A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean Part 33

[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 nouris.h.i.+ng 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 was.h.i.+ng 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, s.n.a.t.c.hes 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 nouris.h.i.+ng.

[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 princ.i.p.al 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 hara.s.sing 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 a.s.sistance 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 sh.o.r.e 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 appet.i.te.

[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 pa.s.sed 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 princ.i.p.al 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._

_Sh.e.l.l-fish, and empty Sh.e.l.ls 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 princ.i.p.al 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 p.e.c.k.e.r--Ruffed Grouse--Pheasant--Wood Partridge--Willow Partridge--Rock Partridge--Pigeon--Red-breasted Thrush--Grosbeak--Snow Bunting--White-crowned Bunting--Lapland Finch, two sorts--Lark--t.i.tmouse--Swallow--Martin--Hopping Crane--Brown Crane--Bitron--Carlow, two sorts--Jack Snipe--Red G.o.dwart--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--Gra.s.s 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 princ.i.p.al Animals that frequent the high Northern lat.i.tudes, 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 cla.s.ses 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 a.s.s. 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 c.u.mberland 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 a.s.s, 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 carca.s.ses of dead whales lying along the sh.o.r.es, 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 a.s.semble 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.