to
of ®ora«to
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ESTATE OF THE: LATE JOHN 5. IRWIN
. TYIW«JL 4 C*iT
TORONTO
PIONEERS IN CANADA
BLACKIE & SON LIMITED
50 Old Bailey, LONDON
17 Stanhope Street, GLASGOW
BLACKIE & SON (INDIA) LIMITED
Warwick House, Fort Street, BOMBAY
BLACKIE & SON (CANADA) LIMITED
1118 Bay Street, TORONTO
n
TYPE OF SHIP SAILED IN BY THE ENGLISH OR FRENCH PIONEERS
IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
PIONEERS IN
CANADA
**'
BY SIR HARRY' JOHNSTON
J'!f
G.C.M.G., K.C.B.
WITH EIGHT COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS
BY E. WALLCOUSINS
BLACKIE & SON LIMITED
LONDON AND GLASGOW
F
SO Sk-
LIBRARY
718865
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
Printed in Great Britain by
Blackie & Son, Limited, Glasgow
PREFACE
I HAVE been asked to write a series of works which
should deal with "real adventures", in parts of the
world either wild and uncontrolled by any civilized
government, or at any rate regions full of dangers,
of wonderful discoveries; in which the daring and
heroism of white men (and sometimes ot white
women) stood out clearly against backgrounds of
unfamiliar landscapes, peopled with strange nations,
savage tribes, dangerous beasts, or wonderful birds.
These books would again and again illustrate the
first coming of the white race into regions inhabited
by people of a different type, with brown, black, or
yellow skins; how the European was received, and
how he treated these races of the soil which gradu-
ally came under his rule owing to his superior
knowledge, weapons, wealth, or powers of per-
suasion. The books were to tell the plain truth,
even if here and there they showed the white man
to have behaved badly, or if they revealed the fact
that the American Indian, the Negro, the Malay,
the black Australian was sometimes cruel and
treacherous.
A request thus framed was almost equivalent
6 Preface
to asking me to write stories of those pioneers who
founded the British Empire; in any case, the first
volumes of this series do relate the adventures of
those who created the greater part of the British
Dominions beyond the Seas, by their perilous ex-
plorations of unknown lands and waters. In many
instances the travellers were all unconscious of their
destinies, of the results which would arise from
their actions. In some cases they would have
bitterly railed at Fate had they known that the
result of their splendid efforts was to be the en-
largement of an empire under the British flag.
Perhaps if they could know by now that we are
striving under that flag to be just and generous to
all types of men, and not to use our empire solely
for the benefit of English-speaking men and women,
the French who founded the Canadian nation, the
Germans and Dutch who helped to create British
Africa, Malaysia, and Australia, the Spaniards who
preceded us in the West Indies, and the Portuguese
in West, Central, and East Africa, in Newfoundland
and Ceylon, might — if they have any consciousness
or care for things in this world — be not so sorry
after all that we are reaping where they sowed.
It is (as you will see) impossible to tell the tale
of these early days in the British Dominions beyond
the Seas, without describing here and there the
adventures of men of enterprise and daring who
were not of our own nationality. The majority,
nevertheless, were of British stock; that is to say,
they were English, Welsh, Scots, Irish, perhaps
here and there a Channel Islander and a Manxman;
Preface 7
or Nova Scotians, Canadians, and New Englanders.
The bulk of them were good fellows, a few were
saints, a few were ruffians with redeeming features.
Sometimes they were common men who blundered
into great discoveries which will for ever preserve
their names from perishing; occasionally they were
men of Fate, predestined, one might say, to change
the history of the world by their revelations of new
peoples, new lands, new rivers, new lakes, snow
mountains, and gold mines. Here and there is a
martyr like Marquette, or Livingstone, or Gordon,
dying for the cause of a race not his own. And
others again are mere boys, whose adventures come
to them because they are adventurous, and whose
feats of arms, escapes, perils, and successes are
quite as wonderful as those attributed to the juvenile
heroes of Marryat, Stevenson, and the author of
The Swiss Family Robinson.
I have tried, in describing these adventures, to
give my readers some idea of the scenery, animals,
and vegetation of the new lands through which
these pioneers passed on their great and small
purposes; as well as of the people, native to the
soil, with whom they came in contact. And in
treating of these subjects I have thought it best
to give the scientific names of the plant or animal
which was of importance in my story, so that any
of my readers who were really interested in natural
history could at once ascertain for themselves the
exact type alluded to, and, if they wished, look it
up in a museum, a garden, or a natural history book.
I hope this attempt at scientific accuracy will not
8 Preface
frighten away readers young and old ; and, if you
can have patience with the author, you will, by
reading this series of books on the great pioneers
of British West Africa, Canada, Malaysia, West
Indies, South Africa, and Australasia, get a clear
idea of how the British Colonial Empire came to
be founded.
You will find that I have often tried to tell the
story in the words of the pioneers, but in these
quotations I have adopted the modern spelling,
not only in my transcript of the English original
or translation, but also in the place and tribal
names, so as not to puzzle or delay the reader.
Otherwise, if you were to look out some of the
geographical names of the old writers, you might
not be able to recognize them on the modern atlas.
The pronunciation of this modern geographical
spelling is very simple and clear: the vowels are
pronounced a = ah, e = eh, t — ee, 0 = 0, 6 = oh,
d" = aw, 0 = 11 in 'hurt', and u = oo, as in Ger-
man, Italian, or most other European languages;
and the consonants as in English.
H. H. JOHNSTON.
CONTENTS
CHAP. Par*
I. THE WHITE MAN'S DISCOVERY OF NORTH AMERICA - 15
II. JACQUES CARTIER ------ .-29
III. ELIZABETHAN PIONEERS IN NORTH AMERICA 45
IV. CHAMPLAIN AND THE FOUNDATION OF CANADA 53
V. AFTER CHAMPLAIN: FROM MONTREAL TO THE MISSIS-
SIPPI 88
VI. THE GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS OF THE CANADIAN
DOMINION --- 120
VII. THE AMERINDIANS AND ESKIMO: THE ABORIGINES OF
BRITISH NORTH AMERICA 153
VIII. THE HUDSON BAY EXPLORERS AND THE BRITISH CON-
QUEST OF ALL CANADA 202
IX. THE PIONEERS FROM MONTREAL: ALEXANDER HENRY
THE ELDER 211
X. SAMUEL HEARNE -------- 248
XI. ALEXANDER MACKENZIE'S JOURNEYS .... 277
XII. MACKENZIE'S SUCCESSORS -...-. 313
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
COLOURED PLATES
Page
Type of Ship sailed in by the English or French Pioneers
in the Sixteenth Century - Frontispiece
Icebergs and Polar Bears .....--50
Indians hunting Bison -------- 102
Indians lying in wait for Moose ------ 140
Caribou swimming a River ------- 172
Great Auks, Gannets, Puffins, and Guillemots - - - 198
Scene on Canadian River: Wild Swans flying up, disturbed
by Bear -----*----- 230
Big-horned Sheep of Rocky Mountains - ... 282
BLACK-AND-WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS
Jacques Cartier 32
Samuel de Champlain and Alexander Henry the Elder - 84
An Amerindian Type of British Columbia - - - - 162
Lake Louise, the Rocky Mountains - .... 250
Samuel Hearne and Alexander Mackenzie - 256
The Upper Waters of the Fraser River - ... 290
The Kootenay or Head Stream of the Columbia River - 316
A Hunter's ' ' Shack " in British Columbia : After a successful
Shoot of Blue Grouse ------- 322
Map of Canada 122
Map of Eastern Canada and Newfoundland ... 206
Map of Part of the Coast Region of British Columbia - 314
ll
List of the Chief Authorities
FROM WHOM THE PRINCIPAL FACTS AND
INCIDENTS OF THIS BOOK HAVE BEEN
DERIVED, IN ADDITION TO THE AUTHOR'S
OWN RESEARCHES AND EXPERIENCES, AND
INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY PROFESSOR
R. RAMSAY WRIGHT, OF TORONTO
UNIVERSITY
The Saint Lawrence Basin. By Dr. S. E. DAWSON.
London. 1905. Lawrence &• Bullen.
Relation Originale du Voyage de Jacques Cartier au
Canada en 1534; Documents inedits, &c. Publics par
H. MICHELANT et A. RAME. Paris. Librairie Tross. 1867.
Voyage de Jacques Cartier au Canada en 1534, &c. Par
H. MICHELANT. Paris. 1865.
Champlain's Voyages: The Publications of the Prince Society.
Boston. 1878. Three volumes.
Voyage of Verrazano, &c. By HENRY C. MURPHY. New
York. 1875. (Also the Essay on the Journeys of Verra-
zano, by Alessandro Bacchiani, in the Bollettino della So-
cietd Geografica Italiana. Rome. November, 1909.)
Volume IX of the Proceedings and Transactions of the
Royal Society of Canada. (For the History of Cape
Breton and of the Beothiks of Newfoundland.)
The Search for the Western Sea. By LAWRENCE J. BURPEE.
London. Alston Rivers. 1908.
13
i4 List of the Chief Authorities
Travels and Explorations of the Jesuit Missionaries in
New France, &c. Edited by REUBEN GOLD THWAITES.
Vol. LIX. Cleveland, U.S.A. Burrows Bros. 1900.
Travels and Explorations in Canada and ' the Indian
Territories between the years 1760 and 1776. By
ALEXANDER HENRY, Esq. New York. 1809.
Voyages from Montreal on the River St. Lawrence
through the Continent of North America to the
Frozen and Pacific Oceans, in the years 1789 and
I793> &c- &c. By ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, Esq. London.
1801.
A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's
Bay to the Northern Ocean, &c. By SAMUEL HEARNE.
London. 1795.
Les Bourgeois de la Compagnie du Nord-Ouest. By
L. R. MASSON. Quebec. 1890. Two volumes.
New Light on the Early History of the Greater North-
West : The Manuscript Journals of Alexander Henry, Jun.,
and of David Thompson. Edited by ELLIOTT COUES.
Three Volumes. New York. Harper. 1897.
Sport and Travel in the Northland of Canada. By DAVID
T. H ANBURY. London. Edward Arnold. 1904.
Henry Hudson the Navigator, &c. By G. M. ASHER.
London. Hakluyt Society. 1860.
The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher. By Rear-Admira!
RICHARD COLLINSON. London. Hakluyt Society. 1867.
The Voyages and Works of John Davis the Navigator.
By Admiral Sir ALBERT HASTINGS MARKHAM. London.
Hakluyt Society. 1880.
The Voyages of William Baffin, 1612-1622. By Sir
CLEMENTS R. MARKHAM. London. 1881.
CHAPTER I
The White Man's Discovery of North America
So far as our knowledge goes, it is almost a matter
of certainty that Man originated in the Old World — in
Asia possibly. Long after this wonderful event in the
Earth's history, when the human species was spread over
a good deal of Asia, Europe, and Africa, migration to
the American continents began in attempts to find new
feeding grounds and unoccupied areas for hunting and
fishing. How many thousands or hundreds of thousands
of years ago it was since the .first men entered America
we do not yet know, any more than we can determine the
route by which they travelled from Asia. Curiously
enough, the oldest traces of man as yet discovered in the
New World are not only in South America, but in the
south-eastern parts of South America. Although the
most obvious recent land connection between the Old
and New Worlds is the Aleutian chain of islands con-
necting Kamschatka with Alaska, the ethnologist is
occasionally led to think by certain evidence that there
may, both earlier and later, have existed another way of
reaching western America from south-eastern Asia through
Pacific archipelagoes and islets now sunk below the sea.
