in vessels made of the rind of the
+ birch-tree--A remarkable dish among those people--The young
+ animals always cut out of their dams eaten, and accounted a
+ great delicacy--The parts of generation of all animals eat by
+ the men and boys--Manner of passing their time, and method of
+ killing deer in Summer with bows and arrows--Their tents, dogs,
+ sledges, &c.--Snow-shoes--Their partiality to domestic
+ vermin--Utmost extent of the Northern Indian country--Face of
+ the country--Species of fish--A peculiar kind of moss useful for
+ the support of man--Northern Indian method of catching fish,
+ either with hooks or nets--Ceremony observed when two parties of
+ those people meet--Diversions in common use--A singular disorder
+ which attacks some of those people--Their {305} superstition
+ with respect to the death of their friends--Ceremony observed on
+ those occasions--Their ideas of the first inhabitants of the
+ world--No form of religion among them--Remarks on that
+ circumstance--The extreme misery to which old age is
+ exposed--Their opinion of the Aurora Borealis, &c.--Some Account
+ of Matonabbee, and his services to his country, as well as to
+ the Hudson's Bay Company._
+
+
+As to the persons of the Northern Indians, they are in general above the
+middle size; well-proportioned, strong, and robust, but not corpulent.
+They do not possess that activity of body, and liveliness of
+disposition, which are so commonly met with among the other tribes of
+Indians who inhabit the West coast of Hudson's Bay.
+
+Their complexion is somewhat of the copper cast, inclining rather toward
+a dingy brown; and their hair, like all the other tribes in India, is
+black, strong, and straight.[BO] Few of the men have any beard; this
+seldom makes its appearance till they are arrived at middle-age, and
+then is by no means equal in quantity to what is observed on the faces
+of the generality of Europeans; the little they have, however, is
+exceedingly strong and bristly. Some of them take but little pains to
+eradicate their beards, though it is considered as very unbecoming; and
+those {306} who do, have no other method than that of pulling it out by
+the roots between their fingers and the edge of a blunt knife. Neither
+sex have any hair under their armpits, and very little on any other part
+of the body, particularly the women; but on the place where Nature
+plants the hair, I never knew them attempt to eradicate it.
+
+Their features are peculiar, and different from any other tribe in those
+parts; for they have very low foreheads, small eyes, high cheek-bones,
+Roman noses, full cheeks, and in general long broad chins. Though few of
+either sex are exempt from this national set of features, yet Nature
+seems to be more strict in her observance of it among the females, as
+they seldom vary so much as the men. Their skins are soft, smooth, and
+polished; and when they are dressed in clean clothing, they are as free
+from an offensive smell as any of the human race.
+
+Every tribe of Northern Indians, as well as the Copper and Dog-ribbed
+Indians, have three or four parallel black strokes marked on each cheek;
+which is performed by entering an awl or needle under the skin, and, on
+drawing it out again, immediately rubbing powdered charcoal into the
+wound.
+
+Their dispositions are in general morose and covetous, and they seem to
+be entirely unacquainted even with the name of gratitude. They are for
+ever pleading poverty, {307} even among themselves; and when they visit
+the Factory, there is not one of them who has not a thousand wants.
+
+When any real distressed objects present themselves at the Company's
+Factory, they are always relieved with victuals, clothes, medicines, and
+every other necessary, _gratis_; and in return, they instruct every one
+of their countrymen how to behave, in order to obtain the same charity.
+Thus it is very common to see both men and women come to the Fort
+half-naked, when either the severe cold in Winter, or the extreme
+troublesomeness of the flies in Summer, make it necessary for every part
+to be covered. On those occasions they are seldom at a loss for a
+plausible story, which they relate as the occasion of their distress
+(whether real or pretended), and never fail to interlard their history
+with plenty of sighs, groans, and tears, sometimes affecting to be lame,
+and even blind, in order to excite pity. Indeed, I know of no people
+that have more command of their passions on such occasions; and in this
+respect the women exceed the men, as I can affirm with truth I have seen
+some of them with one side of the face bathed in tears, while the other
+has exhibited a significant smile. False pretences for obtaining charity
+are so common among those people, and so often detected, that the
+Governor is frequently obliged to turn a deaf ear to many who apply for
+relief; for if he did not, he might give away the whole of the
+Company's goods, and by degrees all the Northern {308} tribe would make
+a trade of begging, instead of bringing furrs, to purchase what they
+want. It may truly be said, that they possess a considerable degree of
+deceit, and are very complete adepts in the art of flattery, which they
+never spare as long as they find that it conduces to their interest, but
+not a moment longer. They take care always to seem attached to a new
+Governor, and flatter his pride, by telling him that they look up to him
+as the father of their tribe, on whom they can safely place their
+dependance; and they never fail to depreciate the generosity of his
+predecessor, however extensive that might have been, however humane or
+disinterested his conduct; and if aspersing the old, and flattering the
+new Governor, has not the desired effect in a reasonable time, they
+represent him as the worst of characters, and tell him to his face that
+he is one of the most cruel of men; that he has no feeling for the
+distresses of their tribe, and that many have perished for want of
+proper assistance, (which, if it be true, is only owing to want of
+humanity among themselves,) and then they boast of having received ten
+times the favours and presents from his predecessor. It is remarkable
+that those are most lavish in their praises, who have never either
+deserved or received any favours from him. In time, however, this
+language also ceases, and they are perfectly reconciled to the man whom
+they would willingly have made a fool, and say, "he is no child, and not
+to be deceived by them."
+
+{309} They differ so much from the rest of mankind, that harsh
+uncourteous usage seems to agree better with the generality of them,
+particularly the lower class, than mild treatment; for if the least
+respect be shown them, it makes them intolerably insolent; and though
+some of their leaders may be exempt from this imputation, yet there are
+but few even of them who have sense enough to set a proper value on the
+favours and indulgences which are granted to them while they remain at
+the Company's Factories, or elsewhere within their territories.
+Experience has convinced me, that by keeping a Northern Indian at a
+distance, he may be made serviceable both to himself and the Company;
+but by giving him the least indulgence at the Factory, he will grow
+indolent, inactive, and troublesome, and only contrive methods to tax
+the generosity of an European.
+
+The greatest part of these people never fail to defraud Europeans
+whenever it is in their power, and take every method to over-reach them
+in the way of trade. They will disguise their persons and change their
+names, in order to defraud them of their lawful debts, which they are
+sometimes permitted to contract at the Company's Factory; and all debts
+that are outstanding at the succession of a new Governor are entirely
+lost, as they always declare, and bring plenty of witnesses to prove,
+that they were paid long before, but that their names had been forgotten
+to be struck out of the book.
+
+{310} Notwithstanding all those bad qualities, they are the mildest
+tribe of Indians that trade at any of the Company's settlements; and as
+the greatest part of them are never heated with liquor, are always in
+their senses, and never proceed to riot, or any violence beyond bad
+language.
+
+The men are in general very jealous of their wives, and I make no doubt
+but the same spirit reigns among the women; but they are kept so much in
+awe of their husbands, that the liberty of thinking is the greatest
+privilege they enjoy. The presence of a Northern Indian man strikes a
+peculiar awe into his wives, as he always assumes the same authority
+over them that the master of a family in Europe usually does over his
+domestic servants.
+
+Their marriages are not attended with any ceremony; all matches are made
+by the parents, or next of kin. On those occasions the women seem to
+have no choice, but implicitly obey the will of their parents, who
+always endeavour to marry their daughters to those that seem most
+likely to be capable of maintaining them, let their age, person, or
+disposition be ever so despicable.
+
+The girls are always betrothed when children, but never to those of
+equal age, which is doubtless sound policy with people in their
+situation, where the existence of a family {311} depends entirely on the
+abilities and industry of a single man. Children, as they justly
+observe, are so liable to alter in their manners and disposition, that
+it is impossible to judge from the actions of early youth what abilities
+they may possess when they arrive at puberty. For this reason the girls
+are often so disproportionably matched for age, that it is very common
+to see men of thirty-five or forty years old have young girls of no more
+than ten or twelve, and sometimes much younger. From the early age of
+eight or nine years, they are prohibited by custom from joining in the
+most innocent amusements with children of the opposite sex; so that when
+sitting in their tents, or even when travelling, they are watched and
+guarded with such an unremitting attention as cannot be exceeded by the
+most rigid discipline of an English boarding-school. Custom, however,
+and constant example, make such uncommon restraint and confinement sit
+light and easy even on children, whose tender ages seem better adapted
+to innocent and cheerful amusements, than to be cooped up by the side of
+old women, and constantly employed in scraping skins, mending shoes, and
+learning other domestic duties necessary in the care of a family.
+
+Notwithstanding those uncommon restraints on the young girls, the
+conduct of their parents is by no means uniform or consistent with this
+plan; as they set no bounds to their conversation, but talk before them,
+and even to them, on the most indelicate subjects. As their ears are
+accustomed {312} to such language from their earliest youth, this has by
+no means the same effect on them, it would have on girls born and
+educated in a civilized country, where every care is taken to prevent
+their morals from being contaminated by obscene conversation. The
+Southern Indians are still less delicate in conversation, in the
+presence of their children.
+
+The women among the Northern Indians are in general more backward than
+the Southern Indian women; and though it is well known that neither
+tribe lose any time, those early connections are seldom productive of
+children for some years.
+
+Divorces are pretty common among the Northern Indians; sometimes for
+incontinency, but more frequently for want of what they deem necessary
+accomplishments or for bad behaviour. This ceremony, in either case,
+consists of neither more nor less than a good drubbing, and turning the
+woman out of doors; telling her to go to her paramour, or relations,
+according to the nature of her crime.
+
+Providence is very kind in causing these people to be less prolific than
+the inhabitants of civilized nations; it is very uncommon to see one
+woman have more than five or six children; and these are always born at
+such a distance from one another, that the youngest is generally two or
+{313} three years old before another is brought into the world. Their
+easy births, and the ceremonies which take place on those occasions,
+have already been mentioned; I shall therefore only observe here, that
+they make no use of cradles, like the Southern Indians, but only tie a
+lump of moss between their legs, and always carry their children at
+their backs, next the skin, till they are able to walk. Though their
+method of treating young children is in this respect the most uncouth
+and awkward I ever saw, there are few among them that can be called
+deformed, and not one in fifty who is not bow-legged.
+
+There are certain periods at which they never permit the women to abide
+in the same tent with their husbands. At such times they are obliged to
+make a small hovel for themselves at some distance from the other tents.
+As this is an universal custom among all the tribes, it is also a piece
+of policy with the women, upon any difference with their husbands, to
+make that an excuse for a temporary separation, when, without any
+ceremony, they creep out (as is their usual custom on those occasions)
+under the eves of that side of the tent at which they happen to be
+sitting; for at those times they are not permitted to go in or out
+through the door. This custom is so generally prevalent among the women,
+that I have frequently known some of the sulky dames leave their
+husbands and tent for four or five days at a time, and repeat the farce
+twice or thrice in a month, while the poor men have never suspected the
+deceit, or if they {314} have, delicacy on their part has not permitted
+them to enquire into the matter. I have known Matonabbee's handsome
+wife, who eloped from him in May one thousand seven hundred and
+seventy-one, live thun-nardy, as they call it, (that is, alone,) for
+several weeks together, under this pretence; but as a proof he had some
+suspicion, she was always carefully watched, to prevent her from giving
+her company to any other man. The Southern Indians are also very
+delicate in this point; for though they do not force their wives to
+build a separate tent, they never lie under the same clothes during this
+period. It is, however, equally true, that the young girls, when those
+symptoms make their first appearance, generally go a little distance
+from the other tents for four or five days, and at their return wear a
+kind of veil or curtain, made of beads, for some time after, as a mark
+of modesty; as they are then considered marriageable, and of course are
+called women, though some at those periods are not more than thirteen,
+while others at the age of fifteen or sixteen have been reckoned as
+children, though apparently arrived at nearly their full growth.
+
+On those occasions a remarkable piece of superstition prevails among
+them; women in this situation are never permitted to walk on the ice of
+rivers or lakes, or near the part where the men are hunting beaver, or
+where a fishing-net is set, for fear of averting their success. They are
+also prohibited at those times from partaking of the {315} head of any
+animal, and even from walking in, or crossing the track where the head
+of a deer, moose, beaver, and many other animals, have lately been
+carried, either on a sledge or on the back. To be guilty of a violation
+of this custom is considered as of the greatest importance; because they
+firmly believe that it would be a means of preventing the hunter from
+having an equal success in his future excursions.
+
+Those poor people live in such an inhospitable part of the globe, that
+for want of firing, they are frequently obliged to eat their victuals
+quite raw, particularly in the Summer season, while on the barren
+ground; but early custom and frequent necessity make this practice so
+familiar to them, that so far from finding any inconvenience arise from
+it, or having the least dislike to it, they frequently do it by choice,
+and particularly in the article of fish; for when they do make a
+pretence of dressing it, they seldom warm it through. I have frequently
+made one of a party who has sat round a fresh-killed deer, and assisted
+in picking the bones quite clean, when I thought that the raw brains and
+many other parts were exceedingly good; and, however strange it may
+appear, I must bestow the same epithet on half-raw fish: even to this
+day I give the preference to trout, salmon, and the brown tittemeg, when
+they are not warm at the bone.
+
+{316} The extreme poverty of those Indians in general will not permit
+one half of them to purchase brass kettles from the Company; so that
+they are still under the necessity of continuing their original mode of
+boiling their victuals in large upright vessels made of birch-rind. As
+those vessels will not admit of being exposed to the fire, the Indians,
+to supply the defect, heat stones red-hot and put them into the water,
+which soon occasions it to boil; and by having a constant succession of
+hot stones, they may continue the process as long as it is necessary.
+This method of cooking, though very expeditious, is attended with one
+great evil; the victuals which are thus prepared are full of sand: for
+the stones thus heated, and then immerged in the water, are not only
+liable to shiver to pieces, but many of them being of a coarse gritty
+nature, fall to a mass of gravel in the kettle, which cannot be
+prevented from mixing with the victuals which are boiled in it. Besides
+this, they have several other methods of preparing their food, such as
+roasting it by a string, broiling it, &c.; but these need no farther
+description.
+
+The most remarkable dish among them, as well as all the other tribes of
+Indians in those parts, both Northern and Southern, is blood mixed with
+the half-digested food which is found in the deer's stomach or paunch,
+and boiled up with a sufficient quantity of water, to make it of the
+consistence of pease-pottage. Some fat and scraps {317} of tender flesh
+are also shred small and boiled with it. To render this dish more
+palatable, they have a method of mixing the blood with the contents of
+the stomach in the paunch itself, and hanging it up in the heat and
+smoke of the fire for several days; which puts the whole mass into a
+state of fermentation, and gives it such an agreeable acid taste, that
+were it not for prejudice, it might be eaten by those who have the
+nicest palates. It is true, some people with delicate stomachs would not
+be easily persuaded to partake of this dish, especially if they saw it
+dressed; for most of the fat which is boiled in it is first chewed by
+the men and boys, in order to break the globules that contain the fat;
+by which means it all boils out, and mixes with the broth: whereas, if
+it were permitted to remain as it came from the knife, it would still be
+in lumps, like suet. To do justice, however, to their cleanliness in
+this particular, I must observe, that they are very careful that neither
+old people with bad teeth, nor young children, have any hand in
+preparing this dish. At first, I must acknowledge that I was rather shy
+in partaking of this mess, but when I was sufficiently convinced of the
+truth of the above remark, I no longer made any scruple, but always
+thought it exceedingly good.
+
+The stomach of no other large animal beside the deer is eaten by any of
+the Indians that border on Hudson's Bay. In Winter, when the deer feed
+on fine white moss, the contents of the stomach is so much esteemed by
+them, {318} that I have often seen them sit round a deer where it was
+killed, and eat it warm out of the paunch. In Summer the deer feed more
+coarsely, and therefore this dish, if it deserve that appellation, is
+then not so much in favour.
+
+The young calves, fawns, beaver, &c. taken out of the bellies of their
+mothers, are reckoned most delicate food; and I am not the only European
+who heartily joins in pronouncing them the greatest dainties that can be
+eaten. Many gentlemen who have served with me at Churchill, as well as
+at York Fort, and the inland settlements, will readily agree with me in
+asserting, that no one who ever got the better of prejudice so far as to
+taste of those young animals, but has immediately become excessively
+fond of them; and the same may be said of young geese, ducks, &c. in the
+shell. In fact, it is almost become a proverb in the Northern
+settlements, that whoever wishes to know what is good, must live with
+the Indians.
+
+The parts of generation belonging to any beast they kill, both male and
+female, are always eaten by the men and boys; and though those parts,
+particularly in the males, are generally very tough, they are not, on
+any account, to be cut with an edge-tool, but torn to pieces with the
+teeth; and when any part of them proves too tough to be masticated, it
+is thrown into the fire and burnt. For the Indians believe firmly, that
+if a dog should eat any part of them, it would have the same effect on
+their {319} success in hunting, that a woman crossing their
+hunting-track at an improper period would have. The same ill-success is
+supposed also to attend them if a woman eat any of those parts.
+
+They are also remarkably fond of the womb of the buffalo, elk, deer, &c.
+which they eagerly devour without washing, or any other process but
+barely stroking out the contents. This, in some of the larger animals,
+and especially when they are some time gone with young, needs no
+description to make it sufficiently disgusting; and yet I have known
+some in the Company's service remarkably fond of the dish, though I am
+not one of the number. The womb of the beaver and deer is well enough,
+but that of the moose and buffalo is very rank, and truly
+disgusting.[BP]
+
+{320} Our Northern Indians who trade at the Factory, as well as all the
+Copper tribe, pass their whole Summer on the barren ground, where they
+generally find plenty of deer; and in some of the rivers and lakes, a
+great abundance of fine fish.
+
+Their bows and arrows, though their original weapons, are, since the
+introduction of fire-arms among them, become of little use, except in
+killing deer as they walk or run through a narrow pass prepared for
+their reception, where several Indians lie concealed for that purpose.
+This method of hunting is only practicable in Summer, and on the barren
+ground, where they have an extensive prospect, and can see the herds of
+deer at a great distance, as well as discover the nature of the country,
+and make every {321} necessary arrangement for driving them through the
+narrow defiles. This method of hunting is performed in the following
+manner:
+
+When the Indians see a herd of deer, and intend to hunt them with bows
+and arrows, they observe which way the wind blows, and always get to
+leeward, for fear of being smelled by the deer. The next thing to which
+they attend, is to search for a convenient place to conceal those who
+are appointed to shoot. This being done, a large bundle of sticks, like
+large ramrods, (which they carry with them the whole Summer for the
+purpose,) are ranged in two ranks, so as to form the two sides of a very
+acute angle, and the sticks placed at the distance of fifteen or twenty
+yards from each other. When those necessary arrangements are completed,
+the women and boys separate into two parties, and go round on both
+sides, till they form a crescent at the back of the deer, which are
+drove right forward; and as each of the sticks has a small flag, or more
+properly a pendant, fastened to it, which is easily waved to and fro by
+the wind, and a lump of moss stuck on each of their tops, the poor
+timorous deer, probably taking them for ranks of people, generally run
+straight forward between the two ranges of sticks, till they get among
+the Indians, who lie concealed in small circular fences, made with loose
+stones, moss, &c. When the deer approach very near, the Indians who are
+thus concealed start up and shoot; but as the deer generally pass along
+at {322} full speed, few Indians have time to shoot more than one or two
+arrows, unless the herd be very large.
+
+This method of hunting is not always attended with equal success; for
+sometimes after the Indians have been at the trouble of making places
+of shelter, and arranging the flag-sticks, &c. the deer will make off
+another way, before the women and children can surround them. At other
+times I have seen eleven or twelve of them killed with one volley of
+arrows; and if any gun-men attend on those occasions, they are always
+placed behind the other Indians, in order to pick up the deer that
+escape the bow-men. By these means I have seen upwards of twenty fine
+deer killed at one broadside, as it may be termed.
+
+Though the Northern Indians may be said to kill a great number of deer
+in this manner during the Summer, yet they have so far lost the art of
+shooting with bows and arrows, that I never knew any of them who could
+take those weapons only, and kill either deer, moose, or buffalo, in the
+common, wandering, and promiscuous method of hunting. The Southern
+Indians, though they have been much longer used to fire-arms, are far
+more expert with the bow and arrow, their original weapons.
+
+The tents made use of by those Indians, both in Summer and Winter, are
+generally composed of deer-skins in the hair; and for convenience of
+carriage, are always {323} made in small pieces, seldom exceeding five
+buck-skins in one piece. These tents, as also their kettles, and some
+other lumber, are always carried by dogs, which are trained to that
+service, and are very docile and tractable. Those animals are of various
+sizes and colours, but all of the fox and wolf breed, with sharp noses,
+full brushy tails, and sharp ears standing erect. They are of great
+courage when attacked, and bite so sharp, that the smallest cur among
+them will keep several of our largest English dogs at bay, if he can get
+up in a corner. These dogs are equally willing to haul in a sledge, but
+as few of the men will be at the trouble of making sledges for them, the
+poor women are obliged to content themselves with lessening the bulk of
+their load, more than the weight, by making the dogs carry these
+articles only, which are always lashed on their backs, much after the
+same manner as packs are, or used formerly to be, on pack-horses.
+
+[Illustration: INDIAN IMPLEMENTS
+A Bow
+An Arrow
+A left foot Snowshoe 41/2 foot long
+& 13 Inches broad
+A Sledge
+A kettle made of Burch rinde]
+
+In the fall of the year, and as the Winter advances, those people sew
+the skins of the deer's legs together in the shape of long portmanteaus,
+which, when hauled on the snow as the hair lies, are as slippery as an
+otter, and serve them as temporary sledges while on the barren ground;
+but when they arrive at any woods, they then make proper sledges, with
+thin boards of the larch-tree, generally known in Hudson's Bay by the
+name of Juniper.[122]
+
+{324} Those sledges are of various sizes, according to the strength of
+the persons who are to haul them: some I have seen were not less than
+twelve or fourteen feet long, and fifteen or sixteen inches wide, but in
+general they do not exceed eight or nine feet in length, and twelve or
+fourteen inches in breadth.
+
+The boards of which those sledges are composed are not more than a
+quarter of an inch thick, and seldom exceed five or six inches in width;
+as broader would be very unhandy for the Indians to work, who have no
+other tools than an ordinary knife, turned up a little at the point,
+from which it acquires the name of Bafe-hoth among the Northern Indians,
+but among the Southern tribes it is called Mo-co-toggan. The boards are
+sewed together with thongs of parchment deer-skin, and several cross
+bars of wood are sewed on the upper side, which serves both to
+strengthen the sledge and secure the ground-lashing, to which the load
+is always fastened by other smaller thongs, or stripes of leather. The
+head or fore-part of the sledge is turned up so as to form a
+semi-circle, of at least fifteen or twenty inches diameter. This
+prevents the carriage from diving into light snow, and enables it to
+slide over the inequalities and hard drifts of snow which are constantly
+met with on the open plains and barren grounds. The trace or
+draught-line to those sledges is a double string, or slip of leather,
+made fast to the head; and the bight is put across the shoulders of the
+person who {325} hauls the sledge, so as to rest against the breast.
+This contrivance, though so simple, cannot be improved by the most
+ingenious collar-maker in the world.
+
+Their snow-shoes differ from all others made use of in those parts; for
+though they are of the galley kind, that is, sharp-pointed before, yet
+they are always to be worn on one foot, and cannot be shifted from side
+to side, like other snow-shoes; for this reason the inner-side of the
+frames are almost straight, and the outer-side has a very large sweep.
+The frames are generally made of birch-wood, and the netting is composed
+of thongs of deer-skin; but their mode of filling that compartment where
+the foot rests, is quite different from that used among the Southern
+Indians.
+
+Their clothing, which chiefly consists of deer-skins in the hair, makes
+them very subject to be lousy; but that is so far from being thought a
+disgrace, that the best among them amuse themselves with catching and
+eating these vermin; of which they are so fond, that the produce of a
+lousy head or garment affords them not only pleasing amusement, but a
+delicious repast. My old guide, Matonabbee, was so remarkably fond of
+those little vermin, that he frequently set five or six of his strapping
+wives to work to louse their hairy deer-skin shifts, the produce of
+which being always very considerable, he eagerly received with both
+hands, and licked them in as fast, and with as good a grace, as {326}
+any European epicure would the mites in a cheese. He often assured me
+that such amusement was not only very pleasing, but that the objects of
+the search were very good; for which I gave him credit, telling him at
+the same time, that though I endeavoured to habituate myself to every
+other part of their diet, yet as I was but a sojourner among them, I had
+no inclination to accustom myself to such dainties as I could not
+procure in that part of the world where I was most inclined to reside.
+
+The Southern Indians and Esquimaux are equally fond of those vermin,
+which are so detestable in the eyes of an European; nay, the latter have
+many other dainties of a similar kind, for beside making use of
+train-oil as a cordial and as sauce to their meat, I have frequently
+seen them eat a whole handful of maggots that were produced in meat by
+fly-blows. It is their constant custom to eat the filth that comes from
+the nose; and when their noses bleed by accident, they always lick the
+blood into their mouths, and swallow it.
+
+The tract of land inhabited by the Northern Indians is very extensive,
+reaching from the fifty-ninth to the sixty-eighth degree of North
+latitude; and from East to West is upward of five hundred miles wide. It
+is bounded by Churchill River on the South; the Athapuscow Indians'
+Country on the West; the Dog-ribbed and Copper Indians' Country on the
+North; and by Hudson's Bay on the East. {327} The land throughout that
+whole tract of country is scarcely anything but one solid mass of rocks
+and stones, and in most parts very hilly, particularly to the Westward
+among the woods. The surface, it is very true, is in most places covered
+with a thin sod of moss, intermixed with the roots of the
+Wee-sa-ca-pucca, cranberries, and a few other insignificant shrubs and
+herbage; but under it there is in general a total want of soil, capable
+of producing anything except what is peculiar to the climate. Some of
+the marshes, indeed, produce several kinds of grass, the growth of which
+is amazingly rapid; but this is dealt out with so sparing a hand as to
+be barely sufficient to serve the geese, swans, and other birds of
+passage, during their migrations in the Spring and Fall, while they
+remain in a moulting state.
+
+The many lakes and rivers with which this part of the country abounds,
+though they do not furnish the natives with water-carriage, are yet of
+infinite advantage to them; as they afford great numbers of fish, both
+in Summer and Winter. The only species caught in those parts are trout,
+tittameg, (or tickomeg,) tench, two sorts of barble, (called by the
+Southern Indians Na-may-pith,) burbot, pike, and a few perch. The four
+former are caught in all parts of this country, as well the woody as the
+barren; but the three latter are only caught to the Westward, in such
+lakes and rivers as are situated among the woods; and though some of
+those rivers lead to the barren ground, yet the {328} three last
+mentioned species of fish are seldom caught beyond the edge of the
+woods, not even in the Summer season.
+
+There is a black, hard, crumply moss, that grows on the rocks and large
+stones in those parts, which is of infinite service to the natives, as
+it sometimes furnishes them with a temporary subsistence, when no animal
+food can be procured. This moss, when boiled, turns to a gummy
+consistence, and is more clammy in the mouth than sago; it may, by
+adding either moss or water, be made to almost any consistence. It is so
+palatable, that all who taste it generally grow fond of it. It is
+remarkably good and pleasing when used to thicken any kind of broth, but
+it is generally most esteemed when boiled in fish-liquor.
+
+The only method practised by those people to catch fish either in Winter
+or Summer, is by angling and setting nets; both of which methods is
+attended with much superstition, ceremony, and unnecessary trouble; but
+I will endeavour to describe them in as plain and brief a manner as
+possible.
+
+When they make a new fishing-net, which is always composed of small
+thongs cut from raw deer-skins, they take a number of birds bills and
+feet, and tie them, a little apart from each other, to the head and foot
+rope of the net, and at the four corners generally fasten some of the
+toes and jaws of the otters and jackashes. The birds feet {329} and
+bills made choice of on such occasions are generally those of the
+laughing goose, wavey, (or white goose,) gulls, loons, and
+black-heads[123]; and unless some or all of these be fastened to the
+net, they will not attempt to put it into the water, as they firmly
+believe it would not catch a single fish.
+
+A net thus accoutred is fit for setting whenever occasion requires, and
+opportunity offers; but the first fish of whatever species caught in it,
+are not to be sodden in the water, but broiled whole on the fire, and
+the flesh carefully taken from the bones without dislocating one joint;
+after which the bones are laid on the fire at full length and burnt. A
+strict observance of these rules is supposed to be of the utmost
+importance in promoting the future success of the new net; and a neglect
+of them would render it not worth a farthing.[BQ]
+
+When they fish in rivers, or narrow channels that join two lakes
+together, they could frequently, by tying two, three, or more nets
+together, spread over the whole breadth of the channel, and intercept
+every sizable fish that passed; but instead of that, they scatter the
+nets at a considerable distance from each other, from a {330}
+superstitious notion, that were they kept close together, one net would
+be jealous of its neighbour, and by that means not one of them would
+catch a single fish.
+
+The methods used, and strictly observed, when angling, are equally
+absurd as those I have mentioned; for when they bait a hook, a
+composition of four, five, or six articles, by way of charm, is
+concealed under the bait, which is always sewed round the hook. In fact,
+the only bait used by those people is in their opinion a composition of
+charms, inclosed within a bit of fish skin, so as in some measure to
+resemble a small fish. The things used by way of charm, are bits of
+beavers tails and fat, otter's vents and teeth, musk-rat's guts and
+tails, loon's vents, squirrel's testicles, the cruddled milk taken out
+of the stomach of sucking fawns and calves, human hair, and numberless
+other articles equally absurd.
+
+Every master of a family, and indeed almost every other person,
+particularly the men, have a small bundle of such trash, which they
+always carry with them, both in Summer and Winter; and without some of
+those articles to put under their bait, few of them could be prevailed
+upon to put a hook into the water, being fully persuaded that they may
+as well sit in the tent, as attempt to angle without such assistance.
+They have also a notion that fish of the same species inhabiting
+different parts of the country, are fond of different things; so that
+almost every {331} lake and river they arrive at, obliges them to alter
+the composition of the charm. The same rule is observed on broiling the
+first fruits of a new hook that is used for a new net; an old hook that
+has already been successful in catching large fish is esteemed of more
+value, than a handful of new ones which have never been tried.
+
+Deer also, as well as fish, are very numerous in many parts of this
+country; particularly to the North of the sixtieth degree of latitude.
+Alpine hares are in some parts of the barren ground pretty plentiful,
+where also some herds of musk-oxen are to be met with; and to the
+Westward, among the woods, there are some rabbits and partridges. With
+all those seeming sources of plenty, however, one half of the
+inhabitants, and perhaps the other half also, are frequently in danger
+of being starved to death, owing partly to their want of oeconomy; and
+most of these scenes of distress happen during their journies to and
+from Prince of Wales's Fort, the only place at which they trade.
+
+When Northern Indians are at the Factory, they are very liable to steal
+any thing they think will be serviceable; particularly iron hoops, small
+bolts, spikes, carpenters tools, and, in short, all small pieces of
+iron-work which they can turn to advantage, either for their own use, or
+for the purpose of trading with such of their countrymen as seldom
+visit the Company's Settlement: {332} among themselves, however, the
+crime of theft is seldom heard of.
+
+When two parties of those Indians meet, the ceremonies which pass
+between them are quite different from those made use of in Europe on
+similar occasions; for when they advance within twenty or thirty yards
+of each other, they make a full halt, and in general sit or lie down on
+the ground, and do not speak for some minutes. At length one of them,
+generally an elderly man, if any be in company, breaks silence, by
+acquainting the other party with every misfortune that has befallen him
+and his companions from the last time they had seen or heard of each
+other; and also of all deaths and other calamities that have befallen
+any other Indians during the same period, at least as many particulars
+as have come to his knowledge.
+
+When the first has finished his oration, another aged orator, (if there
+be any) belonging to the other party relates, in like manner, all the
+bad news that has come to his knowledge; and both parties never fail to
+plead poverty and famine on all occasions. If those orations contain any
+news that in the least affect the other party, it is not long before
+some of them begin to sigh and sob, and soon after break out into a loud
+cry, which is generally accompanied by most of the grown persons of both
+sexes; and sometimes it is common to see them all, men, women, and
+children, in one universal howl. The young girls, in {333} particular,
+are often very obliging on those occasions; for I never remember to have
+seen a crying match (as I called it) but the greatest part of the
+company assisted, although some of them had no other reason for it, but
+that of seeing their companions do the same. When the first transports
+of grief subside, they advance by degrees, and both parties mix with
+each other, the men always associating with the men, and the women with
+the women. If they have any tobacco among them, the pipes are passed
+round pretty freely, and the conversation soon becomes general. As they
+are on their first meeting acquainted with all the bad news, they have
+by this time nothing left but good, which in general has so far the
+predominance over the former, that in less than half an hour nothing but
+smiles and cheerfulness are to be seen in every face; and if they be not
+really in want, small presents of provisions, ammunition, and other
+articles, often take place; sometimes merely as a gift, but more
+frequently by way of trying whether they cannot get a greater present.
+
+They have but few diversions; the chief is shooting at a mark with bow
+and arrows; and another out-door game, called Holl, which in some
+measure resembles playing with quoits; only it is done with short clubs
+sharp at one end. They also amuse themselves at times with dancing,
+which is always performed in the night. It is remarkable that those
+people, though a distinct nation, have never adopted any mode of dancing
+of their own, or any songs to which {334} they can dance; so that when
+anything of this kind is attempted, which is but seldom, they always
+endeavour to imitate either the Dog-ribbed or Southern Indians, but more
+commonly the former, as few of them are sufficiently acquainted either
+with the Southern Indian language, or their manner of dancing. The
+Dog-ribbed method is not very difficult to learn, as it only consists in
+lifting the feet alternately from the ground in a very quick succession,
+and as high as possible, without moving the body, which should be kept
+quite still and motionless; the hands at the same time being closed, and
+held close to the breast, and the head inclining forward. This diversion
+is always performed quite naked, except the breech-cloth, and at times
+that is also thrown off; and the dancers, who seldom exceed three or
+four at a time, always stand close to the music. The music may, by
+straining a point, be called both vocal and instrumental, though both
+are sufficiently humble. The former is no more than a frequent
+repetition of the words, hee, hee, hee, ho, ho, ho, &c. which, by a more
+or less frequent repetition, dwelling longer on one word and shorter on
+another, and raising and lowering the voice, produce something like a
+tune, and has the desired effect. This is always accompanied by a drum
+or tabor; and sometimes a kind of rattle is added, made with a piece of
+dried buffalo skin, in shape exactly like an oil-flask, into which they
+put a few shot or pebbles, which, when shook about, produces music
+little inferior to the drum, though not so loud.
+
+{335} This mode of dancing naked is performed only by the men; for when
+the women are ordered to dance, they always exhibit without the tent, to
+music which is played within it; and though their method of dancing is
+perfectly decent, yet it has still less meaning and action than that of
+the men: for a whole heap of them crowd together in a straight line, and
+just shuffle themselves a little from right to left, and back again in
+the same line, without lifting their feet from the ground; and when the
+music stops, they all give a little bend of the body and knee, somewhat
+like an awkward curtsey, and pronounce, in a little shrill tone, h-e-e,
+h-o-o-o-e.
+
+Beside these diversions, they have another simple in-door game, which is
+that of taking a bit of wood, a button, or any other small thing, and
+after shifting it from hand to hand several times, asking their
+antagonist, which hand it is in? When playing at this game, which only
+admits of two persons, each of them have ten, fifteen, or twenty small
+chips of wood, like matches; and when one of the players guesses right,
+he takes one of his antagonist's sticks, and lays it to his own; and he
+that first gets all the sticks from the other in that manner, is said to
+win the game, which is generally for a single load of powder and shot,
+an arrow, or some other thing of inconsiderable value.
+
+The women never mix in any of their diversions, not even in dancing; for
+when that is required of them, they {336} always exhibit without the
+tent, as has been already observed; nor are they allowed to be present
+at a feast. Indeed, the whole course of their lives is one continued
+scene of drudgery, _viz._ carrying and hauling heavy loads, dressing
+skins for clothing, curing their provisions, and practising other
+necessary domestic duties which are required in a family, without
+enjoying the least diversion of any kind, or relaxation, on any occasion
+whatever; and except in the execution of those homely duties, in which
+they are always instructed from their infancy, their senses seem almost
+as dull and frigid as the zone they inhabit. There are indeed some
+exceptions to be met with among them, and I suppose it only requires
+indulgence and precept to make some of them as lofty and insolent as any
+women in the world. Though they wear their hair at full length, and
+never tie it up, like the Southern Indians; and though not one in fifty
+of them is ever possessed of a comb, yet by a wonderful dexterity of the
+fingers, and a good deal of patience, they make shift to stroke it out
+so as not to leave two hairs entangled; but when their heads are
+infested with vermin, from which very few of either sex are free, they
+mutually assist each other in keeping them under.
+
+A scorbutic disorder, resembling the worst stage of the itch,
+consumptions, and fluxes, are their chief disorders. The first of these,
+though very troublesome, is never known to prove fatal, unless it be
+accompanied with some inward complaint; but the two latter, with a few
+{337} accidents, carries off great numbers of both sexes and all ages:
+indeed few of them live to any great age, probably owing to the great
+fatigue they undergo from their youth up, in procuring a subsistence for
+themselves and their offspring.
+
+Though the scorbutic disorder above mentioned does appear to be
+infectious, it is rare to see one have it without the whole tent's crew
+being more or less affected with it; but this is by no means a proof of
+its being contagious; I rather attribute it to the effects of some bad
+water, or the unwholesomeness of some fish they may catch in particular
+places, in the course of their wandering manner of life. Were it
+otherwise, a single family would in a short time communicate it to the
+whole tribe; but, on the contrary, the disease is never known to spread.
+In the younger sort it always attacks the hands and feet, not even
+sparing the palms and soles. Those of riper years generally have it
+about the wrists, insteps, and posteriors; and in the latter
+particularly, the blotches, or boils as they may justly be called, are
+often as large as the top of a man's thumb. This disorder most
+frequently makes its appearance in the Summer, while the Indians are out
+on the barren ground; and though it is by no means reckoned dangerous,
+yet it is so obstinate, as not to yield to any medicine that has ever
+been applied to it while at the Company's Factory. And as the natives
+themselves never make use of any medicines of their own preparing,
+Nature alone works the cure, which is never performed in {338} less than
+twelve or eighteen months; and some of them are troubled with this
+disagreeable and loathsome disorder for years before they are perfectly
+cured, and then a dark livid mark remains on those parts of the skin
+which have been affected, for many years afterwards, and in some during
+life.
