They Are But Little Known
But The Latter Are Supposed Occasionally To Visit Some Of The
Establishments On Peace River.
Having now communicated as briefly as I could the principal facts that
came to our knowledge regarding the Indians in this quarter I shall
resume the narrative of events at Fort Enterprise.
The month of March
proved fine. The thermometer rose once to 24 degrees above zero and fell
upon another day 49 degrees below zero but the mean was minus 11 1/2
degrees.
On the 23rd the last of our winter's stock of deer's meat was expended
and we were compelled to issue a little pounded meat which we had
reserved for making pemmican for summer use. Our nets which were set
under the ice on the 15th produced only two or three small fish daily.
Amongst these was the round-fish, a species of Coregonus which we had not
previously seen.
On the following day two Indians came with a message from the Hook, the
chief next to Akaitcho in authority amongst the Copper Indians. His band
was between West Marten and Great Bear Lakes and he offered to provide a
quantity of dried meat for us on the banks of the Copper-Mine River in
the beginning of summer, provided we sent him goods and ammunition. It
was in his power to do this without inconvenience as he generally spends
the summer months on the banks of the river near the Copper Mountain; but
we had no goods to spare and I could not venture to send any part of our
small stock of ammunition until I saw what the necessities of our own
party required. I told them however that I would gladly receive either
provisions or leather when we met and would pay for them by notes on the
North-West Company's post; but to prevent any misunderstanding with Mr.
Weeks I requested them to take their winter's collection of furs to Fort
Providence before they went to the Copper-Mine River. They assured me
that the Hook would watch anxiously for our passing as he was unwell and
wished to consult the doctor.
Several circumstances having come lately to my knowledge that led me to
suspect the fidelity of our interpreters they were examined upon this
subject. It appeared that in their intercourse with the Indians they had
contracted very fearful ideas of the danger of our enterprise which
augmented as the time of our departure drew near, and had not hesitated
to express their dislike to the journey in strong terms amongst the
Canadians, who are accustomed to pay much deference to the opinions of an
interpreter. But this was not all; I had reason to suspect they had
endeavoured to damp the exertions of the Indians with the hope that the
want of provision in the spring would put an end to our progress at once.
St. Germain in particular had behaved in a very equivocal way since his
journey to Slave Lake.
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