In any case it seems quite probable that men of Mongolian
or Polynesian type reached America on its western coasts
long before the European came from the north-east and
east, and that they were helped on this long journey by
touching at islands since submerged by earthquake shocks
or tidal waves.
15
1 6 Pioneers in Canada
The aboriginal natives of North and South America
seem to be of entirely Asiatic origin ; and such resem-
blances as there are between the North-American Indians
and the peoples of northern Europe do not arise (we
believe) from any ancient colonization of America from
western or northern Europe, but mainly from the fact
that the North-American Indians and the Eskimo (two
distinct types of people) are descended from the same
human stocks as the ancient populations of the northern
part of Europe and Asia.
It was — we think — from the far north-west of Europe
that America was first visited by the true White man,
though there has been an ancient immigration of imperfect
"White" men (Ainu) from Kamschatka. Three or four
hundred years after the birth of Christ there were great
race movements in northern and central Europe, due to
an increase of population and insufficiency of food. Not
only did these white barbarians (though they were not as
barbarous as we were led to think by Greek and Roman
literature) invade southern Europe, North Africa, and Asia
Minor, but from the fourth century of the Christian era
onwards they began to cross over to England and Scot-
land. At the same time they took more complete posses-
sion of Scandinavia, driving north before their advance
the more primitive peoples like the Lapps and Finns,
who were allied to the stock from which arose both the
Eskimo and the Amerindian.1 All this time the Goths
and Scandinavians were either learning ideas of naviga-
tion from the Romans of the Mediterranean or the Greeks
of the Black Sea, or they were inventing for themselves
'This is a convenient name for the race formerly called "American Indian".
They are not Indians (i.e. natives of India), and they are not the only Americans,
since there are now about 110,000,000 white Americans of European origin and
24,000,000 negroes and negroids. The total approximate "Amerindian" or abori-
ginal population of the New World at the present day is 16,000,000, of whom about
111,000 live in the Canadian Dominion, and 300,000 in the United States, the re-
mainder in Central and South America.
( 0 818 )
The White Man's Discovery 17
better ways of constructing ships; and although they pro-
pelled them mainly by oars, they used masts and sails as
well.1 Having got over the fear of the sea sufficiently to
reach the coasts of England and Scotland, the Hebrides,
Orkneys, and Shetlands, they became still more venture-
some in their voyages from Norway, until they discovered
the Faroe Archipelago (which tradition says they found
inhabited by wild sheep), and then the large island of
Iceland, which had, however, already been reached and
settled by the northern Irish.
Iceland, though it lies so far to the north that it is
partly within the Arctic Circle, is, like Norway, Scotland,
and Ireland, affected by the Gulf Stream, so that consider-
able portions of it are quite habitable. It is not almost
entirely covered with ice, as Greenland is; in fact, Iceland
should be called Greenland (from the large extent of its
grassy pastures), and Greenland should be called Iceland.
Instead of this, however, the early Norwegian explorers
called these countries by the names they still bear.
The Norse rovers from Norway and the Hebrides
colonized Iceland from the year 850; and about a hundred
and thirty-six years afterwards, in their venturesome jour-
neys xin search of new lands, they reached the south-east
and south-west coasts of Greenland. Owing to the glacial
conditions and elevated character of this vast continental
island (more than 500,000 sq. miles in area) — for the whole
interior of Greenland rises abruptly from the sea-coast to
altitudes of from 5000 to 11,000 ft. — this discovery was of
small use to the early Norwegians or their Iceland colony.
After it was governed by the kingdom of Norway in the
thirteenth century, the Norse colonization of south-west
Greenland faded away under the attacks of the Eskimo,
1 It is doubtful whether actual masts and sails were known in America till the
coming of Europeans, though the ancient Peruvians are said to have used mat sails
in their canoes. But the northern Amerindians had got as far as placing bushes or
branches of fir trees upright in their canoes to catch the force of the wind.
( c 312 ) 2
i8 Pioneers in Canada
until it ceased completely in the fifteenth century. When
Denmark united herself with the kingdom of Norway in
1397, the Danish king became also the ruler of Iceland.
In the eighteenth century the Norwegian and Danish
settlements were re-established along the south-east and
south-west coasts of Greenland, mainly on account of the
value of the whale, seal, and cod fisheries in the seas
around this enormous frozen island ; and all Greenland
is now regarded as a Danish possession.
But the adventurous Norsemen who first reached Green-
land from Iceland attempted to push their investigations
farther to the south-west, in the hope of discovering more
habitable lands; and in this way it was supposed that their
voyages extended as far as Massachusetts and Rhode
Island, but in all probability they reached no farther than
Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. This portion of North
America they called " Vinland ", more from the abundance
of cranberries (vinbcer) on the open spaces than the few
vines to be found in the woods of Nova Scotia.1
This brings us down to the year 1008. The Icelandic
Norsemen then ceased their investigations of the North-
American Continent, and were too ignorant to realize the
value of their discoveries. Their colonies on the coasts of
Nova Scotia (" Vinland") and Newfoundland (" Estoti-
land ") were attacked probably by Eskimos, at any rate
by a short, thick-set, yellow-skinned ugly people whom
the Norsemen called " Skraeling",2 who overcame the
1 The grapes and vines so often alluded to by the early explorers of North America
ripened, according to the species, between August and October. They belong to the
same genus — Vitis — as that of the grape vines of the Old World, but they were quite
distinct in species. Nowadays they are known as the Fox Grapes ( Vitis vulpina),
the Frost Grape (V cordifolia), the V. astivalis, the V. labruska, &c. The fruit of
the Fox Grape is dark purple, with a very dusky skin and a musky flavour. The
Frost Grape has a very small berry, which is black or leaden-blue when covered with
bloom. It is very acid to the taste, but from all these grapes it is easy to make a
delicious, refreshing drink. Champlain, however, says that the wild grapes were
often quite large in size, and his men found them delicious to eat.
a Perhaps from the Eastern Eskimo national name Karalit.
The White Man's Discovery 19
unfortunate settlers, murdered some, and carried off others
into the interior.
But about this period, when Europe was going through
that dismal era, the Dark Age which followed the downfall
of the Roman Empire of the west, various impulses were
already directing the attention of European adventurers
to the Western Ocean, the Atlantic. One cause was the
increased hold of Roman and Greek Christianity over the
peoples of Europe. These Churches imposed fasts either
for single days or for continuous periods. When people
fasted it meant that they were chiefly denied any form of
meat, and therefore must eat fish if they were not content
with oil, bread, or vegetables. So that there was an
enormous and increasing demand for fish, not only
amongst those fortunate people who lived by the sea-
shore, and could get it fresh whenever they liked, but
among those who lived at a distance inland, and were
still required to fast when the Church so directed. Of
course in many parts of Europe they could get fresh-
water fish from the rivers or lakes. But the supply was
not equal to the demand; and fish sent up from the sea-
coast soon went bad, so that the plan of salting and curing
fish was adopted. The Norsemen found it a paying busi-
ness to fish industriously in the seas round Iceland, Nor-
way, Scotland, and Ireland, salt and cure the fish, and
then carry it to more southern countries, where they ex-
changed it against wine, oil, clothing materials, and other
goods. This led to the Venetians (who had absorbed so
much of the carrying trade of the Mediterranean) sending
their ships through the Straits of Gibraltar into the
northern seas and trading with the Baltic for amber and
salt fish. In the course of this trade some Venetians,
such as Antonio Zeno, found their way to Norway and
Iceland.1 It is thought that by this means Venice became
1 Antonio Zeno served as pilot to Earl Sinclair of the Faeroe Islands and of Roslyn,
a Norman-Scottish nobleman who owed joint fealty to the kings of Norway and Scot-
20 Pioneers in Canada
acquainted with the records of the Icelandic voyages to
North America, and that her explorers thus grew to enter-
tain the idea of a sea journey westward, or north-westward,
of Britain, bringing mariners to a New World represented
by the far-eastern extension of Asia.
Christopher Columbus, the Genoese, conceived a similar
idea, which also may have owed something to the tradition
of the Norsemen's discovery of Vinland. But Columbus's
theories were based on better evidence, such as the dis-
covery on the coasts of the Azores archipelago, Madeira,
and Portugal of strange seeds, tree trunks, objects of
human workmanship, and even (it is said) the bodies of
drowned savages — Amerindians — which had somehow
drifted across, borne by the current of the Gulf Stream,
and escaping the notice of the sharks.
Whilst Columbus was bestirring himself to find Asia
across the Atlantic, a sea pilot, JOHN CABOT (Zuan Cabota)
— Genoese by birth, but a naturalized subject of Venice —
came to England and offered himself to King Henry VII
as a discoverer of new lands across the ocean. At first
he was employed at Copenhagen to settle fishery quarrels
about Iceland, and probably Cabota, or Cabot, visited
Iceland in King Henry's service, and there heard of the
Icelandic colonies on the other side of the Atlantic, only
recently abandoned.
In 1496 King Henry VII provided money to cover
some of the expense of a voyage of discovery to search
for the rumoured island across the ocean. The people of
Bristol were ordered to assist John Cabot, and by them
he was furnished with a small sailing ship, the Matthew^
and a crew of fifteen mariners. Cabot, with his two sons,
Luis and Sancio, sailed for Ireland and the unknown West
in May, 1497, and, after a sea voyage quite as wonderful
as that of Columbus, reached the coast of Cape Breton
land. Sinclair was so impressed with the stories of a " Newland" beyond Greenland
that he sailed to find it about 1390, but only reached Greenland.
The White Man's Discovery 21
Island (or "the New Isle", as it was first named1) on
June 24, 1497. They found "the land excellent, and the
climate temperate ". The sea was so full of fish along
these coasts that the mariners opined (truly) that hence-
forth Bristol need not trouble about the Iceland trade.
Here along this "new isle" were the predestined fisheries
of Britain.'2
They encountered no inhabitants, though they found
numerous traces of their existence in the form of snares,
notched trees, and bone netting needles. John Cabot
hoisted the English flag of St. George and the Venetian
standard of St. Mark ; then — perhaps after coasting a little
along Nova Scotia — fearful that a longer stay might cause
them to run short of provisions, he turned the prow of the
Matthew eastward, and reached Bristol once more about
August 6, and London on August 10, 1497, with his report
to King Henry VII, who rewarded him with a donation
of ;£io. He was further granted a pension of £20 a year
(which he only drew for two years, probably because he
died after returning from a second voyage to the North-
American coast), and he received a renewal of his patent
of discovery in February, 1498. In this patent it is evi-
dently inferred that King Henry VII assumed a sove-
reignty over these distant regions because of John Cabot's
hoisting of the English flag on "the new Isle" (Cape
Breton Island) in the preceding year.
1 Cape Breton was not then, or for nearly two hundred years afterwards, known to
be an island. It was thought to be part of the " island " (peninsula) of what we now
call Nova Scotia, and the whole of this region which advances so prominently into
the Atlantic was believed to be at first the great unknown " New Island " of Irish and
English legends— legends based on the Norse discoveries of the eleventh century.
Cape Breton was thus named by the Breton seaman who came thither soon after the
Cabot expeditions to fish for cod. This large island is separated from Nova Scotia by
the Gut of Canso, a strait no broader than a river.
