A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean Part 2

[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 a.s.sistance 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 a.s.sistants, 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 200.

[11] "Cook's Third Voyage," vol. i. Introduction, p. lx.x.xi. 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 part.i.t du fort du Prince de Galles le 7 Decembre 1770_,'

voyage dont on attend les details avec impatience; le journal ma.n.u.scrit 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 ma.n.u.scrit; 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^.

[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.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 Pa.s.sAGE, &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 Circ.u.mstances and Remarks which {iv} occurred during that Journey, will meet with your Approbation.

I am, with much Esteem and Grat.i.tude, 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 lat.i.tude, 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 amus.e.m.e.nt 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. .h.i.therto 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 lat.i.tude 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, 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 lat.i.tude was considerably more than Mr. Dalrymple will admit of. His a.s.sertion, that no gra.s.s is to be found on the (rocky) coast of Greenland farther North than the lat.i.tude of 65, is no proof there should not be any in a much higher lat.i.tude 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 lat.i.tudes, is well clothed with timber. Where then is the ground for such an a.s.sertion? Had Mr. Dalrymple considered this circ.u.mstance only, I flatter myself he would not so hastily have objected to woods and gra.s.s being seen in similar situations, though in a much higher lat.i.tude.

Neither can the reasoning which Mr. Dalrymple derives from the error I committed in estimating the distance to c.u.mberland 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 amus.e.m.e.nt 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 hards.h.i.+ps and fatigue which I underwent in procuring the information contained in them.

Being well a.s.sured that several learned and curious gentlemen are in possession of ma.n.u.script 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 a.s.sistance 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 pa.s.sages 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 princ.i.p.al 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 cla.s.sical manner. But I must not conclude this Preface, without acknowledging, in the most ample manner, the a.s.sistance 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 a.s.sist 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 fis.h.i.+ng-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 pa.s.sage 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 hards.h.i.+ps--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 Keels.h.i.+es 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 lat.i.tude--Quadrant broke--Resolve to return again to the Factory 69

CHAP. III.