+
+When any of the principal Northern Indians die, it is generally believed
+that they are conjured to death, either by some of their own countrymen,
+by some of the Southern Indians, or by some of the Esquimaux: too
+frequently the suspicion falls on the latter tribe, which is the grand
+reason of their never being at peace with those poor and distressed
+people. For some time past, however, those Esquimaux who trade with our
+sloops at Knapp's Bay, Navel's Bay, and Whale Cove, are in perfect peace
+and friendship with the Northern Indians; which is entirely owing to the
+protection they have for several years past received from the Chiefs at
+the Company's Fort at Churchill River.[BR] But those of that tribe who
+live so far to the {339} North, as not to have any intercourse with our
+vessels, very often fall a sacrifice to the fury and superstition of the
+{340} Northern Indians; who are by no means a bold or warlike people;
+nor can I think from experience, that they are particularly guilty of
+committing acts of wanton cruelty on any other part of the human race
+beside the Esquimaux. Their hearts, however, are in general so
+unsusceptible of tenderness, that they can view the deepest distress in
+those who are not immediately related to them, without the least
+emotion; not even half so much as the generality of mankind feel for the
+sufferings of the meanest of the brute creation. I have been present
+when one of them, imitating the groans, distorted features, and
+contracted position, of a {341} man who had died in the most
+excruciating pain, put the whole company, except myself, into the most
+violent fit of laughter.
+
+The Northern Indians never bury their dead, but always leave the bodies
+where they die, so that they are supposed to be devoured by beasts and
+birds of prey; for which reason they will not eat foxes, wolves, ravens,
+&c. unless it be through mere necessity.
+
+The death of a near relation affects them so sensibly, that they rend
+all their cloths from their backs, and go naked, till some persons less
+afflicted relieve them. After the death of a father, mother, husband,
+wife, son, or brother, they mourn, as it may be called, for a whole
+year, which they measure by the moons and seasons. Those mournful
+periods are not distinguished by any particular dress, except that of
+cutting off the hair; and the ceremony consists in almost perpetually
+crying. Even when walking, as well as at all other intervals from sleep,
+eating, and conversation, they make an odd howling noise, often
+repeating the relationship of the deceased. But as this is in a great
+measure mere form and custom, some of them have a method of softening
+the harshness of the notes, and bringing them out in a more musical tone
+than that in which they sing their songs. When they reflect seriously on
+the loss of a good friend, however, it has such an effect on them for
+the present, that they give an {342} uncommon loose to their grief. At
+those times they seem to sympathise (through custom) with each other's
+afflictions so much, that I have often seen several scores of them
+crying in concert, when at the same time not above half a dozen of them
+had any more reason for so doing than I had, unless it was to preserve
+the old custom, and keep the others in countenance. The women are
+remarkably obliging on such occasions; and as no restriction is laid on
+them, they may with truth be said to cry with all their might and main;
+but in common conversation they are obliged to be very moderate.
+
+They have a tradition among them, that the first person upon earth was a
+woman, who, after having been some time alone, in her researches for
+berries, which was then her only food, found an animal like a dog, which
+followed her to the cave where she lived, and soon grew fond and
+domestic. This dog, they say, had the art of transforming itself into
+the shape of a handsome young man, which it frequently did at night, but
+as the day approached, always resumed its former shape; so that the
+woman looked on all that passed on those occasions as dreams and
+delusions. These transformations were soon productive of the
+consequences which at present generally follow such intimate connexions
+between the two sexes, and the mother of the world began to advance in
+her pregnancy.
+
+{343} Not long after this happened, a man of such a surprising height
+that his head reached up to the clouds, came to level the land, which at
+that time was a very rude mass; and after he had done this, by the help
+of his walking-stick he marked out all the lakes, ponds, and rivers,
+and immediately caused them to be filled with water. He then took the
+dog, and tore it to pieces; the guts he threw into the lakes and rivers,
+commanding them to become the different kinds of fish; the flesh he
+dispersed over the land, commanding it to become different kinds of
+beasts and land-animals; the skin he also tore in small pieces, and
+threw it into the air, commanding it to become all kinds of birds; after
+which he gave the woman and her offspring full power to kill, eat, and
+never spare, for that he had commanded them to multiply for her use in
+abundance. After this injunction, he returned to the place whence he
+came, and has not been heard of since.
+
+RELIGION has not as yet begun to dawn among the Northern Indians; for
+though their conjurors do indeed sing songs, and make long speeches, to
+some beasts and birds of prey, as also to imaginary beings, which they
+say assist them in performing cures on the sick, yet they, as well as
+their credulous neighbours, are utterly destitute of every idea of
+practical religion. It is true, some of them will reprimand their youth
+for talking {344} disrespectfully of particular beasts and birds; but it
+is done with so little energy, as to be often retorted back in derision.
+Neither is this, nor their custom of not killing wolves and
+quiquehatches, universally observed, and those who do it can only be
+viewed with more pity and contempt than the others; for I always found
+it arose merely from the greater degree of confidence which they had in
+the supernatural power of their conjurors, which induced them to
+believe, that talking lightly or disrespectfully of any thing they
+seemed to approve, would materially affect their health and happiness in
+this world: and I never found any of them that had the least idea of
+futurity. Matonabbee, without one exception, was a man of as clear ideas
+in other matters as any that I ever saw: he was not only a perfect
+master of the Southern Indian language, and their belief, but could tell
+a better story of our Saviour's birth and life, than one half of those
+who call themselves Christians; yet he always declared to me, that
+neither he, nor any of his countrymen, had an idea of a future state.
+Though he had been taught to look on things of this kind as useless, his
+own good sense had taught him to be an advocate for universal
+toleration; and I have seen him several times assist at some of the most
+sacred rites performed by the Southern Indians, apparently with as much
+zeal, as if he had given as much credit to them as they did: and with
+the same liberality of sentiment he would, I am persuaded, have assisted
+at the altar {345} of a Christian church, or in a Jewish synagogue; not
+with a view to reap any advantage himself, but merely, as he observed,
+to assist others who believed in such ceremonies.
+
+Being thus destitute of all religious control, these people have, to use
+Matonabbee's own words, "nothing to do but consult their own interest,
+inclinations, and passions; and to pass through this world with as much
+ease and contentment as possible, without any hopes of reward, or
+painful fear of punishment, in the next." In this state of mind they
+are, when in prosperity, the happiest of mortals; for nothing but
+personal or family calamities can disturb their tranquillity, while
+misfortunes of the lesser kind sit light on them. Like most other
+uncivilized people, they bear bodily pain with great fortitude, though
+in that respect I cannot think them equal to the Southern Indians.
+
+Old age is the greatest calamity that can befal a Northern Indian; for
+when he is past labour, he is neglected, and treated with great
+disrespect, even by his own children. They not only serve him last at
+meals, but generally give him the coarsest and worst of the victuals:
+and such of the skins as they do not chuse to wear, are made up in the
+clumsiest manner into clothing for their aged parents; who, as they had,
+in all probability, treated their fathers and mothers with the same
+neglect, in {346} their turns, submitted patiently to their lot, even
+without a murmur, knowing it to be the common misfortune attendant on
+old age; so that they may be said to wait patiently for the melancholy
+hour when, being no longer capable of walking, they are to be left
+alone, to starve, and perish for want. This, however shocking and
+unnatural it may appear, is nevertheless so common, that, among those
+people, one half at least of the aged persons of both sexes absolutely
+die in this miserable condition.
+
+The Northern Indians call the _Aurora Borealis_, Ed-thin; that is,
+Deer:[BS] and when that meteor is very bright, they say that deer is
+plentiful in that part of the atmosphere; but they have never yet
+extended their ideas so far as to entertain hopes of tasting those
+celestial animals.
+
+Beside this silly notion, they are very superstitious with respect to
+the existence of several kinds of fairies, called by them Nant-e-na,
+whom they frequently say they see, and who are supposed by them to
+inhabit the different elements {347} of earth, sea, and air, according
+to their several qualities. To one or other of those fairies they
+usually attribute any change in their circumstances, either for the
+better or worse; and as they are led into this way of thinking entirely
+by the art of the conjurors, there is no such thing as any general mode
+of belief; for those jugglers differ so much from each other in their
+accounts of these beings, that those who believe any thing they say,
+have little to do but change their opinions according to the will and
+caprice of the conjuror, who is almost daily relating some new whim, or
+extraordinary event, which, he says, has been revealed to him in a
+dream, or by some of his favourite fairies, when on a hunting excursion.
+
+
+ {348} _Some Account of_ MATONABBEE, _and of the eminent Services
+ which he rendered to his Country, as well as to the Hudson's Bay
+ Company._
+
+MATONABBEE was the son of a Northern Indian by a slave woman, who was
+formerly bought from some Southern Indians who came to Prince of Wales's
+Fort with furrs, &c. This match was made by Mr. Richard Norton, then
+Governor, who detained them at and near the Fort, for the same purpose
+as he did those Indians called Home-guard. As to Matonabbee's real age,
+it is impossible to be particular; for the natives of those parts being
+utterly unacquainted with letters, or the use of hieroglyphics, though
+their memories are not less retentive than those of other nations,
+cannot preserve and transmit to posterity the exact time when any
+particular event happens. Indeed, the utmost extent of their chronology
+reaches no farther, than to say, My son, or my daughter, was born in
+such a Governor's time, and such an event happened during such a
+person's life-time (though, perhaps, he or she has been dead many
+years). However, according to appearance, and some corroborating
+circumstances, Matonabbee was born about the year one thousand seven
+hundred and thirty-six, or one thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven;
+and his father dying while he was young, the Governor took the {349}
+boy, and, according to the Indian custom, adopted him as his son.
+
+Soon after the death of Matonabbee's father, Mr. Norton went to England,
+and as the boy did not experience from his successor the same regard and
+attention which he had been accustomed to receive from Mr. Norton, he
+was soon taken from the Factory by some of his father's relations, and
+continued with the Northern Indians till Mr. Ferdinand Jacobs succeeded
+to the command of Prince of Wales's Fort, in the year one thousand seven
+hundred and fifty-two; when out of regard to old Mr. Norton, (who was
+then dead,) Mr. Jacobs took the first opportunity that offered to detain
+Matonabbee at the Factory, where he was for several years employed in
+the hunting-service with some of the Company's servants, particularly
+with the late Mr. Moses Norton,[BT] (son of the late Governor,) and Mr.
+Magnus Johnston.[BU]
+
+[Illustration: _Photo: J. W. Tyrrell, 1905._
+GATEWAY OF FORT PRINCE OF WALES]
+
+[Illustration: _Photo: J. W. Tyrrell, October 1894._
+INTERIOR OF FORT PRINCE OF WALES, SHOWING WALLS OF OLD DWELLING-HOUSE]
+
+In the course of his long stay at and near the Fort, it is no wonder
+that he should have become perfect master of the Southern Indian
+language, and made some progress in the English. It was during this
+period, that he gained a knowledge of the Christian faith; and he always
+declared, that it was too deep and intricate for his comprehension.
+Though he was a perfect bigot with respect to {350} the arts and tricks
+of Indian jugglers, yet he could by no means be impressed with a belief
+of any part of our religion, nor of the religion of the Southern
+Indians, who have as firm a belief in a future state as any people under
+the Sun. He had so much natural good sense and liberality of sentiment,
+however, as not to think that he had a right to ridicule any particular
+sect on account of their religious opinions. On the contrary, he
+declared, that he held them all equally in esteem, but was determined,
+as he came into the world, so he would go out of it, without professing
+any religion at all. Notwithstanding his aversion from religion, I have
+met with few Christians who possessed more good moral qualities, or
+fewer bad ones.
+
+It is impossible for any man to have been more punctual in the
+performance of a promise than he was; his scrupulous adherence to truth
+and honesty would have done honour to the most enlightened and devout
+Christian, while his benevolence and universal humanity to all the human
+race,[BV] according to his abilities and manner of life, could {351} not
+be exceeded by the most illustrious personage now on record; and to add
+to his other good qualities, he was the only Indian that I ever saw,
+except one, who was not guilty of backbiting and slandering his
+neighbours.
+
+In stature, Matonabbee was above the common size, being nearly six feet
+high[BW]; and, except that his neck was rather (though not much) too
+short, he was one of the finest and best proportioned men that I ever
+saw. In complexion he was dark, like the other Northern Indians, but his
+face was not disfigured by that ridiculous custom of marking the cheeks
+with three or four black lines. His features were regular and agreeable,
+and yet so strongly marked and expressive, that they formed a complete
+index of his mind; which, as he never intended to deceive or dissemble,
+he never wished to conceal. In conversation he was easy, lively, and
+agreeable, but exceedingly modest; and at table, the nobleness and
+elegance of his manners might have been admired by the first personages
+in the world; for to the vivacity of a Frenchman, and the {352}
+sincerity of an Englishman, he added the gravity and nobleness of a
+Turk; all so happily blended, as to render his company and conversation
+universally pleasing to those who understood either the Northern or
+Southern Indian languages, the only languages in which he could
+converse.
+
+He was remarkably fond of Spanish wines, though he never drank to
+excess; and as he would not partake of spirituous liquors, however fine
+in quality or plainly mixed, he was always master of himself. As no man
+is exempt from frailties, it is natural to suppose that as a man he had
+his share; but the greatest with which I can charge him, is jealousy,
+and that sometimes carried him beyond the bounds of humanity.
+
+In his early youth he discovered talents equal to the greatest task that
+could possibly be expected from an Indian. Accordingly Mr. Jacobs, then
+Governor at Prince of Wales's Fort, engaged him, when but a youth, as an
+Ambassador and Mediator between the Northern Indians and the Athapuscow
+Tribe, who till then had always been at war with each other. In the
+course of this embassy Matonabbee not only discovered the most brilliant
+and solid parts, but shewed an extensive knowledge of every advantage
+that could arise to both nations from a total suppression of
+hostilities; and at times he displayed such instances of personal
+courage and magnanimity, as are rarely to be found among persons of
+superior condition and rank.
+
+{353} He had not penetrated far into the country of the Athapuscow
+Indians, before he came to several tents with inhabitants; and there, to
+his great surprise, he found Captain Keelshies, (a person frequently
+mentioned in this Journal,[BX]) who was then a prisoner, with all his
+family and some of his friends, the fate of whom was then undetermined;
+but through the means of Matonabbee, though young enough to have been
+his son, Keelshies and a few others were released, with the loss of his
+effects and all his wives, which were six in number. Matonabbee not only
+kept his ground after Keelshies and his small party had been permitted
+to return, but made his way into the very heart of the Athapuscow
+country, in order to have a personal conference with all or most of the
+principal inhabitants. The farther he advanced, the more occasion he had
+for intrepidity. At one time he came to five tents of those savages,
+which in the whole contained sixteen men, besides their wives, children,
+and servants, while he himself was entirely alone, except one wife and a
+servant boy. The Southern Indians, ever treacherous, and apparently the
+more kind when they are premeditating mischief, seemed to give him a
+hearty welcome, accepted the tenders of peace and reconciliation with
+apparent satisfaction, and, as a mark of their approbation, each tent in
+rotation made a feast, or entertainment, the {354} same night, and
+invited him to partake; at the last of which they had concerted a scheme
+to murder him. He was, however, so perfect a master of the Southern
+Indian language, that he soon discovered their design, and told them, he
+was not come in a hostile manner, but if they attempted any thing of the
+kind he was determined to sell his life as dear as possible. On hearing
+this, some of them ordered that his servant, gun, and snow-shoes, (for
+it was winter,) should be brought into the tent and secured; but he
+sprung from his seat, seized his gun and snow-shoes, and went out of the
+tent, telling them, if they had an intention to molest him, that was the
+proper place where he could see his enemy, and be under no apprehensions
+of being shot cowardly through the back. "I am sure (said he) of killing
+two or three of you, and if you chuse to purchase my life at that price,
+now is the time; but if otherwise, let me depart without any farther
+molestation." They then told him he was at liberty to go, on condition
+of leaving his servant; but to this he would not consent. He then rushed
+into the tent and took his servant by force from two men; when finding
+there was no appearance of farther danger, he set out on his return to
+the frontiers of his own country, and from thence to the Factory.
+
+The year following he again visited the Athapuscow country, accompanied
+by a considerable number of chosen {355} men of his own nation, who were
+so far superior to such small parties of the Southern Indians as they
+had met, that they commanded respect wherever they came; and having
+traversed the whole country, and conversed with all the principal men,
+peace and friendship were apparently re-established. Accordingly, when
+the Spring advanced the Northern Indians began to disperse, and draw out
+to the Eastward on the barren ground; but Matonabbee, and a few others,
+chose to pass the Summer in the Athapuscow country. As soon as the
+Southern Indians were acquainted with this design, and found the number
+of the Northern Indians so reduced, a superior number of them dogged and
+harassed them the whole Summer, with a view to surprise and kill them
+when asleep; and with that view twice actually approached so near their
+tents as fifty yards. But Matonabbee told them, as he had done when
+alone, that though there were but few of them, they were all determined
+to sell their lives as dear as possible: on which the Southern Indians,
+without making any reply, retired; for no Indians in this country have
+the courage to face their enemies when they find them apprized of their
+approach, and on their guard to receive them.
+
+Notwithstanding all these discouragements and great dangers, Matonabbee
+persevered with courage and resolution to visit the Athapuscow Indians
+for several years successively; and at length, by an uniform display of
+his pacific disposition, and by rendering a long train of good {356}
+offices to those Indians, in return for their treachery and perfidy, he
+was so happy as to be the sole instrument of not only bringing about a
+lasting peace, but also of establishing a trade and reciprocal interest
+between the two nations.
+
+After having performed this great work, he was prevailed upon to visit
+the Copper-mine River, in company with a famous leader, called
+I-dat-le-aza; and it was from the report of those two men, that a
+journey to that part was proposed to the Hudson's Bay Company by the
+late Mr. Moses Norton, in one thousand seven hundred and sixty-nine. In
+one thousand seven hundred and seventy he was engaged as the principal
+guide on that expedition; which he performed with greater punctuality,
+and more to my satisfaction, than perhaps any other Indian in all that
+country would have done. At his return to the Fort in one thousand seven
+hundred and seventy-two, he was made head of all the Northern Indian
+nation; and continued to render great services to the Company during his
+life, by bringing a greater quantity of furrs to their Factory at
+Churchill River, than any other Indian ever did, or ever will do. His
+last visit to Prince of Wales's Fort was in the Spring of one thousand
+seven hundred and eighty-two, and he intended to have repeated it in the
+Winter following; but when he heard that the French had destroyed the
+Fort, and carried off all the Company's servants, he never afterwards
+reared his head, but took an opportunity, when no one {357} suspected
+his intention, to hang himself. This is the more to be wondered at, as
+he is the only Northern Indian who, that I ever heard, put an end to his
+own existence. The death of this man was a great loss to the Hudson's
+Bay Company, and was attended with a most melancholy scene; no less than
+the death of six of his wives, and four children, all of whom were
+starved to death the same Winter, in one thousand seven hundred and
+eighty-three.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[BO] I have seen several of the Southern Indian men who were near six
+feet high, preserve a single lock of their hair, that, when let down,
+would trail on the ground as they walked. This, however, is but seldom
+seen; and some have suspected it to be false: but I have examined the
+hair of several of them, and found it to be real.
+
+[BP] The Indian method of preparing this unaccountable dish is by
+throwing the filthy bag across a pole directly over the fire, the smoke
+of which, they say, much improves it, by taking off the original
+flavour; and when any of it is to be cooked, a large flake, like as much
+tripe, is cut off and boiled for a few minutes; but the many large nodes
+with which the inside of the womb is studded, make it abominable. These
+nodes are as incapable of being divested of moisture as the skin of a
+live eel; but when boiled, much resemble, both in shape and colour, the
+yolk of an egg, and are so called by the natives, and as eagerly
+devoured by them.
+
+The tripe of the buffalo is exceedingly good, and the Indian method of
+cooking it infinitely superior to that practised in Europe. When
+opportunity will permit, they wash it tolerably clean in cold water,
+strip off all the honey-comb, and only boil it about half, or
+three-quarters of an hour: in that time it is sufficiently done for
+eating; and though rather tougher than what is prepared in England, yet
+is exceedingly pleasant to the taste, and must be much more nourishing
+than tripe that has been soaked and scrubbed in many hot waters, and
+then boiled for ten or twelve hours.
+
+The lesser stomach, or, as some call it, the many-folds, either of
+buffalo, moose, or deer, are usually eat raw, and are very good; but
+that of the moose, unless great care be taken in washing it, is rather
+bitter, owing to the nature of their food.
+
+The kidneys of both moose and buffalo are usually eat raw by the
+Southern Indians; for no sooner is one of those beasts killed, than the
+hunter rips up its belly, thrusts in his arm, snatches out the kidneys,
+and eats them warm, before the animal is quite dead. They also at times
+put their mouths to the wound the ball has made, and suck the blood;
+which they say quenches thirst, and is very nourishing.
+
+[122] _Larix laricina_ (Du Roi.).
+
+[123] For fuller reference to these birds see pp. 396-405.
+
+[BQ] They frequently sell new nets, which have not been wet more than
+once or twice, because they have not been successful. Those nets, when
+soaked in water, are easily opened, and then make most excellent heel
+and toe netting for snow-shoes. In general it is far superior to the
+netting cut by the Southern Indian women, and is not larger than common
+net-twine.
+
+[BR] In the Summer of 1756, a party of Northern Indians lay in wait at
+Knapp's Bay till the sloop had sailed out of the harbour, when they fell
+on the poor Esquimaux, and killed every soul. Mr. John Bean, then Master
+of the sloop, and since Master of the Trinity yacht, with all his crew,
+heard the guns very plain; but did not know the meaning or reason of it
+till the Summer following, when he found the shocking remains of more
+than forty Esquimaux, who had been murdered in that cowardly manner; and
+for no other reason but because two principal Northern Indians had died
+in the preceding Winter.
+
+No Esquimaux were seen at Knapp's Bay for several years after; and those
+who trade there at present have undoubtedly been drawn from the
+Northward, since the above unhappy transaction; for the convenience of
+being nearer the woods, as well as being in the way of trading with the
+sloop that calls there annually. It is to be hoped that the measures
+taken by the Governors at Prince of Wales's Fort of late years, will
+effectually prevent any such calamities happening in future, and by
+degrees be the means of bringing about a lasting, friendly, and
+reciprocal interest between the two nations.
+
+Notwithstanding the pacific and friendly terms which begin to dawn
+between those two tribes at Knapp's Bay, Navel's Bay, and Whale Cove,
+farther North hostilities continue, and most barbarous murders are
+perpetrated: and the only protection the Esquimaux have from the fury of
+their enemies, is their remote situation in the Winter, and their
+residing chiefly on islands and peninsulas in Summer, which renders them
+less liable to be surprised during that Season. But even this secluded
+life does not prevent the Northern Indians from harassing them greatly,
+and at times they are so closely pursued as to be obliged to leave most
+of their goods and utensils to be destroyed by their enemy; which must
+be a great loss, as these cannot be replaced but at the expence of much
+time and labour; and the want of them in the meantime must create much
+distress both to themselves and their families, as they can seldom
+procure any part of their livelihood without the assistance of a
+considerable apparatus.
+
+In 1756, the Esquimaux at Knapp's Bay sent two of their youths to Prince
+of Wales's Fort in the sloop, and the Summer following they were carried
+back to their friends, loaded with presents, and much pleased with the
+treatment they received while at the Fort. In 1767, they again sent one
+from Knapp's Bay and one from Whale Cove; and though during their stay
+at the Fort they made a considerable progress both in the Southern
+Indian and the English languages, yet those intercourses have not been
+any ways advantageous to the Company, by increasing the trade from that
+quarter. In fact, the only satisfaction they have found for the great
+expence they have from time to time incurred, by introducing those
+strangers, is, that through the good conduct of their upper servants at
+Churchill River, they have at length so far humanized the hearts of
+those two tribes, that at present they can meet each other in a friendly
+manner; whereas, a few years since, whenever they met, each party
+premeditated the destruction of the other; and what made their war more
+shocking was, they never gave quarter: so that the strongest party
+always killed the weakest, without sparing either man, woman, or child.
+
+It is but a few years ago that the sloop's crew who annually carried
+them all their wants, durst not venture on shore among the Esquimaux
+unarmed, for fear of being murdered; but latterly they are so civilized,
+that the Company's servants visit their tents with the greatest freedom
+and safety, are always welcome, and desired to partake of such
+provisions as they have: and knowing now our aversion from train-oil,
+they take every means in their power to convince our people that the
+victuals prepared for them is entirely free from it. But the smell of
+their tents, cooking-utensils, and other furniture, is scarcely less
+offensive than Greenland Dock. However, I have eaten both fish and
+venison cooked by them in so cleanly a manner, that I have relished them
+very much, and partaken of them with a good appetite.
+
+[BS] Their ideas in this respect are founded on a principle one would
+not imagine. Experience has shewn them, that when a hairy deer-skin is
+briskly stroked with the hand in a dark night, it will emit many sparks
+of electrical fire, as the back of a cat will. The idea which the
+Southern Indians have of this meteor is equally romantic, though more
+pleasing, as they believe it to be the spirits of their departed friends
+dancing in the clouds; and when the _Aurora Borealis_ is remarkably
+bright, at which time they vary most in colour, form, and situation,
+they say, their deceased friends are very merry.
+
+[BT] Afterwards Governor.
+
+[BU] Master of the Churchill sloop.
+
+[BV] I must here observe, that when we went to war with the Esquimaux at
+the Copper River in July 1771, it was by no means his proposal: on the
+contrary, he was forced into it by his countrymen. For I have heard him
+say, that when he first visited that river, in company with
+I-dot-le-aza, they met with several Esquimaux; and so far from killing
+them, were very friendly to them, and made them small presents of such
+articles as they could best spare, and that would be of most use to
+them. It is more than probable that the two bits of iron found among the
+plunder while I was there, were part of those presents. There were also
+a few long beads found among those people, but quite different from any
+that the Hudson's Bay Company had ever sent to the Bay; so that the only
+probable way they could have come by them, must have been by an
+intercourse with some of their tribe, who had dealings with the Danes in
+Davis's Straits. It is very probable, however, they might have passed
+through many hands before they reached this remote place. Had they had
+an immediate intercourse with the Esquimaux in Davis's Straits, it is
+natural to suppose that iron would not have been so scarce among them as
+it seemed to be; indeed the distance is too great to admit of it.
+
+[BW] I have seen two Northern Indians who measured six feet three
+inches; and one, six feet four inches.
+
+[BX] The same person was at Prince of Wales's Fort when the French
+arrived on the 8th of August 1782, and saw them demolish the Fort.
+
+
+
+
+{358} CHAP. X.[124]
+
+ _An Account of the principal Quadrupeds found in the Northern
+ Parts of Hudson's Bay.--The Buffalo, Moose, Musk-ox, Deer, and
+ Beaver--A capital Mistake cleared up respecting the
+ We-was-kish._
+
+ _Animals with Canine Teeth.--The Wolf--Foxes of various
+ colours--Lynx, or Wild Cat--Polar, or White Bear--Black
+ Bear--Brown Bear--Wolverene--Otter--Jackash--Wejack--Skunk--Pine
+ Martin--Ermine, or Stote._
+
+ _Animals with cutting Teeth.--The Musk
+ Beaver--Porcupine--Varying Hare--American Hare--Common
+ Squirrel--Ground Squirrel--Mice of various Kinds,--and the
+ Castor Beaver._
+
+ _The Pinnated Quadrupeds with finlike Feet, found in Hudson's
+ Bay, are but three in number,_ viz. _the Walrus, or
+ Sea-Horse,--Seal,--and Sea-Unicorn._
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ _The Species of Fish found in the Salt Water of Hudson's Bay are
+ also few in number; being the Black Whale--White
+ Whale--Salmon--and Kepling._
+
+ _Shell-fish, and empty Shells of several kinds, found on the Sea
+ Coast near Churchill River._
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ _Frogs of various sizes and colours; also a great variety of
+ Grubbs, and other Insects, always found in a frozen state during
+ Winter, but when exposed to the heat of a slow fire, are soon
+ re-animated._
+
+ _An Account of some of the principal Birds found in the Northern
+ Parts of Hudson's Bay; as well those that only migrate there in
+ Summer, as those that are known to brave the coldest
+ Winters:--Eagles of various_ {359} _kinds--Hawks of various
+ sizes and plumage--White or Snowy Owl--Grey or mottled
+ Owl--Cob-a-dee-cooch--Raven--Cinerious Crow--Wood Pecker--Ruffed
+ Grouse--Pheasant--Wood Partridge--Willow Partridge--Rock
+ Partridge--Pigeon--Red-breasted Thrush--Grosbeak--Snow
+ Bunting--White-crowned Bunting--Lapland Finch, two
+ sorts--Lark--Titmouse--Swallow--Martin--Hopping Crane--Brown
+ Crane--Bitron--Carlow, two sorts--Jack Snipe--Red
+ Godwart--Plover--Black Gullemet--Northern Diver--Black-throated
+ Diver--Red-throated Diver--White Gull--Grey
+ Gull--Black-head--Pellican--Goosander--Swans of two
+ species--Common Grey Goose--Canada Goose--White or Snow
+ Goose--Blue Goose--Horned Wavy--Laughing Goose--Barren
+ Goose--Brent Goose--Dunter Goose--Bean Goose._
+
+ _The Species of Water-Fowl usually called Duck, that resort to
+ those Parts annually, are in great variety; but those that are
+ most esteemed are, the Mallard Duck,--Long-tailed Duck,--Wigeon,
+ and Teal._
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ _Of the Vegetable Productions as far North as Churchill River,
+ particularly the most useful; such as the Berry-bearing Bushes,
+ &c.--Gooseberry--Cranberry--Heathberry--Dewater-berry--Black
+ Currans--Juniper-berry--Partridge-berry--Strawberry--Eye-berry--
+ Blue-Berry--and a small species of Hips._
+
+ _Burridge--Coltsfoot--Sorrel--Dandelion._
+
+ _Wish-a-capucca--Jackashey-puck--Moss of various sorts--Grass of
+ several kinds--and Vetches._
+
+ _The Trees found so far North near the Sea, consist only of
+ Pines--Juniper--Small Poplar--Bush-willows--and Creeping Birch._
+
+
+Before I conclude this work, it may not be improper to give a short
+account of the principal Animals that frequent the high Northern
+latitudes, though most of them are found also far to the Southward, and
+consequently {360} in much milder climates. The buffalo, musk-ox, deer,
+and the moose,[125] have been already described in this Journal. I shall
+therefore only make a few remarks on the latter, in order to rectify a
+mistake, which, from wrong information, has crept into Mr. Pennant's
+Arctic Zoology. In page 21 of that elegant work, he classes the Moose
+with the We-was-kish, though it certainly has not any affinity to it.
+
+The We-was-kish,[126] or as some (though improperly) call it, the
+Waskesse, is quite a different animal from the moose, being by no means
+so large in size. The horns of the We-was-kish are something similar to
+those of the common deer, but are not palmated in any part. They stand
+more upright, have fewer branches, and want the brow-antler. The head of
+this animal is so far from being like that of the Moose, that the nose
+is sharp, like the nose of a sheep: indeed, the whole external
+appearance of the head is not very unlike that of an ass. The hair is
+usually of a sandy red; and they are frequently called by the English
+who visit the interior parts of the country, red deer. Their flesh is
+tolerable eating; but the fat is as hard as tallow, and if eaten as hot
+as possible, will yet chill in so short a time, that it clogs the teeth,
+and sticks to the roof of the mouth, in such a manner as to render it
+very disagreeable. In the Spring of one thousand seven hundred and
+seventy-five, I had thirteen sledge-loads of this meat brought to
+Cumberland House in one day, and also two of the heads of this animal
+unskinned, but the horns {361} were chopped off; a proof of their
+wearing them the whole Winter. They are the most stupid of all the deer
+kind, and frequently make a shrill whistling, and quivering noise, not
+very unlike the braying of an ass, which directs the hunter to the very
+spot where they are. They generally keep in large herds, and when they
+find plenty of pasture, remain a long time in one place. Those deer are
+seldom an object of chace with the Indians bordering on Basquiau, except
+when moose and other game fail. Their skins, when dressed, very much
+resemble that of the moose, though they are much thinner, and have this
+peculiar quality, that they will wash as well as shamoy leather; whereas
+all the other leathers and pelts dressed by the Indians, if they get
+wet, turn quite hard, unless great care be taken to keep constantly
+rubbing them while drying.
+
+The person who informed Mr. Pennant that the we-was-kish and the moose
+are the same animal, never saw one of them; and the only reason he had
+to suppose it, was the great resemblance of their skins: yet it is
+rather strange, that so indefatigable a collector of Natural History as
+the late Mr. Andrew Graham, should have omitted making particular
+enquiry about them: for any foreign Indian, particularly those that
+reside near Basquiau, could easily have convinced him to the contrary.
+
+
+{362} _Animals with Canine Teeth._
+
+[Sidenote: Wolves.]
+
+WOLVES[127] are frequently met with in the countries West of Hudson's
+Bay, both on the barren grounds and among the woods, but they are not
+numerous; it is very uncommon to see more than three or four of them in
+a herd. Those that keep to the Westward, among the woods, are generally
+of the usual colour, but the greatest part of those that are killed by
+the Esquimaux are perfectly white. All the wolves in Hudson's Bay are
+very shy of the human race, yet when sharp set, they frequently follow
+the Indians for several days, but always keep at a distance. They are
+great enemies to the Indian dogs, and frequently kill and eat those that
+are heavy loaded, and cannot keep up with the main body. The Northern
+Indians have formed strange ideas of this animal, as they think it does
+not eat its victuals raw; but by a singular and wonderful sagacity,
+peculiar to itself, has a method of cooking them without fire. The
+females are much swifter than the males; for which reason the Indians,
+both Northern and Southern, are of opinion that they kill the greatest
+part of the game.
+
+This cannot, however, always be the case; for to the North of Churchill
+they, in general, live a forlorn life all the Winter, and are seldom
+seen in pairs till the Spring, when they begin to couple; and generally
+keep in pairs all the Summer. They always burrow under-ground to bring
+forth their young; and though it is natural {363} to suppose them very
+fierce at those times, yet I have frequently seen the Indians go to
+their dens, and take out the young ones and play with them. I never knew
+a Northern Indian hurt one of them: on the contrary, they always put
+them carefully into the den again; and I have sometimes seen them paint
+the faces of the young Wolves with vermillion, or red ochre.
+
+[Sidenote: Foxes of various colours.]
+
+The ARCTIC FOXES[128] are in some years remarkably plentiful, but
+generally most so on the barren ground, near the sea-coast.
+Notwithstanding what has been said of this animal only visiting the
+settlements once in five or seven years,[129] I can affirm there is not
+one year in twenty that they are not caught in greater or less numbers
+at Churchill; and I have known that for three years running, not less
+than from two hundred to four hundred have been caught each year within
+thirty miles of the Fort. They always come from the North along the
+coast, and generally make their appearance at Churchill about the middle
+of October, but their skins are seldom in season till November; during
+that time they are never molested, but permitted to feed round the Fort,
+till by degrees they become almost domestic. The great numbers of those
+animals that visit Churchill River in some years do not all come in a
+body, as it would be impossible for the fourth part of them to find
+subsistence by the way; but when they come near the Fort, the carcasses
+of dead whales lying along the shores, and the skin and other offal,
+after boiling the oil, {364} afford them a plentiful repast, and prove
+the means of keeping them about the Fort till, by frequent
+reinforcements from the Northward, their numbers are so far increased as
+almost to exceed credibility.
+
+When their skins are in season, a number of traps and guns are set, and
+the greatest part of them are caught in one month, though some few are
+found during the whole Winter. I have frequently known near forty killed
+in one night within half a mile of Prince of Wales's Fort; but this
+seldom happens after the first or second night. When Churchill River is
+frozen over near the mouth, the greatest part of the surviving white
+Foxes cross the river, and direct their course to the Southward, and in
+some years assemble in considerable numbers at York Fort and Severn
+River. Whether they are all killed, or what becomes of those which
+escape, is very uncertain; but it is well known that none of them ever
+migrate again to the Northward. Besides taking a trap so freely, they
+are otherwise so simple, that I have seen them shot off-hand while
+feeding, the same as sparrows in a heap of chaff, sometimes two or three
+at a shot. This sport is always most successful in moon-light nights;
+for in the daytime they generally keep in their holes among the rocks,
+and under the hollow ice at high-water-mark.
+
+These animals will prey on each other as readily as on any other animals
+they find dead in a trap, or wounded by gun; which renders them so
+destructive, that I have known upwards of one hundred and twenty Foxes
+of different {365} colours eaten, and destroyed in their traps by their
+comrades in the course of one Winter, within half a mile of the Fort.
+
+The Naturalists seem still at a loss to know their breeding-places,
+which are doubtless in every part of the coast they frequent. Several of
+them breed near Churchill, and I have seen them in considerable numbers
+all along the West coast of Hudson's Bay, particularly at Cape
+Esquimaux, Navel's Bay, and Whale Cove, also on Marble Island; so that
+with some degree of confidence we may affirm, that they breed on every
+part of the coast they inhabit during the Summer season. They generally
+have from three to five young at a litter; more I never saw with one old
+one. When young they are all over almost of a sooty black, but as the
+fall advances, the belly, sides, and tail turn to a light ash-colour;
+the back, legs, some part of the face, and the tip of the tail, changes
+to a lead colour; but when the Winter sets in they become perfectly
+white: the ridge of the back and the tip of the tail are the last places
+that change to that colour; and there are few of them which have not a
+few dark hairs at the tip of the tail all the Winter. If taken young,
+they are easily domesticated in some degree, but I never saw one that
+was fond of being caressed; and they are always impatient of
+confinement.
+
+[Sidenote: The White Fox.]