1 Dr. S. E. Dawson (The St. Lawrence Basin) says of this voyage: "When the
forest wilderness of Cape Breton listened to the voices of Cabot's little company (of
Bristol mariners) it was the first faint whisper of the mighty flood of English speech
which was destined to overflow the continent to the shores of another ocean. ..."
22 Pioneers in Canada
The new expedition of 1498 was a relatively important
affair. The king assisted to finance the ventures of the
Bristol captains, and five of his ships formed part of the
little fleet. It is probable that John Cabot was in command,
and almost certain that his young son Sebastian was a
passenger, possibly an assistant pilot. The course fol-
lowed lay much farther to the north, and brought the little
sailing vessels amongst the icebergs, ice floes, polar bears,
and stormy seas of Greenland and Labrador. Commer-
cially the voyage was a failure, almost a disaster. The
ships returned singly, and after a considerable interval of
time. Nevertheless, some of the king's loans were repaid
to him; and in 1501 a regular chartered company was
formed (perhaps at Bristol), with three Bristolians and
three Portuguese as directors. Henry VII not only gave
a royal patent to this association, but lent more money to
enable it to explore and colonize these new lands across
the western sea.
There can be little doubt that between 1498 and 1505
these Bristol ships, directed by Italian, English, and
Portuguese pilots, first revealed to the civilized world of
western Europe the coasts of Newfoundland, Cape Breton
Island, Nova Scotia, Massachusetts, and Delaware. They
must have got as far south as the State of Delaware (ac-
cording to Sebastian Cabot, their southern limit was lat.
38°), because in 1505 they were able to bring back parrots
(" popyngays "), as well as hawks and lynxes ("catts of
the mountaigne "), for the delectation of King Henry;
and parrots even at that period could not have been ob-
tained from farther north than the latitude of New York.1
But after 1505 English interest in "the Newe founde
launde " and the " Newe Isle" languished; the exploration
of North America was taken up and carried farther by
1 Almost certainly this was Conurus carolinensis, a green and orange parrakeet still
found in the south-eastern States of North America, but formerly met with as far
north as New York and Boston.
The White Man's Discovery 23
Portuguese, Bretons and Normans of France, Italians,
and Spaniards.1 It revived again under Henry VIII,
owing to the irresistible attraction of the Newfoundland
fisheries and the knowledge that the ships from France
were returning every autumn with great supplies of fish
cured and salted ; for an adequate supply of salt fish was
becoming a matter of great importance to the markets
of western Europe. In 1527 Henry VIII sent two ships
under the command of John Rut to explore the North-
American coast, and Captain Rut seems to have reached
the Straits of Belle Isle between Newfoundland and
Labrador (then blocked with ice so that he took them
for a bay), and afterwards to have passed along the east
coast of Newfoundland — already much frequented by the
Bretons, Normans, and Portuguese — and to have stopped
at the harbour of St. John's, thence sailing as far south
as Massachusetts.
The Portuguese monarchy' had begun to take pos-
session of the Azores archipelago from the year 1432.
These islands were probably known to the Phoenicians,
and even to the Arabs of the Middle Ages; between the
1 The name America probably appears for the first time in English print in the old
play or masque the Four Elements, which was published about 1518. In a review of
the geography of the Earth, as known at that period, a description is given of this
vast New World across the Ocean : ' ' But these new landys found lately, been called
America, because only Americus did find them first ". Americus was a Florentine
bank clerk — Amerigo Vespucci — at Seville who gave up the counting-house for adven-
ture, sailed with a Spanish captain to the West Indies and the mainland of Venezuela
(off which he notes that he met an English sailing vessel, and this as early as 1499 !),
and then joined the first exploring voyage of the Portuguese to Brazil. He returned
to Europe, and in a letter to a fellow countryman at Paris, written in the late autumn
of 1502, he claimed to have discovered a New World across the Ocean. His clear
statement about what was really the South American Continent aroused so much
enthusiasm in civilized Europe that five years afterwards the New World was called
after him by' a German printer (Walzmiiller) at the little Alsatian University of St.
Did By 1518 the English writers and mariners were probably aware that the dis-
coveries of Cabot, Columbus, and the Portuguese indicated the extension of "Amer-
ica " from the Arctic to the Antarctic, but not till about 1553 did the scholars and
adventurers of England show themselves fully alive to the gigantic importance of this
New World. Between 1530 and 1553 their attention was distracted from geography
and over-sea adventure by the religious troubles of the Reformation.
24 Pioneers in Canada
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries they had been redis-
covered by Catalans, Genoese, Flemings, and Portuguese;
and after 1444 the Azores began to prove very useful to
the sea adventurers of this wonderful fifteenth century,
as they became a shelter and a place of call for fresh
water and provisions almost in the middle of the Atlantic,
800 to loco miles due west of Portugal. Portuguese
vessels sailed northwards from the Azores in search of
fishing grounds, and thus reached Iceland, which they
called Terra do Bacalhao.1 They may even before Cabot
have visited in an unrecorded fashion the wonderful
banks of Newfoundland — an immense area of shallow sea
swarming with codfish.
As soon as the news of the Cabot voyages reached
the King of Portugal he arranged to send an expedition
of discovery to the far north-west, perhaps to find a
northern sea route to Eastern Asia. He gave the com-
mand to Caspar Corte-Real, a Portuguese noble connected
through family property with the Azores. Starting from
the Azores in the summer of 1500, Corte-Real discovered
Newfoundland, and called it "Terra Verde" from its
dense woods of fir trees, which are now being churned
into wood pulp to make paper for British books and
newspapers. He then sailed along the coast of Labrador,2
and thence crossed over to Greenland, the southern half
of which he mapped with fair accuracy. His records of
this voyage take particular note of the great icebergs off
the coast of Greenland. His men were surprised to find
that sea water frozen becomes perfectly fresh — all the salt
is left out in the process. So that his two ships could
i Bacalhao in Portuguese (and a similar word in Spanish, old French, and Italian)
means dried, salted fish. It comes from a Latin word meaning "a small stick",
because the fish were split open and held up flat to dry by means of a cross or
framework of small sticks, the Norse name "stokfiske" meant the same: stockfish
or stickfish.
* Labrador (Labrador in Portuguese) means a labourer, a serf. The Portuguese
are supposed to have brought some Red Indians from this coast to be sold as
slaves.
The White Man's Discovery 25
supply themselves with fresh water of the purest, by hack-
ing ice from the masses floating in these Greenland
summer seas. The next year he started again, but on
a more westerly course. His two ships reached the
coasts of New Jersey and Massachusetts, and sailed
north once more to Labrador. They captured a number
of Amerindian aborigines, but only one of the two ships
(with seven of these savages on board) reached Portugal;
Caspar Corte-Real was never heard of again. His
brother Miguel went out in search of him, but he like-
wise disappeared without a trace.
Nevertheless these Portuguese expeditions to North
America have left ineffaceable traces in the geography
of the Newfoundland coast, of which (under the name
of Terra Nova1) the governorship was made hereditary in
the Corte-Real family. Cape Race for example — the
most prominent point of the island — is really the Portu-
guese Cabo Raso — the bare of "shaved" cape — and this
was by the Spaniards regarded as the westernmost limit
of Portuguese sovereignty in that direction. For the
Spaniards were by no means pleased at the intrusion of
other nations into a New World which they desired to
monopolize entirely for the Spanish Crown. They did
not so much mind sharing it, along the line agreed upon
in the Treaty of Tordesillas, with the Portuguese, but
the ingress of the English and French infuriated them.
The Basque people of the north-east corner of Spain were
a hardy seafaring folk, especially bold in the pursuit of
whales in the Bay of Biscay, and eager to take a share
in the salt -fish trade. This desire took them in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries to Ireland and Iceland.
They began to fish off the Newfoundland coasts perhaps
as early as 1525. About this time also the Emperor
1 Corte-Real's name of Terra Verde ("Greenland") was soon dropped in favour of
the older English name "New Land" (Newfoundland, Terra Nova). This was at
ace adopted by the French seamen as " Terre Neuve".
26 Pioneers in Canada
Charles V, King of Spain, having through one great
Portuguese sea captain — Magalhaes (Magellan) — discovered
the passage from Atlantic to Pacific across the extremity
of South America, thought by employing another Portu-
guese— Estevao Gomez — to find a similar sea route through
North America, which would prove a short cut from
Europe to China. This was the famous " North-west
Passage " the search for which drew so many great
and brave adventurers into the Arctic sea of America
between 1500 and 1853, to be revealed at last by our
fellow countrymen, but to prove useless to navigation on
account of the enormous accumulation of ice.
Gomez left Corunna in the winter of 1524-5, and reached
the North-American coast somewhere about Florida. He
probably only began to investigate closely after he passed
into the broad gulf of Maine, between Cape Cod and Nova
Scotia. Here he sighted from the sea the lofty mountains
of New Hampshire, and steered for the mouth of the
Penobscot River (which he named the River of Deer), a
title which sticks to the locality — in Deer Island — at the
present day). But this being no opening of a broad
strait, he passed on into the Bay of Fundy (from Portu-
guese word, Fundo, the -bottom of a sack or passage),
explored its two terminal gulfs, then returned along the
coast of Nova Scotia,1 past Cape Sable, and so to the
"gut" or Canal of Canso. Gomez realized that Cape
Breton was an island (we now know that it is two islands
separated by a narrow watercourse), but thought that
Cabot Strait was a great bay, and guessed nothing of
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the chance of securing
for Spain the possession of this mighty waterway into
the heart of North America.
From Cape North he crossed over to the south coast
'The name Nova Scotia was not applied to this peninsula until 1621, by the
British Government. It was at first included with New Brunswick under the
Spanish name of Norumbega, and after 1603 was called by the French "Acadie".
The White Man's Discovery 27
of Newfoundland, and followed this more or less till he
came to Cape Race. Newfoundland was a "very cold
and savage land", and Gomez decided it was no use
prosecuting any farther his enquiry as to a water passage
across North America, because, if it existed, it must lie
in latitudes of frozen sea and be unnavigable.
At different places along the east coast of North
America he kidnapped natives, and eventually returned
to Spain (via Florida and Cuba) with a cargo of Amer-
indian slaves.
He had been preceded, by seven or eight months, in
his explorations along the same coast by GIOVANNI DA
VERRAZANO, a native of Florence, who as a navigator and
explorer had visited the East, and had associated himself
a good deal with the shipowners of Dieppe. Ever since
the issue of Cabot's voyages was known — at any rate
from 1504 — ships from B'rittany and Normandy had made
their way to Cape Breton Island and Newfoundland for
the cod fisheries. In 1508 a Norman named Aubert was
sent out by Jean Ango — a great merchant of Dieppe of
that day — to found a colony in Newfoundland. Aubert
failed to do this, but he captured and brought away at
least seven of the natives, no doubt of the Beothik tribe,
from Newfoundland to Rouen, with their canoe, clothing,
and weapons. A good many ships also went out from
La Rochelle on the west coast of France, and took part
in the fishing off the coast of Newfoundland: together
with the ships of Brittany and Dieppe there may have
been a French fishing fleet of seventy to eighty ships
plying every summer season between France, Newfound-
land, and Cape • Breton. So that when "John from
Verrazano " offered his services to Francis I to make
discoveries across the ocean, which should become pos-
sessions of the French Crown, he was quickly provided
with the requisite funds and ships.
