Part 14 (1/2)

SLAVE LAKE AND FORT PROVIDENCE.

SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS, AND DISCONTENT OF THE CANADIAN VOYAGERS.

DIFFICULTIES WITH REGARD TO THE INDIAN GUIDES.

REFUSAL TO PROCEED.

VISIT OF OBSERVATION TO THE UPPER PART OF COPPER-MINE RIVER.

RETURN TO THE WINTER QUARTERS OF FORT ENTERPRISE.

DEPARTURE FROM CHIPEWYAN.

July 18, 1820.

Early this morning the stores were distributed to the three canoes. Our stock of provision unfortunately did not amount to more than sufficient for one day's consumption exclusive of two barrels of flour, three cases of preserved meats, some chocolate, arrowroot, and portable soup, which we had brought from England and intended to reserve for our journey to the coast the next season. Seventy pounds of moose meat and a little barley were all that Mr. Smith was enabled to give us. It was gratifying however to perceive that this scarcity of food did not depress the spirits of our Canadian companions who cheerfully loaded their canoes and embarked in high glee after they had received the customary dram. At noon we bade farewell to our kind friend Mr. Smith. The crews commenced a lively paddling song on quitting the sh.o.r.e which was continued until we had lost sight of the houses. We soon reached the western boundary of the lakem and at two entered the Stony River, one of the discharges of the Athabasca Lake into the Slave Lake and, having a favouring current, pa.s.sed swiftly along. This narrow stream is confined between low swampy banks which support willows, dwarf birch, and alder. At five we pa.s.sed its conflux with the Peace River. The Slave River, formed by the union of these streams, is about three-quarters of a mile wide. We descended this magnificent river with much rapidity and, after pa.s.sing through several narrow channels, formed by an a.s.semblage of islands, crossed a spot where the waters had a violent whirling motion which, when the river is low, is said to subside into a dangerous rapid; on the present occasion no other inconvenience was felt than the inability of steering the canoes which were whirled about in every direction by the eddies until the current carried them beyond their influence. We encamped at seven on the swampy bank of the river but had scarcely pitched the tents before we were visited by a terrible thunderstorm; the rain fell in torrents and the violence of the wind caused the river to overflow its banks so that we were completely flooded. Swarms of mosquitoes succeeded the storm and their tormenting stings, superadded to other inconveniences, induced us to embark and, after taking a hasty supper, to pursue our voyage down the stream during the night.

At six on the following morning we pa.s.sed the Reindeer Islands and at ten reached the entrance of the Dog River where we halted to set the fis.h.i.+ng nets. These were examined in the evening but, to our mortification, we obtained only four small trout and were compelled to issue part of our preserved meats for supper. The lat.i.tude of the mouth of Dog River was observed 59 degrees 52 minutes 16 seconds North.

DIFFICULTIES OF THE VARIOUS NAVIGATIONS OF THE RIVERS AND LAKES, AND OF THE PORTAGES.

The nets were taken up at daylight but they furnished only a solitary pike. We lost no time in embarking and crossed the crooked channel of the Dog Rapid when two of the canoes came in such violent contact with each other that the sternmost had its bow broken off. We were fortunately near the sh.o.r.e or the disabled canoe would have sunk. The injury being repaired in two hours we again embarked and, having descended another rapid, arrived at the Ca.s.sette Portage of four hundred and sixty paces, over which the cargoes and canoes were carried in about twenty-six minutes. We next pa.s.sed through a narrow channel full of rapids, crossed the Portage d'Embarras of seventy yards, and the portage of the Little Rock of three hundred yards, at which another accident happened to one of the canoes by the bowman slipping and letting it fall upon a rock and breaking it in two. Two hours were occupied in sewing the detached pieces together and covering the seam with pitch but, this being done, it was as effective as before. After leaving this place we soon came to the next portage of two hundred and seventy-three paces; and shortly afterwards to the Mountain Portage of one hundred and twenty, which is appropriately named as the path leads over the summit of a high hill. This elevated situation commands a very grand and picturesque view for some miles along the river which at this part is about a mile wide.

We next crossed a portage of one hundred and twenty yards; and then the Pelican Portage of eight hundred paces. Mr. Back took an accurate sketch of the interesting scenery which the river presents at this place. After descending six miles farther we came to the last portage on the route to Slave Lake which we crossed and encamped in its lower end. It is called The Portage of the Drowned and it received that name from a melancholy accident which took place many years ago. Two canoes arrived at the upper end of the portage in one of which there was an experienced guide. This man, judging from the height of the river, deemed it practicable to shoot the rapid and determined upon trying it. He accordingly placed himself in the bow of his canoe, having previously agreed that, if the pa.s.sage was found easy, he should, on reaching the bottom of the rapid, fire a musket as a signal for the other canoe to follow. The rapid proved dangerous and called forth all the skill of the guide and the utmost exertion of his crew and they narrowly escaped destruction. Just as they were landing an unfortunate fellow, seizing the loaded fowling-piece, fired at a duck which rose at the instant. The guide, antic.i.p.ating the consequences, ran with the utmost haste to the other end of the portage but he was too late: the other canoe had pushed off and he arrived only to witness the fate of his comrades. They got alarmed in the middle of the rapid, the canoe was upset, and every man perished.