+
+WHITE FOXES, when killed at any considerable distance from the sea
+coast, (where they cannot possibly get any {366} thing to prey upon,
+except rabbits, mice, and partridges,) are far from being disagreeable
+eating. And on Marble Island I have shot them when they were equal in
+flavour to a rabbit; probably owing to their feeding entirely on eggs
+and young birds; but near Churchill River they are as rank as train-oil.
+
+[Sidenote: The Lynx, or Wild Cat.]
+
+The LYNX, or WILD CAT,[130] is very scarce to the North of Churchill;
+but is exactly the same as those which are found in great plenty to the
+South West. I have observed the tracks of this animal at Churchill, and
+seen them killed, and have eaten of their flesh in the neighbourhood of
+York Fort. The flesh is white, and nearly as good as that of a rabbit.
+They are, I think, much larger than that which is described in the
+Arctic Zoology; they never approach near the settlements in Hudson's
+Bay, and are very destructive to rabbits; they seldom leave a place
+which is frequented by rabbits till they have nearly killed them all.
+
+[Sidenote: The Polar or White Bear.]
+
+The POLAR or WHITE BEAR,[131] though common on the sea-coast, is seldom
+found in its Winter retreats by any of our Northern Indians, except near
+Churchill River; nor do I suppose that the Esquimaux see or kill any of
+them more frequently during that season; for in the course of many years
+residence at Churchill River, I scarcely ever saw a Winter skin brought
+from the Northward by the sloop. Probably the Esquimaux, if they kill
+any, may {367} reserve the skins for their own use; for at that season
+their hair is very long, with a thick bed of wool at the bottom, and
+they are remarkably clean and white. The Winter is the only season that
+so oily a skin as the Bear's can possibly be cleaned and dressed by
+those people, without greasing the hair, which is very unpleasant to
+them; for though they eat train-oil, _&c._ yet they are as careful as
+possible to keep their clothes from being greased with it. To dress one
+of those greasy skins in Winter, as soon as taken from the beast, it is
+stretched out on a smooth patch of snow, and there staked down, where it
+soon freezes as hard as a board: while in that state, the women scrape
+off all the fat, till they come to the very roots of the hair. It is
+sometimes permitted to remain in that position for a considerable time;
+and when taken from the snow, is hung up in the open air. The more
+intense the frost, the greater is its drying quality; and by being
+wafted about by the wind, with a little scraping, it in time becomes
+perfectly supple, and both pelt and hair beautifully white. Drying deer,
+beaver, and otter skins, in this manner render their pelts very white,
+but not supple; probably owing to the close texture and thickness of
+their skins; whereas the skin of the bear, though so large an animal, is
+remarkably thin and spungy.[BY]
+
+[Sidenote: The Black Bear.]
+
+{368} BLACK BEARS[132] are not very numerous to the North West of
+Churchill. Their manner of life is the same as the rest of the species,
+though the face of the country they {369} inhabit, differs widely from
+the more mild climates. In Summer they proul about in search of berries,
+_&c._ and as the Winter approaches, retire to their dens, which are
+always under-ground; and generally, if not always, on the side of a
+small hillock. The Bears that inhabit the Southern parts of America are
+said to take up their Winter abode in hollow trees; but I never saw any
+trees in my Northern travels, that could afford any such shelter.
+
+The places of retreat of those Bears that burrow under-ground are easily
+discovered in Winter, by the rime that hangs about the mouth of the den;
+for let the snow be ever so deep, the heat and breath of the animal
+prevents the mouth of the den from being entirely closed up. They
+generally retire to their Winter quarters before the snow is of any
+considerable depth, and never come abroad again (unless disturbed) till
+the thaws are considerable, which in those high latitudes is seldom till
+the latter end of March, or the beginning of April; so that the few
+Black Bears that inhabit those cold regions may be said to subsist for
+four months at least without food. I have been present at the killing
+[of] two of them in Winter; and the Northern Indian method is similar to
+that said to be in use among the Kamtschatkans; for they always blocked
+up the mouth of the den with logs of wood, then broke open the top of
+it, and killed the animal either with a spear or a gun; but the latter
+method is reckoned both cowardly and wasteful, as it is not possible for
+the Bear either to make its escape, or to do the Indians the least
+injury. {370} Sometimes they put a snare about the Bear's neck, and draw
+up his head close to the hole, and kill him with a hatchet. Though those
+animals are but scarce to the North of Churchill, yet they are so
+numerous between York Fort and Cumberland House, that in one thousand
+seven hundred and seventy-four I saw eleven killed in the course of one
+day's journey, but their flesh was abominable. This was in the month of
+June, long before any fruit was ripe, for the want of which they then
+fed entirely on water insects, which in some of the lakes we crossed
+that day were in astonishing multitudes.[BZ][133]
+
+The method by which the Bears catch those insects is by swimming with
+their mouths open, in the same manner as the whales do, when feeding on
+the sea-spider. There was not one of the Bears killed that day, which
+had not its stomach as full of those insects (only) as ever a hog's was
+with grains, and when cut open, the stench from them was intolerable. I
+have, however, eaten of some killed at that early season which were very
+good; {371} but they were found among the woods, far from the places
+where those insects haunt, and had fed on grass and other herbage. After
+the middle of July, when the berries begin to ripen, they are excellent
+eating, and so continue till January or February following; but late in
+the Spring they are, by long fasting, very poor and dry eating.
+
+The Southern Indians kill great numbers of those Bears at all seasons of
+the year; but no encouragement can prevent them from singeing almost
+every one that is in good condition: so that the few skins they do save
+and bring to the market, are only of those which are so poor that their
+flesh is not worth eating.[CA] In fact, the skinning of a Bear spoils
+the meat thereof, as much as it would do to skin a young porker, or a
+roasting pig. The same may be said of swans (the skins of which the
+Company have lately made an article of trade); otherwise thousands of
+their skins might be brought to market annually, by the Indians that
+trade with the Hudson's Bay Company's servants at the different
+settlements about the Bay.
+
+[Sidenote: The Brown Bear.]
+
+BROWN BEARS[134] are, I believe, never found in the North-Indian
+territories: but I saw the skin of an enormous {372} grizzled Bear at
+the tents of the Esquimaux at the Copper River;[135] and many of them
+are said to breed not very remote from that part.
+
+[Sidenote: The Wolverene.]
+
+The WOLVERENE[136] is common in the Northern regions, as far North as
+the Copper River, and perhaps farther. They are equally the inhabitants
+of woods and barren grounds; for the Esquimaux to the North of Churchill
+kill many of them when their skins are in excellent season: a proof of
+their being capable of braving the severest cold. They are very slow in
+their pace, but their wonderful sagacity, strength, and acute scent,
+make ample amends for that defect; for they are seldom killed at any
+season when they do not prove very fat: a great proof of their being
+excellent providers. With respect to the fierceness of this animal which
+some assert, I can say little, but I know them to be beasts of great
+courage and resolution, for I once saw one of them take possession of a
+deer that an Indian had killed, and though the Indian advanced within
+twenty yards, he would not relinquish his claim to it, but suffered
+himself to be shot standing on the deer. I once saw a similar instance
+of a lynx, or wild cat, which also suffered itself to be killed, before
+it would relinquish the prize. The Wolverenes have also frequently been
+seen to take a deer from a wolf before the latter had time to begin his
+repast after killing it. Indeed their amazing strength, and the length
+and sharpness of their claws, render them capable of making a strong
+resistance against {373} any other animal in those parts, the Bear not
+excepted. As a proof of their amazing strength, there was one at
+Churchill some years since, that overset the greatest part of a large
+pile of wood, (containing a whole Winter's firing, that measured upwards
+of seventy yards round,) to get at some provisions that had been hid
+there by the Company's servants, when going to the Factory to spend the
+Christmas holidays. The fact was, this animal had been lurking about in
+the neighbourhood of their tent (which was about eight miles from the
+Factory) for some weeks, and had committed many depredations on the game
+caught in their traps and snares, as well as eaten many foxes that were
+killed by guns set for that purpose: but the Wolverene was too cunning
+to take either trap or gun himself. The people knowing the mischievous
+disposition of those animals, took (as they thought) the most effectual
+method to secure the remains of their provisions, which they did not
+chuse to carry home, and accordingly tied it up in bundles and placed it
+on the top of the wood-pile, (about two miles from their tent,) little
+thinking the Wolverene would find it out; but to their great surprise,
+when they returned to their tent after the holidays, they found the pile
+of wood in the state already mentioned, though some of the trees that
+composed it were as much as two men could carry. The only reason the
+people could give for the animal doing so much mischief was, that in his
+attempting to carry off the booty, some of the small parcels of
+provisions had fallen down into the heart of the pile, and {374} sooner
+than lose half his prize, he pursued the above method till he had
+accomplished his ends. The bags of flour, oatmeal, and pease, though of
+no use to him, he tore all to pieces, and scattered the contents about
+on the snow; but every bit of animal food, consisting of beef, pork,
+bacon, venison, salt geese, partridges, _&c._ to a considerable amount,
+he carried away. These animals are great enemies to the Beaver, but the
+manner of life of the latter prevents them from falling into their
+clutches so frequently as many other animals; they commit vast
+depredations on the foxes during the Summer, while the young ones are
+small; their quick scent directs them to their dens, and if the entrance
+be too small, their strength enables them to widen it, and go in and
+kill the mother and all her cubs. In fact, they are the most destructive
+animals in this country.[CB]
+
+[Sidenote: The Otter.]
+
+OTTERS[137] are pretty plentiful in the rivers to the North of
+Churchill, as far as latitude 62 deg.; farther North I do not recollect to
+have seen any. In Winter they generally frequent those parts of rivers
+where there are falls or rapids, which do not freeze in the coldest
+Winters; because in {375} such situations they are most likely to find
+plenty of fish, and the open water gives them a free admission to the
+shore, where they sometimes go to eat the fish they have caught; but
+most commonly sit on the ice, or get on a great stone in the river. They
+are frequently seen in the very depth of Winter at a considerable
+distance from any known open water, both in woods and on open plains, as
+well as on the ice of large lakes; but it is not known what has led them
+to such places: perhaps merely for amusement, for they are not known to
+kill any game on the land during that season. If pursued when among the
+woods in Winter, (where the snow is always light and deep,) they
+immediately dive, and make considerable way under it, but are easily
+traced by the motion of the snow above them, and soon overtaken. The
+Indians kill numbers of them with clubs, by tracing them in the snow;
+but some of the old ones are so fierce when close pursued, that they
+turn and fly at their pursuer, and their bite is so severe that it is
+much dreaded by the Indians. Besides this method of killing them, the
+Indians have another, which is equally successful; namely, by concealing
+themselves within a reasonable gun-shot of the Otters usual
+landing-places, and waiting their coming out of the water. This method
+is more generally practised in moon-light nights. They also shoot many
+of them as they are sporting in the water, and some few are caught in
+traps.
+
+The Otters in this, as well as every other part of the bay, vary in size
+and colour, according to age and season. {376} In Summer, when the hair
+is very short, they are almost black, but as the Winter advances, they
+turn to a beautiful dark auburn, except a small spot under the chin,
+which is of a silver gray. This colour they retain all the Winter; but
+late in the Spring (though long before they shed their coat) they turn
+to a dull rusty brown; so that a person who is acquainted with those
+changes can tell to a great nicety, by looking at the skins, (when
+offered for sale,) the very time they were killed, and pay for them
+according to their value. The number of their young is various, from
+three to five or six. They unite in copulation the same as a dog, and so
+do every other animal that has a bone in the _penis_. I will here
+enumerate all of that description that I know of in those parts, _viz._
+bears of all sorts, wolves, wolvereens, foxes, martins, otters, wejacks,
+jackashes, skunks, and ermines.[CC]
+
+[Sidenote: The Jackash.]
+
+JACKASH.[138] This animal is certainly no other than the lesser Otter of
+Canada, as its colour, size, and manner of life entirely correspond with
+the description of that animal in Mr. Pennant's Arctic Zoology. They,
+like the larger Otter, are frequently found in Winter several miles from
+any water, and are often caught in traps built for martins. They are
+supposed to prey on mice and partridges, the same as the martin; but
+when by the side of rivers or {377} creeks, they generally feed on fish.
+They vary so much in size and colour, that it was very easy for Mr.
+Pennant to have mistaken the specimen sent home for another animal. They
+are the easiest to tame and domesticate of any animal I know, except a
+large species of field-mice, called the Hair-tailed Mouse; for in a very
+short time they are so fond, that it is scarcely possible to keep them
+from climbing up one's legs and body, and they never feel themselves
+happier than when sitting on the shoulder; but when angry, or
+frightened, (like the skunk,) they emit a very disagreeable smell. They
+sleep very much in the day, but prowl about and feed in the night; they
+are very fierce when at their meals, not suffering those to whom they
+are most attached to take it from them. I have kept several of them, but
+their over-fondness made them troublesome, as they were always in the
+way; and their so frequently emitting a disagreeable smell, rendered
+them quite disgusting.
+
+[Sidenote: The Wejack, and Skunk.]
+
+Though the WEJACK[139][CD] and SKUNK[140] are never found in the
+Northern Indian country, yet I cannot help observing that foetid smell
+of the latter has not been much exaggerated by any Author. When I was at
+Cumberland {378} House, in the Fall of one thousand seven hundred and
+seventy-four, some Indians that were tenting on the plantation killed
+two of those animals, and made a feast of them; when the spot where they
+were singed and gutted was so impregnated with that nauseous smell which
+they emit, that after a whole Winter had elapsed, and the snow had
+thawed away in the Spring, the smell was still intolerable. I am told,
+however, that the flesh is by no means tainted with the smell, if care
+be taken in gutting, and taking out the bag that contains this
+surprising effluvia, and which they have the power of emitting at
+pleasure; but I rather doubt their being capable of ejecting their urine
+so far as is reported; I do not think it is their urine which contains
+that pestilential effluvia, for if that was the case, all the country
+where they frequent would be so scented with it, that neither man nor
+beast could live there with any degree of comfort.
+
+[Sidenote: The Pine Martin.]
+
+The COMMON PINE MARTIN[141] is found in most parts of this country, and
+though very scarce in what is absolutely called the Northern Indian
+territory, yet by the Indians strolling toward the borders of the
+Southern Indian country, are killed in great numbers, and annually
+traded for at Churchill Factory.
+
+[Sidenote: The Ermine, or Stote.]
+
+The ERMINE, or STOTE,[142] is common in those parts, but generally more
+plentiful on the barren ground, and open plains or marshes, than in the
+woods; probably owing to {379} the mice being more numerous in the
+former situations than in the latter. In Summer they are of a tawney
+brown, but in Winter of a delicate white all over, except the tip of the
+tail, which is of a glossy black. They are, for their size, the
+strongest and most courageous animal I know: as they not only kill
+partridges, but even attack rabbits with great success. They sometimes
+take up their abode in the out-offices and provision-sheds belonging to
+the Factories; and though they commit some depredations, make ample
+amends by killing great numbers of mice, which are very numerous and
+destructive at most of the settlements in the Bay. I have taken much
+pains to tame and domesticate this beautiful animal, but never could
+succeed; for the longer I kept it the more restless and impatient it
+became.
+
+
+_Animals with Cutting Teeth._
+
+[Sidenote: The Musk Rat.]
+
+The MUSK RAT,[143] or MUSQUASH; or, as Naturalists call it, the MUSK
+BEAVER; is common in those parts; generally frequenting ponds and deep
+swamps that do not freeze dry in Winter. The manner of life of this
+species of animals is peculiar, and resembles that of the Beaver, as
+they are in some respects provident, and build houses to shelter
+themselves from the inclemency of the cold in Winter; but instead of
+making those houses on the banks of ponds or swamps, like the Beaver,
+they generally build them on the ice as soon as it is skinned over, and
+at a considerable {380} distance from the shore; always taking care to
+keep a hole open in the ice to admit them to dive for their food, which
+chiefly consists of the roots of grass: in the Southern parts of the
+country they feed much on a well-known root, called _Calamus
+Aromaticus_.[144] The materials made use of in building their houses are
+mud and grass, which they fetch up from the bottom. It sometimes happens
+in very cold Winters, that the holes in their houses freeze over, in
+spite of all their efforts to keep them open. When that is the case, and
+they have no provisions left in the house, the strongest preys on the
+weakest, till by degrees only one is left out of a whole lodge. I have
+seen several instances sufficient to confirm the truth of this
+assertion; for when their houses were broke open, the skeletons of seven
+or eight have been found, and only one entire animal. Though they
+occasionally eat fish and other animal food, yet in general they feed
+very clean, and when fat are good eating, particularly when nicely
+singed, scalded, and boiled. They are easily tamed, and soon grow fond;
+are very cleanly and playful, and smell exceedingly pleasant of musk;
+but their resemblance to a Rat is so great that few are partial to them.
+Indeed the only difference between them and a common Rat, exclusive of
+their superior size, is, that their hind-feet are large and webbed, and
+the tail, instead of being round, is flat and scaly.
+
+Though I have before said, that the Musk Beaver generally build their
+houses on the ice, it is not always the case; for in the Southern parts
+of the country, particularly {381} about Cumberland House, I have seen,
+in some of the deep swamps that were over-run with rushes and long
+grass, many small islands that have been raised by the industry of those
+animals; on the tops of which they had built their houses, like the
+beaver, some of which were very large. The tops of those houses are
+favourite breeding-places for the geese, which bring forth their young
+brood there, without the fear of being molested by foxes, or any other
+destructive animal, except the Eagle.
+
+[Sidenote: The Porcupine.]
+
+PORCUPINES[145] are so scarce to the North of Churchill River, and I do
+not recollect to have seen more than six during almost three years'
+residence among the Northern Indians. Mr. Pennant observes in his Arctic
+Zoology,[146] that they always have two at a time; one brought forth
+alive and the other still-born;[CE] but I never saw an instance of this
+kind, though in different parts of the country I have seen them killed
+in all stages of pregnancy. The flesh of the porcupine is very
+delicious, and so much esteemed by the Indians, that they think it the
+greatest luxury that their country affords. The quills are in great
+request among the women; who make them into a variety of ornaments, such
+as shot-bags, belts, garters, bracelets, _&c._ Their mode of copulation
+is singular, for their {382} quills will not permit them to perform that
+office in the usual mode, like other quadrupeds. To remedy this
+inconvenience, they sometimes lie on their sides, and meet in that
+manner; but the usual mode is for the male to lie on his back, and the
+female to walk over him, (beginning at his head,) till the parts of
+generation come in contact. They are the most forlorn animal I know; for
+in those parts of Hudson's Bay where they are most numerous, it is not
+common to see more than one in a place. They are so remarkably slow and
+stupid, that our Indians going with packets from Fort to Fort often see
+them in the trees, but not having occasion for them at that time, leave
+them till their return; and should their absence be a week or ten days,
+they are sure to find them within a mile of the place where they had
+seen them before.
+
+[Sidenote: Foxes of various Colours.]
+
+FOXES[147] of various colours are not scarce in those parts; but the
+natives living such a wandering life, seldom kill many. It is rather
+strange that no other species of Fox, except the white, are found at any
+distance from the woods on the barren ground; for so long as the trade
+has been established with the Esquimaux to the North of Churchill, I do
+not recollect that Foxes of any other colour than white were ever
+received from them.
+
+[Sidenote: Varying Hares.]
+
+The VARYING HARES[148] are numerous to the North of Churchill River, and
+extend as far as latitude 72 deg., probably farther. They delight most in
+rocky and stony {383} places, near the borders of woods; though many of
+them brave the coldest Winters on entire barren ground. In Summer they
+are nearly the colour of our English wild rabbit; but in Winter assume a
+most delicate white all over, except the tips of the ears, which are
+black. They are, when full grown and in good condition, very large, many
+of them weighing fourteen or fifteen pounds; and if not too old, are
+good eating. In Winter they feed on long rye-grass and the tops of dwarf
+willows, but in Summer eat berries, and different sorts of small
+herbage. They are frequently killed on the South-side of Churchill
+River, and several have been known to breed near the settlement at that
+place. They must multiply very fast, for when we evacuated Prince of
+Wales's Fort in one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two, it was rare
+to see one of them within twenty or thirty miles of that place; but at
+our return, in one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, we found
+them in such numbers, that it was common for one man to kill two or
+three in a day within half a mile of the new settlement. But partly,
+perhaps, from so many being killed, and partly from the survivors being
+so frequently disturbed, they have shifted their situation, and are at
+present as scarce near the settlement as ever. The Northern Indians
+pursue a singular method in shooting those Hares; finding by long
+experience that these animals will not bear a direct approach, when the
+Indians see a hare sitting, they walk round it in circles, always
+drawing nearer at every revolution, till by degrees they get within
+gun-shot. The {384} middle of the day, if it be clear weather, is the
+best time to kill them in this manner; for before and after noon, the
+Sun's altitude being so small, makes a man's shadow so long on the snow,
+as to frighten the Hare before he can approach near enough to kill it.
+The same may be said of deer when on open plains, who are frequently
+more frightened at the long shadow than at the man himself.
+
+[Sidenote: The American Hare.]
+
+The AMERICAN HARES,[149] or, as they are called in Hudson's Bay,
+RABBITS, are not plentiful in the Eastern parts of the Northern Indian
+country, not even in those parts that are situated among the woods; but
+to the Westward, bordering on the Southern Indian country, they are in
+some places pretty numerous, though by no means equal to what has been
+reported of them at York Fort, and some other settlements in the Bay.
+
+The furr of those animals, when killed in the best part of the season,
+was for many years entirely neglected by the furriers; for some time
+past the Company have ordered as many of their skins to be sent home as
+can be procured; they are but of small value.
+
+The flesh of those Hares is generally more esteemed than that of the
+former. They are in season all the Winter; and though they generally
+feed on the brush of pine and fir during that season, yet many of the
+Northern Indians eat the contents of the stomach. They are seldom sought
+after in Summer, as in that season they are not esteemed {385} good
+eating; but as the Fall advances they are, by feeding on berries, _&c._
+most excellent. In Spring they shed their Winter coat, and during the
+Summer are nearly the colour of the English wild rabbit, but as the
+Winter advances they become nearly white. In thick weather they are
+easily shot with the gun; but the most usual method of killing them is
+by snares, set nearly in the manner described by Dragge in the First
+Volume of his North West Passage.
+
+[Sidenote: The Common Squirrel.]
+
+The COMMON SQUIRRELS[150] are plentiful in the woody parts of this
+country, and are caught by the natives in considerable numbers with
+snares, while the boys kill many of them with blunt-headed arrows. The
+method of snaring them is rather curious, though very simple, as it
+consists of nothing more than setting a number of snares all round the
+body of the tree in which they are seen, and arranging them in such a
+manner that it is scarcely possible for the squirrels to descend without
+being entangled in one of them. This is generally the amusement of the
+boys. Though small, and seldom fat, yet they are good eating.
+
+The beauty and delicacy of this animal induced me to attempt taming and
+domesticating some of them, but without success; for though several of
+them were so familiar as to take any thing out of my hand, and sit on
+the table where I was writing, and play with the pens, _&c._ yet they
+never would bear to be handled, and were very mischievous; gnawing the
+chair-bottoms, window-curtains, sashes, _&c._ to pieces. They are an
+article of trade in the {386} Company's standard, but the greatest part
+of their skins, being killed in Summer, are of very little value.
+
+[Sidenote: The Ground Squirrel.]
+
+The GROUND SQUIRRELS[151] are never found in the woody parts of North
+America, but are very plentiful on the barren ground, to the North of
+Churchill River, as far as the latitude 71 deg., and probably much farther.
+In size they are equal to the American Grey Squirrel, though more
+beautiful in colour. They generally burrow among the rocks and under
+great stones, but sometimes on the sides of sandy ridges; and are so
+provident in laying up a Winter's stock during the Summer, that they are
+seldom seen on the surface of the snow in Winter. They generally feed on
+the tufts of grass, the tender tops of dwarf willows, _&c._ and are for
+the most part exceedingly fat, and good eating. They are easily tamed,
+and soon grow fond; by degrees they will bear handling as well as a cat;
+are exceeding cleanly, very playful, and by no means so restless and
+impatient of confinement as the Common Squirrel.
+
+[Sidenote: Mice of various kinds.]
+
+MICE are in great plenty and variety in all parts of Hudson's Bay; the
+marshes being inhabited by one species, and the dry ridges by another.
+The Shrew Mouse[152] is frequently found in Beaver houses during Winter,
+where they not only find a warm habitation, but also pick up a
+comfortable livelihood from the scraps left by the Beaver. Most of the
+other species build or make nests of dry grass, {387} of such a size and
+thickness, that when covered with snow, they must be sufficiently warm.
+They all feed on grass in general, but will also eat animal food when
+they can get it. The Hair-tailed Mouse[153] is the largest in the
+Northern parts of the Bay, being little inferior in size to a common
+rat. They always burrow under stones, on dry ridges; are very
+inoffensive, and so easily tamed, that if taken when full-grown, some of
+them will in a day or two be perfectly reconciled, and are so fond of
+being handled, that they will creep about your neck, or into your bosom.
+In Summer they are grey, and in Winter change to white, but are by no
+means so beautiful as a white ermine. At that season they are infested
+with multitudes of small lice, not a sixth part so large as the mites in
+a cheese; in fact, they are so small, that at first sight they only
+appear like reddish-brown dust, but on closer examination are all
+perceived in motion. In one large and beautiful animal of this kind,
+caught in the depth of Winter, I found those little vermin so numerous
+about it, that almost every hair was covered with them as thick as ropes
+with onions, and when they approached near the ends of the hair they may
+be said to change the mouse from white to a faint brown. At that time I
+had an excellent microscope, and endeavoured to examine them, and to
+ascertain their form, but the weather was so exceedingly cold, that the
+glasses became damp with the moisture of my breath before I could get a
+single sight. The hind-feet of these Mice are exactly like those of a
+Bear, and the {388} fore-feet are armed with a horny substance, (that I
+never saw in any other species of the Mouse,) which is wonderfully
+adapted for scraping away the ground where they wish to take up their
+abode. They are plentiful on some of the stony ridges near Churchill
+Factory, but never approach the house, or any of the out-offices. From
+appearances they are very local, and seldom stray far from their
+habitations even in Summer, and in Winter they are seldom seen on the
+surface of the snow; a great proof of their being provident in Summer to
+lay by a stock for that season.
+
+
+_Pinnated Quadrupeds._
+
+With respect to the Pinnated Quadrupeds with finlike feet, there are but
+few species in Hudson's Bay. The Walrus, or Sea-Horse, and Seals, are
+the only ones that I know.
+
+[Sidenote: The Walrus.]
+
+The WALRUS[154] are numerous about Merry and Jones's Islands, but more
+so on a small island called Sea-Horse Island, that lies in the fair way
+going to Whale Cove. In July one thousand seven hundred and sixty-seven,
+when on my voyage to the North of Churchill River, in passing Sea-Horse
+Island, we saw such numbers of those animals lying on the shore, that
+when some swivel guns loaded with ball were fired among them, the whole
+beach seemed to be in motion. The greatest part of them plunged into the
+water, and many of them swam round {389} the vessel within musket-shot.
+Every one on board exerted their skill in killing them, but it was
+attended with so little success, that the few which were killed sunk to
+the bottom, and those which were mortally wounded made off out of our
+reach.
+
+With what propriety those animals are called Horses, I cannot see; for
+there is not the least resemblance in any one part. Their bodies, fins,
+_&c._ are exactly like those of an enormous Seal, and the head is not
+very unlike that animal, except that the nose is much broader, to give
+room for the two large tusks that project from the upper jaw. Those
+tusks, and their red sparkling eyes, make them have a very fierce and
+formidable appearance.
+
+They are generally found in considerable numbers, which indicate their
+love of society; and their affection for each other is very apparent, as
+they always flock round those that are wounded, and when they sink,
+accompany them to the bottom, but soon rise to the surface, and make a
+hideous roaring, and of all amphibious animals, they are at times the
+least sensible of danger from man that I know.
+
+They often attack small boats merely through wantonness, and not only
+put the people in great confusion, but subject them to great danger; for
+they always aim at staving the boat with their tusks, or endeavour to
+get in, but are never known to hurt the people. In the year one thousand
+seven hundred and sixty-six some of the sloop's {390} crew, who annually
+sail to the North to trade with the Esquimaux, were attacked by a great
+number of those animals; and notwithstanding their utmost endeavours to
+keep them off, one more daring than the rest, though a small one, got in
+over the stern, and after sitting and looking at the people some time,
+he again plunged into the water to his companions. At that instant
+another, of an enormous size, was getting in over the bow; and every
+other means proving ineffectual to prevent such an unwelcome visit, the
+bowman took up a gun, loaded with goose-shot, put the muzzle into the
+Horse's mouth, and shot him dead; he immediately sunk, and was followed
+by all his companions. The people then made the best of their way to the
+vessel, and just arrived before the Sea-Horses were ready to make their
+second attack, which in all probability might have been worse than the
+first, as they seemed much enraged at the loss of their companion.
+
+Those animals are of various sizes, according to age and other
+circumstances; some are not larger than an old Seal but there are those
+among them that are not less than two ton weight.
+
+The skin and teeth are the most valuable parts to the natives; for the
+fat is hard and grisly, and the flesh coarse, black, and tough.
+
+Those animals are seldom found on the continent which borders on
+Hudson's Bay, or far up, in bays, rivers, or inlets, but usually
+frequent small islands, and sea-girt {391} shoals, at some distance from
+the main land; but as those places are frozen over for many miles during
+Winter, it is natural to think they keep at the edge of the water among
+the driving ice during that season. They are supposed to feed chiefly on
+marine plants, and perhaps on shell-fish, for their excrement is
+exceedingly offensive.
+
+[Sidenote: Seals.]
+
+SEALS of various sizes and colours are common in most parts of Hudson's
+Bay, but most numerous to the North. Some of those animals are
+beautifully speckled, black and white;[155] others are of a dirty grey.
+The former are generally small, but some of the latter arrive at an
+amazing size, and their skins are of great use to the Esquimaux; as it
+is of them they cover their canoes, make all their boot-legs and shoes,
+besides many other parts of their clothing. The Seal-skins are also of
+great use to those people as a substitute for casks, to preserve oil,
+_&c._ for Winter use; they are also blown full of wind and dried, and
+then used as buoys on the whale-fishery. The flesh and fat of the Seal
+is also more esteemed by the Esquimaux than those of any other marine
+animal, salmon not excepted.
+
+[Sidenote: Sea Unicorn.]
+
+Besides these, the SEA-UNICORN[156] is known to frequent Hudson's Bay
+and Straits, but I never saw one of them. Their horns are frequently
+purchased from our friendly Esquimaux, who probably get them in the way
+of barter from those tribes that reside more to the North; but I {392}
+never could be informed by the natives whether their skins are like
+those of the Whale, or hairy like those of the Seal; I suppose the
+former.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+_Species of Fish._
+
+The Fish that inhabit the salt water of Hudson's Bay are but few:--the
+Black Whale, White Whale, Salmon, and a small fish called Kepling, are
+the only species of sea-fish in those parts.[CF]
+
+[Sidenote: Black Whale.]
+
+The BLACK WHALE[157] is sometimes found as far South as Churchill River,
+and I was present at the killing of three there; but this was in the
+course of twenty years. To the Northward, particularly near Marble
+Island, they are more plentiful; but notwithstanding the Company carried
+on a fishery in that quarter, from the year one thousand seven hundred
+and sixty-five till one thousand seven hundred and seventy-two, they
+were so far from making it answer their expectations, that they sunk
+upwards of twenty thousand pounds; which is the less to be wondered at,
+when we consider the great inconveniencies and expences {393} they
+laboured under in such an undertaking. For as it was impossible to
+prosecute it from England, all the people employed on that service were
+obliged to reside at their settlement all the year at extravagant wages,
+exclusive of their maintenance. The harpooners had no less than fifty
+pounds _per annum_ standing wages, and none of the crew less than from
+fifteen to twenty-five pounds; which, together with the Captains'
+salaries, wear and tear of their vessels, and other contingent expences,
+made it appear on calculation, that if there were a certainty of loading
+the vessels every year, the Company could not clear themselves. On the
+contrary, during the seven years they persevered in that undertaking,
+only four Black Whales were taken near Marble Island; and, except one,
+they were so small, that they would not have been deemed payable fish in
+the Greenland service.[CG] But the Hudson's Bay Company, with a
+liberality that does honour to them, though perfectly acquainted with
+the rules observed in the Greenland service, gave the same premium for a
+sucking fish, as for one of the greatest magnitude.
+
+[Sidenote: White Whale.]
+
+WHITE WHALES[158] are very plentiful in those parts, particularly from
+Chesterfield's Inlet to York Fort, or Hay's {394} River, on the West
+side of the Bay; and from Cape Smith to Slude River on the East side. On
+the West coast they are generally found in the greatest numbers at the
+mouths of the principal rivers; such as Seal River, Churchill, Port
+Nelson, and Hay's Rivers. But the East side of the Bay not being so well
+known, Whale River is the only part they are known to frequent in very
+considerable numbers. Some years ago the Company had a settlement at
+this river, called Richmond Fort; but all their endeavours to establish
+a profitable fishery here proved ineffectual, and the few Indians who
+resorted to it with furrs proving very inadequate to the expences, the
+Company determined to evacuate it. Accordingly, after keeping up this
+settlement for upward of twelve years, and sinking many thousands of
+pounds, they ordered it to be burnt, for the more easily getting the
+spikes and other iron-work. This was in the year one thousand seven
+hundred and fifty-eight.
+
+At the old established Factories on the West side of the Bay, the
+Company have been more successful in the White Whale fishery,
+particularly at Churchill, where such of the Company's servants as
+cannot be employed during that season to more benefit for the Company,
+are sent on that duty, and in some successful years they send home from
+eight to thirteen tons of fine oil. To encourage a spirit of industry
+among those employed on this service, the Company allows a gratuity, not
+only to the harpooners, but to every man that sails in the boats; and
+this {395} gratuity is so ample as to inspire them with emulation, as
+they well know that the more they kill, the greater will be their
+emolument.
+
+[Sidenote: Salmon.]
+
+SALMON[159] are in some seasons very numerous on the North West side of
+Hudson's Bay, particularly at Knapp's Bay and Whale Cove. At the latter
+I once found them so plentiful, that had we been provided with a
+sufficient number of nets, casks, and salt, we might soon have loaded
+the vessel with them. But this is seldom the case, for in some years
+they are so scarce, that it is with difficulty a few meals of them can
+be procured during our stay at those harbours. They are in some years so
+plentiful near Churchill River, that I have known upward of two hundred
+fine fish taken out of four small nets in one tide within a quarter of a
+mile of the Fort; but in other years they are so scarce, that barely
+that number have been taken in upward of twenty nets during the whole
+season, which generally begins the latter end of June, and ends about
+the middle or latter end of August.
+
+[Sidenote: Kepling.]
+
+Beside the fish already mentioned, I know of no other that inhabits the
+salt water except the KEPLING,[160] which is a small fish about the size
+of a smelt, but most excellent eating. In some years they resort to the
+shores near Churchill River in such multitudes to spawn, and such
+numbers of them are left dry among the rocks, as at times to be {396}
+quite offensive. In other seasons they are so scarce, that hardly a meal
+can be procured.
+
+The same remark may be made on almost every species of game, which
+constitutes the greatest part of the fare of the people residing in
+those parts. For instance, in some years, hundreds of deer may easily be
+killed within a mile of York Fort; and in others, there is not one to be
+seen within twenty or thirty miles. One day thousands and tens of
+thousands of geese are seen, but the next they all raise flight, and go
+to the North to breed. Salmon, as I have lately observed, is so
+plentiful in some years at Churchill River, that it might be procured in
+any quantity; at others, so scarce as to be thought a great delicacy.
+
+In fact, after twenty years residence in this country, I am persuaded
+that whoever relies much on the produce of the different seasons, will
+frequently be deceived, and occasionally expose himself and men to great
+want.
+
+To remedy this evil, it is most prudent for those in command to avail
+themselves of plentiful seasons, and cure a sufficient quantity of the
+least perishable food, particularly geese.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+_Shell Fish._
+
+[Sidenote: Shell Fish.]
+
+SHELL FISH of a variety of kinds are also found in some parts of
+Hudson's Bay. Muscles[161] in particular are in great abundance on the
+rocky shores near Churchill River, and what is vulgarly called the
+Periwinkle are very plentiful {397} on the rocks which dry at low-water.
+Small Crabs[162] and Starfish[163] are frequently thrown on the shore by
+the surf in heavy gales of wind; and the empty shells of Wilks, small
+Scallops, Cockles, and many other kinds, are to be found on the beaches
+in great plenty. The same may be said of the interior parts of the
+country, where the banks of the lakes and rivers abound with empty
+shells of various kinds; but the fish themselves have never been
+discovered by the natives.
+
+_Frogs, Grubs, and other Insects._
+
+[Sidenote: Frogs.]
+
+[Sidenote: Spiders and Grubs.]
+
+FROGS[164] of various colours are numerous in those parts as far North
+as the latitude 61 deg.. They always frequent the margins of lakes, ponds,
+rivers, and swamps: and as the Winter approaches, they burrow under the
+moss, at a considerable distance from the water, where they remain in a
+frozen state till the Spring. I have frequently seen them dug up with
+the moss, (when pitching tents in Winter,) frozen as hard as ice; in
+which state the legs are as easily broken off as a pipe-stem, without
+giving the least sensation to the animal; but by wrapping them up in
+warm skins, and exposing them to a slow fire, they soon recover life,
+and the mutilated animal gains its usual activity; but if they are
+permitted to freeze again, they are past all recovery, and are never
+more known to come to life. The same may be said of the various species
+of {398} Spiders, and all the Grub kind, which are very numerous in
+those parts. I have seen thousands of them dug up with the moss, when we
+were pitching our tents in the Winter; all of which were invariably
+enclosed in a thick web, which Nature teaches them to spin on those
+occasions; yet they were apparently all frozen as hard as ice. The
+Spiders, if let fall from any height on a hard substance, would rebound
+like a grey pea; and all the Grub kind are so hard frozen as to be as
+easily broken as a piece of ice of the same size; yet when exposed to a
+slow heat, even in the depth of Winter, they will soon come to life, and
+in a short time recover their usual motions.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+_Birds._
+
+The feathered creation that resort to those parts in the different
+seasons are numerous, but such as brave the severe Winter are but few in
+number, and shall be particularly noticed in their proper places.