Verrazano started on the iyth of January, 1524, for
28 Pioneers in Canada
the coast of North America, but I shall say little about
his expedition here, because it resulted chiefly in the
discovery and mapping of what is now the east coast of
the United States. He reached as far as the south coast
of Newfoundland, it is true; he also gave the names
of Nova Gallia and Francesca to the coast regions of
eastern North America, and distinctly intended to take
possession of these on behalf of the French Crown. But
his work in this direction did not lead directly to the
creation of the French colony of Canada, because, when
he returned from America, Francis I was at war with
Spain, and could pay no attention to Verrazano's projects.
His voyage is worth recording in the present volume only
for these two reasons: he certainly put it into the minds
of French people that -they might found an empire in
North America; and he inspired geographers for another
hundred years with the false idea that the great North
American Continent had a very narrow waist, like the
Isthmus of Panama, and that the Pacific Ocean covered
the greater part of what is now called the United States.
This mistake arose from his looking across the narrow
belts or peninsulas of sand in North Carolina and Virginia,
and seeing vast stretches of open water to the west. These
were found, a hundred years afterwards, to be merely large
shallow lagoons of sea water, but Verrazano thought they
were an extension of the Pacific Ocean.
Nevertheless, Verrazano's voyage developed into the
French colonization of Canada, just as Cabot drew the
British to Newfoundland, Columbus the Spaniards to
Central and South America, and Amerigo Vespucci
showed the Portuguese the way to Brazil. The modern
nations of western Europe owe the inception of their
great colonies in America to four Italians.
CHAPTER II
Jacques Cartier
Verrazano and Gomez, and probably the English cap-
tain, John Rut, had all sought for the opening of a strait
of salt water — like Magellan's Straits in the far south —
which should lead them through the great North-American
continent to the regions of China and Japan. Yet in some
incomprehensible way they overlooked the two broad pas-
sages to the north and south of Newfoundland — the Straits
of Belle Isle and of Cabot — which would at any rate lead
them into the vast Gulf of St." Lawrence, and thence to
the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes; a natural
system of waterways connected each with the other and
all with the Mississippi and Missouri, the Arctic Ocean,
and Hudson's Bay; nay, more, with the North Pacific
also; so that with a few "portages", or carryings of
canoes from one watershed to another, a traveller of any
enterprise, accompanied by a sturdy crew, can cross the
broad continent of North America at its broadest from sea
to sea without much walking.
Estevao Gomez noticed Cabot Straits between Cape
Breton and Newfoundland, but thought them only a very
deep bay. John Rut and others discerned the Straits of
Belle Isle as a wide recess in the coast rather than the
mouth of a channel leading far inland. And yet, after
thirty years of Breton, English, and Portuguese fishing
operations in these waters, there must have been glimmer-
ings of the existence of the great Gulf of St. Lawrence
behind Newfoundland ; and JACQUES CARTIER (or Quartier),
30 Pioneers in Canada
who had probably made already one voyage to Newfound-
land (besides a visit to Brazil), suspected that between
Newfoundland and Labrador there lay the opening of the
great sea passage " leading to China". He proposed him-
self to Philippe de Chabot, the Admiral of France, as the
leader of a new French adventure to find the North-west
Passage, was accepted by King Francis, and at the age of
forty-three years set out, with two ships, from St. Malo in
Brittany, on April 20, 1534, ten years after Verrazano's
voyage, and reached the coast of Newfoundland after a
voyage of only twenty days. As he sailed northwards,
past the deeply indented fiords and bays of eastern New-
foundland (the shores of which were still hugged by the
winter ice), he and his men were much impressed with
the incredible numbers of the sea fowl settled for nesting
purposes on the rocky islands, especially on Funk Island.1
These birds were guillemots, puffins, great auks,2 gannets
(called by Cartier margaulx), and probably gulls and eider
duck. To his sailors — always hungry and partly fed on
salted provisions, as seamen were down to a few years
ago — this inexhaustible supply of fresh food was a source
of great enjoyment. They were indifferent, no doubt, to
the fishy flavour of the auks and the guillemots, and only
noticed that they were splendidly fat. Moreover, the birds
attracted Polar bears "as large as cows and as white as
swans ". The bears would swim off from the shore to the
islands (unless they could reach them by crossing the ice),
'Funk Island — called by Cartier "the Island of Birds" — is only about 3 miles
round, and 46 feet above the sea level. It is 3 miles distant from the coast.
2 The Great Auk (Alca impennis), extinct since about 1844 in Europe and 1870 in
Labrador, once had in ancient times a geographical range from Massachusetts and
Newfoundland to Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, N.E. England, and Denmark. Perhaps
nowhere was it found so abundantly as on the coasts of Eastern Newfoundland and
on Funk Island hard by. The Great Auk was in such numbers on the north-east coast
of Newfoundland that the Amerindians of that country and of southern Labrador used
it as fuel in the winter time, its body being very full of oil and burning with a splendid
flame. The French seamen called it pingouin (" penguin") from its fatness, and this
name was much later transferred to the real penguins of the southern seas which are
quite unrelated to the auks.
Jacques Carrier 31
and the sailors occasionally killed the bears and ate their
flesh, which they compared in excellence and taste to veal.
Passing through the Straits of Belle Isle, Cartier's
ships entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They had pre-
viously visited the adjoining coast of Labrador, and there
had encountered their first " natives", members of some
Algonkin tribe from Canada, who had come north for seal
fishing (Cartier is clever enough to notice and describe
their birch-bark canoes). After examining the west coast
of Newfoundland, Cartier's ships sailed on past the Mag-
dalen Islands (stopping every now and then off some islet
to collect supplies of sea birds, for the rocky ground was
covered with them as thickly as a meadow with grass).1
He reached the north coast of Prince Edward Island, and
this lovely country received from him an enthusiastic
description. The pine trees, the junipers, yews, elms,
poplars, ash, and willows, the beeches and the maples,
made the forest not only full of delicious and stimulating
odours, but lovely in its varied tints of green. In the
natural meadows and forest clearings there were red and
white currants, gooseberries, strawberries, raspberries, a
vetch which produced edible peas, and a grass with a
grain like rye. The forest abounded in pigeons, and the
climate was pleasant and warm.
Later on he coasted New Brunswick, and paused for
a time over Chaleur Bay, hoping it might be the open-
ing to the strait across the continent of which he was in
search ; but finding it was not, he continued northwards
till he had almost rounded the Gaspe Peninsula, a course
which would have led him straight away into the won-
derful discovery of the St. Lawrence River, but that,
being forced by bad weather into Gaspe Bay, and per-
haps hindered by fog, instead of entering the St. Law-
rence he sailed right across to Anticosti Island. After
1 On the shores of these islands they noticed ' ' several great beasts like oxen, which
have two tusks in the mouth similar to those of the elephant ". These were walruses.
32 Pioneers in Canada
that, being baffled by bad weather and doubtful as to his
resources lasting out, he decided to return to France
through the Strait of Belle Isle.
So far he had failed to realize two of the most impor-
tant things in the geography of this region: the broad
southern entrance into the Gulf of St. Lawrence (subse-
quently called Cabot Strait),* which separates Newfound-
land on the north from Cape Breton Island on the south,
and the broad entrance into the River St. Lawrence be-
tween Anticosti Island and the Gaspe Peninsula.
Yet, whilst staying in Gaspe Bay, he had a very im-
portant meeting with Amerindian natives of the Huron-
Iroquois stock, who had come down the River St. Lawrence
from the neighbourhood of Quebec, fishing for mackerel.
These bold, friendly people welcomed the French heartily,
greeting them with songs and dances. But when they
saw Carder erect a great cross on the land at the entrance
to Gaspe Bay (a cross bearing a shield with the arms of
France and the letters "Vive le Roi de France"), they
were ill at ease. It is certain that not one word could be
understood in language between the two parties, for there
were as yet no interpreters; but the Amerindians were
probably shrewd enough to perceive that Cartier was
making some claim on the land, and they explained by
signs that they considered all this country belonged to
themselves. Nevertheless, Cartier persuaded two youths,
the sons of one of the chiefs, to go back with him to
France on his ship, to learn the French language, to see
what France looked like, and to return afterwards as in-
terpreters. The boys, though they were practically kid-
napped at first, were soon reconciled to going, especially
when they were dressed in French clothes!
When Cartier was on his way home he sailed in a
north-easterly direction in such a way as to overlook the
broad channel between the Gaspe Peninsula and Anticosti
Island, but having rounded the easternmost extremity of
JACQUES CARTIER
Jacques Cartier 33
that large island, he coasted along its northern shores
until he caught sight of the opening of the Canadian
channel to the west. He believed then that he had dis-
covered the long- looked -for opening of the trans-con-
tinental passage, and sailed for France with his wonderful
news.
On the i gth of May, 1535, Cartier started again from
St. Malo with three ships, the biggest of which was only
120 tons, while the others were respectively 60 and 40 tons
capacity. The crew consisted of about 112 persons, and
in addition there were the two Indian youths who had
been kidnapped on the previous voyage, and were now
returning as interpreters. Instead, however, of reaching
Newfoundland in twenty days, he spent five weeks cross-
ing the Atlantic before he reached his rendezvous with the
other ships at Blanc Sablon, on the south coast of Lab-
rador; for the easy access to the Gulf of St. Lawrence
through Cabot Strait (between- Newfoundland and Cape
Breton) was not yet realized. Once past Anticosti Island,
the two Huron interpreters began to recognize the scenery.1
They now explained to Cartier that he had entered the
estuary of a vast river. This they said he had only to
pursue in ships and boats and he would reach "Canada"
(which was the name they gave to the district round about
Quebec), and that beyond "Canada" no man had ever
been known to reach the end of this great water ; but, they
added, it was fresh water, not salt, and this last piece of
information much disheartened Cartier, who feared that
he had not, after all, discovered the water route across
North America to the Pacific Ocean. He therefore turned
about and once more searched the opposite coast of Lab-
rador most minutely, displaying, as he did so, a seaman-
1 Anticosti Island received from Cartier the name of " the Island of the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin ", in consequence of his having discovered it to be an island on
the feast day of that name. It did not receive its present title until the late seventeenth
century.
( 0 812 ) 3
34 Pioneers in Canada
ship which was little else than marvellous, for it is a very
dangerous coast, the seas are very stormy, and the look-
out often hampered by a sudden rising of dense fog; there
are islands and rocks (some of them almost hidden by the
water) and sandbanks; but Cartier made this survey of
southern Labrador without an accident.
At this period, some three hundred and seventy-five
years ago, the northern coasts of the Gulf of St. Lawrence
and of Anticosti Island swarmed with huge walruses,
which were described by Cartier as sea horses that spent
the night on land and the day in the water. They have
long since been exterminated by the English and French
seamen and settlers.
At last Cartier set sail for the south-west, intending
to explore this wonderful river and to reach the kingdom
of Canada. According to his understanding of the Amer-
indian interpreters, the waters of the St. Lawrence flowed
through three great states: Saguenay, which was the
mountainous Gaspe Peninsula and the opposite coast;
Canada, Quebec and its neighbourhood; and Hochelaga,
the region between Montreal and Lake Ontario. At the
mouth of the Saguenay River, where Tadoussac is now
situated, he encountered large numbers of white whales —
the Beluga. These are really huge porpoises, allied to
the narwhals, but without the narwhal's exaggerated tusk.