The various rapids we pa.s.sed this day are produced by an a.s.semblage of islands and rocky ledges which obstruct the river and divide it into many narrow channels. Two of these channels are rendered still more difficult by acc.u.mulations of drift timber, a circ.u.mstance which has given a name to one of the portages. The rocks which compose the bed of the river and the numerous islands belong to the granite formation. The distance made today was thirteen miles.

July 21.

We embarked at four A.M. and pursued our course down the river. The rocks ceased at the last portage and below it the banks are composed of alluvial soil which is held together by the roots of trees and shrubs that crown their summits. The river is about a mile wide and the current is greatly diminished. At eight we landed at the mouth of the Salt River and pitched our tents, intending to remain there that and the next day for the purpose of fis.h.i.+ng. After breakfast, which made another inroad on our preserved meats, we proceeded up the river in a light canoe to visit the salt springs, leaving a party behind to attend the nets. This river is about one hundred yards wide at its mouth. Its waters did not become brackish until we had ascended it seven or eight miles but, when we had pa.s.sed several rivulets of fresh water which flowed in, the main stream became very salt, at the same time contracting its width to fifteen or twenty yards. At a distance of twenty-two miles, including the windings of the river, the plains commence. Having pitched the tent at this spot we set out to visit the princ.i.p.al springs and had walked about three miles when the mosquitoes compelled us to give up our project. We did not see the termination of the plains toward the east, but on the north and west they are bounded by an even ridge about six or seven hundred feet in height. Several salt springs issue from the foot of this ridge and spread their waters over the plain which consists of tenacious clay. During the summer much evaporation takes place and large heaps of salt are left behind crystallised in the form of cubes. Some beds of grayish compact gypsum were exposed on the sides of the hills.

The next morning after filling some casks with salt for our use during winter we embarked to return, and had descended the river a few miles when, turning round a point, we perceived a buffalo plunge into the river before us. Eager to secure so valuable a prize we instantly opened a fire upon him from four muskets and in a few minutes he fell, but not before he had received fourteen b.a.l.l.s. The carca.s.s was towed to the bank and the canoe speedily laden with meat. After this piece of good fortune we descended the stream merrily, our voyagers chanting their liveliest songs. On arrival at the mouth of the river we found that our nets had not produced more than enough to supply a scanty meal to the men whom we had left behind, but this was now of little importance as the acquisition of meat we had made would enable us to proceed without more delay to Slave Lake. The poisson inconnu mentioned by Mackenzie is found here. It is a species of the Genus Salmo, and is said by the Indians to ascend from the Arctic Sea but, being unable to pa.s.s the cascade of the Slave River, is not found higher than this place. In the evening a violent thunderstorm came on with heavy rain, thermometer 70 degrees.

At a very early hour on the following morning we embarked and continued to paddle against a very strong wind and high waves under the shelter of the bank of the rivers until two P.M. when, having arrived at a more exposed part of the stream, the canoes took in so much water that we were obliged to disembark on a small island. The river here is from one mile and a quarter to one mile and three-quarters wide. Its banks are of moderate height, sandy, and well wooded.

SLAVE LAKE AND FORT PROVIDENCE.

July 24.

We made more progress notwithstanding the continuance of the wind. The course of the river is very winding, making in one place a circuit of seven or eight miles round a peninsula which is joined to the west bank by a narrow isthmus. Near the foot of this elbow a long island occupies the centre of the river which it divides into two channels. The longitude was obtained near to it 113 degrees 25 minutes 36 seconds and variation 27 degrees 25 minutes 14 seconds North, and the lat.i.tude 60 degrees 54 minutes 52 seconds North, about four miles farther down. We pa.s.sed the mouth of a broad channel leading to the north-east termed La Grande Riviere de Jean, one of the two large branches by which the river pours its waters into the Great Slave Lake; the flooded delta at the mouth of the river is intersected by several smaller channels through one of which, called the Channel of the Scaffold, we pursued our voyage on the following morning and by eight A.M. reached the establishment of the North-West Company on Moose-Deer Island. We found letters from Mr.

Wentzel, dated Fort Providence, a station on the north side of the lake, which communicated to us that there was an Indian guide waiting for us at that post; but that the chief and the hunters who were to accompany the party had gone to a short distance to hunt, having become impatient at our delay.

Soon after landing I visited the Hudson's Bay post on the same island and engaged Pierre St. Germain, an interpreter for the Copper Indians. We regretted to find the posts of both the Companies extremely bare of provision but, as the gentlemen in charge had despatched men on the preceding evening to a band of Indians in search of meat and they promised to furnish us with whatever should be brought, it was deemed advisable to wait for their return as the smallest supply was now of importance to us. Advantage was taken of the delay to repair effectually the canoe which had been broken in the Dog Rapid. On the next evening the men arrived with the meat and enabled Mr. McLeod of the North-West Company to furnish us with four hundred pounds of dried provisions. Mr.