+
+[Sidenote: Eagles.]
+
+EAGLES of several sorts are found in the country bordering on Hudson's
+Bay during the Summer; but none, except the common brown Fishing
+Eagle,[165] ever frequent the Northern parts. They always make their
+appearance in those dreary regions about the latter end of March or
+beginning of April, and build their nests in lofty trees, in the
+crevices of inaccessible rocks near the {399} banks of rivers. They lay
+but two eggs, (which are white,) and frequently bring but one young.
+They generally feed on fish, which they catch as they are swimming near
+the surface; but they are very destructive to the musk rat and hares, as
+also to geese and ducks, when in a moulting state, and frequently kill
+young beaver. Their nests are very large, frequently six feet in
+diameter; and before their young can fly, are so provident, that the
+Indians frequently take a most excellent meal of fish, flesh, and fowl
+from their larder. Though they bring forth their young so early as the
+latter end of May, or the beginning of June, yet they never fly till
+September; a little after which they migrate to the Southward. They are
+the most ravenous of any bird I know; for when kept in confinement or in
+a tame state as it may be called, I have known two of them eat more than
+a bushel of fish in a day. They are never known to breed on the barren
+grounds to the North of Churchill River, though many of the lakes and
+rivers in those parts abound with variety of fish. This is probably
+owing to the want of trees or high rocks to build in. The Northern
+Indians are very partial to the quill-feathers of the Eagle, as well as
+to those of the hawk, to wing or plume their arrows with, out of a
+superstitious notion that they have a greater effect than if winged with
+the feathers of geese, cranes, crows, or other birds, that in fact would
+do equally as well. The flesh of the Eagle is usually eaten by most of
+the Indians, but is always black, hard, and fishy; even the {400} young
+ones, when in a callow state, though the flesh is delicate white, are so
+rank as to render them very unpleasant to some persons, except in times
+of necessity.
+
+[Sidenote: Hawks of various sizes.]
+
+HAWKS of various sizes and plumage frequent the different parts of the
+country round Hudson's Bay during Summer. Some of those Hawks are so
+large as to weigh three pounds, and others so small as not to exceed
+five or six ounces. But the weight of those, as well as every other
+species of Birds, is no standard for the Naturalist to go by; for at
+different seasons, and when in want of food, they are often scarcely
+half the weight they are when fat and in good order. Notwithstanding the
+variety of Hawks that resort to those parts in Summer, I know but one
+species that brave the intense cold of the long Winters to the North of
+Churchill River; and that is what Mr. Pennant calls the Sacre
+Falcon.[166] They, like the other large species of Hawks, prey much on
+the white grouse or partridge, and also on the American hare, usually
+called here Rabbits. They are always found to frequent those parts where
+partridges are plentiful, and are detested by the sportsmen, as they
+generally drive all the game off the ground near their tents; but, in
+return, they often drive thither fresh flocks of some hundreds.
+Notwithstanding this, they so frequently baulk those who are employed on
+the hunting service, that the Governors generally give a reward of a
+quart of brandy for each of their heads. Their flesh is always eaten by
+the Indians, and sometimes by the {401} English; but it is always black,
+hard, and tough, and sometimes has a bitter taste.
+
+The Indians are fond of taming those birds, and frequently keep them the
+whole Summer; but as the Winter approaches they generally take flight,
+and provide for themselves. When at Cumberland House I had one of them,
+of which my people were remarkably fond; and as it never wanted for
+food, would in all probability have remained with us all the Winter, had
+it not been killed by an Indian who did not know it to be tame.
+
+[Sidenote: White or Snowy Owl.]
+
+The beautiful species of WHITE or SNOWY OWL[167] is common in all parts
+of Hudson's Bay, as far North as the Copper-mine River. These birds,
+when flying or sitting, appear very large, but when killed, seldom weigh
+more than three and a half, or four pounds, and sometimes scarcely half
+that weight. They generally feed on mice and partridges, and are at
+times known to kill rabbits. They are, like the hawk, very troublesome
+to the sportsmen; and, contrary to any other bird that I know, have a
+great propensity to follow the report of a gun, and frequently follow
+the hunters (as they are usually called in Hudson's Bay) the whole day.
+On those occasions they usually perch on high trees, and watch till a
+bird is killed, when they skim down and carry it off before the hunter
+can get near it; but in return, the hunters, when they see them on the
+watch, frequently decoy them within gun-shot, by throwing up a dead
+bird, which {402} the Owl seldom refuses to accept; but the sportsman
+being fully provided for this visit, and on his guard, generally shoots
+them before they can carry off the partridge. They are, however, so
+great a hindrance to those employed on the hunting service, that the
+same premium is given for one of their heads as for that of a hawk.
+
+In Winter they are frequently very fat, their flesh delicately white,
+and generally esteemed good eating, both by English and Indians. Those
+Owls always make their nests on the ground, generally lay from three to
+four eggs, but seldom hatch more than two; and in the extreme North the
+young ones do not fly till September. They never migrate, but brave the
+coldest Winters, even on the barren ground, far remote from any woods;
+and in those situations perch on high rocks and stones, and watch for
+their prey.
+
+[Sidenote: Grey or Mottled Owl.]
+
+The species of GREY or MOTTLED OWL[168] are by no means so numerous as
+the former, are something inferior in size, and always frequent the
+woods. They never go in search of their prey in the day time, but perch
+on the tops of lofty pines, and are easily approached and shot. Their
+food is generally known to be mice and small birds, yet their flesh is
+delicately white, and nearly as good as a barn-door fowl; of course it
+is much esteemed both by the English and Indians. This species of Owl is
+called by the Southern Indians Ho-ho, and the former Wap-a-kee-thow.
+
+[Sidenote: Cob-a-dee-cooch.]
+
+{403} Besides those two species of Owls, there is another that remains
+in Hudson's Bay all the year, and is called by the Indians
+COB-A-DEE-COOCH.[169] It is so far inferior in size to the two former,
+that it seldom weighs half a pound; is of a mottled brown, the feathers
+long, and of a most delicate soft and silky quality. In general this
+species feed on mice, and birds they find dead; and are so impudent at
+times, that they light on a partridge when killed by the hunter, but not
+being able to carry it off, are often obliged to relinquish the prize.
+Like the White Owl, at times, though but seldom, they follow the report
+of a gun, and by so frequently skimming round the sportsmen, frighten
+the game nearly as much as the hawk. They seldom go far from the woods,
+build in trees, and lay from two to four eggs. They are never fat, and
+their flesh is eaten only by the Indians.
+
+[Sidenote: Ravens.]
+
+RAVENS[170] of a most beautiful glossy black, richly tinged with purple
+and violet colour, are the constant inhabitants of Hudson's Bay; but are
+so far inferior in size to the English Raven, that they are usually
+called Crows. They build their nests in lofty pine-trees, and generally
+lay four speckled eggs; they bring forth their young so early as the
+latter end of May, or the beginning of June. In Summer many of them
+frequent the barren grounds, several hundred miles from any woods;
+probably invited there by the multitudes of deer and musk-oxen that are
+killed by the Northern Indians during that season, merely for their
+{404} skins, and who leave their flesh to rot, or be devoured by beasts
+or birds of prey. At those times they are very fat, and the flesh of the
+young ones is delicately white, and good eating. But in Winter they are,
+through necessity, obliged to feed on a black moss that grows on the
+pine-trees, also on deer's dung, and excrements of other animals. It is
+true, they kill some mice, which they find in the surface of the snow,
+and catch many wounded partridges and hares; in some parts of the
+country they are a great nuisance to the hunter, by eating the game that
+is either caught in snares or traps. With all this assistance, they are
+in general so poor during the severe cold in Winter, as to excite wonder
+how they possibly can exist.
+
+Their faculty of scent must be very acute; for in the coldest days in
+Winter, when every kind of effluvia is almost instantaneously destroyed
+by the frost, I have frequently known buffaloes and other beasts killed
+where not one of those birds were seen; but in a few hours scores of
+them would gather about the spot to pick up the dung, blood, and other
+offal. An unarmed man may approach them very near when feeding, but they
+are shy of those that have a gun; a great proof that they smell the
+gunpowder. They are, however, frequently shot by guns set for foxes; and
+sometimes caught in traps built for martins. Though, on the whole, they
+may be called a shy bird, yet their necessities in Winter are so great,
+that, like the White Owl, they frequently follow the report of a gun,
+keep prudently at a distance from the sportsman, and frequently {405}
+carry off many wounded birds. Their quills make most excellent pens for
+drawing, or for ladies to write with.
+
+[Sidenote: Cinereous Crow.]
+
+The CINEREOUS CROW,[171] or, as it is called by the Southern Indians,
+Whisk-e-jonish, by the English Whiskey-jack, and by the Northern Indians
+Gee-za, but as some pronounce it, and that with more propriety, Jee-za,
+though classed among the Crows, is in reality so small, as seldom to
+weigh three ounces; the plumage grey, the feathers very long, soft, and
+silky, and in general entirely unwebbed, and in some parts much
+resembles hair. This bird is very familiar, and fond of frequenting
+habitations, either houses or tents; and so much given to pilfering,
+that no kind of provisions it can come at, either fresh or salt, is safe
+from its depredation. It is so bold as to come into tents, and sit on
+the edge of the kettle when hanging over the fire, and steal victuals
+out of the dishes. It is very troublesome to the hunters, both English
+and Indian, frequently following them a whole day; it will perch on a
+tree while the hunter is baiting his martin-traps, and as soon as his
+back is turned go and eat the baits. It is a kind of mock bird, and of
+course has a variety of notes; it is easily tamed, but never lives long
+in confinement. It is well known to be a provident bird, laying up great
+quantities of berries in Summer for a Winter stock; but its natural
+propensity to pilfer at all seasons makes it much detested both by the
+{406} English and Indians. It builds its nest in trees, exactly like
+that of the blackbird and thrush; lays four blue eggs, but seldom brings
+more than three young ones.
+
+[Sidenote: Wood-pecker.]
+
+I know of only one sort of WOOD-PECKER that frequents the remote
+Northern parts of Hudson's Bay; and this is distinguished by Mr. Pennant
+by the name of the Golden Winged Bird;[172] but to the South West that
+beautiful species of Wood-pecker with a scarlet crown is very
+frequent.[173] The manner of life of this species is nearly alike,
+always building their nests in holes in trees, and feeding on worms and
+insects. They generally have from four to six young at a time. They are
+said to be very destructive to fruit-trees that are raised in gardens in
+the more Southern parts of America; but the want of those luxuries in
+Hudson's Bay renders them very harmless and inoffensive birds. The red
+feathers of the larger sort, which frequent the interior and Southern
+parts of the Bay, are much valued by some of the Indians, who ornament
+their pipe-stems with them, and at times use them as ornaments to their
+children's clothing. Neither of the two species here mentioned ever
+migrate,[174] but are constant inhabitants of the different climates in
+which they are found.
+
+[Sidenote: Grouse.]
+
+There are several species of GROUSE in the different parts of Hudson's
+Bay; but two of the largest, and one of them the most beautiful, never
+reach so far North {407} as the latitude 59 deg.: but as I have seen them in
+great plenty near Cumberland House, I shall take the liberty to describe
+them.
+
+[Sidenote: The Ruffed Grouse.]
+
+The RUFFED GROUSE.[175] This is the most beautiful of all that are
+classed under that name. They are of a delicate brown, prettily
+variegated with black and white: tail large and long, like that of a
+hawk, which is usually of an orange-colour, beautifully barred with
+black, chocolate, and white; and the tail is frequently expanded like a
+fan. To add to their beauty, they have a ruff of glossy black feathers,
+richly tinged with purple round the neck, which they can erect at
+pleasure: this they frequently do, but more particularly so when they
+spread their long tail, which gives them a noble appearance. In size
+they exceed a partridge, but are inferior to a pheasant. In Winter they
+are usually found perched on the branches of the pine-trees; and in that
+season are so tame as to be easily approached, and of course readily
+shot.
+
+They always make their nests on the ground, generally at the root of a
+tree, and lay to the number of twelve or fourteen eggs. In some of the
+Southern parts of America several attempts have been made to tame those
+beautiful birds, by taking their eggs and hatching them under domestic
+hens, but it was never crowned with success; for when but a few days
+old, they always make their escape into the woods, where they probably
+pick up a subsistence. Their flesh is delicately white and firm, and
+{408} though they are seldom fat, they are always good eating, and are
+generally esteemed best when larded and roasted, or nicely boiled with a
+bit of bacon.
+
+There is something very remarkable in those birds, and I believe
+peculiar to themselves, which is that of clapping their wings with such
+a force, that at half a mile distance it resembles thunder. I have
+frequently heard them make that noise near Cumberland House in the month
+of May, but it was always before Sun-rise, and a little after Sun-set.
+It is said by Mr. Barton and Le Hontan, that they never clap in this
+manner but in the Spring and Fall, and I must acknowledge that I never
+heard them in Winter, though I have killed many of them in that season.
+The Indians informed me they never make that noise but when feeding,
+which is very probable; for it is notoriously known that all the species
+of Grouse feed very early in the mornings, and late in the afternoons.
+This species is called by some of the Indians bordering on Hudson's Bay,
+Pus-pus-kee, and by others Pus-pus-cue.
+
+[Sidenote: Sharp-tailed Grouse.]
+
+SHARP-TAILED GROUSE,[176] or as they are called in Hudson's Bay,
+Pheasant. Those birds are always found in the Southern parts of the Bay,
+are very plentiful in the interior parts of the country, and in some
+Winters a few of them are shot at York Fort, but never reach so far
+North as Churchill. In colour they are not very unlike that of the
+English hen pheasant; but the tail is short and pointed, like that of
+the common duck; and there is no perceivable {409} difference in plumage
+between the male and female. When full-grown, and in good condition,
+they frequently weigh two pounds, and though the flesh is dark, yet it
+is juicy, and always esteemed good eating, particularly when larded and
+roasted. In Summer they feed on berries, and in Winter on the tops of
+the dwarf birch, and the buds of the poplar. In the Fall they are
+tolerably tame, but in the severe cold more shy; frequently perch on the
+tops of the highest poplars, out of moderate gun-shot, and will not
+suffer a near approach. They sometimes, when disturbed in this
+situation, dive into the snow; but the sportsman is equally baulked in
+his expectations, as they force their way so fast under it as to raise
+flight many yards distant from the place they entered, and very
+frequently in a different direction to that from which the sportsman
+expects.[CH] They, like the other species of grouse, make their nests on
+the ground, and lay from ten to thirteen eggs. Like the Ruffed Grouse,
+they are not to be tamed, as many trials have been made at York Fort,
+but without success; for though they never made their escape, yet they
+always died, probably for the want of proper food; for the hens that
+hatched them were equally fond of them, as they could possibly have been
+had they been the produce of their own eggs. This species of Grouse is
+called by the Southern Indians Aw-kis-cow.
+
+[Sidenote: Wood Partridge.]
+
+{410} The WOOD PARTRIDGES[177] have acquired that name in Hudson's Bay
+from their always frequenting the forests of pines and fir; and in
+Winter feeding on the brush of those trees, though they are fondest of
+the latter. This species of Grouse is inferior in size and beauty to the
+Ruffed, yet may be called a handsome bird; the plumage being of a
+handsome brown, elegantly spotted with white and black. The tail is
+long, and tipped with orange; and the legs are warmly covered with short
+feathers, but the feet are naked. They are generally in the extreme with
+respect to shyness; sometimes not suffering a man to come within two
+gun-shots, and at others so tame that the sportsman may kill five or six
+out of one tree without shifting his station. They are seen in some
+years in considerable numbers near York Fort. They are very scarce at
+Churchill, though numerous in the interior parts, particularly on the
+borders of the Athapuscow Indians country, where I have seen my Indian
+companions kill many of them with blunt-headed arrows. In Winter their
+flesh is black, hard and bitter, probably owing to the resinous quality
+of their food during that season; but this is not observed in the
+rabbits, though they feed exactly in the same manner in Winter: on the
+contrary, their flesh is esteemed more delicate than that of the English
+rabbit. The Southern Indians call this species of Partridge,
+Mistick-a-pethow; and the Northern Indians call it, Day.
+
+[Sidenote: Willow Partridge.]
+
+{411} The WILLOW PARTRIDGES[178] have a strong black bill, with scarlet
+eye-brows, very large and beautiful in the male, but less conspicuous in
+the female. In Summer they are brown, elegantly barred and mottled with
+orange, white, and black; and at that season the males are very proud
+and handsome, but the females are less beautiful, being of one universal
+brown. As the Fall advances they change to a delicate white, except
+fourteen black feathers in the tail, which are also tipped with white;
+and their legs and feet, quite down to the nails, are warmly covered
+with feathers. In the latter end of September and beginning of October
+they gather in flocks of some hundreds, and proceed from the open plains
+and barren grounds, (where they usually breed,) to the woods and
+brush-willows, where they hord together in a state of society, till
+dispersed by their common enemies, the hawks, or hunters. They are by
+far the most numerous of any of the Grouse species that are found in
+Hudson's Bay; and in some places when permitted to remain undisturbed
+for a considerable time, their number is frequently so great, as almost
+to exceed credibility. I shall by no means exceed truth, if I assert
+that I have seen upward of four hundred in one flock near Churchill
+River; but the greatest number I ever saw was on the North side of Port
+Nelson River, when returning with a packet in March one thousand seven
+hundred and sixty-eight: at that time I saw thousands flying to the
+North, and the whole surface of the snow seemed to be in motion by those
+that were feeding on the tops of the short willows. Sir {412} Thomas
+Button mentions, that when he wintered in Port Nelson River in one
+thousand six hundred and twelve, his crew killed eighteen hundred dozen
+of those birds, which I have no reason to doubt; and Mr. Jeremie,
+formerly Governor at York Fort, when that place was in the possession of
+the French, and then called Fort Bourbon, asserts, that he and
+seventy-nine others eat no less than ninety thousand partridges and
+twenty-five thousand hares in the course of one Winter; which,
+considering the quantity of venison, geese, ducks, _&c._ enumerated in
+his account, that were killed that year, makes the number so great, that
+it is scarcely possible to conceive what eighty men could do with them;
+for on calculation, ninety thousand partridges and twenty-five thousand
+hares divided by eighty, amounts to no less than one thousand one
+hundred and twenty-five partridges, and three hundred and twelve hares
+per man. This is by far too great a quantity, particularly when it is
+considered that neither partridges nor hares are in season, or can be
+procured in any numbers, more than seven months in the year. Forty
+thousand partridges and five thousand hares would, I think, be much
+nearer the truth, and will be found, on calculation, to be ample
+provision for eighty men for seven months, exclusive of any change. The
+common weight of those birds is from eighteen to twenty-two ounces when
+first killed; there are some few that are nearly that weight when fit
+for the spit, but they are so scarce as by no means to serve as a
+standard; and as they always hord with the common {413} size, there is
+no room to suspect them of another species. As all those over-grown
+partridges are notoriously known to be males, it is more than probable
+that they are imperfect, and grow large and fat like capons; and every
+one that has had an opportunity of tasting those large partridges, will
+readily allow that they excel the common sort as much in flavour as they
+do in size. It is remarked in those birds, as well as the Rock
+Partridge, that they are provided with additional clothing, as it may be
+called; for every feather, from the largest to the smallest, except the
+quills and tail, are all double. The under-feather is soft and downy,
+shooting from the shaft of the larger; and is wonderfully adapted to
+their situation, as they not only brave the coldest Winters, but the
+species now under consideration always burrow under the snow at nights,
+and at day-light come forth to feed. In Winter they are always found to
+frequent the banks of rivers and creeks, the sides of lakes and ponds,
+and the plains which abound with dwarf willows; for it is on the buds
+and tops of that tree they always feed during the Winter. In summer they
+eat berries and small herbage. Their food in Winter being so dry and
+harsh, makes it necessary for them to swallow a considerable quantity of
+gravel to promote digestion; but the great depth of snow renders it very
+scarce during that season. The Indians having considered this point,
+invented the method now in use among the English, of catching them in
+nets by means of that simple allurement, a heap of gravel. The nets for
+this purpose are from eight {414} to twelve feet square, and are
+stretched in a frame of wood, and usually set on the ice of rivers,
+creeks, ponds, and lakes, about one hundred yards from the willows, but
+in some situations not half that distance. Under the center of the net a
+heap of snow is thrown up to the size of one or two bushels, and when
+well packed is covered with gravel. To set the nets, when thus prepared,
+requires no other trouble than lifting up one side of the frame, and
+supporting it with two small props, about four feet long: a line is
+fastened to those props, and the other end being conveyed to the
+neighbouring willows, is always so contrived that a man can get to it
+without being seen by the birds under the net. When every thing is thus
+prepared, the hunters have nothing to do but go into the adjacent
+willows and woods, and when they start game, endeavour to drive them
+into the net, which at times is no hard task, as they frequently run
+before them like chickens; and sometimes require no driving, for as soon
+as they see the black heap of gravel on the white snow they fly straight
+towards it. The hunter then goes to the end of the line to watch their
+motions, and when he sees there are as many about the gravel as the net
+can cover, or as many as are likely to go under at that time, with a
+sudden pull he hauls down the stakes, and the net falls horizontally on
+the snow, and encloses the greatest part of the birds that are under it.
+The hunter then runs to the net as soon as possible, and kills all the
+birds by biting them at the back of the head. He then sets up the net,
+{415} takes away all the dead game, and repeats the operation as often
+as he pleases, or as long as the birds are in good humour. By this
+simple contrivance I have known upwards of three hundred partridges
+caught in one morning by three persons; and a much greater number might
+have been procured had it been thought necessary. Early in the morning,
+just at break of day, and early in the afternoon, is the best time for
+this sport. It is common to get from thirty to seventy at one hawl; and
+in the Winter of one thousand seven hundred and eighty-six, Mr. Prince,
+then Master of a sloop at Churchill River, actually caught two hundred
+and four at two hawls. They are by no means equally plentiful every
+year; for in some Winters I have known them so scarce, that it was
+impossible to catch any in nets, and all that could be procured with the
+gun would hardly afford one day's allowance per week to the men during
+the season; but in the Winter one thousand seven hundred and
+eighty-five, they were so plentiful near Churchill, and such numbers
+were brought to the Factory, that I gave upward of two thousand to the
+hogs. In the latter end of March, or the beginning of April, those birds
+begin to change from white to their beautiful Summer plumage, and the
+first brown feathers make their appearance on the neck,[CI] and by
+degrees {416} spread over the whole body; but their Summer dress is
+seldom complete till July. The feathers of those birds make excellent
+beds, and as they are the perquisite of the hunters, are usually sold to
+the Captains and Mates of the Company's ships, at the easy rate of three
+pence per pound.
+
+[Sidenote: Rock Partridges.]
+
+ROCK PARTRIDGES.[179] This species of Grouse are in Winter of the same
+colour as the former, but inferior in size; being in general not more
+than two-thirds of the weight. They have a black line from the bill to
+the eye, and differ in nature and manner from the Willow Partridge. They
+never frequent the woods or willows, but brave the severest cold on the
+open plains. They always feed on the buds and tops of the dwarf birch,
+and after this repast, generally sit on the high ridges of snow, with
+their heads to windward. They are never caught in nets, like the Willow
+Partridge; for when in want of gravel, their bills are of such an
+amazing strength, that they pick a sufficient quantity out of the rocks.
+Beside, being so much inferior in size to the former species, their
+flesh is by no means so good, being black, hard, and bitter. They are in
+general, like the Wood Partridge, either exceeding wild or very tame;
+and when in the latter humour, I have {417} known one man kill one
+hundred and twenty in a few hours; for as they usually keep in large
+flocks, the sportsmen can frequently kill six or eight at a shot. These,
+like the Willow Partridge, change their plumage in Summer to a beautiful
+speckled brown; and at that season are so hardy, that, unless shot in
+the head or vitals, they will fly away with the greatest quantity of
+shot of any bird I know. They discover great fondness for their young;
+for during the time of incubation, they will frequently suffer
+themselves to be taken by hand off their eggs.[CJ] Pigeons[180] of a
+small size, not larger than a thrush, are in some Summers found as far
+North as Churchill River. The bill is of a flesh-colour, legs red, and
+the greatest part of the plumage of a light lilac or blush. In the
+interior parts of the country they fly in large flocks, and perch on the
+poplar trees in such numbers that I have seen twelve of them killed at
+one shot. They usually feed on {418} poplar buds, and are good eating,
+though seldom fat. They build their nests in trees, the same as the Wood
+Pigeons do; never lay but two eggs, and are very scarce near the
+sea-coast in the Northern parts of Hudson's Bay.
+
+[Sidenote: Red-breasted Thrush.]
+
+The RED-BREASTED THRUSHES, commonly called in Hudson's Bay the Red
+Birds,[181] but by some the Black Birds, on account of their note, and
+by others the American Fieldfares usually make their appearance at
+Churchill River about the middle of May, build their nests of mud, like
+the English Thrush, and lay four beautiful blue eggs. They have a very
+loud and pleasing note, which they generally exercise most in the
+mornings and evenings, when perched on some lofty tree near their nest;
+but when the young can fly they are silent, and migrate to the South
+early in the Fall. They are by no means numerous, and are generally seen
+in pairs; they are never sought after as an article of food, but when
+killed by the Indian boys, are esteemed good eating, though they always
+feed on worms and insects.
+
+[Sidenote: Grosbeak.]
+
+GROSBEAK.[182] These gay birds visit Churchill River in some years so
+early as the latter end of March, but are by no means plentiful; they
+are always seen in pairs, and generally feed on the buds of the poplar
+and willow. The male is in most parts of its plumage of a beautiful
+crimson, but the female of a dull dirty green. In form they much
+resemble the English bullfinch, but are near {419} double their size.
+They build their nests in trees, sometimes not far from the ground; lay
+four white eggs, and always hatch them in June. They are said to have a
+pleasing note in Spring, though I never heard it, and are known to
+retire to the South early in the Fall. The English residing in Hudson's
+Bay generally call this bird the American Red Bird.
+
+[Sidenote: Snow Bunting.]
+
+SNOW BUNTINGS,[183] universally known in Hudson's Bay by the name of the
+Snow Birds, and in the Isles of Orkney by the name of Snow Flakes, from
+their visiting those parts in such numbers as to devour the grain as
+soon as sown, in some years are so destructive as to oblige the farmer
+to sow his fields a second, and occasionally a third time. These birds
+make their appearance at the Northern settlements in the Bay about the
+latter end of May, or beginning of April, [_sic_] when they are very
+fat, and not inferior in flavour to an ortolan. On their first arrival
+they generally feed on grass-seeds, and are fond of frequenting
+dunghills. At that time they are easily caught in great numbers under a
+net baited with groats or oatmeal; but as the Summer advances, they feed
+much on worms, and are then not so much esteemed. They sometimes fly in
+such large flocks, that I have killed upwards of twenty at one shot, and
+have known others who have killed double that number. In the Spring
+their plumage is prettily variegated, black and white; but their Summer
+dress may be called elegant, though not gay. They live {420} long in
+confinement, have naturally a pleasing note, and when in company with
+Canary birds soon imitate their song. I have kept many of them in cages
+in the same room with Canary birds, and always found they sung in Winter
+as well as in Summer; but even in confinement they change their plumage
+according to the season, the same as in a wild state. This species of
+bird seem fond of the coldest regions, for as the Spring advances they
+fly so far North that their breeding-places are not known to the
+inhabitants of Hudson's Bay. In Autumn they return to the South in large
+flocks, and are frequently shot in considerable numbers merely as a
+delicacy; at that season, however, they are by no means so good as when
+they first make their appearance in Spring.
+
+[Sidenote: White-crowned Bunting.]
+
+WHITE-CROWNED BUNTING.[184] This species is inferior in size to the
+former, and seldom make their appearance till June. They breed in most
+parts of the Bay, always make their nests on the ground, at the root of
+a dwarf willow or a gooseberry-bush. During the time their young are in
+a callow state they have a delightful note, but as soon as they are
+fledged they become silent, and retire to the South early in September.
+
+[Sidenote: Lapland Finch.]
+
+LAPLAND FINCH.[185] This bird is common on Hudson's Bay, and never
+migrates Southward in the coldest Winters. During that season it
+generally frequents the juniper plains, and feeds on the small buds of
+that tree, also on grass-seeds; {421} but at the approach of Summer it
+flies still farther North to breed. A variety of this bird is also
+common, and is beautifully marked with a red forehead and breast.[186]
+It is most common in the Spring, and frequently caught in nets set for
+the Snow Bunting; and when kept in cages has a pleasing note, but seldom
+lives long in confinement, though it generally dies very fat.
+
+[Sidenote: Larks.]
+
+LARKS[187] of a pretty variegated colour frequent those parts in Summer,
+and always make their appearance in May; build their nests on the
+ground, usually by the side of a stone at the root of a small bush, lay
+four speckled eggs, and bring forth their young in June. At their first
+arrival, and till the young can fly, the male is in full song; and, like
+the sky-lark, soars to a great height, and generally descends in a
+perpendicular direction near their nest. Their note is loud and
+agreeable, but consists of little variety, and as soon as the young can
+fly they become silent, and retire to the Southward early in the Fall.
+They are impatient of confinement, never sing in that state, and seldom
+live long.
+
+[Sidenote: Titmouse.]
+
+The TITMOUSE[188] is usually called in Hudson's Bay, Blackcap. This
+diminutive bird braves the coldest Winter, and during that season feeds
+on the seeds of long rye-grass, but in Summer on insects and berries.
+The Southern Indians call this bird Kiss-kiss-heshis, from a twittering
+noise they make, which much resembles that word in sound.
+
+[Sidenote: Swallows.]
+
+{422} SWALLOWS[189] visit these parts in considerable numbers in Summer,
+and are very domestic; building their nests in necessaries, stables, and
+other out-offices that are much frequented. They seldom make their
+appearance at Churchill River till June, and retire South early in
+August. They, like the European Swallow, gather in large flocks on the
+day of their departure, make several revolutions round the
+breeding-places, and then take their leave till the next year. I do not
+recollect to have seen any of those birds to the North of Seal River.
+
+[Sidenote: Martins.]
+
+MARTINS[190] also visit Hudson's Bay in great numbers, but seldom so far
+North as Churchill River. They usually make their nests in holes formed
+in the steep banks of rivers; and, like the Swallow, lay four or five
+speckled eggs; and retire Southward in August. At the Northern
+settlements they are by no means so domestic as the Swallow.
+
+[Sidenote: Hooping Crane.]
+
+HOOPING CRANE.[191] This bird visits Hudson's Bay in the Spring, though
+not in great numbers. They are generally seen only in pairs, and that
+not very often. It is a bird of considerable size, often equal to that
+of a good turkey, and the great length of the bill, neck, and legs,
+makes it measure, from the bill to the toes, near six feet in common,
+and some much more. Its plumage is of a pure white, except the
+quill-feathers, which are black; the crown is covered with a red skin,
+{423} thinly beset with black bristles, and the legs are large and
+black. It usually frequents open swamps, the sides of rivers, and the
+margins of lakes and ponds, feeds on frogs and small fish, and esteemed
+good eating. The wing-bones of this bird are so long and large, that I
+have known them made into flutes with tolerable success. It seldom has
+more than two young, and retires Southward early in the fall.
+
+[Sidenote: Brown Crane.]
+
+The BROWN CRANE.[192] This species is far inferior in size to the
+former, being seldom three feet and a half in length, and on an average
+not weighing seven pounds. Their haunts and manner of life are nearly
+the same as that of the Hooping Crane, and they never have more than two
+young, and those seldom fly till September. They are found farther North
+than the former, for I have killed several of them on Marble Island, and
+have seen them on the Continent as high as the latitude 65 deg.. They are
+generally esteemed good eating, and, from the form of the body when fit
+for the spit, they acquire the name of the North West Turkey. There is a
+circumstance respecting this bird that is very peculiar; which is, that
+the gizzard is larger than that of a swan, and remarkably so in the
+young birds. The Brown Cranes are frequently seen in hot calm days to
+soar to an amazing height, always flying in circles, till by degrees
+they are almost out of sight, yet their note is so loud, that the
+sportsman, before he sees their situation, often fancies they are very
+near him. They visit {424} Hudson's Bay in far greater numbers than the
+former, and are very good eating.
+
+[Sidenote: Bitterns.]
+
+BITTERNS[193] are common at York Fort in Summer, but are seldom found so
+far North as Churchill River. I have seen two species of this bird; some
+having ash-coloured legs, others with beautiful grass-green legs, and
+very gay plumage. They always frequent marshes and swamps, also the
+banks of rivers that abound with reeds and long grass. They generally
+feed on insects that are bred in the water, and probably on small frogs;
+and though seldom fat, they are generally good eating. They are by no
+means numerous even at York Fort, nor in fact in the most Southern parts
+of the Bay that I have visited.
+
+[Sidenote: Curlew.]
+
+CURLEWS.[194] There are two species of this bird which frequent the
+coasts of Hudson's Bay in great numbers during Summer, and breed in all
+parts of it as far North as the latitude 72 deg.; the largest of this
+species is distinguished by that great Naturalist Mr. Pennant, by the
+name of the Esquimaux Curlew. They always keep near the sea coast;
+attend the ebbing of the tide, and are frequently found at
+low-water-mark in great numbers, where they feed on marine insects,
+which they find by the sides of stones in great plenty; but at
+high-water they retire to the dry ridges and wait the receding of the
+tide. They fly as steady as a woodcock, answer to a whistle that
+resembles their note; lay long on their wings, and are a {425} most
+excellent shot, and at times are delicious eating. The other species of
+Curlew are in colour and shape exactly like the former, though inferior
+in size, and differ in their manner of life, as they never frequent the
+water's-edge, but always keep among the rocks and dry ridges, and feed
+on berries and small insects. The flesh of this bird is generally more
+esteemed than that of the former, but they are by no means so numerous.
+This species of Curlew are seldom found farther North than Egg River.
+
+[Sidenote: Jack Snipe.]
+
+JACK SNIPES.[195] Those birds visit Hudson's Bay in Summer in
+considerable numbers, but are seldom seen to the North of Whale Cove.
+They do not arrive till the ice of the rivers is broke up, and they
+retire to the South early in the Fall. During their stay, they always
+frequent marshes near the sea coast, and the shores of great rivers. In
+manner and flight they exactly resemble the European Jack Snipe; and
+when on the wing, fly at such a distance from each other, that it is but
+seldom the best sportsman can get more than one or two at a shot. Their
+flesh is by no means so delicate as that of the English Snipe.
+
+[Sidenote: Red Godwait.]
+
+RED GODWAITS,[196] usually called at the Northern settlements in
+Hudson's Bay, Plovers. Those birds visit the shores of that part in very
+large flocks, and usually frequent the marshes and the margins of ponds.
+They also frequently attend the tide, like the Esquimaux Curlews; fly
+down to low-water-mark, and feed on a small fish, {426} not much unlike
+a shrimp; but as the tide flows, they retire to the marshes. They fly in
+such large flocks, and so close to each other, that I have often killed
+upwards of twelve at one shot; and Mr. Atkinson, long resident at York
+Fort, actually killed seventy-two at one shot; but that was when the
+birds were sitting. Near Churchill River they are seldom fat, though
+tolerably fleshy, and are generally good eating. They usually weigh from
+ten to thirteen ounces; the female is always larger than the male, and
+differs in colour, being of a much lighter brown. They retire to the
+South long before the frost commences; yet I have seen this bird as far
+North as the latitude 71 deg. 50'.
+
+[Sidenote: Spotted Godwait.]
+
+SPOTTED GODWAIT,[197] known in Hudson's Bay by the name of Yellow Legs.
+This bird also visits that country in considerable numbers, but more so
+in the interior parts; and usually frequents the flat muddy banks of
+rivers. In summer it is generally very poor, but late in the Fall is, as
+it may be called, one lump of fat. This bird, with many others of the
+migratory tribe, I saw in considerable numbers as far North as the
+latitude 71 deg. 54'; and at York Fort I have known them shot so late as the
+latter end of October: at which time they are in the greatest
+perfection, and most delicious eating, more particularly so when put
+into a bit of paste, and boiled like an apple-dumpling; for in fact they
+are generally too fat at that season to be eaten either roasted or
+boiled.
+
+[Sidenote: Hebridal Sandpipers.]
+
+{427} HEBRIDAL SANDPIPERS,[198] but more commonly known in Hudson's Bay
+by the Name of Whale Birds, on account of their feeding on the carcases
+of those animals which frequently lie on the shores, also on maggots
+that are produced in them by fly-blows. These birds frequent those parts
+in considerable numbers, and always keep near the margin of the sea.
+They may, in fact, be called beautiful birds, though not gay in their
+plumage; they are usually very fat, but even when first killed they
+smell and taste so much like train-oil as to render them by no means
+pleasing to the palate, yet they are frequently eaten by the Company's
+servants. As the Summer advances they fly so far North of Churchill
+River, that their breeding-places are not known, though they remain at
+that part till the beginning of July, and return early in the Fall. They
+are by no means large birds, as they seldom weigh four ounces. The bill
+is black, plumage prettily variegated black and white, and the legs and
+feet are of a beautiful orange colour.[CK]
+
+[Sidenote: Plover.]
+
+PLOVERS,[199] commonly called Hawk's Eyes, from their watchfulness to
+prevent a near approach when sitting. When these birds are on the wing,
+they fly very swift and irregular, particularly when single or in small
+flocks. At Churchill River they are by no means numerous, but I have
+seen them in such large flocks at York Fort in the Fall of one {428}
+thousand seven hundred and seventy-three, that Mr. Ferdinand Jacobs then
+Governor, Mr. Robert Body Surgeon, and myself, killed in one afternoon
+as many as two men could conveniently carry. They generally feed on
+insects, and are at all times good eating, but late in the Fall are most
+excellent. They are by no means equally plentiful in all years; and at
+the Northern settlements in the Bay they are not classed with those
+species of game that add to the general stock of provisions, being only
+killed as a luxury; but I am informed that at Albany Fort, several
+barrels of them are annually salted for Winter use, and are esteemed
+good eating. This bird during Summer resorts to the remotest Northern
+parts; for I have seen them at the Copper River, though in those dreary
+regions only in pairs. The young of those birds always leave their nests
+as soon as hatched, and when but a few days old run very fast; at night,
+or in rainy weather, the old ones call them together, and cover them
+with their wings, in the same manner as a hen does her chickens.