When he reached the vicinity of the modern Quebec,1 and
his Amerindian interpreters found themselves at their
actual home (for they were far away from home on a
fishing expedition when he caught them in Gaspe Bay)
there was great rejoicing; for they were able to tell
their relations of the wonderful country to which they
had been across the ocean. Cartier was delighted with
the surroundings of "Canada" (Quebec), near which at
that time was a large settlement (Stadacona) of Huron
•Then called "Canada". The word Quebec (pronounced Ktbek) means the
narrow part of a river.
Jacques Cartier 35
Indians under a chief named Donnacona. He decided
to lay up his ships here for the winter, and to pursue
the rest of his western explorations in his boats.
But the Amerindians for some reason were not willing
that he should go any farther, and attempted to scare him
from his projects by arranging for three of their number
to come down river in a canoe, dressed in dogs' skins,
with their faces blackened, and with bisons' horns fastened
to their heads. These devils pretended to take no notice
of the French, but to die suddenly as they reached the
shore, while the rest of the natives gave vent to howlings
of despair and consternation. The three devils were pre-
tending to have brought a message from a god to these
Hurons of "Canada" that the country up river (Hoche-
laga) was so full of ice and snow that it would be death
for anyone to go there.
However, this made little or no impression on Cartier;
but he consented to leave a proportion of his party behind
with the chief Donnacona as hostages, and then started
up country in his boats with about seventy picked officers
and men. On the 2nd of October, 1535, they reached
the vicinity of the modern Montreal, the chief settlement
of Hochelaga. The Huron town at the foot of the hills
was circular in outline, surrounded by a stockade of three
rows of upright tree trunks, which rose to its highest
point in the middle, where the timbers of the inner and
outward sides sloped to meet one another, the height of
the central row being about 8 feet above the ground.
All round the inside there was a platform or rampart on
which were stored heavy stones to be hurled at any enemy
who should attempt to scale the fence. The town was
entered by only one doorway, and contained about fifty
houses surrounding an open space whereon the towns-
people made their bonfires. Each house was about 50
feet long by 12 to 15 feet wide. They were roofed with
bark, and usually had attics which were storerooms for
36 Pioneers in Canada
food. In the centre of each of these long houses there
was a fireplace where the cooking for the whole of the
house inhabitants was done. Each family had its own
room, but each house probably contained five families.
Almost the only furniture, except cooking pots, was mats
on which the people sat and slept. The food of the
people consisted, besides fish and the flesh of beavers
and deer, of maize and beans. Carder at once recog-
nized the maize or Indian corn as the same grain ("a
large millet") as that which he had seen in Brazil.
He gives a description of how they made the maize
into bread (or rather "dampers", ' ' ashcakes ") ; but as
this is not altogether clear, it is better to combine it
with Champlain's description, written a good many years
later, but still at a time when the Hurons were unaffected
by the white man's civilization. According to both Cartier
and Champlain, the women pounded the corn to meal in
a wooden mortar, and removed the bran by means of fans
made of the bark of trees. From this meal they made
bread, sometimes mixing with the meal the beans (Prias-
eolus vulgaris), which had been boiled and mashed. Or
they would boil both Indian corn and beans into a thick
soup, adding to the soup blueberries,1 dried raspberries,
or pieces of deer's fat. The meal derived from the corn
and beans they would make into bread, baking it in the
ashes.
Or they would take the pounded Indian corn without
removing the bran, and put two or three handfuls of it
into an earthen pot full of water, stirring it from time
to time, when it boiled, so that it might not adhere to
the pot. To this was added a small quantity of fish,
fresh or dry, according to the season, to give a flavour
to the migane or porridge. When the dried fish was
1 The Canada Blueberry ( Vaccinium canadense), called by the French blues or bluets.
These blues were collected and dried by the Amerindians, and made a sweet nutri-
ment for eating in the winter.
Jacques Cartier 37
used the porridge smelt very badly in the nostrils of
Europeans, but worst of all when the porridge was mixed
with dried venison, which was sometimes nearly putrid!
If fish was put into this porridge it was boiled whole
in the mealy water, then taken out without any attempt
to remove the fins, scales, or entrails, and the whole of
the boiled fish was pounded up and put back into the
porridge. Sometimes a great birch-bark "kettle" would
be filled with water, fish, and meat, and red-hot stones
be dropped in till it boiled. Then with a spoon they
would collect from the surface the fat and oil arising
from the fish or meat. This they afterwards mixed with
the meal of roasted Indian corn, stirring it with this fat
till they had made a thick soup. Sometimes, however,
they were content to eat the young corn-cobs freshly
roasted, which as a matter of fact (with a little salt) is
one of the most delicious things in the world. Or they
would take ears of Indian corn and bury them in wet
mud, leaving them thus for two or three months; then
the cobs would be removed and the rotted grain eaten
with meat and fish, though it was all muddy and smelt
horribly. Cartier also noticed that these Huron Indians
had melons and pumpkins, and described their wampum
or shell money.1
From the eminence on which the Huron city stood,
Cartier obtained a splendid view of rivers and moun-
1 Cartier, in Hakluyt's translation, is made to say (I modernize the spelling): "They
dig their grounds with certain pieces of wood as big as half a sword, on which ground
groweth their corn, which they call 'offici'; it is as big as our small peason. . . .
They have also great store of musk melons, pompions, gourds, cucumbers, peas, and
beans of every colour, yet differing from ours."
Wampum, or shell money (which recalls the shell money of the Pacific Islands),
consisted either of beads made from the interior parts of sea shells or land shells, or of
strings of perforated sea shells. The most elaborate kind of wampum was that of the
Amerindians of Canada and the eastern United States, the shell beads of which were
generally white. The commoner wampum beads were black and violet. Wampum
belts were made which illustrated events, dates, treaties of peace, &c. , by a rude sym-
bolism (figures of men and animals, upright lines, &c.), and these were worked neatly
on string by employing different-coloured beads.
38 Pioneers in Canada
tains and magnificent forests, and called the place then
and there, in his Norman French, Mont Real, or Royal
Eminence, a name which it will probably bear for all time,
though the actual city of Montreal lies a few miles below.
Montreal was the limit of Cartier's explorations on
this journey. He returned thence to "Canada" or Stada-
cona, where his men built a fort armed with artillery,
and where his ships were anchored. Here he had to
stay from the middle of November, 1535, to the middle
of April, 1536, his ships being shut in by the ice. The
experiences of the French during these five months were
mostly unhappy. At first Cartier gave himself up to the
collecting of information. He noticed for the first time
the smoking of tobacco,1 and collected information about
the products and features of "Canada". The Indians told
him of great lakes in the far west, one of which was so
vast that no man had seen the end of it. They told him
that anyone travelling up the Richelieu River (as it was
called sixty years later) would eventually reach a land in
the south where in the winter there was no ice or snow,
and where fruit and nut trees grew in abundance. Cartier
thought that they were talking to him of Florida, but
their geographical information can scarcely have stretched
so far; they probably referred to the milder regions of
New Jersey and Virginia, which would be reached by
following southwards the valley of the Hudson and
keeping to the lowlands of the eastern United States.
1 " There groweth also a certain kind of herb whereof in summer they make a great
provision for all the year, making great account of it, and only men use it; and first
they cause it to be dried in the sun, then wear it about their necks wrapped in a little
beast's skin made like a bag, together with a hollow piece of stone or wood like a pipe.
Then when they please they make powder of it and put it in one of the ends of the
said cornet or pipe, and laying a coal of fire upon it at the other end, suck so long
that they fill their bodies full of smoke, till that it cometh out of their mouth and
nostrils, even as out of the tunnel of a chimney. They say that this doth keep them
warm and in health : they never go without some of it about them. We ourselves
have tried the same smoke, and having put it in our mouths, it seemed almost as hot
as pepper. " The foregoing is one of the earliest descriptions of tobacco smoking in
any European language, the original words being in Cartier's Norman French.
Jacques Cartier 39
As the winter set in with its customary Canadian
severity the real trouble of the French began. They
did not suffer from the cold, but they were dying of
scurvy. This disease, from which the natives also
suffered to some extent, was due to their eating nothing
but salt or smoked provisions — forms of meat or fish.
They lived, of course, shut up in the fort, and Cartier's
fixed idea was to keep the Hurons from the knowledg
of his misfortune, fearing lest, if they realized how the
garrison was reduced, they might treacherously attack
and massacre the rest; for in spite of the extravagant joy
with which their arrival had been greeted, the Amer-
indians— notably the two interpreters who had been to
France and returned — showed at intervals signs of dis-
quiet and a longing to be rid of these mysterious white
men, whose coming might involve the country in un-
known misfortunes. In January and February, also,
Donnacona and these two interpreters and many of the
Huron men had been absent hunting in the forests, so
that there was no one among the Amerindians to whom
the French could turn for information regarding this
strange disease. At last 25 out of the 112 who had left
France were dead, and of the remainder only 10 men,
including Cartier, were not grievously ill. Those who
were living found it sometimes beyond their strength to
bury the dead in the frozen ground, and simply placed
their bodies in deep snow. Once or twice, when Cartier
left the fort to go out to the ships, he met Domagaya, one
of the two interpreters, and found that he also was suffer-
ing from this mysterious disease, though not nearly so
badly as the French people. On the body of one young
man who died of scurvy Cartier and his officers, shud-
dering, made investigations, opening the corpse and
examining the organs to try and find the cause of death.
This was on the afternoon of a day on which they had
held a solemn service before a statue erected to the Virgin
40 Pioneers in Canada
Mary on the shore opposite to the ships. All who were
fit to walk went in procession from the fort to the statue,
singing penitential psalms and the Litany and celebrating
Mass.
Some days after this religious service Cartier met the
interpreter, Domagaya, and to his surprise found him
perfectly well and strong. He asked him for an explana-
tion, and was told that the medicine which cured this dis-
ease was made from the leaves and bark of a tree called
ameda.1 Cartier then ventured to say that one of his
servants was sick of this unknown disease, and Domagaya
sent for two women, who taught the French people how to
make an extract from the balsam fir for drinking, and how
to apply the same liquid to the inflamed skin. The effect
on the crews was miraculous. In six days all the sick
were well and strong.
Then came the sudden spring. Between April I5th
and May ist the ice on the river was all melted, and on
the 6th May, 1536, Cartier started from the vicinity of
Quebec to return to France. But before leaving he had
managed to kidnap Donnacona, the chief of the Huron
settlement, and six or seven other Amerindians, amongst
them Tainyoanyi, one of the two interpreters who had
already been to France. He seized these men, it appears,
partly because he wanted hostages and had good reason
to fear that the Indians meditated a treacherous attack on
his ships before they could get away. He also wished for
native witnesses at Court, when he reached France, to
testify to the truth of his discoveries, and even more to
convince the King of France that there was great profit
to be obtained from giving effect to Carder's explorations.
The chief, Donnacona, was full of wonderful stories of the
Saguenay region, and of the great lakes to the northwards
of Quebec. Probably he was only alluding to the wealth
of copper now known to exist in northern Canada, but to
'This tree was the balsam fir, Abies balsamea.
Jacques Carrier 41
Cartier and the other Frenchmen it seemed as though he
spoke of gold and silver, rubies, and other precious stones.
