A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean Part 16

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 a.s.sist 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 appet.i.tes, 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 chast.i.ty 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 chast.i.ty 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 friends.h.i.+p 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 G.o.d-fathers and G.o.d-mothers, who, notwithstanding their vows are made in the most solemn manner, and in the presence of both G.o.d 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 alt.i.tudes; the mean of which determined the lat.i.tude of Congecathawhachaga[65] to be 68 46' North; and its longitude, by account, was 24 2' West from Prince of Wales's Fort, or 118 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 s.h.i.+ft, 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 s.h.i.+ft 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 pa.s.sengers 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 hards.h.i.+ps, 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 surpa.s.s all credibility, and fell in such vast quant.i.ties, 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 suns.h.i.+ne, 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 lat.i.tudes 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 gra.s.s, yet in Winter, when that article cannot be had in sufficient quant.i.ty, 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 a.s.serted 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 s.h.i.+elds 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 lat.i.tudes, 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 _p.e.n.i.s_ 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 gra.s.s, which in some places projects over the edge; and as the sides are constantly mouldering away, and was.h.i.+ng 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 const.i.tute 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 a.s.sured 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 a.s.sistance.

[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 a.s.suredly have been pressed into our service.

[Sidenote: 12th.]

[Sidenote: 13th.]