An account of this misfortune was speedily conveyed to the
upper end of the portage and the men launched the remaining canoe into
the rapid, though wholly unacquainted with the dangers of it. The descent
was quickly accomplished and they perceived the bottom of the lost canoe
above water in a little bay whither it had been whirled by the eddy. One
man had reached the bank but no traces could be found of the foreman
Louis Saint Jean. We saved the canoe out of which two guns and a case of
preserved meats had been thrown into the rapid.* So early a disaster
deeply affected the spirits of the Canadians, and their natural vivacity
gave way to melancholy forebodings while they erected a wooden cross in
the rocks near the spot where their companion perished.
(*Footnote. Mr. Hood himself was the first to leap into the canoe and
incite the men to follow him and shoot the rapid to save the lives of
their companions. Dr. Richardson's Journal.)
The loss of this man's services and the necessity of procuring a guide
determined us to wait for the arrival of the North-West Company's people
from Fort Chipewyan and we encamped accordingly. The canoe was much
shattered but, as the gunwales were not broken, we easily repaired it. In
the evening a North-West canoe arrived with two of the partners. They
gave us an account of Mr. Franklin's proceedings and referred us to the
brigade following them for a guide.
During the 20th it rained heavily and we passed the day in anxious
suspense confined to our tents. A black bear came to the bank on the
opposite side of the river and, on seeing us, glided behind the trees.
Late on the 21st Mr. Robertson of the Hudson's Bay Company arrived and
furnished us with a guide, but desired that he might be exchanged when we
met the northern canoes. We took advantage of the remainder of the day to
cross the next portage which was three-fourths of a mile in length.
On the 22nd we crossed three small portages and encamped at the fourth.
At one of them we passed some of the Hudson's Bay Company's canoes and
our application to them was unsuccessful. We began to suspect that Isle a
la Crosse was the nearest place at which we might hope for assistance.
However on the morning of the 23rd, as we were about to embark, we
encountered the last brigades of canoes belonging to both the Companies
and obtained a guide and foreman from them. Thus completely equipped we
entered the Black Bear Island Lake, the navigation of which requires a
very experienced pilot. Its length is twenty-two miles and its breadth
varies from three to five, yet it is so choked with islands that no
channel is to be found through it exceeding a mile in breadth.