Donnacona's people howled and wept when their chief
was seized ; but Cartier obliged the chief to reassure them,
and to say that the French had promised to bring him
back after he had paid a visit to their great king, who
would return him to his country with great presents. As
a matter of fact, not one of these Indians rapt away by
Cartier ever saw Canada again. But this was not the
fault of Cartier, but of the distractions of the times which
turned away the thoughts of King Francis I from American
adventures. The Indians were well and kindly treated in
France, .but all of them died there before Cartier left St.
Malo to return to Canada in 1541.
One advantage he derived from sailing away with these
hostages was (no doubt) that they could give him geo-
graphical information of importance which materially short-
ened the return journey. For the first time he made use of
the broad strait between Anticosti Island and Gaspe Pen-
insula, and, better still, entered the Atlantic, not by the
dangerous northern route through the straits of Belle Isle,
but by means of Cabot Strait, between Newfoundland and
Cape Breton Island. Of these discoveries he availed him-
self on his third and last voyage in 1541.
When in that year he once more anchored his ships
near Quebec he found the attitude of the Hurons changed.
They enquired about their friends and relations who had
been carried off five years before, and although they pre-
tended to be reconciled to their fate when they heard (not
altogether truly) that one or two were dead, and the others
had become great lords in France and had married French
women, they really felt a disappointment so bitter and a
hostility so great that Cartier guessed their expressions of
welcome to be false. However, he sent back to France
two of the ships under his command and beached the other
three, landed his stores, built two forts at Cap Rouge,
42 Pioneers in Canada
above and below, and then started off with a few of his
men and two boats to revisit the country of Hochelaga.
Here he intended to examine the three rapids or "saults"
— interruptions to the navigation of the St. Lawrence —
which he had observed on his previous journey, and which
were later named the La Chine Rapids (in the belief that
they were obstacles on the river route to China). But
these falls proved insuperable obstacles to his boats, and
he gave up any further idea of westward exploration, re-
turned to his forts and ships near Quebec, and there laid
the foundations of a fortified town, which he called Charles-
bourg Royal. Here he spent a very difficult winter, the
Hurons in the neighbourhood becoming increasingly
hostile, and at last, when the spring came, as he had re-
ceived no relief from France, he took to his three ships,
abandoned Charlesbourg Royal (having probably to do
some fighting before he could get safely away) and thence
sailed for France. Off the Avalon Peninsula of Newfound-
land he met the other ships of the expedition which was
to have occupied Canada for France. These were under
the command of the Sieur de Roberval, a French noble-
man, who had really been made head of the whole enter-
prise, with Cartier as a subordinate officer, but who, the
year before, had allowed Cartier to go off to Canada and
prepare the way, promising to follow immediately. The
interview between Cartier and Roberval, near where the
capital of Newfoundland (St. John's) now stands, was a
stormy one. Roberval ordered Cartier to return at once
to Charlesbourg and await his arrival. However, in the
middle of the night which followed this interview, Cartier
took advantage of a favourable wind and set sail for
France, arriving soon afterwards at St. Malo.
But Roberval arrived at Charlesbourg (going the
roundabout way through the straits of Belle Isle, for
Cartier had told him nothing of the convenient passage
through Cabot Strait), and there spent the winter of
Jacques Cartier 43
1542-3, sending his ships back to France. This winter
was one of horrors. Roberval was a headstrong, pas-
sionate man, perfectly reckless of human life. He main-
tained discipline by ferocious sentences, putting many ol
his men in irons, whipping others cruelly, women as well
as men, and shooting those who seemed the most rebellious.
Even the Indians were moved to pity, and wept at the
sight of the woes of these unhappy French men and
women under the control of a bloodthirsty tyrant, and
many of them dying of scurvy, or miserably weak from
that disease.1
However, when the weather was warm again, in June,
1543, Roberval started up the St. Lawrence River in boats
to reach the wonderful country of Saguenay. Apparently
he met with little success, and, being relieved by French
ships in the late summer of 1543, he returned to France.
Thus the splendid work achieved by Cartier seemed to
have come to nothing, for neither he nor Roberval revisited
America. The French settlement near Quebec was aban-
i A story was subsequently told of Roberval's stern treatment which had a germ
of truth in it, though it has since been the foundation of many a romance. On the
journey out from France it is said that Roberval took with him his niece Marguerite,
a high-born lady, who was accompanied by an old companion or nurse. Marguerite
was travelling with her uncle because, unknown to him, she had a lover who had sailed
with him on this expedition and whom she hoped to marry. As they crossed the
Atlantic these facts leaked out, and Roberval resolved to bide his time and punish his
niece for her deception. As they passed the coast of Southern Labrador Marguerite
and her old nurse were seized and put into a boat, Roberval ordering his sailors to row
them ashore to an island, and leave them to their fate. They were given four guns
with ammunition and a small supply of provisions. But, as the boat was leaving the
ship, Marguerite's lover threw himself into the sea and swam to the island. Here,
according to the story which Marguerite is supposed to have told afterwards, they
endeavoured to live by killing the wild animals and eating their flesh ; but her lover-
husband died, so also did her child soon after it was born, and then the old nurse, and
the unhappy Marguerite was left alone with the wild beasts, especially the white Polar
bears, who thronged round her hut. Nevertheless she kept them at bay with her
arquebus, and managed somehow to support an existence, until after nineteen months'
isolation the ascending smoke of her fire was seen by people on one of the many fishing
vessels which, by this time, frequented the coasts of Newfoundland. She was taken
off the island and restored to her home in France. The island to which this tradition
more especially relates is now called Grand Meccatina.
44 Pioneers in Canada
doned, so far as the officers of the French king were con-
cerned, and between 1545 and about 1583, if any other
Frenchman or European visited Canada it was some
private adventurer who traded with the natives in furs, or
Basques from France and Spain who frequented the waters
of the Gulf of St. Lawrence on account of the abundance
of whales, walruses, and seals. In fact, at the close of the
sixteenth century, the Spanish Basques had established
themselves on shore at Tadoussac and other places, and
seemed likely to colonize the country.
CHAPTER III
Elizabethan Pioneers in North America
Except that the ships of Bristol still no doubt continued
to resort to the banks of Newfoundland for fishing, and that
even the captains of these ships were occasionally elected
admirals of the French, Basque, Portuguese, and English
fishing fleets during the summer, the English, as a nation,
took no part in claiming political dominion over North
America after the voyage of Captain John Rut in 1527.
This was the fault of Sebastian Cabot, the son of the
man who founded British America, and who had re-
turned to England long afterwards as the Grand Pilot
appointed by Edward VI to further the discovery of a
northern sea passage to China. Through him the attention
of adventurers for a time was diverted from America to
the "discovery" of Russia (as it has been called). The
efforts of Sebastion Cabot were directed towards the reve-
lation of a north-east passage by way of Arctic Russia to
the Pacific, rather than past Newfoundland and Labrador
and across Arctic America.
But as soon as Elizabeth came to the throne the sea
adventurers of Britain, freed from any subservience to
Spanish wishes, developed maritime intercourse between
England, Morocco, and West Africa on the one hand,
and Tropical and North America on the other. Once
more the discovery of the North-west Passage across
America to China came into favour. MARTIN FROBiSHER1
i The name was also spelt Furbusher, and in other ways. He became Sir Martin
Frobisher over the wars of the Armada, and died Lord High Admiral of Bngland in
1592.
45
46 Pioneers in Canada
offered himself as a discoverer, and the Earl of Warwick
found the means which provided him with two small
sailing vessels of 25 and 20 tons each, besides a pinnace
of 10 tons.1 Queen Elizabeth confined herself, in the
way of encouragement, to waving her lily hand from her
palace of Greenwich as these three little boats -dropped
down the Thames on the 8th of June, 1576. She also
sent them "an honourable message", which no doubt
reached them at Tilbury.
But the pinnace was soon swallowed up in the high
seas; the seamen in the vessel of 20 tons lost heart and
turned their ship homewards. Frobisher alone, in his
25-ton bark, sailed on and on across the stormy Atlantic,
past the south end of Greenland, and over the great gulf
that separates Greenland from Labrador. He missed the
entrance to Hudson's Bay, but reached a great "island"
which he named Meta Incognita2. Here he gathered up
stones and, as he believed, minerals, besides capturing at
least one Eskimo, and then returned.
One of his stones was declared by the refiners of
London to contain gold. There was at <?nce — as we
should say in modern slang — a boom for these Arctic
regions. Queen Elizabeth took part in it, and on the
ayth of May, 1577, a considerable fleet, under the com-
mand of Frobisher. sailed past the Orkneys for the south
end of Greenland. It did not reach as far as Meta In-
cognita, but it brought back large heaps of earth and
pieces of rock, probably from northern Labrador, which
1 It may be of interest to set forth the kind of rations shipped in those Elizabethan
times for the food of the sailors. According to Frobisher's accounts these consisted rf
salted beef, salt pork, salt fish, biscuit, meal for making bread, dried peas, oatmeal,
rice, cheese, butter, beer, and wine, with brandy for emergencies. As regards beer,
the men were to have a ration of i gallon a day each. Altogether it may be said
that these rations were superior in variety — and no doubt in quality— to the food given
to seamen in the British merchant marine in the nineteenth century.
a We now know Meta Incognita to be the southernmost peninsula of the vast Baffin
Island.
Elizabethan Pioneers 47
almost certainly contained mica schist, and were there-
fore believed to be full of gold. The following year,
1578, Frobisher started on his third American voyage
with a fleet of fifteen vessels, mainly financed by Queen
Elizabeth, and manned to a great extent by the sons
of the aristocracy, besides a hundred persons who were
going out as colonists. For this region of ice and snow
which was believed to be a mass of gold-bearing rocks!
But the result was one of bitter disappointment. The
captains were bewildered by the immense icebergs, "so
vast that, as they melted, torrents poured from them in
sparkling waterfalls ". One iceberg toppled over on to a
ship and crushed it, though most of the sailors were picked
up in the sea and saved. In the thick mists the greater
part of the fleet blundered into Hudson's Straits, yet did
not realize that they had found a passage into the heart
of Canada. At last, disgusted with this land of bare
rocks, ice, and snow, they filled up the ships with car-
goes of stones supposed to contain gold, and straggled
back to England. No gold was extracted, however, from
these cargoes, and much discouragement ensued.
SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT, one of the brilliant figures
of Elizabeth's reign — scholar, poet, courageous adventurer,
and man of chivalry — stimulated by the discoveries of
Frobisher, obtained a patent or charter in 1578, and,
after several unsuccessful attempts, led an expedition
of small sailing ships to Newfoundland, where he en-
tered St. John's Bay, and in the presence of the Basque,
Portuguese, and Breton fishermen took formal posses-
sion of the country for Queen Elizabeth, raising a pillar
on which the arms of England were engraved as a
token. He then proceeded to grant lands to the fisher-
men to reassure them, and loaded his ships with rocks
brought from the interior mountains and supposed to
contain minerals. But in his further explorations of the
southern coast of Newfoundland one of the ships was
48 Pioneers in Canada
lost and nearly a hundred men intended as colonists
were drowned.
Gilbert then determined to return to England in his
small frigate of 10 tons named the Squirrel. He was
accompanied by a larger vessel, the Golden Hinde^ but
refused to leave the men on the Squirrel to their fate.
Consequently, between the Azores and the north coast of
Spain, when the Squirrel was overwhelmed by the heavy
seas, Sir Humphrey Gilbert perished together with all on
board.
