Part 26 (1/2)
Soon the picturesque and romantic Fur Brigade would be sweeping southward on its voyage from the last entrenchments of the Red G.o.ds to the newest outposts of civilization--a civilization that has debauched, infected, plundered, and murdered the red man ever since its first onset upon the eastern sh.o.r.es of North America. If you don't believe this, read history, especially the history of the American fur trade.
Meanwhile, canoes laden with furs and in charge of Hudson's Bay traders or clerks from outlying ”Flying Posts” had arrived; and among the voyageurs was that amusing character, Old Billy Bra.s.s. A little later, too, Chief Factor Thompson arrived from the North. Now in the fur loft many hands were busily engaged in sorting, folding, and packing in collapsible moulds--that determined the size and shape of the fur packs--a great variety of skins. Also they were energetically weighing, cording, and covering the fur packs with burlap--leaving two ears of that material at each end to facilitate handling them, as each pack weighed eighty pounds.
A fur pack of one hundred pounds--for the weight varies according to the difficulty of transportation in certain regions--contains on an average fourteen bear, sixty otter, seventy beaver, one hundred and ten fox skins, or six hundred muskrat skins. A pack of a.s.sorted furs contains about eighty skins and the most valuable ones are placed in the centre.
During the next few days the great ”North” or six-fathom canoes--made of birch bark and capable of carrying from three to four tons of freight in addition to their crews of from eight to twelve men--were brought out of the canoe house, and together with the two new ones, had their bows and sterns painted white in readiness for their finis.h.i.+ng touch of decoration in the way of some symbol of the fur trade.
As the princ.i.p.al Indian canoemen, who were to join the Fur Brigade, were already familiar with my ability as an artist, they waited upon the Factor and requested him to solicit my help in the final decorating of those beautiful canoes. So it came to pa.s.s that on the bow of one a leaping otter appeared and on the bows of others, a rearing bear, a flying goose, a rampant caribou, a galloping fox, a leaping lynx, a rampant moose, and on still another the coat-of-arms of the Hudson's Bay Company. Each in turn had its admirers, but Oo-koo-hoo, who was to have charge of all the voyageurs, sidled up to Factor Mackenzie and whispered that if Hu-ge-mow--Master--would let him take his choice of the canoes, he would not only give the Factor a dollar in return for the privilege, but he would promise to keep that particular canoe at the very head of the whole brigade, and never once allow another canoe to pa.s.s it during the voyage.
The Factor was not only interested in the Indian's appreciation of art, as well as amused over the idea that he would accept a bribe of a dollar, but he was curious to know which canoe the Indian most favoured. It was the one that displayed the Great Company's coat-of-arms; so Oo-koo-hoo, the famous white-water-man, not only won his choice and retained his dollar, but furthermore, he and his crew actually did keep the bow of that canoe ahead of all others--no matter where or when the other crews contested for the honour of leading the Fur Brigade.
The next morning, at sunrise, the Fur Brigade was to take its departure. Now it was time I visited Spearhead, to thank my friends, the Free Trader and his family, for all their kindness to me, and to bid them farewell; so I borrowed a small canoe and paddled across the lake. When I arrived they invited me to dine with them. At the table that day there was less talking--everyone seemed to be in a thoughtful mood.
The windows and doors were open and the baggy mosquito netting sagged away from the hot sun as the cool breeze whispered through its close-knit mesh. Outside, I could see the heifer and her mother lying in the shade of a tree on the far side of the stump-lot, and near the doorway the ducks and geese were sauntering about the gra.s.s and every now and then making sudden little rushes--as though they were trying to catch something. There, too, in the pathway, the chickens were scratching about and ruffling their feathers in little dust holes--as though they were trying to get rid of something. An unexpected grunt at the doorway attracted my attention and I saw a pig leering at me from the corners of its half-closed eyes--the very same pig the Free Trader and his wife had chosen to add to their daughter's wedding dowry--then it gave a familiar little nod, as though it recognized me; and I fancied, too, that its ugly chops broke into an insolent smile.
What was it thinking about? . . . Was it Son-in-law? I wondered.
I glanced at Athabasca. How beautiful she looked! The reflected sunlight in the room cast a delightful sheen over her l.u.s.trous brown hair, and seemed to enhance the beauty of her charmingly sun-browned skin, that added so much to the whiteness of her even teeth, and to the brilliancy of her soft brown eyes. In a dreamy way she was looking far out through the window and away off toward the distant hills. She, too, set me wondering; was she thinking of Son-in-law?