+
+[Sidenote: Black Gullemots.]
+
+BLACK GULLEMOTS,[200] known in Hudson's Bay by the name of Sea Pigeons.
+Those birds frequent the shores of Hudson's Bay and Straits in
+considerable numbers; but more particularly the Northern parts, where
+they fly in large flocks; to the Southward they are only seen in pairs.
+They are of a fine black, but not glossy, with scarlet legs and feet;
+and the coverets of the wings are marked with white. They are in weight
+equal to a Widgeon, {429} though to appearance not so large. They
+usually make their nests in the holes of rocks, and lay two white eggs,
+which are delicate eating, but not proportionably large for the size of
+the bird. My friend Mr. Pennant says, they brave the coldest Winters in
+those parts, by keeping at the edge of the ice near the open water; but
+as the sea at that season is frozen over for several miles from the
+shore, I believe no one's curiosity ever tempted him to confirm the
+truth of this; and it is well known they never make their appearance
+near the land after the frost becomes severe.
+
+[Sidenote: Northern Divers.]
+
+NORTHERN DIVERS.[201] These birds, though common in Hudson's Bay, are by
+no means plentiful; they are seldom found near the sea coast, but more
+frequently in fresh water lakes, and usually in pairs. They build their
+nests at the edge of small islands, or the margins of lakes or ponds;
+they lay only two eggs, and it is very common to find only one pair and
+their young in one sheet of water; a great proof of their aversion to
+society. They are known in Hudson's Bay by the name of Loons. They
+differ in species from the Black and Red throated Divers, having a large
+black bill near four inches long; plumage on the back of a glossy black,
+elegantly barred with white; the belly of a silver white; and they are
+so large as at times to weigh fifteen or sixteen pounds. Their flesh is
+always black, hard, and fishy, yet it is generally eaten by the Indians.
+
+[Sidenote: Black-throated Divers.]
+
+{430} BLACK-THROATED DIVERS.[202] This species are more beautiful than
+the former; having a long white bill, plumage on the back and wings
+black, elegantly tinged with purple and green, and prettily marked with
+white spots. In size they are equal to the former; but are so watchful
+as to dive at the flash of a gun, and of course are seldom killed but
+when on the wing. Their flesh is equally black and fishy with the
+former, but it is always eaten by the Indians. The skins of those birds
+are very thick and strong, and they are frequently dressed with the
+feathers on, and made into caps for the Indian men. The skins of the
+Eagle and Raven, with their plumage complete, are also applied to that
+use, and are far from being an unbecoming head-dress for a savage.
+
+[Sidenote: Red-throated Divers.]
+
+RED-THROATED DIVERS.[203] This species are also called Loons in Hudson's
+Bay; but they are so far inferior to the two former, that they seldom
+weigh more than three or four pounds. They, like the other species of
+Loon, are excellent divers; they always feed on fish, and when in
+pursuit of their prey, are frequently entangled in fishing-nets, set at
+the mouths of creeks and small rivers. They are more numerous than
+either of the former, as they frequently fly in flocks; but like them
+make their nests at the edge of the water, and only lay two eggs, which,
+though very rank and fishy, are always eaten by Indians and English. The
+legs of those three species of Loon are placed so near {431} the rump as
+to be of no service to them on the land, as they are perfectly incapable
+of walking; and when found in that situation (which is but seldom) they
+are easily taken, though they make a strong resistance with their bill,
+which is very hard and sharp.
+
+[Sidenote: White Gulls.]
+
+WHITE GULLS.[204] These birds visit Hudson's Bay in great numbers, both
+on the sea coasts and in the interior parts, and probably extend quite
+across the continent of America. They generally make their appearance at
+Churchill River about the middle of May; build their nests on the
+islands in lakes and rivers; lay two speckled eggs, and bring forth
+their young in June. Their eggs are generally esteemed good eating, as
+well as the flesh of those in the interior parts of the country, though
+they feed on fish and carrion. They make their stay on Hudson's Bay as
+long in the Fall as the frost will permit them to procure a livelihood.
+
+[Sidenote: Grey Gulls.]
+
+GREY GULLS. These birds, though common, are by no means plentiful; and I
+never knew their breeding-places, as they seldom make their appearance
+at Churchill River till the Fall of the year, and remain there only till
+the ice begins to be formed about the shores. They seldom frequent the
+interior parts of the country. They are not inferior in size to the
+former, and in the Fall of the year are generally fat. The flesh is
+white and very good eating; and, like {432} most other Gulls, they are a
+most excellent shot when on the wing.
+
+[Sidenote: Black Gulls.]
+
+BLACK GULLS,[205] usually called in Hudson's Bay, Men of War, from their
+pursuing and taking the prey from a lesser species of Gull, known in
+that country by the name of Black-head. In size they are much inferior
+to the two former species; but, like them, always make their nests on
+islands, or at the margins of lakes or ponds; they lay only two eggs,
+and are found at a considerable distance from the sea coast. The length
+of their wings is very great in proportion to the body; the tail is
+uniform, and the two middle feathers are four or five inches longer than
+the rest. Their eggs are always eaten, both by the Indians and English;
+but the bird itself is generally rejected, except when other provisions
+are very scarce.
+
+[Sidenote: Black-heads.]
+
+BLACK-HEADS.[206] These are the smallest species of Gull that I know.
+They visit the sea coast of Hudson's Bay in such vast numbers, that they
+are frequently seen in flocks of several hundreds; and I have known
+bushels of their eggs taken on an island of very small circumference.
+These eggs are very delicate eating, the yolks being equal to that of a
+young pullet, and the whites of a semi-transparent azure, but the bird
+itself is always fishy. Their affection for their young is so strong,
+that when any person attempts to rob their nests, they fly at him, and
+sometimes {433} approach so near as to touch him with their pinions; and
+when they find their loss, will frequently follow the plunderer to a
+considerable distance, and express their grief by making an unusual
+screaming noise.
+
+This bird may be ranked with the elegant part of the feathered creation,
+though it is by no means gay. The bill, legs, and feet are of a rich
+scarlet; crown black, and the remainder of the plumage of a light
+ash-colour, except the quill feathers, which are prettily barred, and
+tipped with black, and the tail much forked. The flight, or extent of
+wing, in this bird, is very great, in proportion to the body. They are
+found as far North as has hitherto been visited, but retire to the South
+early in the Fall.
+
+[Sidenote: Pelicans.]
+
+PELICANS.[207] Those birds are numerous in the interior parts of the
+country, but never appear near the sea-coast. They generally frequent
+large lakes, and always make their nests on islands. They are so
+provident for their young, that great quantities of fish lie rotting
+near their nests, and emit such a horrid stench as to be smelt at a
+considerable distance. The flesh of the young Pelican is frequently
+eaten by the Indians; and as they are always very fat, great quantities
+of it is melted down, and preserved in bladders for Winter use,[CL] to
+mix with pounded {434} flesh; but by keeping, it grows very rank. The
+Pelicans in those parts are about the size of a common goose; their
+plumage is of a delicate white, except the quill-feathers, which are
+black. The bill is near a foot long; and the bag, which reaches from the
+outer-end of the under-mandible to the breast, is capable of containing
+upwards of three quarts. The skins of those birds are thick and tough,
+and are frequently dressed by the Indians and converted into bags, but
+are never made into clothing, though their feathers are as hard, close,
+and durable, as those of a Loon.
+
+[Sidenote: Goosanders.]
+
+GOOSANDERS,[208] usually called in Hudson's Bay, Shell-drakes. Those
+birds are very common on the sea-coast, but in the interior parts fly in
+very large flocks. The bill is long and narrow, and toothed like a saw;
+and they have a tuft of feathers at the back of the head, which they can
+erect at pleasure. They are most excellent divers, and such great
+destroyers of fish, that they are frequently obliged to vomit some of
+them before they can take flight. Though not much larger than the
+Mallard Duck, they frequently swallow fish of six or seven inches {435}
+long and proportionably thick. Those that frequent the interior parts of
+the country prey much on crawfish, which are very numerous in some of
+the shallow stony rivers. In the Fall of the year they are very fat, and
+though they always feed on fish, yet their flesh at that season is very
+good; and they remain in those parts as long as the frost will permit
+them to procure a subsistence.
+
+[Sidenote: Swans.]
+
+SWANS.[209] There are two species of this bird that visit Hudson's Bay
+in summer; and only differ in size, as the plumage of both are perfectly
+white, with black bill and legs. The smaller sort are more frequent near
+the sea-coast, but by no means plentiful, and are most frequently seen
+in pairs, but sometimes single, probably owing to their mates having
+been killed on their passage North. Both species usually breed on the
+islands which are in lakes; and the eggs of the larger species are so
+big, that one of them is a sufficient meal for a moderate man, without
+bread, or any other addition. In the interior parts of the country the
+larger Swan precedes every other species of water-fowl, and in some
+years arrive so early as the month of March, long before the ice of the
+rivers is broken up. At those times they always frequent the open waters
+of falls and rapids, where they are frequently shot by the Indians in
+considerable numbers. They usually weigh upwards of thirty pounds, and
+the lesser species from eighteen to twenty-four. The flesh of both are
+excellent {436} eating, and when roasted, is equal in flavour to young
+heifer-beef, and the cygnets are very delicate.
+
+Notwithstanding the size of this bird, they are so swift on the wing as
+to make them the most difficult to shoot of any bird I know, it being
+frequently necessary to take sight ten or twelve feet before their
+bills. This, however, is only when flying before the wind in a brisk
+gale, at which time they cannot fly at a less rate than an hundred miles
+an hour; but when flying across the wind, or against it, they make but a
+slow progress, and are then a noble shot. In their moulting state they
+are not easily taken, as their large feet, with the assistance of their
+wings, enables them to run on the surface of the water as fast as an
+Indian canoe can be paddled, and therefore they are always obliged to be
+shot; for by diving and other manoeuvres they render it impossible to
+take them by hand. It has been said that the swans whistle or sing
+before their death, and I have read some elegant descriptions of it in
+some of the poets; but I have never heard any thing of the kind, though
+I have been at the deaths of several. It is true, in serene evenings,
+after Sun-set, I have heard them make a noise not very unlike that of a
+French-horn, but entirely divested of every note that constituted
+melody, and have often been sorry to find it did not forebode their
+death. Mr. Lawson, who, as Mr. Pennant justly remarks, was no inaccurate
+observer, properly enough calls the largest species Trumpeters, and the
+lesser, Hoopers. Some years ago, when I built Cumberland House, the
+Indians killed those {437} birds in such numbers, that the down and
+quills might have been procured in considerable quantities at a trifling
+expence; but since the depopulation of the natives by the small-pox,
+which has also driven the few survivors to frequent other parts of the
+country, no advantage can be made of those articles, though of
+considerable value in England.[CM]
+
+[Sidenote: Geese.]
+
+GEESE. There are no less than ten different species of Geese that
+frequent the various parts of Hudson's Bay during Summer, and are as
+follow: First, The Common Grey Goose. Second, The Canada Goose. Third,
+The White, or Snow Goose. Fifth, The Blue Goose. Sixth, The Laughing
+Goose. Seventh, The Barren Goose. Eighth, The Brent Goose. Ninth, The
+Dunter; and Tenth, the Bean Goose.
+
+[Sidenote: Common Grey Goose.]
+
+COMMON GREY GOOSE.[210] This bird precedes every other species of Goose
+in those parts, and in some forward Springs arrives at Churchill River
+so early as the latter {438} end of April, but more commonly from the
+eleventh to the sixteenth of May; and in one year it was the
+twenty-sixth of May before any Geese made their appearance. At their
+first arrival they generally come in pairs, and are so fond of society,
+that they fly straight to the call that imitates their note; by which
+means they are easily shot. They breed in great numbers in the plains
+and marshes near Churchill River; and in some years the young ones can
+be taken in considerable numbers, and are easily tamed; but will never
+learn to eat corn, unless some of the old ones are taken with them,
+which is easily done when in a moulting state. On the ninth of August
+one thousand seven hundred and eighty-one, when I resided at Prince of
+Wales's Fort, I sent some Indians up Churchill River in canoes to
+procure some of those Geese, and in the afternoon they were seen coming
+down the river with a large flock before them; the young ones not more
+than half-grown, and the old ones so far in a moulting state as not to
+be capable of flying; so that, with the assistance of the English and
+the Indians then residing on the plantation, the whole flock, to the
+amount of forty-one, was drove within the stockade which incloses the
+Fort, where they were fed and fattened for Winter use. Wild Geese taken
+and fattened in this manner are much preferable to any tame Geese in the
+world. When this species of Geese are full-grown, and in good condition,
+they often weigh twelve pounds, but more frequently much less.
+
+[Sidenote: Canada Goose.]
+
+{439} CANADA GOOSE,[211] or Pisk-a-sish, as it is called by the Indians,
+as well as the English in Hudson's Bay. This species do not differ in
+plumage from the former, but are inferior in size; the bill is much
+smaller in proportion, and the flesh being much whiter, of course is
+more esteemed. They are by no means so numerous as the former, and
+generally fly far North to breed; but some few of their eggs are found
+near Churchill River. It is seldom that either of these species lay more
+than four eggs; but if not robbed, they usually bring them all forth.
+
+[Sidenote: White or Snow Goose.]
+
+WHITE or SNOW GOOSE.[212] These are the most numerous of all the species
+of birds that frequent the Northern parts of the Bay, and generally make
+their appearance about a week or ten days after the Common Grey Goose.
+In the first part of the season they come in small parties, but in the
+middle, and toward the latter end, they fly in such amazing flocks, that
+when they settle in the marshes to feed, the ground for a considerable
+distance appears like a field of snow. When feeding in the same marsh
+with the Grey Geese, they never mix. Like the Grey Geese, they fly to
+the call that resembles their note; and in some years are killed and
+salted in great numbers for Winter provision; they are almost
+universally thought good eating, and will, if proper care be taken in
+curing them, continue good for eighteen months or two years. The Indians
+are far more expert in killing Geese, as well as every other species of
+game, than any European I ever saw in Hudson's Bay; {440} for some of
+them frequently kill upward of a hundred Geese in a day, whereas the
+most expert of the English think it a good day's work to kill thirty.
+Some years back it was common for an Indian to kill from a thousand to
+twelve hundred Geese in one season; but latterly he is reckoned a good
+hunter that kills three hundred. This is by no means owing to the
+degeneracy of the natives; for the Geese of late years do not frequent
+those parts in such numbers as formerly. The general breeding-place of
+this bird is not known to any Indian in Hudson's Bay, not even to the
+Esquimaux who frequent the remotest North. The general route they take
+in their return to the South in the Fall of the year, is equally
+unknown; for though such multitudes of them are seen at Churchill River
+in the Spring, and are frequently killed to the amount of five or six
+thousand; yet in the Fall of the year, seven or eight hundred is
+considered a good hunt. At York Fort, though only two degrees South of
+Churchill River, the Geese seasons fluctuate so much, that in some
+Springs they have salted forty hogsheads, and in others not more than
+one or two: and at Albany Fort, the Spring season is by no means to be
+depended on; but in the fall they frequently salt sixty hogsheads of
+Geese, besides great quantities of Plover. The retreat of those birds in
+Winter is equally unknown, as that of their breeding-places. I observe
+in Mr. Pennant's Arctic Zoology, that about Jakutz, and other parts of
+Siberia, they are caught in great numbers, both in nets, and by decoying
+them into hovels; but if {441} these are the same birds, they must at
+times vary as much in manner as they do in situation, for in Hudson's
+Bay they are the shyest and most watchful of all the species of Geese,
+never suffering an open approach, not even within two or three
+gun-shots: yet in some of the rivers near Cumberland House, and at
+Basquiau, the Indians frequently kill twenty at one shot; but this is
+only done in moon-light nights, when the Geese are sitting on the mud,
+and the sportsmen are perfectly concealed from their view. Though the
+plumage of those Geese are perfectly white, except the quill-feathers,
+which are black, the skin is of a dark lead-colour, and the flesh is
+excellent eating, either fresh or salt. They are much inferior in size
+to the Common Grey Geese, but equal to the Canada Geese.
+
+[Sidenote: Blue Geese.]
+
+BLUE GEESE.[213] This species are of the same size as the Snow Geese;
+and, like them, the bill and legs are of a deep flesh-colour, but the
+whole plumage is of a dirty blue, resembling old lead. The skin, when
+stripped of its feathers, is of the same colour as the Snow Goose, and
+they are equally good eating. This species of Geese are seldom seen to
+the North of Churchill River, and not very common at York Fort; but at
+Albany Fort they are more plentiful than the White or Snow Geese. Their
+breeding-places are as little known to the most accurate observer as
+those of the Snow Geese; for I never knew any of their eggs taken, and
+their Winter haunts have {442} hitherto been undiscovered. Those birds
+are frequently seen to lead a flock of the White ones; and, as they
+generally fly in angles, it is far from unpleasant to see a bird of a
+different colour leading the van. The leader is generally the object of
+the first sportsman who fires, which throws the whole flock into such
+confusion, that some of the other hunters frequently kill six or seven
+at a shot.
+
+[Sidenote: Horned Wavey.]
+
+HORNED WAVEY.[214] This delicate and diminutive species of the Goose is
+not much larger than the Mallard Duck. Its plumage is delicately white,
+except the quill-feathers, which are black. The bill is not more than an
+inch long, and at the base is studded round with little knobs about the
+size of peas, but more remarkably so in the males. Both the bill and
+feet are of the same colour with those of the Snow Goose. This species
+is very scarce at Churchill River, and I believe are never found at any
+of the Southern settlements; but about two or three hundred miles to the
+North West of Churchill, I have seen them in as large flocks as the
+Common Wavey, or Snow Goose. The flesh of this bird is exceedingly
+delicate; but they are so small, that when I was on my journey to the
+North I eat two of them one night for supper. I do not find this bird
+described by my worthy friend Mr. Pennant in his Arctic Zoology.
+Probably a specimen of it was not sent home, for the person that
+commanded at Prince of Wales's Fort[CN] at {443} the time the collection
+was making, did not pay any attention to it.
+
+[Sidenote: Laughing Goose.]
+
+LAUGHING GOOSE.[215] This elegant species has a white bill, and the legs
+and feet are of a fine yellow colour; the upper part of the plumage is
+brown, the breast and belly white, the former prettily blotched with
+black. In size they are equal to the Snow Goose, and their skins, when
+stripped of their feathers, are delicately white, and the flesh
+excellent. They visit Churchill River in very small numbers; but about
+two hundred miles to the North West of that river I have seen them fly
+in large flocks, like the Common Waveys, or Snow Geese; and near
+Cumberland House and Basquiau they are found in such numbers, that the
+Indians in moon-light nights frequently kill upwards of twenty at a
+shot. Like the Horned Wavey, they never fly with the lead of the coast,
+but are always seen to come from the Westward. Their general
+breeding-places are not known, though some few of their eggs are
+occasionally found to the North of Churchill; but I never heard any
+Indian say that he had seen any eggs of the Horned Wavey: it is probable
+they retire to North Greenland to breed; and their route in the Fall of
+the year, as they return Southward, is equally unknown. They are, I
+believe, seldom seen on the coast of Hudson's Bay to the Southward of
+latitude 59 deg. North.
+
+[Sidenote: Barren Geese.]
+
+{444} BARREN GEESE.[216] These are the largest of all the species of
+Geese that frequent Hudson's Bay, as they frequently weigh sixteen or
+seventeen pounds. They differ from the Common Grey Goose in nothing but
+in size, and in the head and breast being tinged with a rusty brown.
+They never make their appearance in the Spring till the greatest part of
+the other species of Geese are flown Northward to breed, and many of
+them remain near Churchill River the whole Summer. This large species
+are generally found to be males, and from the exceeding smallness of
+their testicles, they are, I suppose, incapable of propagating their
+species. I believe I can with truth say, that I was the first European
+who made that remark, though they had always been distinguished by the
+name of the Barren Geese; for no other reason than that of their not
+being known to breed. Their flesh is by no means unpleasant, though
+always hard and tough; and their plumage is so thick before they begin
+to moult, that one bird usually produces a pound of fine feathers and
+down, of a surprising elasticity.
+
+[Sidenote: Brent Geese.]
+
+BRENT GEESE.[217] This species certainly breed in the remotest parts of
+the North, and seldom make their appearance at Churchill River till late
+in August or September. The route they take in Spring is unknown, and
+their breeding-places have never been discovered by any Indian in
+Hudson's Bay. When they make their appearance at {445} Churchill River,
+they always come from the North, fly near the margin of the coast, and
+are never seen in the interior parts of the country. In size they are
+larger than a Mallard Duck, but inferior to the Snow Goose; and though
+their flesh appears delicate to the eye, it is not much esteemed. In
+some years they pass the mouth of Churchill River in prodigious numbers,
+and many of them are killed and served to the Company's servants as
+provisions; but, as I have just observed, they are not much relished.
+When migrating to the South, they generally avail themselves of a strong
+North or North Westerly wind, which makes them fly so swift, that when I
+have killed four or five at a shot, not one of them fell less than from
+twenty to fifty yards from the perpendicular spot where they were
+killed. Like the White, or Snow Geese, when in large flocks they fly in
+the shape of a wedge, and make a great noise. Their flight is very
+irregular, sometimes being forty or fifty yards above the water, and in
+an instant after they skim close to the surface of it, and then rise
+again to a considerable height; so that they may justly be said to fly
+in festoons.
+
+[Sidenote: Dunter Geese.]
+
+The DUNTER GEESE,[218] as it is called in Hudson's Bay, but which is
+certainly the Eider Duck. They are common at the mouth of Churchill
+River as soon as the ice breaks up, but generally fly far North to
+breed; and the few that do remain near the settlement are so scattered
+among small islands, and sea-girt rocks and shoals, as to {446} render
+it not worth while to attempt gathering their down. Their eggs, when
+found, are exceeding good eating; and in the Fall of the year the flesh
+is by no means unpleasant, though they are notoriously known to feed on
+fish.
+
+[Sidenote: Bean Goose.]
+
+BEAN GOOSE.[219] This species is seldom found in any part of Hudson's
+Bay, as in all my travels I have only seen three that were killed. This
+bird never came under the inspection of Mr. Graham, or the late Mr.
+Hutchins, though they both contributed very largely to the collection
+sent home to the Royal Society.[CO]
+
+
+_Species of Water-Fowl._
+
+[Sidenote: Ducks.]
+
+DUCKS of various kinds are found in those parts during Summer; some only
+frequenting the sea-coast, while others visit the interior parts of the
+country in astonishing numbers. The species of this bird which is found
+most commonly here are, the King Duck,[220] Black Duck,[221] Mallard
+{447} Duck,[222] Long-tailed Duck,[223] Widgeon,[224] and Teal.[225] The
+two first only visit the sea-coast, feed on fish and fish-spawn; and
+their flesh is by no means esteemed good, though their eggs are not
+disagreeable. The Mallard and Long-tailed Duck visit Hudson's Bay in
+great numbers, and extend from the sea-coast, to the remotest Western
+parts, and near Cumberland House are found in vast multitudes. At their
+first arrival on the sea-coast, they are exceeding good eating; but when
+in a moulting state, though very fat, they are in general so rank that
+few Europeans are fond of them. At those seasons the difference in
+flavour is easily known by the colour of the fat; for when that is
+white, the flesh is most assuredly good; but when it is yellow, or of an
+orange colour, it is very rank and fishy. This difference is only
+peculiar to those that frequent and breed near the sea-coast; for in the
+interior parts I never knew them killed but their flesh was very good;
+and the young Mallard Duck before it can fly is very fat, and most
+delicate eating. The same may be said of the Long-tailed Duck. Neither
+of those species lay more than six or eight eggs in common, and
+frequently bring them all forth.
+
+[Sidenote: Widgeon.]
+
+WIDGEON.[226] This species of Duck is very uncommon in Hudson's Bay;
+usually keeping in pairs, and being seldom seen in flocks. They are by
+no means so numerous as the two former, and are most frequently seen in
+rivers and marshes near the sea-coast. Their flesh is generally
+esteemed; and the down of those I have examined is little inferior in
+elasticity to that of the Eider, though much {448} shorter. The same may
+be said of several other species of Ducks that frequent those parts; but
+the impossibility of collecting the down in any quantity, prevents it
+from becoming an article of trade.
+
+[Sidenote: Teal.]
+
+TEAL.[227] Like the Mallard, they are found in considerable numbers near
+the sea-coast; but are more plentiful in the interior parts of the
+country, and fly in such large flocks that I have often killed twelve or
+fourteen at one shot, and have seen both English and Indians kill a much
+greater number. At their first arrival they are but poor, though
+generally esteemed good eating. This diminutive Duck is by far the most
+prolific of any I know that resorts to Hudson's Bay; for I have often
+seen the old ones swimming at the head of seventeen young, when not much
+larger than walnuts. This bird remains in those parts as long as the
+season will permit; for in the year one thousand seven hundred and
+seventy-five, in my passage from Cumberland House to York Fort, I, as
+well as my Indian companions, killed them in the rivers we passed
+through as late as the twentieth of October. At those times they are
+entirely involved in fat, but delicately white, and may truly be called
+a great luxury.
+
+Besides the birds already described, there is a great variety of
+others, both of land and water fowl, that frequent those parts in
+Summer; but these came not so immediately under my inspection as those I
+have already described.
+
+
+{449} _Of the Vegetable Productions._
+
+The vegetable productions of this country by no means engaged my
+attention so much as the animal creation; which is the less to be
+wondered at, as so few of them are useful for the support of man. Yet I
+will endeavour to enumerate as many of them as I think are worth notice.
+
+[Sidenote: Gooseberries.]
+
+The GOOSEBERRIES[228] thrive best in stony and rocky ground, which lies
+open and much exposed to the Sun. But in those situations few of the
+bushes grow to any height, and spread along the ground like vines. The
+fruit is always most plentiful and the finest on the under-side of the
+branches, probably owing to the reflected heat from the stones and
+gravel, and from being sheltered from all cold winds and fog by the
+leaves. I never saw more than one species of Gooseberry in any part of
+Hudson's Bay, which is the red one. When green, they make excellent pies
+or tarts; and when ripe are very pleasant eating, though by no means so
+large as those produced in England.
+
+[Sidenote: Cranberries.]
+
+CRANBERRIES[229] grow in great abundance near Churchill, and are not
+confined to any particular situation, for they {450} are as common on
+open bleak plains and high rocks as among the woods. When carefully
+gathered in the Fall, in dry weather, and as carefully packed in casks
+with moist sugar, they will keep for years, and are annually sent to
+England in considerable quantities as presents, where they are much
+esteemed. When the ships have remained in the Bay so late that the
+Cranberries are ripe, some of the Captains have carried them home in
+water with great success.
+
+[Sidenote: Heathberries.]
+
+The HEATHBERRIES[230] are in some years so plentiful near Churchill,
+that it is impossible to walk in many places without treading on
+thousands and millions of them. They grow close to the ground, and are a
+favourite repast of many birds that migrate to those parts in Summer,
+particularly the Grey Goose; on which account the Indians distinguish
+them by the name of Nishca-minnick, or the Grey Gooseberry. The juice of
+this berry makes an exceeding pleasant beverage, and the fruit itself
+would be more pleasing were it not for the number of small seeds it
+contains.
+
+[Sidenote: Bethago-tominick.]
+
+BETHAGO-TOMINICK,[231] as it is called by the Indians, or the
+Dewater-berry of Mr. Dragge. I have seen this berry as far North as
+Marble Island, and that in great abundance. It flourishes best, and is
+most productive, in swampy boggy ground covered with moss, and is seldom
+found {451} among grass. The plant itself is not very unlike that of a
+Strawberry, but the leaves are larger. Out of the center of the plant
+shoots a single stalk, sometimes to the height of seven or eight inches,
+and each plant only produces one berry, which at some distance resembles
+a Strawberry; but on examination they have not that conical form; and
+many of them are only composed of three or four lobes, while others
+consist of nearly twenty. The flavour of this berry is far from
+unpleasing, and it is eaten by our people in considerable quantities
+during the season, (which is August,) and, like all the other fruits in
+those parts, is supposed to be wholesome, and a great antiscorbutic.
+
+[Sidenote: Currans.]
+
+CURRANS,[232] both red and black, are common about Churchill River, but
+the latter are far more plentiful than the former, and are very large
+and fine. The bushes on which those currans grow, frequently exceed
+three feet in height, and generally thrive best in those parts that are
+moist but not swampy. Small vallies between the rocks, at some little
+distance from the woods, are very favourable to them; and I have
+frequently observed that the fruit produced in those situations is
+larger and finer than that which is found in the woods. Those berries
+have a very great effect on some people if eaten in any considerable
+quantities, by acting as a very powerful purgative, and in some as an
+emetic at the same {452} time; but if mixed with Cranberries, they never
+have that effect.
+
+[Sidenote: Juniper-berries.]
+
+JUNIPER-BERRIES[233] are frequently found near the new settlement at
+Churchill River, but by no means in such plenty as in the more Southern
+and interior parts of the country. The bush they grew on is so similar
+to the creeping pine, that one half of the Company's servants residing
+in Hudson's Bay do not know one from the other. Like the Gooseberry
+bushes in those parts, the fruit is always most plentiful on the under
+side of the branches. They are not much esteemed either by the Indians
+or English, so that the few that are made use of are generally infused
+in brandy, by way of making a cordial, which is far from unpleasant.[CP]
+
+[Sidenote: Strawberries.]
+
+STRAWBERRIES,[CQ][234] and those of a considerable size and excellent
+flavour, are found as far North as Churchill River; and what is most
+remarkable, they are frequently known to be more plentiful in such
+places as have formerly been set on fire. This is not peculiar to the
+Strawberry, but it is well known that in the interior parts of the
+country, as well as at Albany and Moose Forts, that after {453} the
+ground, or more properly the under-wood and moss, have been set on fire,
+that Raspberry-bushes and Hips have shot up in great numbers on spots
+where nothing of the kind had ever been seen before. This is a
+phaenomenon that is not easily accounted for; but it is more than
+probable that Nature wanted some assistance, and the moss being all
+burnt away, not only admits the sun to act with more power, but the heat
+of the fire must, in some measure, loosen the texture of the soil, so as
+to admit the plants to shoot up, after having been deep-rooted for many
+years without being able to force their way to the surface.
+
+Besides the Berries already mentioned, there are three others found as
+far North as Churchill; namely, what the Indians call the Eye-berry, and
+the other two are termed Blue-berry and Partridge-berry by the English.
+
+[Sidenote: Eye-berry.]
+
+The EYE-BERRY[235] grows much in the same manner as the Strawberry, and
+though smaller, is infinitely superior in flavour. This berry is found
+in various situations; but near Churchill River they are most plentiful
+in small hollows among the rocks, which are situated some distance from
+the woods; but they are never known to grow in swampy ground, and I
+never saw them so plentiful in any part of Hudson's Bay as about
+Churchill River.
+
+[Sidenote: Blue-berry.]
+
+{454} The BLUE-BERRY[236] is about the size of a Hurtle-berry, and grows
+on bushes which rise to eighteen inches or two feet, but in general are
+much lower. They are seldom ripe till September, at which time the
+leaves turn to a beautiful red; and the fruit, though small, have as
+fine a bloom as any plum, and are much esteemed for the pleasantness of
+their flavour.
+
+[Sidenote: Partridge-berry.]
+
+The PARTRIDGE-BERRY[237] is nearly as large as the Cranberry imported
+from Newfoundland, and though of a beautiful transparent red, yet has a
+disagreeable taste. These berries are seldom taken, either by the
+Indians or English; and many of the latter call them Poison-berries, but
+several birds are fond of them. They grow close to the ground, like the
+Cranberry, and the plant that produces them is not very unlike small
+sage, either in shape or colour, but has none of its virtues.
+
+I had nearly forgotten another species of Berry,[238] which is found on
+the dry ridges at Churchill in considerable numbers. In size and colour
+they much resemble the Red Curran, and grow on bushes so much like the
+Creeping Willow, that people of little observation scarcely know the
+difference; particularly as all the fruit is on the under-side of the
+branches, and entirely hid by the leaves. I never knew this Berry eaten
+but by a frolicksome Indian girl; and as it had no ill effect, it is a
+proof it is {455} not unwholesome, though exceedingly unpleasant to the
+palate, and not much less so to the smell.
+
+[Sidenote: Hips.]
+
+HIPS[239] of a small size, though but few in number, are also found on
+the banks of Churchill River, at some distance from the sea. But in the
+interior parts of the country they are frequently found in such vast
+quantities, that at a distance they make the spots they grow on appear
+perfectly red. In the interior parts of Hudson's Bay they are as large
+as any I ever remember to have seen, and when ripe, have a most
+delightful bloom; but at that season there is scarcely one in ten which
+has not a worm in it; and they frequently act as a strong purgative.
+
+With respect to the smaller productions of the vegetable world, I am
+obliged to be in a great measure silent, as the nature of my various
+occupations during my residence in this country gave me little leisure,
+and being unacquainted with botany, I viewed with inattention things
+that were not of immediate use: the few which follow are all that
+particularly engaged my attention.
+
+[Sidenote: Wish-a-ca-pucca.]
+
+The WISH-A-CA-PUCCA,[240] which grows in most parts of this country, is
+said by some Authors to have great medical virtues, applied, either
+inwardly as an alterative, or outwardly dried and pulverised, to old
+sores and gangrenes. The truth of this I much doubt, and could {456}
+never think it had the least medical quality. It is, however, much used
+by the lower class of the Company's servants as tea; and by some is
+thought very pleasant. But the flower is by far the most delicate, and
+if gathered at a proper time, and carefully dried in the shade, will
+retain its flavour for many years, and make a far more pleasant beverage
+than the leaves. There are several species of this plant, of which some
+of the leaves are nearly as large as that of the Creeping Willow, while
+others are as small and narrow as that of the Rosemary, and much
+resembles it in colour; but all the species have the same smell and
+flavour.
+
+[Sidenote: Jackashey-puck.]
+
+JACKASHEY-PUCK.[241] This herb much resembles Creeping Box; and is only
+used, either by the Indians or English, to mix with tobacco, which makes
+it smoke mild and pleasant; and would, I am persuaded, be very
+acceptable to many smokers in England.
+
+[Sidenote: Moss.]
+
+MOSS of various sorts and colours is plentiful enough in most parts of
+this country, and is what the deer usually feed on.
+
+[Sidenote: Grass.]
+
+GRASS of several kinds is also found in those parts, and some of it
+amazingly rapid of growth, particularly that which is there called
+Rye-grass, and which, in our short Summer at Churchill, frequently grows
+to the height {457} of three feet. Another species of Grass, which is
+produced in marshes, and on the margins of lakes, ponds, and rivers, is
+particularly adapted for the support of the multitudes of the feathered
+creation which resort to those parts in Summer. The Marsh Grass at
+Churchill is of that peculiar nature, that where it is mowed one year,
+no crop can be procured the next Summer; whereas at York Fort, though
+the climate is not very different, they can get two crops, or harvests,
+from the same spot in one Summer. Vetches are plentiful in some parts as
+far North as Churchill River; and Burrage, Sorrel, and Coltsfoot, may be
+ranked among the useful plants. Dandelion is also plentiful at
+Churchill, and makes an early salad, long before any thing can be
+produced in the gardens.
+
+In fact, notwithstanding the length of the Winter, the severity of the
+cold, and the great scarcity of vegetables at this Northern settlement,
+by proper attention to cleanliness, and keeping the people at reasonable
+exercise, I never had one man under me who had the least symptoms of the
+scurvy; whereas at York Fort, Albany, and Moose River, there were almost
+annual complaints that one half of the people were rendered incapable of
+duty by that dreadful disorder.
+
+I do not wish to lay claim to any merit on this occasion, but I cannot
+help observing that, during ten years I had {458} the command at
+Churchill River, only two men died of that distemper, though my
+complement at times amounted in number to fifty-three.
+
+[Sidenote: Trees.]
+
+The Forest Trees that grow on this inhospitable spot are very few
+indeed; Pine,[242] Juniper,[243] small scraggy Poplar,[244] Creeping
+Birch,[245] and Dwarf Willows,[246] compose the whole catalogue. Farther
+Westward the Birch Tree[247] is very plentiful; and in the Athapuscow
+country, the Pines, Larch, Poplar, and Birch, grow to a great size; the
+Alder[248] is also found there.
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[124] The notes to this chapter within brackets are by Mr. Edward A.
+Preble of the United States Biological Survey.
+
+[125] See pages 255, 164, 235, and 254.
+
+[126] This is the so-called elk or wapiti, _Cervus canadensis_ Erx.,
+formerly abundant from the west side of Lake Winnipeg north-westward to
+the Peace River region.
+
+[127] The wolves of the wooded country belong to the species to which
+the name _Canis occidentalis_ of Richardson seems applicable; those of
+the Barren Grounds, which are frequently white, may be considered as
+subspecifically separable under the name _Canis o. albus_ Sabine (type
+locality, Fort Enterprise, North-West Territory).
+
+[128] _Vulpes lagopus innuitus_ Merriam. This name is applicable to the
+Arctic foxes of the American mainland. They are larger than and differ
+in cranial characters from the typical animal of Lapland.
+
+[129] See Pennant, "Arct. Zool.," i. p. 43, 1784, where this statement
+is credited to Mr. Graham. While Hearne is probably right about the
+foxes appearing every season, yet at intervals of a few years there is
+an incursion of more than ordinary numbers, and on these occasions the
+species reaches farther south than usual.
+
+[130] The Canada Lynx, _Lynx canadensis_ Kerr, is of general
+distribution throughout the wooded country, and occasionally in summer
+extends its wanderings for a short distance into the Barren Grounds.
+
+[131] _Thalarctos maritimus_ (Phipps). This species, of circumpolar
+distribution, keeps closely to the sea-coasts, and reaches the southern
+extremity of Hudson Bay, probably the most southern point of its present
+distribution.