In spite, however, of the disappointing results of
Gilbert's attempt to found a colony in Newfoundland,
the importance of the cod fishery and the ivory tusks
and oil of the walruses drew ever more and more ships
from Bristol and Devonshire to the coasts of that great
island and to the Gulf of St. Lawrence beyond. In 1592
the English adventurers got as far west as Anticosti
Island (in a ship from Bristol), and in 1597 there is the
first record of English ships (from London — the Hope-
well and the Chancewell) sailing up the St. Lawrence
River, perhaps as far west as Quebec.
In 1602, stimulated by Sir Walter Raleigh,1 Bar-
tholomew Gosnold sailed direct to the coast of North
America south of the Newfoundland latitudes, and an-
chored his bark off the coast of Massachusetts on the
26th of March, 1602. Failing to find a good harbour
here, he stood out for the south and definitely discovered
and named Cape Cod, not far from the modern city of
Boston. From Cape Cod he made his way to the Eliza-
beth Islands in Buzzard's Bay, and here he built a
storehouse and fort, and may be said to have laid the
foundations of the future colony of New England. He
1 In 1584, Sir Waiter Raleigh, the half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, financed
an expedition to sail to the coast of North America in a more southerly direction. In
this way was founded the (afterwards abandoned) colony of Roanoke, in North Caro-
lina. It was to this region that Queen Elizabeth applied the title of Virginia, which
TOine years afterwards was transferred to the first English colony on the James River.
Elizabethan Pioneers 49
brought back with him a cargo of sassafras root, which
was then much esteemed as a valuable medicine and a
remedy for almost all diseases.
Subsequent expeditions of English ships explored and
mapped the coast of Maine, and took on board Amer-
indians for exhibition in England. Their adventures,
together with those of the colonists farther south, led to
the creation of chartered companies, and to the great
British colonies of New England, New York, Virginia,
the Carolinas, and Georgia, which were to become in
time the United States of America — a vast field of ad-
venture which we cannot follow farther in this book.
As regards Newfoundland, James I, in 1610, granted
a patent to a Bristol merchant for the foundation there of
a colony, and although this attempt, and another under
Sir George Calvert (Lord Baltimore) in 1616, came almost
to nothing through the attacks of the French and the dis-
like of the crews of the fishing vessels to permanent settlers
who might interfere with the fishing industry, the English
colonization of Newfoundland to some extent caught hold,
so that in 1650 there were about two thousand colonists
of English descent along the east and south-east coasts
of the island. But settlement was prohibited within six
miles of the shore, to please the fishermen, and this
regulation checked for more than two hundred years the
colonization of Newfoundland.
Nova Scotia as a British colony also came into being
as another result of these adventurous British expeditions
to North America in the reign of James I. Under the name
of Acadie this region had been declared to be a portion
of New France by De Monts and Champlain in 1604-14.
But the English colonists in 1614 drove the French out of
the peninsula of Nova Scotia on the plea that it was a part
of the discoveries made by the Cabots on behalf of the
British Crown. In 1621 James I gave a grant of all this
territory to Sir William Alexander under the name of
( 0 812 4
50 Pioneers in Canada
Nova Scotia, and both Charles I and Cromwell encour-
aged settlement in this beautiful region. When Charles
II ceded it to France in 1667 the English and Scottish
colonists who were residing there, and the English settlers
of New England, refused to recognize the effects of the
Treaty of Breda, and so harassed the French in the years
which followed that in 1713 Nova Scotia was, together with
Newfoundland, recognized as belonging to Great Britain.
The French colonists were allowed to remain, but during
the course of the eighteenth century they combined with
the Amerindians (who liked the French and disliked the
British) and made the position of the British colonists
so precarious that they were finally expelled and obliged
to transfer themselves to Louisiana and Canada. This
was the departure of the Acadians so touchingly de-
scribed by Longfellow.
The British had become tenacious of their rights over
the east coast of Newfoundland, because from the middle
of the seventeenth century onwards they were becoming
increasingly interested in the whale fisheries and the fur
trade of the lands bordering on Hudson's Bay, and would
not tolerate any blocking of the sea route thither by the
French.
In the explorations of Arctic America, Frobisher's ex-
peditions had been succeeded by those of JOHN DAVIS,
who in the course of three voyages, beginning in June,
1585, passed the entrance of Hudson's Straits and reached
a point as far north as 72° 41', a lofty granite island, which
he named Sanderson's Hope. He saw beyond him a great
sea, free, large, very salt, and blue, unobstructed by ice
and of an unsearchable depth, and believed that he had
completely discovered the eastern entrance of the North-
West Passage.
HENRY HUDSON, the great English navigator, who
had made two voyages (1607-8) for the English-Moscovy
Company to discover a north-east passage to India, past
,
ICEBERGS AND POLAR BEARS
Elizabethan Pioneers 51
Siberia, commanded a third experiment in 1609 at the
expense of the Dutch East India Company. He was to
discover the North-West Passage. For this purpose he
entered the river now named the Hudson, but soon found
it was only a river; though he returned to Holland with
such an encouraging account of the surrounding country
that the Dutch a little later on, founded on the banks
of the Hudson River their colony of New Amsterdam
(afterwards the State of New York). In 1610 Hudson
accepted a British commission to sail beyond where Davis
and Frobisher had passed, and once more seek for the
north-west passage to China. Instead he found the way
into Hudson's Bay. Here his men, alarmed at the idea
of being lost in these regions of ice and snow, mutinied
against him, placed him and those who were faithful to
him in a boat, and cast them off, themselves returning to
England with the news of his -discovery. Hudson was
never heard of again, and, strange to say, the mutineers
apparently received no punishment.
Between 1602 and 1668, English adventurers from
London and Bristol, notable amongst whom were WILLIAM
BAFFIN, LUKE Fox, and CAPTAIN JAMES, mapped the
coasts of Hudson's Bay and Baffin's Bay and brought
to the notice of merchants in England the abundance of
whales in these Arctic waters, and of fur-bearing beasts
and fur-trading Indians in the region of Hudson's Bay.
This last point was most forcibly presented to Charles
II and his Government by a disappointed French Cana-
dian, Pierre Esprit Radisson, whose adventures will later
on be described. Radisson, conceiving himself to be
badly treated by the French Governor of Canada, crossed
over to England with his brother-in-law, Chouart, and the
two were warmly taken up by Prince Rupert of Bavaria,
the cousin of Charles II. They were sent out by Prince
Rupert in command of an expedition financed by him
and a number of London merchants, and in 1669 the
52 Pioneers in Canada
New England captain, Gillam, returned to England with
Chouart and the first cargo of furs from Hudson's Bay.
This cargo so completely met the expectations of those
who had promoted the venture that it led in 1670 to the
foundation of the Governor and Company of Adventurers
of England trading into Hudson's Bay, a company char-
tered by Charles II and presided over by Prince Rupert,
and an association which proved to be the germ of British
North America, of the vast three-quarters of the present
Dominion of Canada.
CHAPTER IV
Champlain and the Foundation of Canada
From the first voyage of Cartier onwards, Canada
was called intermittently New France, and its possi-
bilities were not lost sight of by a few intelligent French-
men on account oT'The fur trade. Amongst these was
Amyard de Chastes, at one time Governor of Dieppe,
who got into correspondence with the adventurers who
had settled as fur traders at Tadoussac, prominent amongst
whom was Du Font-Grave. De Chastes dispatched with
Font-Grave a young man whose acquaintance he had just
made, SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN.1 This was the man who,
more than any other, created French Canada.
Champlain had had already a most adventurous life.
He was born about 1567, at Brouage, in the Saintonge,
opposite to the Island of Heron, on the coast of western
France. From his earliest years he had a passion for the
sea, but he also served as a soldier for six years. His
father had been a sea captain, and his uncle as an ex-
perienced navigator was commissioned by the King of
Spain to transport by sea to that country the remainder
of the Spanish soldiers who had been serving in Brittany.
The uncle took his nephew with him. Young Champlain
when in Spain managed to ingratiate himself so much
with the Spanish authorities that he was actually com-
missioned as a captain to take a king's ship out to the
West Indies. No sooner did he reach Spanish America
1 Afterwards the Sieur de Champlain. The title of Sieur (from the Latin Senior)
is the origin of the English "sir", and is about equivalent to an English baronetcy.
63
54 Pioneers in Canada
than he availed himself of the first chance to explore it.
For two years he travelled over Cuba, and above all
Mexico. He visited the narrowest part of Central America
and conceived the possibility of making a trans-oceanic
canal across the Panama isthmus.
When he got back to France he placed before Henry IV
a report on Spanish Central America, together with a pro-
ject for making a canal at Panama. Henry IV was so
pleased with his work and enterprise that he gave him a
pension and the title of Geographer to the King. Shortly
afterwards he met Governor de Chastes at Dieppe, and
was by him sent out to Canada. The ship which carried
Champlain, PoNT-GRAVE,1 the SIEUR DE MoNTS,2 and
other French adventurers (together with two Amerindian
interpreters whom Pont-Grave had brought from Canada
to learn French) arrived at Tadoussac on May 24, 1603.
Champlain lost no time in commencing his explora-
tions. Tadoussac was at the mouth of an important river,
called by the French the Saguenay, a name which they
also applied to the mysterious and wonderful country
through which it flowed in the far north; a country rich
in copper and possibly other precious metals. Champlain
ascended the Saguenay River for sixty miles as far as
the rapids of Chicoutima. The Amerindians whom he
met here told him of Lake St. John, lying at a short
distance to the west, and that beyond this lake and the
many streams which entered it there lay a region of
uplands strewn with other lakes and pools; and farther
away still began the sloping of the land to the north
till the traveller sighted a great arm of the salt sea,
and found himself amongst tribes (probably the Eskimo)
who ate raw flesh, and to the Indians appeared absolute
1 Correctly written this was Franfois Gravg, Sieur du Pont.
2 The full name was Pierre du Guast, Sieur de Monts. Including de Champlain
and de Poutrincourt, who will be described later, we have here the four great heroes
who founded French Canada.
The Foundation of Canada 55
savages.1 This was probably the first allusion, recorded
by a European, to the existence of Hudson's Bay, that
huge inlet of the sea, which is one of the leading features
in the geography of British North America.
The Montagnais Indians round about Tadoussac re-
ceived Champlain with great protestations of friendship,
and at the headquarters of their principal chief or ''Saga-
more " celebrated this new friendship and alliance with
a feast in a very large hut. The banquet, as usual, was
preceded by a long address from the Sagamore in answer
to the description of France, given by one of the Indian
interpreters. The address was accompanied by the solemn
smoking of tobacco, and at every pause in this grave ora-
tion the natives present shouted with one voice: " Ho! ho!
ho!" The repast consisted of elk's meat (which struck
the Frenchmen as being like beef), also the flesh of bear,
seal, beaver, and wild fowl. There were eight or ten stone
boilers or cauldrons full of meats in the middle of the great
hut, separated each six feet from each other, and each one
having its own fire. Every native used a porringer or
vessel made of birch bark. When the meat was cooked
a man in authority distributed it to each person. But
Champlain thought the Indians ate in a very filthy manner.
When their hands were covered with fat or grease they
would rub them on their own heads or on the hair of their
dogs. Before the meat was cooked each guest arose,
took a dog, and hopped round the boilers from one end
of the great hut to the other. Arriving in front of the
chief, the Montagnais Indian feaster would throw his
dog violently to the ground, exclaiming: "Ho! ho! ho!"
after which he returned to his place.