At that moment, however, the pig gave another impatient grunt which startled Athabasca and caused her to look directly at me. I blushed scarlet, then; so did she--but, of course, only out of sympathy.
”Yes, we'll send her to that finis.h.i.+ng school in Toronto,” her mother mused, while Free Trader Spear scratched his head once more, and three house flies lazily sat on the sugar bowl and hummed a vulgar tune.
After dinner Mr. Spear invited me into the trading room to see some of the furs he had secured. Among them were four silver fox skins as well as the black one he had bought from Oo-koo-hoo. They were indeed fine skins.
It was now time for me to take my departure, so I returned to the living room, but found no one there. Presently, however, Mrs. Spear entered, and though she sat down opposite me, she never once looked my way. She seemed agitated about something. Clasping her fingers together, she twirled her thumbs about one another, then she twirled them back the other way; later she took to tapping her moccasined toe upon the bare floor, I wondered what was coming. I couldn't make it out. For all the while she was looking at a certain crack in the floor. Once more she renewed the twirling action of her thumbs, and even increased the action of her toe upon the floor.
What did it all mean? Had I done anything to displease her? No; I could think of nothing of the sort, so I felt a little easier.
Suddenly, however, she glanced up and, looking straight at me, began:
”Mr. Heming . . . we have only one child . . . and we love her dearly . . .”
But the pause that followed was so long drawn out that I began to lose interest, especially as the flies were once more humming the same old tune. A little later, however, I was almost startled when Mrs. Spear exclaimed:
”But I'll lend you a photograph of Athabasca for six weeks!”
Thereupon Mrs. Spear left her chair and going upstairs presently returned with a photograph wrapped in a silk handkerchief; and as at that very moment the Free Trader and his daughter entered the room, I, without comment, slipped the photograph into my inside pocket, and wished them all good-bye; though they insisted upon walking down to the landing to wave me farewell on my way to Fort Consolation.
MUSTERING THE FUR BRIGADE
Next morning, soon after dawn, the church bells were ringing and everyone was up and astir; and presently all were on their way to one or another of the little log chapels on the hill; where, a little later, they saw the stalwart men of the Fur Brigade kneeling before the altar as they partook of the holy sacrament before starting upon their voyage to the frontier of civilization.
Strange, isn't it, that the writers of northern novels never depict a scene like that? Probably because they have never been inside a northern church.
Next, breakfasts were hurriedly eaten, then the voyageurs a.s.sembled upon the beach placed those big, beautifully formed, six-fathom canoes upon the water, and paddled them to the landing. Then Chief Factor Thompson and Factor Mackenzie joined the throng; and that veteran voyageur, Oo-koo-hoo, who was to command the Fur Brigade, touched his hat and conversed with the officers. A few moments later the old guide waved his swarthy men into line. From them he chose the bowmen, calling each by name, and motioning them to rank beside him; then, in turn, each bowman selected a man for his crew; until, for each of the eight canoes, eight men were chosen. Then work began.
Some went off with tump-line in hand to the warehouse, ascended the ma.s.sive stairs, and entered the fur loft. Tiers of empty shelves circled the room, where the furs were stored during the winter; but upon the floor were stacked packs of valuable pelts--the harvest of the fur trade. The old-fas.h.i.+oned scales, the collapsible mould, and the giant fur press told of the work that had been done. Every pack weighed eighty pounds. Loading up, they rapidly carried the fur to the landing. In the storeroom the voyageurs gathered up the ”tripping” kit of paddles, tents, axes, tarpaulins, sponges; and a box for each crew containing frying-pans, tea pails, tin plates, and tea-dishes. In the trading room the crews were supplied with provisions of flour, pork, and tea, at the rate of three pounds a day for each man. They were also given tobacco. Most of the voyageurs received ”advances” from the clerk in the way of clothing, knives, pipes, and things deemed essential for the voyage. Birch bark, spruce roots, and gum were supplied for repairing the canoes.
All was now in readiness. The loading of freight began, and when each canoe had received its allotted cargo the voyageurs indulged in much handshaking with their friends, a little quiet talking and affectionate kissing with their families and sweethearts. Then, paddle in hand, they boarded their canoes and took their places.
In manning a six-fathom canoe the bowman is always the most important; the steersman comes next in rank, while the others are called ”midmen.”