+
+[BY] It is rather singular that the Polar Bears are seldom found on the
+land during the Winter, on which account it is supposed they go out on
+the ice, and keep near the edge of the water during that season, while
+the females that are pregnant seek shelter at the skirts of the woods,
+and dig themselves dens in the deepest drifts of snow they can find,
+where they remain in a state of inactivity, and without food, from the
+latter end of December or January, till the latter end of March; at
+which time they leave their dens, and bend their course towards the sea
+with their cubs; which, in general, are two in number. Notwithstanding
+the great magnitude of those animals when full grown, yet their young
+are not larger than rabbits, and when they leave their dens, in March, I
+have frequently seen them not larger than a white fox, and their steps
+on the snow not bigger than a crown-piece, when those of their dam
+measure near fifteen inches long and nine inches broad. They propagate
+when young, or at least before they are half-grown; for I have killed
+young females not larger than a London calf, with milk in their teats;
+whereas some of the full grown ones are heavier than the largest of our
+common oxen. Indeed I was once at the killing of one, when one of its
+hind feet being cut off at the ankle, weighed fifty-four pounds. The
+males have a bone in their _penis_, as a dog has, and of course unite in
+copulation; but the time of their courtship is, I believe, not exactly
+known: probably it may be in July or August, for at those times I have
+often been at the killing of them, when the males were so attached to
+their mistresses, that after the female was killed, the male would put
+his two fore-paws over, and suffer himself to be shot before he would
+quit her. I have frequently seen and killed those animals near twelve
+leagues from the land; but as the Fall of the year advances, they are
+taught by instinct to seek the shore. Though such a tremendous animal,
+they are very shy of coming near a man; but when closely pursued in the
+water, they frequently attack the boat, seize the oars, and wrest them
+from the hands of the strongest man, seeming desirous to get on board;
+but the people on those occasions are always provided with fire-arms and
+hatchets, to prevent such an unwelcome visit. The flesh of this animal,
+when killed in Winter, (if not too old,) is far from being unpleasant
+eating; and the young cubs, in the Spring, are rather delicate than
+otherwise. The teats of the female are only two in number, and are
+placed between the fore-legs. The best Drawing of this Animal I have
+seen, is that done by Mr. Webber, among the Plates of Cook's last
+Voyage.
+
+[132] _Ursus americanus_ Pallas. This species inhabits all the region
+west of Hudson Bay nearly or quite to the limit of trees, though it is
+rare near the border of the woods.
+
+[BZ] The insects here spoken of are of two kinds; the one is nearly
+black, its skin hard like a beetle, and not very unlike a grasshopper,
+and darts through the water with great ease, and with some degree of
+velocity. The other sort is brown, has wings, and is as soft as the
+common cleg-fly. The latter are the most numerous; and in some of the
+lakes such quantities of them are forced into the bays in gales of wind,
+and there pressed together in such multitudes, that they are killed, and
+remain there a great nuisance; for I have several times, in my inland
+voyages from York Fort, found it scarcely possible to land in some of
+those bays for the intolerable stench of those insects, which in some
+places were lying in putrid masses to the depth of two or three feet. It
+is more than probable, that the Bears occasionally feed on these dead
+insects.
+
+[133] The insects here referred to are mainly May-flies (Ephemeridae),
+which are washed up along the shores of the lakes in this region in
+incredible quantities, and are eaten by the bears, as Hearne says.
+
+[CA] It is common for the Southern Indians to tame and domesticate the
+young cubs; and they are frequently taken so young that they cannot eat.
+On those occasions the Indians oblige their wives who have milk in their
+breasts to suckle them. And one of the Company's servants, whose name is
+Isaac Batt, willing to be as great a brute as his Indian companions,
+absolutely forced one of his wives, who had recently lost her infant, to
+suckle a young Bear.
+
+[134] By brown bears, Hearne probably refers to the brown or cinnamon
+phase of the black bear. This colour phase, which is often spoken of as
+if constituting a distinct species, is rare near the northern border of
+the range of the animal.
+
+[135] _Ursus richardsoni_ Swainson. See _ante_, p. 181.
+
+[136] _Gulo luscus_ (Linn.). This powerful freebooter ranges north to
+the extremity of the continent, and has been detected in a few instances
+on the islands of the Arctic Sea.
+
+[CB] Mr. Graham says they take their lodging in the clefts of rocks, or
+in hollow trees. The former I acknowledge, but I believe that neither
+Mr. Graham nor any of the Company's servants ever saw an instance of the
+latter. In fact, during all my travels in the interior parts of Hudson's
+Bay, I never saw a hollow tree that was capable of affording shelter to
+any larger animal than martins, jackashes, or wejacks; much less the
+quiquehatch or Bear, as some have asserted.
+
+[This statement is from Pennant, "Arct. Zool.," i. p. 68, 1784, and
+given on the authority of Mr. Graham.]
+
+[137] _Lutra canadensis_ (Schreber). This valuable fur-bearer is found
+throughout the wooded country, but is rare near the borders of the
+forest.
+
+[CC] The Otter is very fond of play; and one of their favourite pastimes
+is, to get on a high ridge of snow, bend their fore-feet backward, and
+slide down the side of it, sometimes to the distance of twenty yards.
+
+[138] _Lutreola vison lacustris_ (Preble, North Am. Fauna, No. 22, p.
+66, 1902). This race differs from the typical race of Eastern Canada in
+its larger size and some minor cranial characters. It inhabits the
+region west of Hudson Bay, north to the limit of trees.
+
+[139] _Mustela pennanti_ Erxleben. As far as known, this fur-bearer
+reaches its northern limit on the coast of Hudson Bay near Cape Tatnam.
+
+[CD] Mr. Graham asserts that this animal frequents the banks of creeks,
+and feeds on fish; but these are by no means their usual haunts. I have,
+however, no doubt, but when they find fish on the land, that they may
+eat it, like other carnivorous animals; but they are as shy of taking
+the water as a domestic cat. They climb trees, and catch partridges,
+mice, and rabbits, with as much ease as a martin. They are easily tamed
+and domesticated, are very fond of tea-leaves, have a pleasant musky
+smell, and are very playful.
+
+[This statement is apparently from Pennant ("Arct. Zool.," i. p. 82,
+1784), who gives Mr. Graham as authority.]
+
+[140] The Skunk, _Mephitis mephitis_ (Schreber), has not been detected
+on the coast of Hudson Bay north of Fort Albany, but farther westward it
+reaches Oxford House and Great Slave Lake. The animal of the Cumberland
+House region is the Northern Plains Skunk, _Mephitis hudsonica_
+Richardson.
+
+[141] _Mustela americana abieticola_ Preble. A much larger race than
+typical _M. americana_ of Eastern Canada is the form inhabiting the
+country west of Hudson Bay.
+
+[142] The common weasel of the wooded parts of the Hudson Bay region is
+_Putorius richardsoni_ (Bonaparte). North of the tree-limit is found a
+larger species, _P. arcticus_ Merriam, which ranges north of the
+continent over the Arctic islands. Both species turn white in winter and
+are then known as ermine.
+
+[143] _Fiber zibethicus hudsonius_ Preble (North Am. Fauna, No. 22, p.
+53, 1902; type locality, Fort Churchill). This race, which differs from
+the typical animal of Eastern Canada in smaller size and in cranial
+characters, inhabits the region west of Hudson Bay, north to the limit
+of trees.
+
+[144] _Acorus calamus_ Linn. A widely diffused herb abundant in the
+southern part of the Hudson Bay region. The Crees are said to style it
+_Wachusk mitsu-in_, i.e. that which the musk-rats eat.
+
+[145] _Erethizon dorsatum_ (Linn.). In Hearne's time the porcupine was
+rather common throughout the southern part of the Hudson Bay region, and
+ranged nearly or quite to the limit of trees. Hearne's journey to the
+Coppermine River was mainly through the Barren Grounds, or near the edge
+of the timber, where of course the animal was scarce, which accounts for
+the small number seen by him.
+
+Now, throughout the region, constant persecution has reduced this
+species almost to the verge of extinction, so that a person may travel
+hundreds of miles through its range without encountering one.
+
+[146] "Arctic Zool.," i. p. 110, 1784.
+
+[CE] This information was given to Mr. Pennant from the authority of Mr.
+Graham; but the before-mentioned account of seeing them killed in all
+stages of pregnancy, when no symptoms of that kind appeared, will, I
+hope, be sufficient to clear up that mistake.
+
+[147] By foxes of various colours, Hearne refers to the different
+colour-phases of the red fox, _Vulpes fulvus_ (Desmarest). These are the
+cross-fox, in which there is a darkening of the colour, and a more or
+less plainly marked cross indicated on the back; the silver, in which
+the red tinge is nearly or wholly lost, the general colour being black,
+with many of the hairs showing a white subterminal zone; and the black,
+in which the white is absent, or very nearly so. In all these phases,
+now generally admitted to be varying degrees of melanism, the tip of the
+tail is white, as in the normal red phase. A perfect black fox is one of
+the most valuable furs known.
+
+[148] _Lepus arcticus canus_ Preble. Arctic hares are still found
+regularly as far south as Fort Churchill, and in winter reach still
+farther south, while to the north-west they occupy suitable localities
+throughout the Barren Grounds.
+
+[149] _Lepus americanus_ (Erxleben), based mainly on specimens from
+Churchill River and Severn River, which last place may be considered the
+type locality.
+
+[150] _Sciurus hudsonicus_ Erxleben. Common throughout the Hudson Bay
+region north to the tree-limit. The name was based on specimens from
+Hudson Bay, probably from the west coast, although no definite type
+locality has been assigned.
+
+[151] _Citellus parryi_ (Richardson). This species at the time of
+Hearne's writing was undescribed, but was later characterised by
+Richardson (App. to Parry's Second Voyage, p. 316, 1827), from specimens
+taken at Five Hawser Bay, Melville Peninsula. It inhabits the Barren
+Grounds from Hudson Bay north-westward to the Mackenzie, and is
+represented by related and intergrading forms nearly throughout Alaska,
+and southward in the Rocky Mountains to the northern United States.
+
+[152] The shrew most often found in the beaver houses is the marsh
+shrew, _Neosorex palustris_ (Rich.), whose aquatic habits admirably fit
+it for such situations. Two or three smaller shrews, less aquatic in
+habits, also inhabit the Hudson Bay region.
+
+[153] _Dicrostonyx richardsoni_ Merriam. This lemming, which is closely
+related to _D. hudsonius_ of Labrador, was described from specimens
+taken at Fort Churchill, where it is abundant. Farther to the north it
+is represented by closely related forms whose ranges are among the most
+northerly of all land animals. Hearne's excellent account of this
+species has been confirmed in almost every particular by later
+observers.
+
+[154] _Odobaenus rosmarus_ (Linn.). This animal was formerly abundant in
+Hudson Bay, but is now far from common, and is confined to the northern
+and north-eastern parts.
+
+[155] _Phoca vitulina_ Linn. is one of the commonest seals about the
+Bay, while the ringed seal, _Phoca hispida_ Schreber, is perhaps equally
+abundant about its northern shores. The grey species mentioned is the
+bearded seal, _Erignathus barbatus_ (Erxleben), which is abundant in
+most parts of Hudson Bay.
+
+[156] The narwhal, _Monodon monoceros_ Linn., is still a rare inhabitant
+of Hudson Strait and the extreme northern part of the Bay.
+
+[CF] In the Fall of the year 1768, a fine rock cod was drove on shore in
+a high gale of wind, and was eaten at the Governor's table; Messrs.
+William Wales and Joseph Dymond, who went out to observe the transit of
+Venus which happened on the 3d of June 1769, partook of it; but I never
+heard of one being caught with a hook, nor ever saw an entire fish of
+that description in those parts: their jaw-bones are, however,
+frequently found on the shores.
+
+[The common cod, _Gadus callarius_ Linn., enters Hudson Strait, and is
+economically important in Ungava Bay. An occasional one is reported in
+Hudson Bay, but whether or not the fish is abundant there is not known.]
+
+[157] _Balaena mysticetus_ Linn. This species, the principal object of
+pursuit by the northern whalers, was originally fairly common in the
+northern part of Hudson Bay, but is now rare there.
+
+[CG] I have heard that no Whale caught by our Greenland ships is called
+a Pay-fish; that is, that no emolument arises to the harpooner that
+strikes it; unless the longest blade of the bone, usually called
+Whale-bone, measures six feet; whereas those killed in Hudson's Bay
+seldom measured more than four feet and an half.
+
+[158] _Delphinapterus catodon_ (Linn.). This toothed whale is still
+common in nearly all parts of Hudson Bay, and considerable numbers are
+taken by means of nets at Fort Churchill. The oil is exported and the
+meat utilized for food for dogs.
+
+[159] The "Salmon" here spoken of is evidently some form of the widely
+distributed _Salvelinus alpinus_ (Linn.), several supposed forms of
+which have been described from different parts of Arctic North America.
+The ordinary method of taking it on the coast of Hudson Bay is by
+stretching a net between stakes at low tide at right angles to the
+shore. The net being immersed at high tide intercepts the fish, which
+apparently follow the line of the shore. When the tide falls the catch
+is of course easily retrieved.
+
+[160] _Mallotus villosus_ (Mueller). This is a kind of smelt of wide
+distribution in northern waters.
+
+[161] Apparently referring to _Mytilus edulis_ (Linn.), which is very
+abundant on the shore of Hudson Bay.
+
+[162] _Hyas coarctatus_ Leach, occurs on the west coast of Hudson Bay.
+Probably other species inhabit its waters.
+
+[163] A common starfish on the west coast of Hudson Bay is a six-armed
+species, _Asterias polaris_ (Mueller and Troschel).
+
+[164] The common frog of the Hudson Bay region is the northern wood
+frog, _Rana cantabrigensis latiremis_ Cope, which is abundant north to
+the tree-limit. A smaller species, _Chorophilus septentrionalis_
+Boulenger, is abundant on the coast as far north at least as York
+Factory.
+
+[165] From Hearne's description of its habits he evidently refers to the
+white-headed eagle, _Haliaetus leucocephalus alascanus_ Townsend, which
+is the commoner of the two species of that region. The golden eagle,
+_Aquila chrysaetos_ (Linn.), is rare near the Bay, but in places in the
+interior, where rocky ledges occur, is sometimes rather common.
+
+[166] The Sacre Falcon of Pennant is generally identified as _Falco
+rusticolus gyrfalco_ Linn.
+
+[167] _Nyctea nyctea_ (Linn.). This beautiful owl is common throughout
+the region, breeding on the Barren Grounds, and in winter moving
+southward into the wooded country. Occasionally a pair will nest far
+south of the normal range.
+
+[168] The great horned owl, _Bubo virginianus subarcticus_ (Hoy), found
+throughout the region north nearly to the limit of trees.
+
+[169] This is the hawk owl, _Surnia ulula caparoch_ (Mueller). It is
+fairly abundant throughout the region north to the limit of trees.
+
+[170] _Corvus corax principalis_ (Ridgway). The raven is rare on the
+coast of Hudson Bay, but is rather common in the interior.
+
+[171] _Perisoreus canadensis_ (Linn.). Very abundant throughout the
+region north to the limit of trees. It nests in late winter, laying
+three or four bluish-grey eggs spotted with brownish.
+
+[172] Besides the "Golden-winged Bird," _Colaptes auratus luteus_
+(Bangs), which reaches the limit of trees, several other woodpeckers
+inhabit that region.
+
+[173] Referring to the pileated woodpecker, _Phloeotomus pileatus
+abieticola_ (Bangs), which is found about the southern parts of Hudson
+Bay, and inland toward the south-west.
+
+[174] Hearne is mistaken here, as the golden-winged woodpecker is well
+known to leave the northern parts of its summer habitat for several
+months.
+
+[175] _Bonasa umbellus togata_ (Linn.). Found about the southern shores
+of Hudson Bay, as far north as about 57 deg., and inland much farther north.
+
+[176] _Pedioecetes phasianellus_ (Linn.). Hearne's remarks on its range
+in this region are well founded, and agree with what is known of its
+present distribution.
+
+[CH] This I assert from my own experience when at Cumberland House.
+
+[177] _Canachites canadensis_ (Linn.). This grouse inhabits all the
+region west of Hudson Bay north nearly to the limit of trees, but is
+scarce near the northern border of its range.
+
+[178] _Lagopus lagopus_ (Linn.) This beautiful ptarmigan is still
+abundant on the shores of Hudson Bay. It breeds abundantly throughout
+the Barren Grounds and in considerable numbers on the treeless areas
+which form an almost continuous fringe along the west coast of the Bay
+nearly to its southern extremity.
+
+[CI] Mr. Dragge observes, in his North West Passage, that when the
+partridges begin to change colour, the first brown feathers appear in
+the rump; but this is so far from being a general rule, that an
+experienced Hudsonian must smile at the idea. That Mr. Dragge never saw
+an instance of this kind I will not say, but when Nature deviates so far
+from its usual course, it is undoubtedly owing to some accident; and
+nothing is more likely than that the feathers of the bird Mr. Dragge had
+examined, had been struck off by a hawk; and as the usual season for
+changing their plumage was near, the Summer feathers supplied their
+place; for out of the many hundreds of thousands that I have seen
+killed, I never saw or heard of a similar instance.
+
+[179] _Lagopus rupestris_ (Gmel.). This species, first described from
+specimens sent from Hudson Bay, is more northern in its range than the
+willow ptarmigan.
+
+[CJ] Besides the birds already mentioned, which form a constant dish at
+our tables in Hudson's Bay, during their respective seasons, Mr. Jeremie
+asserts, that during the time he was Governor at York Fort, the bustard
+was common. But since that Fort was delivered up to the English at the
+peace of Utrecht in 1713, none of the Company's servants have ever seen
+one of those birds: nor does it appear by all the Journals now in the
+possession of the Hudson's Bay Company, that any such bird was ever seen
+in the most Southern parts of the Bay, much less at York Fort, which is
+in the latitude 57 deg. North; so that a capital error, or a wilful design
+to mislead, must have taken place. Indeed, his account of the country
+immediately where he resided, and the productions of it, are so
+erroneously stated as to deserve no notice. His colleague, De le
+Potries, asserts the existence of the bustard in those parts, and with
+an equal regard to truth.
+
+[This is explained by the fact that the early French writers referred to
+the Canada goose under the name _Outarde_.]
+
+[180] _Ectopistes migratorius_ (Linn.). This short account of the habits
+is evidently founded on Hearne's experience with the species in the
+Cumberland House region, where at that time it was doubtless abundant.
+The present record for Fort Churchill, as well as other early notices of
+its occurrence at York Factory, probably represent the northward
+wandering of flocks after the breeding season.
+
+[181] _Planesticus migratorius_ (Linn.). The American robin is rather
+common in the Hudson Bay region north to the tree-limit. At Fort
+Churchill, in late July 1900, I saw flocks composed of old birds and
+young just from the nests.
+
+[182] _Pinicola enucleator leucura_ (Mueller). Found throughout the
+region north to the limit of trees, but, as Hearne intimates, not
+abundant.
+
+[183] _Plectrophenax nivalis_ (Linn.). This name was based on a Hudson
+Bay specimen. The bird is abundant throughout the region in migration,
+and breeds from the vicinity of Neville Bay (near lat. 62 deg.), northward.
+
+[184] _Zonotrichia leucophrys_ (Forster). First described from specimens
+taken at Severn River, Hudson Bay. An abundant species throughout the
+region north to the limit of trees.
+
+[185] _Calcarius lapponica_ (Linn.). A common species, as Hearne says.
+It breeds from the tree-limit northward.
+
+[186] Apparently referring to the Redpoll, _Acanthis linaria_ (Linn.),
+which is, of course, not closely related to the Lapland longspur.
+
+[187] Hearne apparently refers to the Shore Lark, _Otocoris alpestris
+hoyti_ Bishop, which breeds abundantly on the small barrens along the
+west coast of Hudson Bay as well as on the main area of the Barren
+Grounds.
+
+[188] _Penthestes hudsonicus_; first described by Forster from specimens
+taken at Severn River, Hudson Bay. It inhabits the region north to the
+limit of trees.
+
+[189] This account of the nesting habits seems to refer to the Barn
+Swallow, _Hirundo erythrogastra_ (Bodd). I am not aware that this bird
+now nests at Fort Churchill, though it is not unlikely that it did so
+formerly. The cliffs in the vicinity would afford ideal natural nesting
+sites.
+
+[190] Here Hearne undoubtedly refers to the Bank Swallow, _Riparia
+riparia_ (Linn.), which inhabits the region in myriads. As it nests only
+in banks of clay or sand its local abundance is dependent on their
+presence. The eggs are unspotted.
+
+[191] _Grus americana_ (Linn.). Though specimens from Hudson Bay figured
+in the original description of this magnificent species, it was rare
+even in Hearne's time, and is now probably extirpated in that region.
+
+[192] The Brown Crane (_Grus canadensis_), was described by Linnaeus from
+Hudson Bay specimens, and is still rather common on its marshy plains,
+and on the Barren Grounds.
+
+[193] The American Bittern, _Botaurus lentiginosus_ (Montagu), is fairly
+common in the marshes about Hudson Bay north to the vicinity of York
+Factory.
+
+[194] The Esquimaux Curlew of Pennant ("Arct. Zool.," ii. p. 461, 1785)
+is really the Hudsonian Curlew, _Numenius hudsonicus_ (Latham), and
+Hearne of course follows Pennant in this error. It is still a common
+species on the west coast of Hudson Bay. The smaller one, which is the
+real Eskimo Curlew, _Numenius borealis_ (Forster), was formerly very
+abundant, but is now, unhappily, nearly or quite extinct.
+
+[195] Apparently the common Snipe, _Gallinago delicata_ (Ord.).
+
+[196] The Hudsonian Godwit, _Limosa haemastica_ (Linn.). This name was
+based on the drawing of a specimen from Hudson Bay. It breeds in the
+marshes on the west coast of the Bay, probably nearly throughout its
+length.
+
+[197] The Spotted Godwit of Pennant ("Arct. Zool.," ii. p. 467, 1785) is
+the Greater Yellowlegs, _Totanus melanoleucus_ (Gmel.).
+
+[198] _Arenaria morinella_ (Linn.). The Turnstone is abundant along the
+west coast of Hudson Bay in migration, and doubtless breeds about its
+northern shores, though I am not aware that its nest has actually been
+discovered there.
+
+[CK] They exactly correspond with the bird described by Mr. Pennant,
+except that they are much longer.
+
+[199] _Charadrius dominicus_ Mueller. Formerly very abundant, as Hearne
+intimates, but now very much reduced in numbers. It breeds about the
+northern shores of Hudson Bay.
+
+[200] _Cepphus mandti_ (Mandt). This Guillemot is abundant on Hudson Bay
+and the neighbouring waters to the northward.
+
+[201] _Gavia immer_ (Bruenn.). This is perhaps the least abundant of the
+Loons found on Hudson Bay, though common in the lakes of the interior.
+
+[202] _Gavia adamsi_ (Gray). Hearne's statement that the bird has a
+white bill shows that he refers to the present species, though a
+Black-throated Loon, _Gavia pacifica_ (Lawrence), is common there.
+Perhaps he confuses the two. At any rate, _G. adamsi_ is abundant over
+much of the country traversed by him on his Coppermine journey, but I am
+not aware that it has been detected as far east as Hudson Bay.
+
+[203] _Gavia stellata_ (Pontoppidan). Abundant in the lake-studded
+country bordering Hudson Bay.
+
+[204] Though in all probability several species are included under this
+heading, the commonest is the widely distributed Herring Gull, _Larus
+argentatus_ Pontoppidan. The "Grey Gull" following is undoubtedly the
+young of the same species.
+
+[205] Jaegers, _Stercorarius_, of which perhaps the commonest, and the
+one suggested by Hearne's description, is _S. pomarinus_. It is
+probable, however, that both _S. parasiticus_ and _S. longicaudus_ (the
+former of which is the more abundant) also came under his observation.
+
+[206] Plainly referring to the Arctic Tern, _Sterna paradisaea_ Bruenn. An
+excessively abundant species on the west coast of Hudson Bay.
+
+[207] _Pelecanus erythrorhynchos_ Gmel., has been taken on Hudson Bay
+only as a rare straggler, but is abundant in the Cumberland House
+region.
+
+[CL] In the Fall of 1774, when I first settled at Cumberland House, the
+Indians imposed on me and my people very much, by selling us Pelican fat
+for the fat of the black bear. Our knowledge of the delicacy of the
+latter induced us to reserve this fat for particular purposes; but when
+we came to open the bladders, it was little superior to train oil, and
+was only eatable by a few of my crew, which at that time consisted only
+of eight Englishmen and two of the home Indians from York Fort.
+
+Cumberland House was the first inland settlement the Company made from
+Hudson's Fort; and though begun on so small a scale, yet upon it and
+Hudson's House, which is situated beyond it, upwards of seventy men were
+now employed.
+
+[208] _Mergus serrator_ Linn. This species is still very abundant on the
+coast of Hudson Bay, as well as in the interior.
+
+[209] The smaller Swan is _Olor columbianus_ (Ord.), formerly very
+abundant on Hudson Bay, and still occurring in some numbers during
+migrations. It breeds on the islands in the northern parts of the Bay,
+and in other parts of the far North.
+
+The larger Whooping Swan, _Olor buccinator_ (Richardson), formerly bred
+about the southern part of the Hudson Bay region, and also far
+northward. In the wholesale destruction of these magnificent birds, this
+species has suffered most.
+
+[CM] Mr. Pennant, in treating of the Whistling Swan, takes notice of the
+formation of the Windpipe; but on examination, the windpipes of both the
+species which frequent Hudson's Bay are found to be exactly alike,
+though their note is quite different. The breast-bone of this bird is
+different from any other I have seen; for instead of being sharp and
+solid, like that of a goose, it is broad and hollow. Into this cavity
+the windpipe passes from the valve, and reaching quite down to the
+abdomen, returns into the chest, and joins the lungs. Neither of the
+species of Swan that frequent Hudson's Bay are mute: but the note of the
+larger is much louder and harsher than that of the smaller.
+
+[210] _Branta canadensis_ (Linn.). This large goose is the earliest to
+arrive in spring, and is the most southern breeder, nesting throughout
+the wooded country.
+
+[211] _Branta canadensis hutchinsi_ (Richardson). This smaller form of
+the Canada Goose was named in honour of Thomas Hutchins, a Hudson's Bay
+Company officer who made natural history collections on Hudson Bay, and
+was the first to call attention to this race. It breeds on the Barren
+Grounds.
+
+[212] _Chen hyperboreus nivalis_ (Forster). This larger form of _C.
+hyperboreus_ was first described from Severn River specimens. Though
+much reduced in numbers, it still breeds about the northern part of
+Hudson Bay, and is an important food species in the region.
+
+[213] _Chen caerulescens_ (Linn.). First described from a Hudson Bay
+specimen. According to the natives it breeds in the interior of northern
+Ungava; west of Hudson Bay, it is known only as a straggler. It winters
+in the Mississippi valley and on the Atlantic coast.
+
+[214] This is the first account of _Chen rossi_, formally described by
+Cassin in 1861 from specimens taken on Great Slave Lake. It is almost
+unknown on Hudson Bay, but is abundant in migrations about Great Slave
+and Athabaska lakes. It breeds somewhere to the northward of this
+region, but its summer home is unknown.
+
+[CN] Mr. Moses Norton.
+
+[215] _Anser albifrons gambeli_ Hartl. An inhabitant of the west coast
+of Hudson Bay, but more common in the Mackenzie valley.
+
+[216] Probably referring, as Hearne suggests, to abnormally large and
+perhaps barren individuals of the Canada Goose (_Branta canadensis_).
+
+[217] _Branta bernicla glaucogastra_ (Brehm). Still occurring in some
+numbers along the west coast of Hudson Bay, in migrations, and breeding
+about its northern shores.
+
+[218] Both _Somateria mollissima borealis_ (Brehm), and _S. dresseri_
+Sharpe, occur about the north-west coast of Hudson Bay in summer, and
+doubtless both breed there. The King Eider also, _S. spectabilis_
+(Linn.), migrates down the coast, but probably breeds farther to the
+north.
+
+[219] The Bean Goose, _Anser fabalis_ (Latham), is of very doubtful
+occurrence in the Hudson Bay region.
+
+[CO] It is, however, no less true, that the late Mr. Humphry Martin,
+many years Governor of Albany Fort, sent home several hundred specimens
+of animals and plants to complete that collection; but by some mistake,
+nothing of the kind was placed to the credit of his account. Even my
+respected friend Mr. Pennant, who with a candour that does him honour,
+has so generously acknowledged his obligations to all to whom he thought
+he was indebted for information when he was writing his Arctic Zoology,
+(see the Advertisement,) has not mentioned his name; but I am fully
+persuaded that it entirely proceeded from a want of knowing the person;
+and as Mr. Hutchins succeeded him at Albany in the year 1774, every
+thing that has been sent over from that part has been placed to his
+account.
+
+[220] _Somateria spectabilis_ (Linn.).
+
+[221] Probably _Anas rubripes_ Brewster.
+
+[222] _Anas platyrhynchos_ Linn.
+
+[223] _Dafila acuta_ (Linn.).
+
+[224] _Mareca americana_ (Gmel.).
+
+[225] _Nettion carolinense_ (Gmel.).
+
+[226] _Mareca americana_ (Gmel.). The American Widgeon occurs on the
+west coast of Hudson Bay north to the tree-limit, but is not common
+there.
+
+[227] The Common Teal of the west coast of Hudson Bay is _Nettion
+carolinense_ (Gmel.), which occurs in numbers well into the Barren
+Grounds. The Blue-winged Teal, _Querquedula discors_ (Linn.), has been
+taken there, but is excessively rare.
+
+[228] _Ribes oxyacanthoides_ Linn. A species of very wide distribution
+in the north. It is usually common about the trading posts.
+
+[229] _Vaccinium vitisidaea_ Linn. An abundant species; reaches its
+greatest perfection near the northern border of the forest.
+
+[230] _Empetrum nigrum_ Linn. The crowberry is very abundant about Fort
+Churchill and northward.
+
+[231] _Rubus chamaemorus_ Linn. The cloudberry or baked-apple berry is
+abundant throughout the country treated by Hearne.
+
+[232] The northern red currant, _Ribes rubrum_ Linn., and the black
+currant, _Ribes hudsonianum_ Richardson, are species of wide
+distribution in the north.
+
+[233] Apparently Hearne refers to _Juniperus nana_ Willd., the dwarf
+juniper, since Richardson gives the same Indian name as applied by the
+Crees to this shrub. Granting this, Hearne's creeping pine is _Juniperus
+sabina_ Linn., shrubby red cedar. Both species extend northward to the
+tree-limit.
+
+[CP] The Indians call the Juniper-berry Caw-caw-cue-minick, or the
+Crowberry.
+
+[CQ] The Oteagh-minick of the Indians, is so called, because it in some
+measure resembles a heart.
+
+[234] Probably _Fragaria canadensis_ Michx.
+
+[235] Probably _Rubus arcticus_ Linn. A pretty little plant, similar in
+distribution to the cloudberry.
+
+[236] _Vaccinium uliginosum_ Linn. A low blueberry of wide distribution.
+The fruit is excellent.
+
+[237] Probably _Comandra Livida_ Rich.
+
+[238] Evidently, from his description, Hearne here refers to the Alpine
+bearberry, _Arctous alpina_ (Linn.). It is abundant throughout the
+region.
+
+[239] Apparently referring to the common rose of the region, _Rosa
+acicularis_ Lindl. An abundant and very beautiful species.
+
+[240] Hearne refers here to the two species of _Ledum. L. groenlandicum_
+OEder is the broad-leaved sort, generally distributed through the
+wooded country, and extending a little into the Barren Grounds. _L.
+palustre_ Linn. is a smaller narrow-leaved species, which overlaps the
+range of the larger sort, and extends much farther north.
+
+[241] This refers to the common bearberry, _Arctostaphylos uva-ursi_
+(Linn.). Its leaves are smoked both by the Indians and the Eskimo, and
+also by the white residents.
+
+[242] _Picea alba_ (Ait.) and _P. mariana_ (Mill.).
+
+[243] _Larix laricina_ (Du Roi).
+
+[244] _Populus balsamifera_ Linn., and _P. tremuloides_ Michx.
+
+[245] _Betula nana_ Linn.
+
+[246] A number of dwarf willows, including _Salix anglorum_ Cham., _S.
+phylicifolia_ Linn., and _S. reticulata_ Linn., grow on the coast of
+Hudson Bay to the northward of Fort Churchill.
+
+[247] _Betula papyrifera_ Marsh, from whose bark the Indians make their
+canoes.
+
+[248] The common alder of the interior is _Alnus alnobetula_ (Ehrh.).
+
+
+
+
+BIBLIOGRAPHY
+
+
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+ PELLETIER, E. A. Patrol Report Inspector E. A. Pelletier, Fort
+ Saskatchewan, Alberta, to Chesterfield Inlet and Fullerton,
+ Hudson Bay, and return to Regina, _via_ Churchill, Hudson Bay.
+ _Report of the R.N.W. Mounted Police_, 1909. pp. 141-168. App.
+ O. Ottawa, 1909.
+
+ _Pennant, Thomas._ Vol. i., Quadrupeds. Advertisements, 6 pp.;
+ Introduction, pp. cc. List of Quadrupeds, p. 185. London, 1784.
+ Vol. ii., Birds, pp. 187-586. London, 1785.
+
+ PENNANT, THOMAS. Supplement to the Arctic Zoology. London, 1787.
+ 4to. Maps. VIII., 163.
+
+ PETITOT, L'ABBE E. Geographie de L'Athabaskaw-Mackenzie. 2 Maps.
+ _Bulletin de la Societe de Geographie_, July, August and
+ September 1875, pp. 5-42, 126-183, 242-290.
+
+ PIKE, WARBURTON. The Barren Ground of Northern Canada. 8vo. pp.
+ 300. London and New York, 1892.
+
+ POND, PETER. Map in Burpee's "Search for the Western Sea," p.
+ 182.
+
+ PREBLE, EDWARD A. A biological Investigation of the Hudson Bay
+ Region. North American Fauna, No. 22. Washington, 1902. U.S.
+ Dept. of Agriculture, Divn. of Biological Survey. 8vo. Map and
+ plates, 140.
+
+ PREBLE, EDWARD A. A biological Investigation of the
+ Athabaska-Mackenzie Region. North American Fauna, No. 27.
+ Washington, 1908. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Divn. of Biological
+ Survey. 8vo. Maps and plates, 574.
+
+ RAE, JOHN. Journey from Great Bear Lake to Wollaston Land.
+ _Jour. Roy. Geog. Soc._, vol. 22 (1852), pp. 73-96.
+
+ Report from the Committee appointed to inquire into the state
+ and condition of the Countries adjoining to Hudson's Bay, and of
+ the Trade carried on there. London, Government, 1749. Fol. pp.
+ 215-286.
+
+ Report from the Select Committee on the Hudson's Bay Company.
+ London, Government, 1857. Fol. Maps. XVIII., 547.
+
+ RICHARDSON, JOHN. Appendix to Captain Parry's Journal of a
+ Second Voyage. 4to. London, 1825. (Contains many notes on
+ Natural History of Coppermine region.)
+
+ RICHARDSON, JOHN. Short characters of a few Quadrupeds procured
+ on Captain Franklin's late Expedition. _The Zool. Journal_, iii.
+ No. 12. pp. 516-520. 1828.
+
+ RICHARDSON, JOHN. Fauna Boreali--Americana. Part First.
+ Quadrupeds. pp. xlii, 300. 4to. London, 1829.
+
+ RICHARDSON, JOHN. Fauna Boreali--Americana. Part Third. The
+ Fishes. 4to. London, 1836.
+
+ RICHARDSON, SIR JOHN. Arctic Searching Expedition; A Journey of
+ a Boat-Voyage through Rupert's Land and the Arctic Sea. London,
+ 1851. 8vo. 2 vols. Map, plates and woodcuts. VIII., 413 and
+ VII., 426. Another edition. New York, 1854. 1 vol. 8vo, without
+ plates. XI., 516.
+
+ RICHARDSON, SIR JOHN. The Polar Regions. Edinburgh, 1861. 8vo.
+ Map. IX., 400.
+
+ ROBSON, JOSEPH. An Account of Six years Residence in Hudson's
+ Bay from 1733 to 1736, and 1744 to 1747. London, 1752. 12mo.
+ Charts and plans. 84-95.
+
+ RUSSELL, FRANK. Explorations in the Far North, being the Report
+ of an expedition under the auspices of the University of Iowa
+ during the years 1892, '93 and '94. (Des Moines), 1898. 8vo. Map
+ and plates, IX., 290.
+
+ SETON, ERNEST THOMPSON. The Arctic Prairies. _Scribner's
+ Magazine_, vol. xlviii., Nov. 1910, pp. 513-532; Dec. 1910, pp.
+ 725-734; vol. xlix., Jan. 1911, pp. 61-72; Feb. 1911, pp.
+ 207-223.
+
+ SIMPSON, THOMAS. Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coast
+ of America; effected by the Officers of the Hudson's Bay Company
+ during the years 1836-39. London, 1843. 8vo. Map. XIX., 419.
+
+ SWAINSON, WILLIAM, and RICHARDSON, JOHN. Fauna
+ Boreali--Americana. Part Second. The Birds. pp. lxvi, 524. 4to.
+ London, 1831.
+
+ TYRRELL, J. B. Explorations in 1893 and 1894. _Ann. Rep. Geol.
+ Sur. Can._, 1894, vol. vii., Part A., pp. 38-48.
+
+ TYRRELL, J. B. Notes on the Pleistocene of the North-West
+ Territories of Canada, north-west and west of Hudson's Bay.
+ _Geol. Mag._ (London), Sept. 1894, pp. 394-399.
+
+ TYRRELL, J. B. An Expedition through the Barren Lands of
+ Northern Canada. _Geog. Jour._ (London), vol. iv., Nov. 1894,
+ pp. 437-450, and map.
+
+ TYRRELL, J. B. The Barren Lands. _The Ott. Nat._, vol. x., Feb.
+ 1897, pp. 203-207.
+
+ TYRRELL, J. B. A second Expedition through the Barren Lands of
+ Northern Canada. _Geog. Jour._ (London), vol. vi., Nov. 1895,
+ pp. 438-448, and map.
+
+ TYRRELL, J. B. Report on the Doobaunt, Kazan and Ferguson
+ Rivers, and the North-West Coast of Hudson Bay, and on two
+ overland routes from Hudson Bay to Lake Winnipeg. _Ann. Rep.
+ Geol. Sur. Can._, vol. ix., 1895, Pt. F. Ottawa, 1897. 8vo. Maps
+ and plates, 218.
+
+ TYRRELL, J. B. The Glaciation of North-Central Canada. _Journal
+ of Geology_, Feb. 1898, pp. 147-160.
