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. By much solicitation I obtained an
audience and offered them our own provisions on condition of their
suspending the work of destruction till the next day. They agreed to the
proposition and we set out with some Indians for the place where the
animal was lying. The night advancing we were separated by a snowstorm
and, not being skilful enough to follow tracks which were so speedily
filled up, I was bewildered for several hours in the woods, when I met
with an Indian who led me back at such a pace that I was always in the
rear, to his infinite diversion. The Indians are vain of their local
knowledge which is certainly very wonderful. Our companions had taken out
the entrails and young of the moose, which they buried in the snow.
The Indians then returned to the tents and one of my men accompanied
them; he was the person charged with the management of the trade at the
hunting tent; and he observed that the opportunity of making a bargain
with the Indians while they were drinking was too advantageous to be
lost.
It remained for us to prevent the wolves from mangling the moose; for
which purpose we wrapped ourselves in blankets between its feet and
placed the hatchets within our reach. The night was stormy and
apprehension kept me long awake but, finding my companion in so deep a
sleep that nothing could have roused him except the actual gripe of a
wolf, I thought it advisable to imitate his example as much as was in my
power rather than bear the burden of anxiety alone. At daylight we shook
off the snow which was heaped upon us and endeavoured to kindle a fire,
but the violence of the storm defeated all our attempts. At length two
Indians arrived with whose assistance we succeeded, and they took
possession of it to show their sense of our obligations to them. We were
ashamed of the scene before us; the entrails of the moose and its young,
which had been buried at our feet, bore testimony to the nocturnal revel
of the wolves during the time we had slept. This was a fresh subject of
derision for the Indians whose appetites however would not suffer them to
waste long upon us a time so precious. They soon finished what the wolves
had begun and with as little aid from the art of cookery, eating both the
young moose and the contents of the paunch raw.
I had scarcely secured myself by a lodge of branches from the snow and
placed the moose in a position for my sketch when we were stormed by a
troop of women and children with their sledges and dogs. We obtained
another short respite from the Indians but our blows could not drive, nor
their caresses entice, the hungry dogs from the tempting feast before
them.
