He said that he had
been always told by us to consider the traders in the same light as
ourselves, and that for his part he looked upon both as equally
respectable. This assurance, made in the presence of Mr. Weeks, was
particularly gratifying to us as it completely disproved the defence that
had been set up respecting the injurious reports circulated against us
amongst the Indians in the spring, namely that they were in retaliation
for our endeavours to lower the traders in the eyes of the Indians. I
take this opportunity of stating my opinion that Mr. Weeks, in spreading
these reports, was actuated by a mistaken idea that he was serving the
interest of his employers. On the present occasion we felt indebted to
him for the sympathy he displayed for our distresses, and the kindness
with which he administered to our personal wants. After this conference
such Indians as were indebted to the Company were paid for the provision
they had given us by deducting a corresponding sum from their debts; in
the same way we gave a reward of sixteen skins of beaver to each of the
persons who had come to our relief at Fort Enterprise. As the debts of
Akaitcho and his hunters had been effaced at the time of his engagement
with us we placed a sum equal to the amount of provision they had
recently supplied to their credit on the Company's books. These things
being, through the moderation of the Indians, adjusted with an unexpected
facility, we gave them a keg of mixed liquors (five parts water) and
distributed among them several fathoms of tobacco, and they retired to
their tents to spend the night in merriment.
Adam, our interpreter, being desirous of uniting himself with the Copper
Indians, applied to me for his discharge which I granted, and gave him a
bill on the Hudson's Bay Company for the amount of his wages. These
arrangements being completed we prepared to cross the lake.
Mr. Weeks provided Dr. Richardson and I with a cariole each and we set
out at eleven A.M. on the 15th for Moose-Deer Island. Our party consisted
of Belanger who had charge of a sledge laden with the bedding and drawn
by two dogs, our two cariole men, Benoit and Augustus. Previous to our
departure we had another conference with Akaitcho who, as well as the
rest of his party, bade us farewell with a warmth of manner rare among
the Indians.
The badness of Belanger's dogs and the roughness of the ice impeded our
progress very much and obliged us to encamp early. We had a good fire
made of the driftwood which lines the shores of this lake in great
quantities. The next day was very cold. We began the journey at nine A.M.
and encamped at the Big Cape, having made another short march in
consequence of the roughness of the ice.
On the 17th we encamped on the most southerly of the Reindeer Islands.
This night was very stormy but, the wind abating in the morning, we
proceeded and by sunset reached the fishing-huts of the Company at Stony
Point. Here we found Mr. Andrews, a clerk of the Hudson's Bay Company,
who regaled us with a supper of excellent white-fish for which this part
of Slave Lake is particularly celebrated. Two men with sledges arrived
soon afterwards, sent by Mr. McVicar, who expected us about this time. We
set off in the morning before daybreak with several companions and
arrived at Moose-Deer Island about one P.M. Here we were received with
the utmost hospitality by Mr. McVicar, the chief trader of the Hudson's
Bay Company in this district, as well as by his assistant Mr. McAuley. We
had also the happiness of joining our friend Mr. Back; our feelings on
this occasion can be well imagined and we were deeply impressed with
gratitude to him for his exertions in sending the supply of food to Fort
Enterprise, to which under Divine Providence we felt the preservation of
our lives to be owing. He gave us an affecting detail of the proceedings
of his party since our separation, the substance of which I shall convey
to the reader by the following extracts from his Journal.
MR. BACK'S NARRATIVE.
October 4, 1821.
Captain Franklin having directed me to proceed with St. Germain,
Belanger, and Beauparlant to Fort Enterprise, in the hope of obtaining
relief for the party, I took leave of my companions and set out on my
journey through a very swampy country which, with the cloudy state of the
weather and a keen north-east wind, accompanied by frequent snow-showers,
retarded us so much that we had scarcely got more than four miles before
we halted for the night and made a meal of tripe de roche and some old
leather.
On the 5th we set out early amidst extremely deep snow, sinking
frequently in it up to the thighs, a labour in our enfeebled and almost
worn-out state that nothing but the cheering hopes of reaching the house
and affording relief to our friends could have enabled us to support. As
we advanced we found to our mortification that the tripe de roche,
hitherto our sole dependence, began to be scarce, so that we could only
collect sufficient to make half a kettleful which, with the addition of a
partridge each that St. Germain had killed, yielded a tolerable meal;
during this day I felt very weak and sore in the joints, particularly
between the shoulders. At eight we encamped among a small clump of
willows.
On the 6th we set out at an early hour, pursuing our route over a range
of hills at the foot of one of which we saw several large pines and a
great quantity of willows, a sight that encouraged us to quicken our pace
as we were now certain we could not be far from the woods.