+
+ TYRRELL, J. B. Natural Resources of the Barren Lands of Canada.
+ _Scot. Geog. Mag._, Mch. 1899, pp. 126-138.
+
+ TYRRELL, J. B. Minerals and Ores of Northern Canada. _Jour. Can.
+ Min. Inst._, vol. xi., 1908, pp. 348-365.
+
+ TYRRELL, J. W. Across the Sub-Arctics of Canada. A Journey of
+ 3200 miles by canoe and snowshoe through the Barren Lands.
+ Toronto, 1897. 8vo. Map and illustrations, 280.
+
+ TYRRELL, J. W. Report on an Exploratory Survey between Great
+ Slave Lake and Hudson Bay. Ottawa, 1901. Annual Report, Dept. of
+ Interior (Canada), App. 26, Part III. 23 maps and plates, 60.
+
+ UMFREVILLE, EDWARD. The Present State of Hudson's Bay,
+ containing a full description of that settlement, and the
+ adjacent country; and likewise of the Fur Trade. London, 1790.
+ 12mo. VII., 230.
+
+ WALES, WILLIAM. Journal of a voyage made by order of the Royal
+ Society, to Churchill River, on the North-West coast of Hudson's
+ Bay; of Thirteen months residence in that country; and of the
+ voyage back to England; in the years 1768 and 1769. _Phil.
+ Trans._, vol. ix., for the year 1770. London, 1771, pp. 100-136.
+
+ WHITNEY, CASPAR. On Snow-shoes to the Barren Grounds. New York,
+ 1896. 8vo. Maps and illustrations. X., 324.
+
+ WILLSON, BECKLES. The Great Company. London, 1899. 8vo. Maps and
+ plates. XXII., 541.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+_For fuller bibliographies of Explorations in Hudson Bay and the
+North-West Territories of Canada, see Low's "Cruise of the_
+Neptune," _and Burpee's "Search for the Western Sea."_
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+ Aberdeen Lake, 91
+
+ "Account of the Countries adjoining to Hudson's Bay, An," by
+ Arthur Dobbs, 42, 246, 293
+
+ "Account of a Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage
+ Performed in the Years 1746 and 1747, An," by T. S. Dragge, 42, 166
+
+ Acres, ----, 137
+
+ Alarm Bird, 193
+
+ Albany Fort, 8, 44, 351, 393, 403, 404, 408, 413, 417
+
+ _Albany_ Frigate, 44, 45
+
+ Albany River, 5
+
+ Alder, 417
+
+ Alpine bearberry, 414
+
+ America, 55, 396
+ ---- North, 1, 23, 358
+ ---- North-Western, 7
+
+ American Traveller (A. Cluny), 42, 43, 56, 295
+
+ Anaw'd Whoie (Lake of the Enemy), 226, 227, 233, 234
+
+ Anderson River, 254
+
+ Angikuni Lake (Titmeg Lake), 105
+
+ "Annual Report, Department of the Interior, Canada," 1901, App. 26,
+ Pt. 3, by J. W. Tyrrell, 272
+
+ Arctic Circle, 30, 165, 192
+ ---- Islands, 352
+ ---- North America, 366
+ ---- Ocean, 4, 151, 172, 201, 346
+
+ Artillery Lake (Atachothua =
+ Caribou-crossing-in-the-middle-of-the-lake Lake), 23, 137, 139,
+ 140, 225
+
+ Assiniboine River, 12
+
+ Athabasca Lake (Arabasca Lake), 119, 200, 201, 234, 235, 270, 278,
+ 279, 404
+ ---- River, 200, 201, 235
+
+ Athapuscow Country, 200, 256, 261, 276, 332, 333, 417
+ ---- Indians. _See under_ Indian
+ ---- Lake (Arathapescow Lake, Great Slave Lake, or Slave Lake), 133,
+ 234, 253, 255, 262, 269, 270, 277
+
+ Athapuscow River, 267, 269
+
+ Atkinson (Mr.), 391
+
+ Aurora Borealis (Ed-thin), 235, 327
+
+ Aylmer Lake (Chlueatathua = Caribou-swimming-among-the-ice Lake),
+ 151, 225
+
+
+ Back, Sir George, 139, 140, 186, 419
+
+ Baker's Lake, 41, 55, 273
+
+ Barble, 88, 114, 254, 274, 314
+
+ Barlow, Captain George, 8, 9, 44-47
+
+ Barren Grounds, 137, 193, 338, 341, 354, 355, 358, 371, 378, 387,
+ 389, 402, 409, 415
+
+ Barton (Mr.), 376
+
+ Basquiau, 337, 338, 403, 405
+
+ Batt, Isaac, 346
+
+ Bean, John, 41, 46, 321
+
+ Bear, 169, 192, 343-345, 347, 348, 350
+ ---- Black, 113, 343, 344, 398. _See also_ Bear
+ ---- Brown, 346. _See also_ Bear
+ ---- Grizzled, 168. _See also_ Bear
+ ---- Polar (White), 342, 343. _See also_ Bear
+
+ Beaver, 67, 78, 136, 223, 235, 237-251, 253, 255, 270, 271, 276,
+ 305, 307, 308, 342, 348, 353, 355, 359, 369
+
+ Bedodid Lake, 278
+
+ Beralzone (Beralzoa, Shoal Lake), 81, 86, 292
+
+ Berens, Herman, 50
+
+ Berries, 413
+
+ Bethago-Tominick (Dewater-berry), 411
+
+ Bimmester, 2
+
+ "Biological Investigation of the Athabaska-Mackenzie Region, A,"
+ by E. A. Preble, 23
+ "---- ---- of the Hudson Bay Region, A," by E. A. Preble, 23
+
+ Birch, 417
+ ---- Creeping, 417
+
+ Bitterns (American Bittern), 389
+
+ Black Bear Hill, 125, 283
+
+ Blackfeet Indians. _See under_ Indian
+
+ Black-heads (Arctic Tern), 192, 314, 396, 397
+
+ Bloody Falls, 186, 187, 189, 195, 204
+
+ Blue-berry, 413, 414
+
+ Body, Robert, 393
+
+ Browne, Alexander, 10
+
+ Buffalo, 255-257, 263, 271, 276, 307, 308
+ ---- (Musk-Ox) Lake, 164, 204
+
+ Bunting, Snow (Snow Bird, Snow Flake), 385
+ ---- White-crowned, 386
+
+ Burbut, 114, 314
+
+ Burpee, L. J., 253, 419
+
+ Burrage, 416
+
+ Bustard, 384
+
+ Button, Sir Thomas, 379
+
+ Button's Bay, 105
+
+
+ California, 46
+
+ _California_ (ship), 11
+
+ Calimut, 52
+
+ Canada, 44, 247, 249
+ --- Northern, 23
+
+ Canadian Indians. _See_ Indian
+ ---- traders, 285
+
+ Canadians, 44, 200, 201
+
+ Cape Esquimaux, 341
+ ---- Merry Battery, 295
+ ---- Smith, 365
+ ---- Tatnam, 351
+
+ Caribou, 5, 87, 105
+
+ Carruthers, Captain, 9, 10
+
+ Cascathry, 153
+
+ Cassin, 404
+
+ Cat (Peshew) Lake, 139, 140, 151, 207
+
+ Catesby (Mr.), 256
+
+ Cathawhachaga, 285
+ ---- (Kazan) River, 86-89, 92, 117, 137, 289
+
+ _Charlotte_ (ship), 13, 48, 50, 56
+
+ Chawchinahaw, 52, 62, 64, 66, 68, 295
+
+ Cheesadawd Lake (Tchize-ta, Gite-du-Lynx, or Home-of-the-Wild-Cat
+ Lake), 140
+
+ Chesterfield Inlet (Bowden's), 41, 55, 273, 293, 365
+
+ Chipewyan, Fort, 198
+ ---- Indians (Northern Indians). _See under_ Indian
+
+ Christie Bay, 132
+
+ Christmas, 112
+
+ Christopher, Captain, 41, 46, 48, 55, 293
+
+ Churchill, 6, 7, 9-14, 46, 50, 80, 87, 105, 112, 125, 140, 200, 201,
+ 248, 253, 260, 285, 294, 307, 339-344, 346-348, 352, 355, 360, 365,
+ 377, 378, 382, 405, 411, 413, 414, 416
+ ---- River ('Tsan deze, Iron or Metal River), 3, 8, 13, 43, 44, 57,
+ 62, 95, 126, 183, 196-198, 201, 214, 215, 222, 235, 236, 269,
+ 293, 294, 295, 313, 321, 323, 334, 339-342, 354-358, 360,
+ 364-367, 369, 370, 379, 382, 384, 385, 388, 389, 391-393, 396,
+ 401-407, 412-417
+
+ _Churchill_ (sloop), 56, 329
+
+ Clinton-Colden Lake, 139, 140, 148, 150, 151, 207
+
+ Cloudberry (Baked-Appleberry), 411
+
+ Clowey, 29, 128, 130-137, 139, 140, 148, 149, 207, 270
+ ---- River, 132
+
+ Cluny, Alexander, 42, 419
+
+ Cobadekoock, 193
+
+ Cockles, 367
+
+ Cod, Common, 363
+ ---- Rock, 363
+
+ Cogead Lake (Contwoy-to or Rum Lake), 151, 152, 205, 207
+
+ Coltsfoot, 416
+
+ Conge-cathawhachaga, 29, 30, 152, 153, 155, 156, 161-163, 167, 170,
+ 172, 173, 186, 204, 205, 222
+
+ Conjurers, 209, 228, 327
+
+ Conne-e-quese (Conreaquefe), 70, 77, 103
+
+ Contwoy-to or Rum Lake (Ko-[)a]-k[)a]-tcai-t[)i], Cogead Lake), 152
+
+ Cook, Captain, 4
+
+ "Cook's Third Voyage," 18
+
+ Copper Indian (Yellow Knife or Rock) River, 279
+ ---- Indians (Red Knives). _See under_ Indian
+ ---- mine, 1, 9, 50, 101, 109, 394
+ ---- Mountains, 194-196
+ ---- River, 30, 154, 170, 192, 204, 220, 277, 330, 346, 393.
+ _See also_ Coppermine River
+
+ Coppermine River (Tson-te, Sanka taza, Copper River), 7, 10, 11, 14,
+ 15, 17, 18, 23, 43, 57, 90, 100, 109, 119, 127, 139, 146, 147, 149,
+ 150, 151, 155, 169, 170, 172, 173, 186, 187, 204, 206, 207, 213,
+ 218, 225, 282, 294, 295, 334, 354, 371. _See also_ Copper River
+
+ Corbett's Inlet, 41
+
+ Cos-abyagh (Rock Partridge), 232
+
+ Cossadgath (Cassandgath) Lake, 139
+
+ Crabs, 367
+
+ Cranberry, 80, 188, 313, 411, 412, 414
+
+ Crane, Brown (North-West turkey), 389
+ ---- Hooping, 388, 389
+
+ Crantz (Mr.), 189, 191
+
+ Crawfish, 398
+
+ Cree. _See under_ Indian
+
+ Crow, Cinereous (Whisk-e-jonish)
+ ---- (Whiskey-jack) (Geeza), 374
+
+ Crowberry, 411
+
+ Cumberland House, 5, 31, 86, 260, 267, 337, 344, 351, 354, 371,
+ 375-377, 384, 397, 398, 400, 403, 405, 408, 410
+
+ Curlew, 192, 390
+ ---- Esquimaux (Hudsonian Curlew), 390
+
+ Currant, Black, 412
+ ---- Red, 412
+
+
+ Dalrymple (Mr.), 29, 30, 31
+
+ Dandelion, 416
+
+ Davis's Straits, 192, 330
+
+ Dawson (City), 148
+
+ Deer (Caribou), 58, 63, 64, 66, 67, 71, 78, 88, 90, 92, 98, 99, 102,
+ 103, 111, 112, 116, 117, 119, 120-122, 125-127, 138, 147, 148, 152,
+ 153, 156, 166, 167, 169-171, 174, 184, 192, 194, 213-216, 218, 220,
+ 225, 227, 234, 235, 236, 253, 276, 282, 287, 289, 290, 293, 305,
+ 306, 307-310, 316, 327, 336, 337, 342, 356, 366, 373
+
+ De le Potries, 384
+
+ _Discovery_ (ship), 9, 11, 44, 45
+
+ Divers, Black-throated, 394
+ ---- Northern (Loons), 394
+ ---- Red-throated (Loons), 395
+
+ Dobbs, Arthur, 9, 41, 42, 246, 248, 295, 419
+
+ _Dobbs_ (ship), 11
+
+ Dogribbed Indians. _See under_ Indian
+
+ Dogs, 191, 310, 324, 325, 365
+
+ Doughty, Dr. Arthur G. (Archivist of the Dominion of Canada), 19
+
+ Douglas, Dr. John (Bishop of Salisbury), 18, 19, 139, 420
+
+ Dragge, T. S., 42, 166, 357, 382, 411
+
+ Dubawnt Lake (Doo-baunt Lake), 5, 91, 95, 105, 286
+
+ Dubawnt River (Doo-baunt River), 41, 91, 95, 105, 120, 272, 286, 287
+
+ Duck, 80, 83, 134, 274, 275, 307, 369, 380, 408, 409
+ ---- Black, 408. _See also_ Duck
+ ---- Blue-winged Teal, 409. _See also_ Duck
+ ---- Common Teal, 409. _See also_ Duck
+ ---- Eider, 407. _See also_ Duck
+ ---- King, 408. _See also_ Duck
+ ---- Long-tailed, 408, 409. _See also_ Duck
+ ---- Mallard, 408, 409. _See also_ Duck
+ ---- Teal, 408, 409. _See also_ Duck
+ ---- Widgeon, 408, 409. _See also_ Duck
+
+ Duncan, Captain, 32, 41
+
+ Dupetit-Thouars, ----, 20
+
+ Du Pratz (M.), 249, 261
+
+ Dymond, Joseph, 4, 363, 420
+
+
+ Eagle, 369, 395
+ ---- Fishing, 369. _See also_ Eagle
+ ---- Golden, 369. _See also_ Eagle
+ ---- White-headed, 369. _See also_ Eagle
+
+ E-arch-e-thinnew Indians (Blackfeet Indians). _See under_ Indian
+
+ Edlande Lake, 226
+
+ Egg River, 103, 105, 110, 111, 292, 294, 390
+
+ Elk, 307, 337
+
+ Ellis, Henry, 41, 42, 46, 48, 55, 56, 113, 166, 295, 420
+
+ "English Chief," 201
+
+ Ennadai Lake (Nipach Lake), 289
+
+ Ermin (Stote), 192, 352
+
+ Eskimo Point, 21
+
+ Eskimos, or Esquimaux, 3, 5, 11, 13, 46-49, 86, 87, 135, 149, 150,
+ 166, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 180-184, 186, 187, 189, 190, 191,
+ 194-196, 220, 265, 273, 275, 276, 293, 296, 313, 321-323, 330, 338,
+ 342, 346, 355, 361, 363, 403, 416
+
+ _European Magazine and London Review_, 1
+
+ "Explorations in the Far North," by Frank Russell, 152, 172, 218
+
+ Eye-berry, 413
+
+
+ Fairchild, ----, 137
+
+ Fairies, 327
+
+ Far Off Metal River, 54
+
+ Fatt (Twal-kai-tua or Fat-fish) Lake (Wiethen Lake), 117, 292
+
+ "First Journey," by Sir John Franklin, 152, 172, 187, 196, 198
+
+ Fish, 63, 72-74, 77, 79, 80, 82, 88, 114, 115, 116, 151, 183, 184,
+ 225, 226, 234, 251, 253, 254, 273, 274, 288, 292, 305, 308,
+ 313-316, 325
+
+ Fitz Gerald, James, 50, 191
+
+ Five Hawser Bay, Melville Peninsula, 358
+
+ Forest trees, 417
+
+ Fort Albany, 8, 44, 351, 393, 403, 404, 408, 413, 417
+
+ Fort Chipewyan, 198
+
+ Fort Churchill (_see_ Fort Prince of Wales), 352, 355, 359, 365, 384,
+ 388, 411, 417
+
+ Fort Cumberland, 5, 31, 86, 260, 267, 337, 344, 351, 354, 371,
+ 375-377, 384, 397, 398, 400, 403, 405, 408, 410
+
+ Fort Enterprise, 338
+
+ Fort Hudson's, 398
+
+ Fort Moose, 413
+
+ Fort Prince of Wales (_see_ Fort Churchill), 2, 3, 4, 5, 16, 21,
+ 46, 49, 51, 55, 57, 61, 68, 70, 75, 76, 79, 87, 100, 105, 106,
+ 107, 110, 115, 124, 126-128, 137, 146, 147, 159, 162, 165, 166,
+ 201, 202, 232, 233, 260, 267, 269, 271, 276, 285, 291, 292, 294,
+ 295, 316, 322, 323, 328, 329, 331, 334, 340, 356, 401, 405
+
+ Fort Resolution, 225
+
+ Fort Richmond, 365
+
+ Fort Severn, 6
+
+ Fort Smith, 253, 267
+
+ Fort York, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 56, 160, 197, 236, 258, 260, 294, 307,
+ 340, 341, 344, 345, 357, 365, 366, 368, 377, 378, 379, 384, 389,
+ 390, 391, 392, 393, 398, 403, 404, 410, 416, 417
+
+ Fowler, Capt. John, 222
+
+ Fox, 192, 224, 255, 323, 348, 350, 355, 373
+ ---- Arctic, 339
+ ---- White, 340, 341
+
+ Franklin, Sir John, 23, 152, 153, 172, 186, 187, 196, 198, 218, 224, 420
+
+ Frobisher, Joseph, 5
+
+ Frogs, 368
+
+ Fullarton (Mr.), 44
+
+ _Furnace_, 11
+
+
+ Garbet (Mr.), 48
+
+ "Geographie de L'Athabaskaw Mackenzie," by A. Petitot, 132, 423
+
+ Geological Survey of Canada, 5
+
+ Godwait, Red (Plovers) (Hudsonian Godwit), 391
+ ---- Spotted (Yellow Legs), 391
+
+ Godwit, Spotted (Greater Yellow Legs), 391
+
+ Goosanders (Shell-drakes), 398
+
+ Goose, 58, 80, 81, 83, 134, 192, 271, 274, 275, 287, 290, 292, 307,
+ 313, 369, 380, 400, 403, 406
+ ---- Barren, 406. _See also_ Goose
+ ---- Bean, 407. _See also_ Goose
+ ---- Blue, 404. _See also_ Goose
+ ---- Brent, 406. _See also_ Goose
+ ---- Canada (Pick-a-sish), 384, 402, 406. _See also_ Goose
+ ---- Common Grey, 401, 411. _See also_ Goose
+ ---- Common Wavey, 405. _See also_ Goose
+ ---- Dunter, 192, 407. _See also_ Goose
+ ---- Horned Wavey, 404, 405. _See also_ Goose
+ ---- Laughing, 405. _See also_ Goose
+ ---- White (Snow Goose), 402, 404, 405. _See also_ Goose
+
+ Gooseberry, 410
+
+ Goose-hunting Islands, 294
+
+ "Governor, The, and Company of Adventurers of England," 8
+
+ Graham, A., 166, 295, 338, 339, 348, 351, 354, 408
+
+ Grant, Cuthbert, 200
+
+ Grass, 416
+ ---- Marsh, 416
+ ---- Rye, 416
+
+ "Great Company, The," 18
+
+ Great Slave Lake (Athapuscow Lake) ("Thu-tue" or "Lake of the
+ Breasts"), 13, 132, 139, 151, 200, 225, 226, 235, 253, 254, 255,
+ 267, 270, 278, 279, 281, 351, 404
+
+ Grizzled Bear Hill, 168
+
+ Grosbeak (American Red Bird), 385
+
+ Ground-squirrels, 169, 192
+
+ Grouse, 375, 383
+ ---- Ruffed (Pus-pus-kee) (Pus-pus-cue), 375. _See also_ Grouse
+ ---- Sharp-Tailed (Pheasant) (Aw-kis-cow), 377. _See also_ Grouse
+ ---- White, 370. _See also_ Grouse
+
+ Grubs, 368
+
+ Gull, 80, 83, 192, 292, 314
+
+ Gull, Arctic, 192. _See also_ Gull
+ ---- Black (Men of War), 396. _See also_ Gull
+ ---- Grey, 395, 396. _See also_ Gull
+ ---- White (Herring Gull), 395. _See also_ Gull
+
+ Gullemots, Black (Sea Pigeons), 393
+
+
+ Ha-ha-wie, 192
+
+ Hanbury River, 139, 272
+
+ Harding, C., 224
+
+ Hare, 369, 379
+ ---- Alpine, 192, 193, 217, 316. _See also_ Hare
+ ---- American, 357. _See also_ Hare
+ ---- Varying, 355. _See also_ Hare
+
+ Hawks, 369, 370
+
+ Hawks-eyes, 192
+
+ Hay's River, 365
+
+ Hearne, Samuel, 1-7, 10, 12-19, 21, 51, 52, 87, 105, 107, 109, 113,
+ 120, 139, 140, 151-153, 186, 187, 201, 218, 224, 235, 253, 272,
+ 282, 287, 289, 339, 345, 346, 355, 375, 377, 384, 385, 387, 390,
+ 393, 394, 406, 411, 412, 414, 415
+ ---- (Mr.) (father of Samuel), 1
+ ---- (Mrs.) (mother of Samuel), 1
+
+ Hearne's Journal, 6, 18, 255, 421
+
+ Heathberry (Nishca-minnick) (Grey Gooseberry), 188, 411
+
+ Hebridal Sandpipers (Whale Birds), 392
+
+ Hendry, Anthony, 12, 56
+
+ Hill Island Lake, 127
+
+ Hips, 413
+
+ "History of Greenland," 189
+
+ Hoarfrost River, 226
+
+ Holmes, Prof. W. H., 12
+
+ Hood, Lord, 2, 187
+
+ Hudson's Bay, 5, 7, 9, 11, 16, 29, 30, 32, 42, 43, 46, 47, 55-57,
+ 73, 85, 107, 136, 139, 144, 158, 165, 183, 185, 189, 190-192,
+ 217, 248, 251, 269, 273, 276, 285, 295, 298, 307, 311, 338,
+ 341-343, 348, 350-355, 357-360, 362-373, 375, 377-379, 383-400,
+ 402-404, 406-410, 412, 414, 415, 417
+ ---- ---- Committee, 191
+ ---- ---- Company, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 10, 18, 21, 31, 41, 42, 52, 54,
+ 55, 109, 122, 147, 184, 186, 197, 199, 200, 253, 267,
+ 295, 330, 334, 346, 364, 384
+ ---- ---- Report, 10, 11
+ ---- House, or Fort, 256, 398
+ ---- Straits, 30, 189, 191, 363, 393
+
+ Hutchins, Thomas, 32, 402, 408
+
+
+ I-dot-le-ezey (I-dot-le-aza), 100, 330, 334
+
+ Indian encampments, 5
+
+ Indian, or Indians, 9, 13, 14, 16, 45, 53, 54, 57, 67, 70, 71, 75,
+ 76, 83, 96, 98, 105, 108, 111, 113, 119, 122, 124, 125, 127, 130,
+ 133-136, 138, 147, 148, 151, 152, 155, 163, 168-171, 173-175,
+ 178-180, 182-187, 189, 194-196, 198, 199, 201, 204-207, 209-213,
+ 215, 218-220, 222, 223, 225-227, 230, 233, 234, 244-247, 249,
+ 254-256, 259, 260, 262, 263, 265, 267, 273, 275-280, 282, 284-288,
+ 293, 294, 306, 307, 309-311, 337-339, 346, 349, 352, 354, 365,
+ 369-372, 375-377, 381, 394-403, 405-411, 412-414, 416, 417
+ ---- Athapuscow, 146, 161, 200, 223, 263, 266, 267, 269, 331, 333.
+ _See also_ Indian
+ ---- Blackfeet, 12, 56. _See also_ Indian
+ ---- Canadian, 158. _See also_ Indian
+ ---- Chipewyan (Northern), 5, 9, 17, 86, 107, 112, 118, 186, 200,
+ 286. _See also_ Indian and Northern Indian
+ ---- Copper (Red Knives), 136, 149, 152-157, 162, 163, 168, 170,
+ 171, 173, 193, 196, 198-201, 203-205, 222, 293, 299, 308.
+ _See also_ Indian
+ ---- Cree, 51, 353. _See also_ Indian
+ ---- Dogribbed, 136, 199, 200, 222, 263, 265, 293, 294, 299, 318.
+ _See also_ Indian
+ ---- E-arch-e-thinnew (Blackfeet), 55, 56. _See also_ Indian and
+ Blackfeet Indians
+ ---- Homeguard. _See also_ Indian and Southern Indian
+ ---- Mandan, 12. _See also_ Indian
+ ---- Neheaway, 161. _See also_ Indian
+ ---- Northern (Chipewyan), 9-11, 43, 49, 51, 52, 70, 71, 75, 87, 89,
+ 92, 97, 98, 100-103, 113-115, 120, 125, 126, 128, 138, 144,
+ 155, 158, 160, 161, 181, 197-203, 216, 224, 226, 227, 236,
+ 239, 249, 253, 254, 263, 265, 271, 273, 276, 281, 285-287,
+ 290, 291, 298, 299, 301, 303, 308, 310, 311, 313, 316, 317,
+ 321-323, 325-327, 329-331, 333, 338, 339, 342, 344, 354, 356,
+ 357, 369, 373, 374, 378. _See also_ Indian and Chipewyan Indian
+
+ Indian, Southern (Homeguard), 51, 52, 70, 71, 85, 92, 97, 101, 103,
+ 113, 114, 144, 158, 160, 161, 199, 248, 266, 269-271, 276, 280,
+ 290, 291, 298, 303, 308, 310-313, 315, 318, 320, 321, 326-329,
+ 332, 333, 338, 345, 372, 374, 378, 387. _See also_ Indian
+
+ Isbester, William, 52, 57, 70, 421
+
+ Island Lake, 17, 105, 112-117, 292
+
+
+ Jack Snipe, 391
+
+ Jackashes, 314, 348, 350
+
+ Jackasheypuck (Common bearberry), 188, 416
+
+ Jacobs, Ferdinand, 160, 329, 331, 393
+
+ Jefferson, William, 233
+
+ Jeremie (Mr.), 293, 294, 379, 384, 421
+
+ Johnston, Magnus, 41, 46, 48, 329
+
+ Jones Island, 360
+
+ "Journey to the Shores of the Arctic Ocean," by Richard King, 279
+
+ Juniper, 417
+
+ Juniper-berry (Caw-caw-cue-minick) (Crowberry), 412
+
+
+ Kamtschatkans, 344
+
+ Kasba Lake (Cossed Whoie, Partridge Lake), 17, 117-119
+
+ Kazan River (Cathawhachaga), 86, 87, 91, 105, 113, 118, 276, 289, 292
+
+ Keelshies, 87, 136, 138, 139, 140, 145, 202, 203, 331, 332
+
+ Kelsey, Henry, 12
+
+ Kepling, 363, 366
+
+ King or Grizzly Bear Lake, 224
+
+ King, Richard, "Journey to the Shores of the Arctic Ocean," 279, 421
+
+ King William Island, 151
+
+ Knapp's Bay, 41, 165, 291, 321-323, 366
+
+ Knight, Capt. James, 8, 9, 11, 44-47
+
+
+ Labradore, 30, 192
+
+ Lake, Bibye (Dep. Gov.), 50, 51
+
+ Lake, James Winter, 50
+
+ Lakes--
+ Aberdeen, 91
+ Anaw'd Whoie (Lake of the Enemy), 226, 227, 233, 234
+ Angikuni (Titmeg), 105
+ Artillery (Atacho thua = Caribou-crossing-in-the-middle-of-the-lake
+ Lake), 23, 137, 139, 140, 225
+ Athabasca (Arabasca), 119, 200, 201, 234, 235, 270, 278, 279, 404
+ Athapuscow (Arathapescow, Great Slave, or Slave), 133, 234, 253,
+ 255, 262, 269, 270, 277
+ Aylmer (Chlueata thua = Caribou-swimming-among-the-ice Lake), 151,
+ 225
+ Baker's, 41, 55, 273
+ Bedodid, 278
+ Beralzone (Beralzoa = Shoal Lake), 81, 86, 292
+ Buffalo (Musk-Ox), 164, 204
+ Cat (Peshew), 139, 140, 151, 207
+ Cheesadawd (Tchize-ta, Gite-du-Lynx, or Home-of-the-Wild-Cat Lake),
+ 140
+ Clinton-Colden, 139, 140, 148, 150, 151, 207
+ Cogead (Contwoy-to or Rum Lake), 151, 152, 205, 207
+ Contwoy-to or Rum Lake (Ko-[)a]-k[)a]-tcai-t[)i]) (Cogead), 152
+ Cossadgath (Cassandgath), 139
+ Dubawnt (Doo-baunt), 5, 91, 95, 105, 286
+ Edlande, 226
+ Ennadai (Nipach), 289
+ Fatt (Twal-kai-tua = Fat-fish Lake) (Wiethen), 117, 292
+ Great Slave (Athapuscow) ("Thu-tue" or "Lake of the Breasts"),
+ 13, 132, 139, 151, 200, 225, 226, 235, 253, 254, 255, 267, 270,
+ 278, 279, 281, 351, 404
+ Hill Island, 127
+ Island, 17, 105, 112-117, 292
+ Kasba (Cossed Whoie = Partridge Lake), 17, 117-119
+ King or Grizzly Bear, 224
+ Large Pike (Wholdyeah-chuck'd Whoie), 278
+ Large White Stone, 188
+ Le Gras (A ka thua = Fat Lake), 225
+ Mackay (Clayki thua = White Sand Lake), 224, 225
+ Magnus, 105
+ Methy (Cook), 226
+ Muddy Water (Tazennatooy), 279
+ Napashish (Nutarawit), 91
+ No Name, 224
+ Noo-shetht (Newstheth tooy = Hill Island Lake), 278, 279
+ Nueltin (Frozen Island, North Lined, Menishtick, Island), 112
+ Partridge (Kasba), 118, 139, 140
+ Peshew (Cat, No Name), 139, 140, 147, 148
+ Pike (Whooldyah'd Whoie or Pelican Lake), 120, 125
+ Point (Ecka tua = Fat-water Lake, Ek-a Tooh), 172, 186, 207, 213,
+ 218, 220, 225, 234, 277
+ Providence, 224
+ Reindeer, 117
+ Scartack, 132
+ Shethnanei (She-than-nee), 75, 80, 85
+ Snow-bird (The-whole-kyed Whoie = Thel-wel-ky Lake), 29, 119, 287
+ Sussex, 151
+ Thaolintoa, 105
+ Thaye-chuck-gyed Whoie (Large Whitestone Lake), 213
+ Thoy-coy-lyned, 151
+ Thoy-noy-kyed (Tha-na-koi = Sand Hill Mount, Aylmer Lake), 150, 151
+ Tittameg, 132
+ Walmsley, 140, 151
+ Whiskey Jack, 292
+ White Stone, 218
+ Wholdiah (Wholdyah'd Lake or A Naw-nee-tha'd Whoie), 125, 127, 283,
+ 287
+ Wild Cat, or Lynx (Seeza-tua), 140
+ Winnipeg, 337
+ Yath-kyed (White Snow, Haecoliguah), 86, 87, 89, 91
+
+ Lallemant, 19, 21
+
+ La Perouse, Admiral, 5, 6, 19, 421
+
+ Lapland Finch, 387
+
+ Larch, 417
+
+ Large Pike Lake (Wholdyeah-chuck'd Whoie), 278
+
+ Large White Stone Lake, 188
+
+ Larks (Shore Lark), 387
+
+ Lawson (Mr.), 400
+
+ Lefranc, Joseph, 246, 248
+
+ Le Gras Lake (A ka thua = Fat Lake), 225
+
+ Le Hontan, 376
+
+ Leroux, Laurent, 200
+
+ Lice, 359
+
+ Linnaeus, 389
+
+ Little Fish River (Nemace-a-seepee-a = fish), 115
+
+ Lofthouse, Rt. Rev. J., Bishop, 80, 140
+
+ Loons, 192, 314
+
+ Luc la Corne, 12
+
+ Lynx (Wild Cat), 341, 347
+
+
+ Mackachy, 65, 68, 71
+
+ Mackay Lake (Clayki thua = White Sand Lake), 224, 225
+
+ Mackenzie, 254
+ ---- River, 13, 235, 253, 294, 358
+ ---- Valley, 405
+
+ Mackenzie, Sir Alexander, 13, 16, 201, 422
+
+ Magnus Lake, 105
+
+ Mandan Indians. _See under_ Indian
+
+ Marble Island, 9, 11, 47-49, 293, 341, 364, 389, 411
+
+ Marley (Mr.), 18
+
+ Martin (Bank Swallow), 76, 132, 223, 224, 255, 348, 350, 351, 388
+
+ Martin, Humphrey, 408
+
+ Matonabbee, 14, 53, 57, 100-103, 105-110, 113-115, 119, 128, 130,
+ 132, 136, 137, 140, 141, 144-150, 153-155, 157, 169, 177, 203,
+ 205, 207, 208, 223, 227, 230, 233, 262, 266, 269, 270, 272, 284,
+ 285, 292, 312, 325, 328, 329, 330-333
+
+ May-flies (Ephemeridae), 345
+
+ McLeod Bay, 226
+
+ Merle, John Anthony, 50
+
+ Merriman, Thos., 52, 57, 70
+
+ Merry Island, 360
+
+ Merry, Robert, 50
+
+ Methy, 73, 254
+ ---- Lake (Cook Lake), 226
+
+ Middleton, Captain, 11, 46, 48, 55
+
+ Monk, Captain, 198
+
+ Montreal, 5, 200, 235, 253
+
+ Moor, Captain, 11
+
+ Moos River, 5, 417
+
+ Moose, 223, 235, 236, 255, 257-263, 268, 271, 276, 278-281, 305,
+ 308, 310, 336-338
+
+ Moose Fort, 413
+
+ Moss, 83, 90, 94, 122, 169, 183, 187, 193, 205, 309, 313, 314,
+ 368, 416
+
+ Mouse, 192, 341, 352, 359
+ ---- Hair-tailed, 350, 359. _See also_ Mouse
+ ---- Shrew, 359. _See also_ Mouse
+
+ Muddy Water Lake (Tazennatooy), 279
+
+ Muscles, 367
+
+ Muskettoes, 169, 171, 259
+
+ Musk-ox, 64, 83, 84, 89, 164-167, 169, 172, 174, 184, 187, 192,
+ 194, 196, 257, 316, 336, 373
+
+ Musk Ox Mountain (Edegadaniyatha), 225
+
+ Musk Rat (Musquash) (Musk Beaver), 352
+
+ Musquash (Musk Rat) (Musk Beaver), 352
+
+
+ Nabyah, 52
+
+ Napashish (Nutarawit), Lake, 91
+
+ "Narrative of Discoveries," by Thomas Simpson, 187
+
+ Navel's Bay, 321, 322, 341
+
+ "Naywatamee Poets" (Mandan Indians), 12
+
+ Neetha-san-san-dazey River, 54
+
+ Neheaway Indians. _See under_ Indian
+
+ Nelson River, 8
+
+ Neville Bay, 385
+
+ No Name Lake, 224, 225
+
+ Noo-shetht Lake (Newstheth tooy Lake = Hill Island Lake), 278, 279
+
+ "North American Fauna," by E. A. Preble, 255, 350, 352
+
+ North Saskatchewan River, 12
+
+ Northern Indians (Chipewyan). _See under_ Indian
+
+ North-West Company, 200, 201, 253
+ ---- Passage, 1, 2, 11, 41, 46, 50, 295
+
+ "North-West Passage," by T. S. Dragge, 357, 382
+
+ Norton, Mary, 158
+ ---- Moses, 3, 5, 10, 11, 13-15, 49-51, 57, 107, 108, 110, 158,
+ 202, 295, 329, 334, 405
+ ---- Richard, 10, 11, 107, 328, 329
+
+ Nueltin (Frozen Island) Lake or North Lined Lake, or Menishtick Lake
+ (Island Lake), 112
+
+ Nutarawit River, 91
+
+
+ Old-wives, 192
+
+ "On Snowshoes to the Barren Grounds," by Caspar Whitney, 218
+
+ Otter, 224, 314, 342, 348-350
+
+ Oule-eye, 170
+
+ Owl, Cob-a-dee-cooch (Hawk Owl), 372
+ ---- Grey or Mottled (Ho-ho) (Great Horned Owl), 372
+ ---- White (Snowy) (Wap-a-kee-thow), 192, 371, 372, 374
+
+ Oxford House, 351
+
+
+ Pacific Ocean, 55
+
+ Paleluah, 87, 89
+
+ "Parry's Second Voyage," App. to, 358
+
+ Partridge, 63-66, 70, 72, 76-78, 83, 192, 193, 227, 273, 274, 292,
+ 316, 341, 379, 382
+ ---- Rock, 380, 383. _See also_ Partridge
+
+ Partridge Willow, 378, 383. _See also_ Partridge
+ ---- Wood (Mistick-a-pethow) (Day), 227, 234, 378, 383.
