The
men, by digging where the fireplace had been, ascertained that the
Indians had quitted it the day before and, as their marches are short
when encumbered with the women and baggage, we sought out their track and
followed it. At an abrupt angle of it which was obscured by trees the men
suddenly disappeared and, hastening forward to discover the cause, I
perceived them both still rolling at the foot of a steep cliff over which
they had been dragged while endeavouring to stop the descent of their
sledges. The dogs were gazing silently with the wreck of their harness
about them and the sledges deeply buried in the snow. The effects of this
accident did not detain us long and we proceeded afterwards with greater
caution.
SOJOURNS WITH AN INDIAN PARTY.
The air was warm at noon and the solitary but sweet notes of the jay, the
earliest spring bird, were in every wood. Late in the evening we descried
the ravens wheeling in circles round a small grove of poplars and,
according to our expectations, found the Indians encamped there.
The men were absent hunting and returned unsuccessful. They had been
several days without provisions and, thinking that I could depend upon
the continuance of their exertions, I gave them a little rum; the next
day their set out and at midnight they swept by us with their dogs in
close pursuit.
In the morning we found that a moose had eaten the bark of a tree near
our fire. The hunters however again failed; and they attributed the
extreme difficulty of approaching the chase to the calmness of the
weather, which enabled it to hear them at a great distance.
They concluded, as usual when labouring under any affliction, that they
were tormented by the evil spirit, and assembled to beat a large
tambourine and sing an address to the Manito or deity, praying for relief
according to the explanation which I received; but their prayer consisted
of only three words constantly repeated. One of the hunters yet remained
abroad and, as the wind rose at noon, we had hopes that he was
successful. In the evening he made his appearance and, announcing that he
had killed a large moose, immediately secured the reward which had been
promised.
The tidings were received with apparent indifference by people whose
lives are alternate changes from the extremity of want to abundance. But
as their countenances seldom betray their emotions it cannot be
determined whether their apathy is real or affected. However the women
prepared their sledges and dogs with the design of dismembering and
bringing home the carcass, a proceeding to which, in their necessitous
condition, I could have had neither reasonable nor available objections
without giving them a substitute.