McVicar of the Hudson's Bay Company also supplied one hundred and fifty pounds. This quant.i.ty we considered would be sufficient until we could join the hunters. We also obtained three fis.h.i.+ng-nets, a gun, and a pair of pistols, which were all the stores these posts could furnish, although the gentlemen in charge were much disposed to a.s.sist us.

Moose-Deer Island is about a mile in diameter and rises towards the centre about three hundred feet above the lake. Its soil is in general sandy, in some parts swampy. The varieties of the northern berries grow abundantly on it. The North-West Company's fort is in lat.i.tude 61 degrees 11 minutes 8 seconds North, longitude 113 degrees 51 minutes 37 seconds West, being two hundred and sixty statute miles distant from Fort Chipewyan by the river course. The variation of the compa.s.s is 25 degrees 40 minutes 47 seconds East. The houses of the two Companies are small and have a bleak northern aspect. There are vast acc.u.mulations of driftwood on the sh.o.r.es of the lake, brought down by the river, which afford plenty of fuel. The inhabitants live princ.i.p.ally on the fish, which the lake at certain seasons furnishes in great abundance; of these the white-fish, trout, and poisson inconnu are considered the best. They also procure moose, buffalo, and reindeer meat occasionally from their hunters; but these animals are generally found at the distance of several days' walk from the forts. The Indians who trade here are Chipewyans. Beavers, martens, foxes, and muskrats are caught in numbers in the vicinity of this great body of water. The mosquitoes here were still a serious annoyance to us but less numerous than before. They were in some degree replaced by a small sandfly, whose bite is succeeded by a copious flow of blood and considerable swelling but is attended with incomparably less irritation than the puncture of the mosquito.

On the 27th of July we embarked at four A.M. and proceeded along the south sh.o.r.e of the lake through a narrow channel, formed by some islands, beyond the confluence of the princ.i.p.al branch of the Slave River; and as far as Stony Island, where we breakfasted. This island is merely a rock of gneiss that rises forty or fifty feet above the lake and is precipitous on the north side. As the day was fine and the lake smooth we ventured upon paddling across to the Reindeer Islands, which were distant about thirteen miles in a northern direction, instead of pursuing the usual track by keeping farther along the south sh.o.r.e which inclines to the eastward from this point. These islands are numerous and consist of granite, rising from one hundred to two hundred feet above the water.

They are for the most part naked; but towards the centres of the larger ones there is a little soil and a few groves of pines. At seven in the evening we landed upon one of them and encamped. On the following morning we ran before a strong breeze and a heavy swell for some hours, but at length were obliged to seek shelter on a large island adjoining to Isle a la Cache of Mackenzie, where the following observations were obtained: lat.i.tude 61 degrees 50 minutes 18 seconds North, longitude 113 degrees 21 minutes 40 seconds West, and variation 31 degrees 2 minutes 06 seconds East.

The wind and swell having subsided in the afternoon we reembarked and steered towards the western point of the Big Island of Mackenzie and, when four miles distant from it, had forty-two fathoms soundings. Pa.s.sing between this island and a promontory of the main sh.o.r.e, termed Big Cape, we entered into a deep bay which receives the waters from several rivers that come from the northward; and we immediately perceived a decrease in the temperature of the waters from 59 to 48 degrees. We coasted along the eastern side of the bay, its western sh.o.r.e being always visible, but the canoes were exposed to the hazard of being broken by the numerous sunken rocks which were scattered in our track. We encamped for the night on a rocky island and by eight A.M. on the following morning arrived at Fort Providence which is situated twenty-one miles from the entrance of the bay. The post is exclusively occupied by the North-West Company, the Hudson's Bay Company having no settlement to the northward of Great Slave Lake. We found Mr. Wentzel and our interpreter Jean Baptiste Adam here with one of the Indian guides: but the chief of the tribe and his hunters were encamped with their families some miles from the fort in a good situation for fis.h.i.+ng. Our arrival was announced to him by a fire on the top of a hill, and before night a messenger came to communicate his intention of seeing us next morning. The customary present of tobacco and some other articles was immediately sent to him.

Mr. Wentzel prepared me for the first conference with the Indians by mentioning all the information they had already given to him. The duties allotted to this gentleman were the management of the Indians, the superintendence of the Canadian voyagers, the obtaining and the general distribution of the provision, and the issue of the other stores. These services he was well qualified to perform, having been accustomed to execute similar duties during a residence of upwards of twenty years in this country. We also deemed Mr. Wentzel to be a great acquisition to our party as a check on the interpreters, he being one of the few traders who speak the Chipewyan language.

As we were informed that external appearances made lasting impressions on the Indians we prepared for the interview by decorating ourselves in uniform and suspending a medal round each of our necks. Our tents had been previously pitched and over one of them a silken union flag was hoisted. Soon after noon on July 30th several Indian canoes were seen advancing in a regular line and, on their approach, the chief was discovered in the headmost which was paddled by two men. On landing at the fort the chief a.s.sumed a very grave aspect and walked up to Mr.