+ _See also_ Partridge
+
+ Partridge-berry (Poison-berries), 413, 414
+
+ Partridge Lake (Kasba Lake), 118, 139, 140
+
+ Peace River, 337
+
+ Pelican, 397
+
+ Pemican, 89
+
+ Pennant (Mr.), 350, 354, 370, 375, 390-392, 394, 400, 405, 408
+
+ "Pennant's Arctic Zoology," 18, 32, 336, 339, 342, 348, 350, 351,
+ 354, 391, 403, 405, 408, 422
+
+ "Pennant's Supplement to Arctic Zoology," 19, 423
+
+ Perch, 254, 314
+
+ Periwinkle, 367
+
+ Peshew Lake (Cat Lake) (No Name Lake), 139, 140, 147, 148
+
+ Petitot, L'Abbe, 132, 140, 226, 234, 235, 423
+
+ Pheasant, 376, 377
+
+ Pigeon, 384
+
+ Pike, 73, 114, 225, 314
+
+ Pike Lake (Whooldyah'd Whoie or Pelican Lake), 120, 125
+
+ Pike, Warburton, 139, 224, 423
+
+ Pine, 372
+ ---- Creeping (Shrubby red cedar), 412
+
+ Pine Martin, 351
+
+ Platscotez de Chiens, 293, 294
+
+ Plover (Hawk's Eyes), 192, 393, 403
+
+ Po-co-ree-kis-co (Pauk-athakuskow, Beskai deze or Knife) River
+ (North River), 62, 293, 294
+
+ Point Lake (Ecka tua) (Fat-Water Lake) (Ek-a Tooh), 172, 186, 207,
+ 213, 218, 220, 225, 234, 277
+
+ "Polar Regions," by Sir John Richardson, 153
+
+ Pond, Peter, 200, 235, 253, 423
+
+ Poplar, 417
+
+ Porcupine, 72, 264, 354
+
+ Port Nelson River, 365, 379
+
+ Postlethwayt, 157
+
+ Preble, Edward A., ix, 23, 335, 350-352, 355, 423
+
+ "Present State of Hudson's Bay, The," by E. Umfreville, 42
+
+ Prince (Mr.), 382
+
+ Prince of Wales Fort (_see_ Fort Churchill), 2, 3, 4, 5, 16, 21, 46,
+ 49, 51, 55, 57, 61, 68, 70, 75, 76, 79, 87, 100, 105, 106, 107,
+ 110, 115, 124, 126, 127, 128, 137, 146, 147, 159, 162, 165, 166,
+ 201, 202, 232, 233, 260, 267, 269, 271, 276, 285, 291, 292, 294,
+ 295, 316, 322, 323, 328, 329, 331, 334, 340, 356, 401, 405
+
+ Providence Lake, 224
+
+ Ptarmigan, Willow, 383
+
+
+ Quadrant, Elton's, 29, 109, 117, 153
+ ---- Hadley's, 29, 92, 94, 95, 98, 105, 109, 137, 222, 277
+
+ Quadrupeds, Pinnated, 360
+
+ Quiquehatch, 168, 224, 240, 243, 255, 325, 348
+
+
+ Rabbit, 65, 114, 227, 234, 268, 316, 341, 342, 357, 378
+
+ "Rabbit's Head," 198
+
+ Rankin Inlet, 41
+
+ Raspberry-bushes, 413
+
+ Ravens, 192, 323, 373, 395
+
+ Red Deer, 337. _See also_ Wewaskish
+ ---- ---- River, 12
+
+ Reindeer Lake, 117
+
+ "Relation du Detroit et de la Baie de Hudson," by M. Jeremie, 294
+
+ Religion, 325
+
+ "Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company, The," by George
+ Bryce, 296
+
+ "Report on the Dubawnt, Kazan, and Ferguson Rivers," by J. B.
+ Tyrrell, 5
+
+ Repulse Bay, 293
+
+ Richardson, Sir John, 139, 151-153, 172, 186, 187, 194, 213, 224,
+ 338, 351, 358, 399, 412, 423
+
+ Richmond Fort, 365
+
+ Rivers--
+ Albany, 5
+ Anderson, 254
+ Assiniboine, 12
+ Athabasca, 200, 201, 235
+ Athapuscow, 267, 269
+ Churchill(Tsandeze=Iron or Metal River), 3, 8, 13, 43, 44, 57, 62,
+ 95, 126, 183, 196, 197, 198, 201, 214, 215, 222, 235, 236, 269,
+ 293, 294, 295, 313, 321, 323, 334, 339-342, 354-358, 360,
+ 364-366, 367, 369, 370, 379, 382, 384, 385, 388, 389, 391-393,
+ 396, 401-407, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417
+ Clowey, 132
+ Copper, 30, 154, 170, 192, 204, 220, 277, 330, 346, 393. _See also_
+ Coppermine
+ Copper Indians (Yellow Knife or Rock), 279
+ Coppermine (Tson-te) (Sanka taza=Copper River), 7, 10, 11, 14, 15,
+ 17, 18, 23, 43, 57, 90, 100, 109, 119, 139, 146, 147, 149, 150,
+ 151, 155, 169, 170, 172, 173, 186, 187, 204, 206, 207, 213, 218,
+ 225, 282, 294, 295, 334, 354, 371. _See also_ Copper
+ Dubawnt (Doo-baunt), 41, 91, 95, 105, 120, 272, 286, 287
+ Egg, 103, 105, 110, 111, 292, 294, 390
+ Far Off Metal, 54
+ Hanbury, 139, 272
+ Hay's, 365
+ Hoarfrost, 226
+ Kazan (Cathawhachaga), 86, 87, 91, 105, 113, 118, 276, 289, 292
+ Little Fish (Nemace-a-seepee-a-fish), 115
+ Mackenzie, 13, 235, 253, 294, 358
+ Moos, 5, 417
+ Neetha-san-san-dazey, 54
+ Nelson, 8
+ North Saskatchewan, 12
+ Nutarawit, 91
+ Peace, 337
+ Po-co-ree-kis-co (Pauk-athakuskow, Beskai deze or Knife River,
+ North River), 62, 293, 294
+ Port Nelson, 365, 379
+ Red Deer, 12
+ Saskatchewan, 5, 56
+ Seal, 62, 65, 66, 71, 72, 81, 104, 105, 110, 115, 138, 203, 236,
+ 293, 365, 388
+ Severn, 236, 340, 357, 386, 387, 402
+ Slave (Athapuscow), 200, 235, 253, 267, 279
+ Slude, 5, 365
+ South Saskatchewan, 12
+ T'ezus-desse or Poudrerie (Snowdrift), 132, 281
+ Thee-lee-aza (Theetinah, or Blue Fish?), 281
+ Theley-aza, 130, 134
+ Thelon, 132, 272
+ Thlewey-chuck (Great-fish River), 151
+ Thlewiaza, 105, 113
+ Whale, 31, 365
+
+ Roberts, Henry, 18
+
+ Robin, American, 384
+
+ Robson, Joseph, 9, 21, 41, 42, 55, 295
+
+ Rocky Defile, 196
+ ---- Mountains, 358
+
+ Royal Geographical Society, 235
+ ---- Society, 408
+
+ Russell Frank, 152, 172, 218, 424
+
+
+ Sacre Falcon, 370
+
+ Salmon, 182-184, 305, 363, 366, 367
+
+ Sandstone Rapids, 172, 187
+
+ Saskatchewan River, 5, 56
+
+ Scallops, 367
+
+ Scartack Lake, 132
+
+ Scatlif, Daniel, 29
+
+ Scroggs, Captain John, 9, 11, 46
+
+ Sea-horse (Walrus), 184, 360, 362
+
+ Sea-horse Island, 360
+
+ Seal, 184, 186, 192, 362
+
+ Seal River, 62, 65, 66, 71, 72, 81, 104, 105, 110, 115, 138, 203,
+ 236, 293, 365, 388
+
+ "Search for the Western Sea," by L. J. Burpee, 253
+
+ Sea-unicorn, 363
+
+ Severn River, 236, 340, 357, 386, 387, 402
+
+ Sheep, 251
+
+ Shees, 254
+
+ Shell-fish, 367
+
+ Shethnanei Lake (She-than-nee), 75, 80, 85
+
+ Simpson Islands, 253
+
+ Simpson, Thomas, 187, 424
+
+ "Six Years' Residence in Hudson's Bay, An account of," by J. Robson,
+ 9, 42
+
+ Skunks, 351
+
+ Skylark, 387
+
+ Slave River (Athapuscow River), 200, 235, 253, 267, 279
+
+ Sloops Cove, 3
+
+ Slude River, 5, 365
+
+ Smith, Captain, 11
+
+ Snow-bird Lake (The-whole-kyed Whoie or Thel-wel-ky Lake), 29,
+ 119, 287
+
+ Sorrel, 416
+
+ Sossop (Saw-sop-o-kishac), 79, 80
+
+ South Saskatchewan River, 12
+
+ Southern (Homeguard) Indians. _See under_ Indian
+
+ _Speedwell_, 50
+
+ Spiders, 368
+
+ Spurrel, Joseph, 50
+
+ Squirrel, Common, 192, 357
+
+ Squirrel, Ground, 358
+
+ Starfish, 367
+
+ Stephens, Joseph, 48
+
+ Stony Mountains, 162-164, 181, 204
+
+ Stote (Ermine), 352
+
+ Straits of Anian, 45
+
+ Strawberry (Oteagh-minick), 413
+
+ _Success_ (ship), 48
+
+ Suckers, 88
+
+ Sussex Lake, 151
+
+ Swallows (Barn Swallow), 388
+
+ Swan, 80, 134, 192, 274, 275, 281, 313, 346, 399, 400
+ ---- Smaller (Hoopers), 399. _See also_ Swan
+ ---- Whistling, 400. _See also_ Swan
+ ---- Whooping (Trumpeters), 399. _See also_ Swan
+
+
+ Tench, 114, 314
+
+ T'ezus-desse or Poudrerie (Snowdrift) River, 132, 281
+
+ Thaolintoa Lake, 105
+
+ Thaye-chuck-gyed Whoie (Large Whitestone Lake), 213
+
+ Thee-lee-aza River (Theetinah River, or Blue Fish River?), 281
+
+ Theley-aza River, 130, 134
+
+ Thelon River, 132, 272
+
+ Thelwey-aza-yeth (Little Fish Hill), 29, 127, 128, 132, 147, 282
+
+ Thlewey-chuck (Great-fish River), 151
+
+ Thlewiaza River, 105, 113
+
+ Thlew-sa-nell-ie, 270
+
+ Thompson, David, 6
+
+ Thoy-coy-lyned Lake, 151
+
+ Thoy-noy-kyed Lake (Tha-na-koi or Sand Hill Mount or Aylmer Lake),
+ 150, 151
+
+ Thrush, Red-Breasted (Red Birds) (Black Birds) (American Fieldfares),
+ 384
+
+ Titmouse (Blackcap) (Kiss-kiss-heshis), 387
+
+ Tittameg Lake, 132
+
+ Tittemeg (Tickomeg), 73, 88, 114, 254, 305, 313
+
+ Trout, 72, 73, 89, 114, 225, 274, 278, 305, 313
+
+ Turnstone, 392
+
+ Tyrrell, J. B., viii, 5, 424-5
+ ---- J. W., ix, 23, 137, 138, 139, 272, 425
+
+
+ Umfreville, Edward, 13, 42, 425
+
+ Ungava, 404
+ ---- Bay, 363
+
+
+ Vaughan, Captain David, 8, 44, 45
+
+ Venison, 66, 67, 81, 104, 125, 164, 184, 380
+
+ Venus, 4
+
+ Vetches, 416
+
+ "Voyage" (Cook's), 21
+
+ "Voyage of La Perouse," 19
+
+ "Voyage to Hudson's Bay by the _Dobbs_ Galley and _California_
+ in the Years 1746 and 1747, A," by Henry Ellis, 42, 166
+
+ "Voyages" (Alexander Mackenzie's), 19
+
+
+ Wager Strait, 55
+ ---- Water, 165, 293
+
+ Wales, William, 4, 22, 363, 425
+
+ Waller, 160
+
+ Walmsley Lake, 140, 151
+
+ Walrus (Sea-horse), 360
+
+ Wapoos, 86
+
+ Wapping, 29
+
+ Warbles, 215
+
+ Water insects, 345
+
+ Weasel, 352
+
+ Webber (Mr.), 343
+
+ Wee-sa-ca-pucca, 313
+
+ Wegg, Samuel, 18, 50
+
+ Wejacks, 348, 350, 351
+
+ Wewaskish (Canadian Elk), 262, 336-338
+
+ Whale, 340
+ ---- Black, 363. _See also_ Whale
+ ---- White, 363, 365. _See also_ Whale
+
+ Whale Cove, 41, 46, 293, 321-323, 341, 360, 366, 391
+
+ Whale River, 31, 365
+
+ _Whale-Bone_ (sloop), 46
+
+ Whiskey Jack Lake, 292
+
+ White Stone Lake, 218
+
+ Whitefish, 88
+
+ Whitney, Caspar, 218, 224, 426
+
+ Wholdiah Lake (Wholdyah'd Lake or A Naw-nee-tha'd Whoie), 125, 127,
+ 283, 287
+
+ Wild Cat (Lynx), 341, 347
+
+ Wild Cat or Lynx Lake (Seeza-tua), 140
+
+ Wilks, 367
+
+ Willicks, 192
+
+ Willow, Creeping, 414
+ ---- Dwarf, 417
+
+ Willson, Beckles, 18, 50, 51, 426
+
+ Winnipeg, Lake, 337
+
+ Wish-a-capucca (Labrador Tea = Wishacumpuckey), 90, 188, 415
+
+ Wolf, 192, 224, 323, 325, 338, 347, 350
+
+ Wolvarine (Wolverene), 192, 240, 346, 350
+
+ Wood-pecker (Golden-winged Bird), 375
+
+
+ Yath-kyed Lake (White Snow Lake, Haecoliguah), 86, 87, 89, 91
+
+ Yellow-legs, 192
+
+ York Factory, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 56, 258, 294, 368, 384, 389
+ ---- Fort (Fort Bourbon), 160, 197, 236, 260, 307, 340, 341,
+ 344, 345, 357, 365, 366, 377, 378, 379, 384, 389, 390-393, 398,
+ 403, 404, 410, 416, 417
+
+ Young, Dr., 94
+
+
+
+
+THE PUBLICATIONS OF THE CHAMPLAIN SOCIETY
+
+
+ 1. THE HISTORY OF NEW FRANCE. By MARC LESCARBOT. With an English
+ Translation, Notes and Appendices by Professor W. L. GRANT of
+ Queen's University, and an Introduction by H. P. BIGGAR. Vol.
+ I., pp. xxi-331. (To be completed in Three Volumes.)
+
+ 2. THE DESCRIPTION AND NATURAL HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICA
+ (ACADIA). By NICOLAS DENYS. Translated and Edited, with a Memoir
+ of the Author, Collateral Documents, and a Reprint of the
+ Original, by Professor WILLIAM F. GANONG. Pp. xvi-625.
+
+ 3. DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE SEIGNIORIAL TENURE IN CANADA,
+ 1598-1854. Edited, with a Historical Introduction and
+ Explanatory Notes, by Professor WILLIAM BENNETT MUNRO of Harvard
+ University. Pp. cxxiii-380.
+
+ 4. THE LOGS OF THE CONQUEST OF CANADA. Edited, with a Historical
+ Introduction, by Colonel WILLIAM WOOD. Author of "The Fight for
+ Canada." Pp. xxvi-335.
+
+ 5. NOUVELLE RELATION DE LA GASPESIE. Pa. CHRESTIEN LE CLERCQ. An
+ English Translation with the French Text, edited, with Notes, by
+ Professor W. F. GANONG. Pp. xvi-452.
+
+ 6. JOURNEY FROM PRINCE OF WALES FORT IN HUDSON BAY TO THE
+ NORTHERN OCEAN, 1769-1772. By SAMUEL HEARNE. A New Edition,
+ edited, with Notes, by J. B. TYRRELL.
+
+ 7. THE HISTORY OF NEW FRANCE. By MARC LESCARBOT. Edited by W. L.
+ GRANT and H. P. BIGGAR. Vol. II.
+
+ [_In the Press._
+
+
+
+
+The Champlain Society
+
+ President
+
+ SIR EDMUND WALKER, C.V.O., D.C.L., LL.D., President of The
+ Canadian Bank of Commerce
+
+
+ Vice-Presidents
+
+ SIR LOUIS JETTE, K.C.M.G., LL.D., Chief Justice of Quebec
+
+ SIR D. H. McMILLAN, K.C.M.G., Lieut.-Governor of the Province of
+ Manitoba
+
+ THE HON. RICHARD McBRIDE, K.C., Prime Minister of the Province
+ of British Columbia
+
+ R. A. FALCONER, LL.D., President of the University of Toronto
+
+ C. W. COLBY, M.A., Professor of History in McGill University
+
+
+ Honorary Secretaries
+
+ GEORGE M. WRONG, M.A., Professor of History in the University of
+ Toronto
+
+ ERIC N. ARMOUR, B.A.
+
+
+ Honorary Treasurer
+
+ H. H. LANGTON, M.A., Librarian of the University of Toronto
+
+
+ Councillors
+
+ A. G. DOUGHTY, C.M.G., LL.D., Dominion Archivist, Ottawa
+
+ ADAM SHORTT, M.A., Civil Service Commissioner, Ottawa
+
+ JAMES H. COYNE, M.A., LL.D., Registrar of the County of Elgin,
+ St. Thomas, Ontario
+
+ HIS HONOUR L. W. SICOTTE, Stipendiary Magistrate, Montreal
+
+ A. H. U. COLQUHOUN, LL.D., Deputy Minister of Education for
+ Ontario
+
+
+ Assistant Secretary-Treasurer
+
+ MISS ELEANOR CREIGHTON
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ NOTE.--_Correspondence should be addressed in care of The
+ Canadian Bank of Commerce, Toronto, Canada._
+
+
+
+
+ LIST OF MEMBERS
+
+
+ ABBOTT, H. Vancouver
+ ADAMS, F. D. Montreal
+ AIRD, JOHN Winnipeg
+ ARDAGH, H. H. Barrie
+ ARMOUR, ERIC N. Toronto
+ ARMSTRONG, G. E. Montreal
+
+ BAIN, J. WATSON Toronto
+ BAIRD, Rev. Dr. Winnipeg
+ BARKER, SAMUEL, M.P. Hamilton
+ BARNETT, J. D. Stratford
+ BECK, Mr. Justice Edmonton
+ BELL, CHARLES N. Winnipeg
+ BELL, A. J. Toronto
+ BENNETT, R. B. Calgary
+ BICKNELL, JAMES Toronto
+ BIGGAR, O. M. Edmonton
+ BIRKS, W. M. Montreal
+ BLACK, J. C. Toronto
+ BLAKE, HUME Toronto
+ BLAKE, W. H. Toronto
+ BONAR, JAMES Ottawa
+ BONNER, G. T. New York
+ BORDEN, Sir F. W. Ottawa
+ BORDEN, R. L., M.P. Ottawa
+ BOYCE, A. C., M.P. { Sault Ste. Marie,
+ { Ont.
+ BOYD, Sir JOHN A. Toronto
+ BOYD, MOSSOM M. Bobcaygeon
+ BOYS, His Honour Judge Barrie
+ BREBNER, JAMES Toronto
+ BREITHAUPT, W. H. Berlin, Ont.
+ BRITNELL, ALBERT Toronto
+ BROUSE, W. H. Toronto
+ BROWN, ADAM Hamilton
+ BRUCE, ALEXANDER D. Gormley, Ont.
+ BRUCE, HERBERT A. Toronto
+ BRYCE, Rev. GEORGE Winnipeg
+ BUCHANAN, A. W. P. Montreal
+ BURKE, Rev. A. E. Toronto
+ BURLAND, Lieut.-Col. J. H. Montreal
+ BURPEE, LAWRENCE J. Ottawa
+ BUSCOMBE, FREDERICK Vancouver
+
+ CAMERON, D. A. Toronto
+ CAMPBELL, GRAHAM Toronto
+ CAMERON, I. H. Toronto
+ CANTLEY, THOMAS New Glasgow
+ CARSTAIRS, J. S. Toronto
+ CARTWRIGHT, A. D. Ottawa
+ CASSELMAN, A. C. North Bay
+ CASSELS, HAMILTON Toronto
+ CAVEN, JOHN Toronto
+ CAVEN, W. P. Toronto
+ CHAMBERS, E. T. D. Quebec
+ CHIPMAN, C. C. Winnipeg
+ CLARK, A. H., M.P. Windsor, Ont.
+ CLARK, J. M. Toronto
+ CLARKE, C. K. Toronto
+ CLARKE, JOHN M. Albany, N. Y.
+ CLOUSTON, Sir EDWARD, } Montreal
+ Bart. }
+ COCKBURN, F. J. Quebec
+ COLBY, CHARLES W. Montreal
+ COLDWELL, Hon. GEO. R. Brandon
+ COLQUHOUN, A. H. U. Toronto
+ CONOLLY, R. G. W. St. Catharines
+ CORBET, J. B. Toronto
+ COX, Hon. GEORGE A. Toronto
+ COYNE, JAMES H. St. Thomas
+ CRAICK, W. A. Toronto
+ CRONYN, EDWARD Toronto
+ CRONYN, V. London, Ont.
+ CROSSLEY, FIELDEN Woodstock
+ CROWE, W. Sydney
+ CUMBERLAND, F. BARLOW Port Hope
+
+ DAMPIER, L. H. Strathroy
+ DARLING, FRANK Toronto
+ DAVIDSON, WILLIAM Toronto
+ DAVIES, WILLIAM Toronto
+ DENNIS, J. S. Calgary
+ DEWAR, D. B. Hamilton
+ DEWART, H. H. Toronto
+ DE WITT, JACOB Montreal
+ DINGMAN, W. S. Stratford
+ DONALDSON, A. G. Toronto
+ DOUGLAS, JAMES New York
+ DOUGLAS, W. M. Toronto
+ DRUMMOND, G. E. Montreal
+ DRUMMOND, GUY M. Montreal
+ DWIGHT, H. P. Toronto
+ DYMENT, A. E. Toronto
+
+ EAKINS, W. G. Toronto
+ EATON, Mrs. T. Toronto
+ ECCLES, F. R. London, Ont
+ EGERTON, HUGH E. Oxford, Eng.
+ ENGLEHART, J. L. Toronto
+ EWART, JOHN S. Ottawa
+
+ FAIRCLOUGH, H. R. Palo Alto, Cal.
+ FALCONER, R. A. Toronto
+ FISH, J. N. Regina
+ FITTON, H. W. Brantford
+ FLAVELLE, J. W. Toronto
+ FLECK, A. W. Ottawa
+ FLEMING, Sir SANDFORD, } Ottawa
+ K.C.M.G. }
+ FORGET, Hon. A. E. Regina
+ FOSTER, F. APTHORP Boston, Mass.
+ FOTHERINGHAM, J. T. Toronto
+ FRASER, ALEXANDER Toronto
+ FULTON, J. H. New Orleans
+
+ GALT, GEORGE F. Winnipeg
+ GARNEAU, Sir GEORGE Quebec
+ GARNEAU, HECTOR Montreal
+ GAUDET, PLACIDE Ottawa
+ GAY, FREDERICK LEWIS Brookline, Mass.
+ GILL, ROBERT Ottawa
+ GOODERHAM, GEORGE H. Toronto
+ GORDON, Rev. DANIEL M. Kingston
+ GOULD, C. H. Montreal
+ GOW, GEORGE Toronto
+ GRANT, W. L. Kingston
+ GREENSHIELDS, E. B. Montreal
+ GREY, His Excellency Earl Ottawa
+ GUNDY, W. P. Toronto
+
+ HAMILTON, JOHN Quebec
+ HANNA, D. B. Toronto
+ HANNA, Hon. W. J. Toronto
+ HANNAH, I. C. { Forest Row,
+ { Sussex, Eng.
+ HARCOURT, F. W. Toronto
+ HART, JOHN S. Toronto
+ HARVEY, Mr. Justice Edmonton
+ HEATON, F. R. Montreal
+ HEBDEN, E. F. Montreal
+ HENRY, W. A. Halifax
+ HILLE, F. Port Arthur
+ HOBSON, R. Hamilton
+ HOGG, WILLIAM Toronto
+ HORNING, L. E. Toronto
+ HOSKIN, JOHN { Tunbridge
+ { Wells, Eng.
+ HOWLAND, PELEG Toronto
+ HUNTER, A. F. Barrie
+ HUNTER, Mr. Justice Victoria, B.C.
+ HUYCKE, His Honour Judge Peterborough
+
+ INGERSOLL, J. H. St. Catherines
+
+ JAFFRAY, Hon. ROBERT Toronto
+ JAMES, C. C. Toronto
+ JARVIS, AEMILIUS Toronto
+ JEMMETT, F. G. Toronto
+ JENNINGS, C. A. C. Toronto
+ JETTE, Sir LOUIS A., } Quebec
+ K.C.M.G. }
+ JONES, F. C. L. Toronto
+ JONES, H. V. F. London, Eng.
+ JONES, Hon. L. MELVIN Toronto
+ JOST, A. C. Guysboro, N.S.
+
+ KAINS, ARCHIBALD San Francisco
+ KEEFER, FRANK H. Port Arthur
+ KEEFER T. C. { Rockliffe,
+ { Ottawa
+ KEMP, A. E. Toronto
+ KENNEDY, GEORGE Toronto
+ KENNEDY, T. J. Sault Ste. Marie
+ KERALLAIN, RENE DE Quimper, France
+ KERR, Hon. J. K. Toronto
+ KILGOUR, JOSEPH Toronto
+ KILGOUR, ROBERT Toronto
+ KING, Hon. W. L. MACKENZIE Ottawa
+ KINGMAN, ABNER Montreal
+ KYLIE, EDWARD J. Toronto
+
+ LAFLEUR, EUGENE Montreal
+ LAIRD, ALEXANDER Toronto
+ LANG, A. E. Toronto
+ LANGLOIS, H. Toronto
+ LANGTON, H. H. Toronto
+ LANGTON, THOMAS Toronto
+ LASH, J. F. Toronto
+ LASH, MILLER Toronto
+ LASH, Z. A. Toronto
+ LAURIER, Rt. Hon. Sir } Ottawa
+ WILFRID }
+ LAUT, Miss AGNES C. Wassaic, N.Y.
+ LEARMONT, J. B. Montreal
+ LEE, JOHN T. Madison, Wis.
+ LEFROY, H. B. Toronto
+ LEFROY, W. London, Eng.
+ LEGGAT, WILLIAM Montreal
+ LEONARD, R. W. St. Catherines
+ LE SUEUR, W. D. Ottawa
+ LEVY, G. H. Hamilton
+ LIGHTHALL, W. D. Montreal
+ LINDSAY, G. G. S. Toronto
+ LITTLE, H. A. Woodstock, Ont.
+ LITTLE, Lieut.-Col. J. W. London, Ont.
+ LOTBINIERE, E. G. JOLY DE Quebec
+
+ MCARTHUR, D. A. Ottawa
+ MCBRIDE, Hon. RICHARD Victoria, B.C.
+ MCCORKELL, Hon. J. C. { Cowansville,
+ { P.Q.
+ MACDONALD, J. BRUCE Toronto
+ MACDONALD, W. CAMPBELL Toronto
+ MCDOUGALL, JOHN A. Edmonton
+ MACFARLANE, W. G. { Grand Rapids,
+ { Mich.
+ MACGILLIVRAY, D. Halifax
+ MACHAR, Miss AGNES M. Kingston
+ MACHUM, E. R. St. John, N.B.
+ MCINNES, HECTOR Halifax
+ MACKENZIE, Sir WILLIAM Toronto
+ MCLAUGHLIN, J. F. Toronto
+ MCLENNAN, FRANCIS Montreal
+ MCLENNAN, JOHN S. Sydney, N.S.
+ MACMECHAN, A. Halifax
+ MCMILLAN, Sir D. H. Winnipeg
+ MACMURCHY, ANGUS Toronto
+ MACPHERSON, W. M. Quebec
+ MCPHILLIPS, L. G. Vancouver
+ MACWATT, His Hon. Judge Sarnia
+ MANNING, P. A. Toronto
+ MASON, J. A. C. { New Orleans,
+ { La.
+ MASSEY, CHESTER D. Toronto
+ MASSEY, JOHN Toronto
+ MASSEY, VINCENT Toronto
+ MASTEN, C. A. Toronto
+ MEREDITH, Sir WILLIAM Toronto
+ MERRETT, T. E. Montreal
+ MILLER, Rev. J. O. St. Catharines
+ MILLS, Lieut.-Col. D. London, Eng.
+ MILLICHAMP, R. Toronto
+ MORANG, GEORGE N. Toronto
+ MORRIS, H. H. Vancouver
+ MOSS, Sir CHARLES Toronto
+ MOXON, A. E. London, Eng.
+ MULVEY, THOMAS Ottawa
+ MURRAY, WILLIAM Vancouver
+ MURRAY, WALTER C. Saskatoon
+ MUSSEN, R. T. { Summerside,
+ { P.E.I.
+ MURTON, Sir WALTER { Langton, Kent,
+ { Eng.
+
+ NEEDLER, G. H. Toronto
+ NORTHRUP, W. B., M.P. Belleville
+ NOYES, CHARLES WILLIAM Castine, Maine
+
+ O'BRIAN, J. B. Toronto
+ O'BRIEN, A. H. Ottawa
+ OLIVER, E. H. Saskatoon
+ OSBORNE, W. W. Hamilton
+ OSLER, E. B., M.P. Toronto
+ OSLER, Hon. F. Toronto
+ OSLER, F. G. Toronto
+
+ PARKER, Sir GILBERT London, Eng.
+ PATTERSON, E. G. Peterborough
+ PATTERSON, GEORGE { New Glasgow,
+ { N.S.
+ PEACOCK, E. R. Toronto
+ PEARCE, WILLIAM Calgary
+ PELL, S. H. P. New York
+ PHIPPS, A. R. London, Eng.
+ PONTON, Lieut.-Col. W. N. Belleville
+ PRICE, H. M. Quebec
+ PRIMROSE, A. Toronto
+
+ READE, JOHN Montreal
+ REEVE, R. A. Toronto
+ RENNIE, GEORGE W. Stratford
+ RIDDELL, Mr. Justice Toronto
+ ROBARTS, A. W. Port Arthur
+ ROBERTSON, JAMES F. St. John, N.B.
+ ROBERTSON, W. J. St. Catherines
+ ROSS, Sir GEORGE W. Toronto
+ ROSS, J. F. W. Toronto
+ ROWELL, N. W. Toronto
+ ROWLEY, C. W. Calgary
+ RUNDLE, W. E. Toronto
+ RUSSELL, J. A. Windsor, N.S.
+
+ SAUL, JOHN C. Toronto
+ SAVARY, His Honour Judge Annapolis Royal
+ SCOTT, C. S. Hamilton
+ SCOTT, H. P. Windsor, N.S.
+ SEWELL, FANE Toronto
+ SHORT, WILLIAM Edmonton
+ SHORTT, ADAM Ottawa
+ SICOTTE, His Honour Judge Montreal
+ SILCOX, SIDNEY Stratford
+ SILVER, H. R. Halifax
+ SKELTON, C. D. Kingston
+ SOMERVILLE, C. R. London, Ont.
+ SQUAIR, JOHN Toronto
+ STARR, F. N. G. Toronto
+ STEELE, J. J. Dundas
+ STEPHENSON, R. H. Leicester, Eng.
+ STONE, WILLIAM Toronto
+ STRATHY, G. B. Toronto
+ STRATHY, H. S. Toronto
+ SUTHERLAND, Mr. Justice Toronto
+ SWENY, Colonel G. Toronto
+ SYMON, Sir J. H. { Adelaide, South
+ { Australia
+
+ TAYLOR, H. C. Edmonton
+ TIFFANY, E. H. Alexandria, Ont.
+ TODD, J. L. { Macdonald College,
+ { P.Q.
+ TRIGGE, A. ST. L. Toronto
+ TUNSTALL, SIMON J. Vancouver
+ TUPPER, Sir C. HIBBERT Vancouver
+
+ VAN HORNE, Sir WILLIAM Montreal
+
+ WADE, F. C. Vancouver
+ WALKER, Sir EDMUND Toronto
+ WALKER, E. CHANDLER Walkerville
+ WALKER, H. B. Montreal
+ WARNER, C. M. Napanee
+ WETHERELL, J. E. Toronto
+ WHITE, E. N. Winnipeg
+ WHITE, JAMES Ottawa
+ WHITE, W. T. Toronto
+ WILKIE, D. R. Toronto
+ WILLISON, J. S. Toronto
+ WITTON, H. B. Hamilton
+ WOOD, E. R. Toronto
+ WOOD, FRANK P. Toronto
+ WRONG, GEORGE M. Toronto
+
+ YOUNG, A. H. Toronto
+
+
+
+
+ SUBSCRIBING LIBRARIES
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+
+
+ [Illustration:
+ A Map
+ _exhibiting M^R. HEARNE'S TRACKS in his
+ two Journies for the discovery of the_
+ COPPER MINE RIVER
+ _in the Years 1770, 1771 and 1772
+ under the direction of the
+ HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY_
+ ]
+
+ [Illustration:
+ A
+ Plan
+ _of the_
+ COPPER-MINE RIVER
+ _Surveyed by
+ SAMUEL HEARNE
+ July 1771_
+ ]
+
+ [Illustration:
+ A Plan of
+ _ALBANY RIVER_
+ in HUDSON'S BAY
+ _Latitude 52 deg..12'.0" North_
+ _Longitude 82 deg..40'.0" W. from London_
+ by S.H. 1774
+ _Plan is laid down by Magnetical Compass. The three hummocks of
+ Wood on Sawpit Island can be seen in clear weather over the
+ Factory Island, in 3 fathom Water, and is a good Mark.
+ Saddle-back hummock bears due West from Albany Roads and is a
+ good Mark for laying the Buoys_.
+ ]
+
+ [Illustration:
+ Plan
+ of
+ MOOS RIVER
+ in
+ _HUDSONS BAY, NORTH AMERICA
+ Lat. 53 deg.N. Lon. 83 deg.W. from London_
+ by S.H. 1774.
+ ]
+
+ [Illustration:
+ Plan
+ of
+ SLUDE RIVER.
+ _Lat. 52 deg..15' N. Lon. 83 deg..20' W._
+ by S.H.
+ ]
+
+ [Illustration: A MAP EXHIBITING MR. HEARNE'S TRACKS IN HIS TWO
+ JOURNEYS FOR THE DISCOVERY OF THE COPPERMINE RIVER IN THE YEARS
+ 1770, 1771, AND 1772
+ Adjusted, as far as possible, in accordance with the latest maps
+ by J. B. Tyrrell, 1909
+ ]
+
+ [Illustration: MAP OF COPPERMINE RIVER as surveyed by SIR JOHN
+ FRANKLIN IN 1821
+ _Scale--141/2 miles in 1 inch_
+ REFERENCES--t Observation for Latitude. O Observation for
+ Longitude. Y Variation. T Dip.
+ _From Franklin's "Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the
+ Polar Sea"_
+ ]
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+ Transcriber's Notes
+
+ The editor retained the page numbering of the original book in
+ brackets [143]. These have been changed to braces {143} so as
+ not to conflict with footnotes in the text version. Page numbers
+ within words have been moved to the following interword space.
+
+ Errors in punctuation and diacritical marks in French were
+ fixed.
+
+ The notation [)...] represents a letter with the "breve"
+ diacritical mark over it ("Ko-[)a]-k[)a]-tcai-t[)i]", p. 152
+ (footnote) and the index). Similarly, [=u] represents "u" with the
+ "macron" diacritical mark over it ("Waskas[=u], or
+ Wewaskas[=u]", p. 262 (footnote)). These letters cannot be
+ displayed in text encoded in Latin-1, but can be displayed in
+ the UTF-8 and HTML encodings.
+
+ The following words appear in alternate spellings and have not
+ been changed: "buffalos" / "buffaloes", "carcases" /
+ "carcasses", "chisel" / "chissel", "dependence" / "dependance",
+ "eat" / "eaten" / "ate", "fur" / "furr", "Prince of Wales Fort"
+ / "Prince of Wales's Fort", "snowshoe(s)" / "snow-shoe(s)",
+ "Stony" / "Stoney", "tittymeg" / "tittimeg" / "tittameg" /
+ "tittemeg", "wolvarine" / "wolverene" / "wolvereen".
+
+ Inconsistent hyphenation and diacritics of place names and
+ native names have not been changed.
+
+ Hyphen removed: "a[-]cross" (p. 129), "bear[-]berry" (p. 427),
+ "day[-]break" (p. 94), "fin[-]like" (p. 360).
+
+ Hyphen added: "a[-]head" (pp. 181, 204), "fire[-]arms" (p. 86),
+ "fire[-]wood" (p. 72), "gun[-]shot" (p. 181), "iron[-]work" (p.
+ 285), "land[-]side" (p. 179), "sea[-]side" (p. 54),
+ "tent[-]poles" (pp. 104, 163), "wood[-]work" (p. 191).
+
+ "Cheif" changed to "Chief" in the caption of the portrait of
+ Hearne facing the original title page.
+
+ p. 56 (footnote): "exploded" changed to "explored" (it has so
+ long been explored).
+
+ p. 64: duplicate "of" removed (one of which was).
+
+ p. 75: "eves" changed to "eaves" (over which the eaves of the
+ tent).
+
+ p. 82: "aukwardness" changed to "awkwardness" (The awkwardness
+ of my load).
+
+ p. 121: "of" inserted (on each side of the door).
+
+ p. 157: "haunts" changed to "hunt" (Their annual haunts).
+
+ p. 167: "scowring" changed to "scouring" (scouring the blade).
+
+ p. 168, Index: "Quequehatch" changed to "Quiquehatch".
+
+ p. 176: "differents" changed to "different" (inhabitants of the
+ different elements).
+
+ p. 180: added "of" (on the East side the river).
+
+ p. 195: "oar" changed to "ore" (ballasted with the ore).
+
+ p. 246: "eight" changed to "eighth" (The eighth is the Mittain
+ Beaver).
+
+ p. 246: "Joseph la France" changed to "Joseph Lefranc".
+
+ p. 258: "aukward" changed to "awkward" (very awkward
+ appearance).
+
+ p. 292: added "a" (Deer was so plentiful a great part of the way).
+
+ p. 308, 315: "soked" changed to "soaked" (has been soaked and
+ scrubbed, when soaked in water).
+
+ p. 313: "track" changed to "tract" (The track of land, that whole
+ tract of country).
+
+ p. 343 (footnote [BY]): added "of" (often been at the killing of
+ them).
+
+ p. 351: "patridges" changed to "partridges" (catch partridges,
+ mice, and rabbits).
+
+ p. 373: "voilet" changed to "violet" (purple and violet colour).
+
+ p. 391 (sidenote): "Jacks Snipe" changed to "Jack Snipe).
+
+ p. 401: "streight" changed to "straight" (they fly straight to
+ the call).
+
+ p. 406: "rout" changed to "route" (The route they take in
+ Spring).
+
+ p. 423: "Societie de Geographie" changed to "Societe de
+ Geographie".
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort
+in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean in the Years 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, by Samuel Hearne
+
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