At the close of the banquet every one danced, with the
1 The real name for this remarkable people, the Eskimo, is, in Alaska and Arctic
North America, Innuit, and in Labrador and Greenland, Karalit. Eskimo (in French,
Esquimaux) is said to be a corruption of the Montagnais-Indian word, Eskimant'sik,
meaning " eaters of raw flesh ".
56 Pioneers in Canada
skulls of their Iroquois enemies slung over their backs.
As they danced they slapped their knees with their hands,
and shouted: kt Ho! ho! ho!" till they were out of breath.
The huts of these Indians were low and made like
tents, being covered with the bark of the birch tree. An
opening about a foot of the top was left uncovered to
admit light and to allow the smoke to escape. Though
low, the huts were sometimes quite large, and would
accommodate ten families. These slept higgledy-piggledy
on skins, with their dogs amongst them. The dogs in
appearance were something like what we know as Eskimo
dogs, and also rather resembled the Chinese chow, with
broad heads and rather short muzzles, prick ears, and a
tail inclined to curl over the back. "All these people
have a very cheerful disposition, laughing often, yet at
the same time they are somewhat phlegmatic. They
talk very deliberately, as if desiring to make themselves
well understood, and, stopping suddenly, they reflect for
a long time, when they resume their discourse."
They were agile, well-proportioned people, who in
the summertime went about nearly naked, but in the
winter were covered with good furs of elk, otter, beaver,
bear, seal, and deer. The colour of their skin was usually
a pale olive, but the women for some reason made them-
selves much darker-skinned than the men by rubbing
their bodies with pigments which turned them to a dark
brown. At times they suffered very much from lack of
food, being obliged then to frequent the shore of the
river or gulf to obtain shellfish. When pressed very
hard by famine they would eat their dogs (their only
domestic animal) and even the leather of the skins with
which they clothed themselves. In the autumn they were
much given to fishing for eels, and they dried a good
deal of eel flesh, to last them through the winter. During
the height of the winter they hunted the beaver, and later
on the elk. Though they ate wild roots and fruits when-
The Foundation of Canada 57
ever they could obtain them, they do not seem to have
cultivated any grain or vegetables. In the early spring
they were sometimes dying of hunger, and looked so thin
and haggard that they were mere walking skeletons. They
were then ready to eat carrion that was putrid, so that
it is little wonder that they suffered much from scurvy.
Yet the rivers and the gulf abounded in fish, and as
soon as the waters were unlocked by the melting of the ice
in April, the surviving Indians rapidly grew fat and well,
and of course the late summer and the autumn brought
them nuts (hickory and other kinds of walnut, and hazel
nuts), wild cherries, wild plums, raspberries, strawberries,
gooseberries, blackberries, currants,1 cranberries, and
grapes.
Champlain observed amongst them for the first time
the far-famed Amerindian snowshoes, which he compares
very aptly for shape to a racquet used in tennis.
Champlain next visited the site of Stadacona, but there
was no longer any settlement of Europeans at that place,
nor were the native Amerindians the descendants of the
Hurons that had received Jacques Cartier. For the first
time the name Quebec (pronounced Kebek) is applied to
this point where the great River St. Lawrence narrows
before dividing to encircle the Isle of Orleans. In fact,
Quebec meant in the Algonkin speech a place where a river
narrows; for a tribe of the great Algonkin family, the
1 The wild currants so often mentioned by the early explorers of Canada are often
referred to as red, green, and blue. The blue currants are really the black currant,
now so familiar to our kitchen gardens (Kites nigrum). This, together with the red
currant (Ribes rubrvm), grows throughout North America, Siberia, and eastern
Europe. The unripe fruit may have been the green currants alluded to by Champlain,
or these may have been the white variety of our gardens. The two species of wild
strawberry which figure so frequently in the stories of these early explorers are Fra-
%aria vesca and F. virginiana. From the last-named is derived the cultivated straw-
berry of Europe. The wild strawberries of North America were larger than those of
Europe. Champlain does not himself allude to gooseberries (unless they are his fro-
seilfes vertes), but later travellers do. Three or more kinds of gooseberry grow wild
in Canada, but they are different from the European species. The blueberry so often
mentioned by Champlain (bluets or blues) was Vaccinium canadense.
58 Pioneers in Canada
Algonkins, allied to the tribes of Maine and New Bruns-
wick, had replaced the Hurons as the native inhabitants
of this region.
On the shore of Quebec he noticed "diamonds" in
some slate rocks — no doubt quartz crystals. Proceeding
on up the River St. Lawrence he observed the extensive
woods of fir and cypress (some kind of Thuja or Juniper),
the undergrowth of vines, "wild pears", hazel nuts,
cherries, red currants and green currants, and "certain
little radishes of the size of a small nut, resembling truffles
in taste, which are very good when roasted or boiled ".
As they advanced towards the interior the country became
increasingly mountainous on the south (the green moun-
tains of New Hampshire), and was more and more beauti-
ful— "the pleasantest land yet seen". Landing on the
south bank of the St. Lawrence, west of the entrance of the
river of the Iroquois (the Richelieu), he found magnificent
forests, which, besides the trees already mentioned, in-
cluded oaks, chestnuts, maples, pines, walnut-like nut
trees,1 aspens, poplars, and beeches; with climbing hops
and vines, strawberries trailing over the ground, and rasp-
berry canes and currant bushes "growing in the thick
grass". These splendid woods on the islands and banks
of the broad river were full of game : elks,2 wapiti deer,
Virginian deer, bears, porcupines, hares, foxes, beavers,
otters, and musk rats, besides many animals he could not
recognize.
At last his little expedition in "a skiff and canoe" had
to draw into the bank, warned by the noise that they were
approaching a great fall of water — the La Chine or St.
Louis Rapids. Champlain wrote: " I saw, to my astonish-
ment, a torrent of water descending with an impetuosity
1 Of the genera Jvglans and Carya.
'The huge deer of the genus Alces. Elk is the old Scandinavian name. Moose,
derived from the Kri language, is the Canadian term, " Elk " being misapplied to the
wapiti (red) deer. Champlain calls the elk orignac, its name in Algonkin.
The Foundation of Canada 59
such as I have never before witnessed. ... It descends as
if in steps, and at each descent there is a remarkable boil-
ing, owing to the force and swiftness with which the water
traverses the fall, which is about a league in length. . . .
The territory on the side of the fall where we went overland
consists, so far as we saw it, of very open wood, where one
can go with his armour without much difficulty."
From the Algonkin Indians in the neighbourhood of
these St. Louis Rapids, and also from those living near
Quebec, Champlain obtained a good deal of geographical
information to add to his own observations. He was given
an idea, more or less correct, of Lake Ontario, the Falls
of Niagara, Lake Erie and Lake Huron, and perhaps also
of Lake Superior, a sea so vast, said the Amerindians, that
the sun set on its horizon. This sheet of water, Champlain
calculated, must be 1200 miles distant to the west, and
therefore identical with the " Mer du sud " (Pacific Ocean),
which all North-American explorers for three centuries
wished to reach.
After collecting much information about possible copper
mines in the regions north and south of the Lower St.
Lawrence, and of silver1 in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia,
and a terrible story which he more than half believed about
a monster of prodigious size, the Gougou,* Champlain set
sail for France at the end of August, 1603.
In April, 1604, Champlain accompanied the Sieur de
Monts (who had succeeded the dead Amyard de Chastes
as head of a chartered fur-trading association) in a fresh
expedition to North America, together with a hundred and
'Or lead mixed with silver. The local natives used this ore, which was white when
beaten, for their arrowheads.
JThe Gougou dwelt on the small island of Miscon, to the east of the Bay of Cha-
leurs. It had the form of a woman but was about a hundred feet high. Its habit was
to catch and devour men and women, whom it first placed in a pocket capacious
enough to hold a small ship. Its roarings and hissings could be heard at times coming
from the island of Miscon, where the Gougou lay concealed. Even a Frenchman, the
Sieur Pre"vert, had heard these noises. Probably this islet had a whirlpool communi-
cating with a cavern into which fishermen were sucked by the current.
60 Pioneers in Canada
twenty artisans and several noblemen. They were to
occupy the lands of " Cadie " (Acadia, Nova Scotia),
Canada, and other places in New France. De Monts
thought Tadoussac and Quebec too cold in wintertime,
and preferred the sunnier east coast regions. He aimed
indeed at colonizing what is now New England.
On the way to Nova Scotia, the expedition was nearly
wrecked on Sable Island, about one hundred and twenty
miles south of Cape Breton Island, and noticed there the
large red cattle run wild from the bulls and cows landed
on Sable Island by the Portuguese some sixty years earlier.
(The Portuguese of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries
deserved well of humanity for the generous way in which
they left cattle, goats, pigs, and rabbits to run wild on
desert islands and serve as provender for shipwrecked
mariners like Robinson Crusoe.) Champlain also speaks
of the "fine large black foxes" which he and other voy-
agers noticed on Sable Island. How they came there is
a mystery, unless the island had once been part of the
mainland.
This same Sable Island had been the scene of an extra-
ordinary experiment at the end of the previous century.
In 1598 the Marquis de la Roche, given a commission to
colonize New France, sailed in a small ship for North
America with sixty convicts from French prisons as colon-
ists. He landed them on Sable Island, and went away to
look for some good site for his colony. But then a storm
arose, and his little ship was literally blown back to France.
The convicts, abandoned thus, built themselves shelters out
of the driftwood of wrecks; killed and ate the cattle and
caught fish. They made themselves warm clothes out ot
the skins of the seals which frequented the island coast
in thousands. But these convicts quarrelled and fought
among themselves so fiercely that when at last a ship from
Normandy came to take them away, there were only twelve
left — twelve shaggy men with long tangled hair and beards;
The Foundation of Canada 61
and, a legend says, in addition a Franciscan monk who
had been landed on the island with them as a kind of
missionary or chaplain, and who had been so heartbroken
at their bloody quarrels and horrible deeds that when the
Norman ship arrived to take the castaways back to France,
the Franciscan refused to go with them, believing himself
to be dying and wishing to end his life undisturbed. So
he was left behind. But after the ship had sailed away
he slowly mended, grew well and strong, and cultivated
eagerly his little garden. For food he ate the whelks,
mussels, and oysters that were so abundant on the shore.
Occasionally ships (then as now) were wrecked on Sable
Island in stormy weather, and the good monk ministered
to the mariners who reached the shore. Also he was
visited, ever and again, by the Breton fishing boats,
which brought him supplies of necessaries and the bread
and wine for celebrating Mass. .Long after his death his
spirit was thought to haunt the desolate island.
Champlain and his companions passed on from Sable
Island to the south-east coast of Nova Scotia, noticing as
they landed here and there the abundance of rabbits1 and
sea birds, especially the Greak Auk, of which they killed
numbers with sticks, cormorants (whose fishy eggs they
ate with enjoyment), puffins, guillemots, gulls, terns,
scissorbills, divers, ospreys, buzzards, and falcons; and
no doubt the typical American white-tailed sea eagles,
ravens, ducks, geese, curlews, herons, and cranes. Here
and there they found the shore ''completely covered with
sea wolves " — seals, of course, probably the common seal
and the grey seal. Of these they captured as many as
they wanted, for the seals, like most of the birds, were
quite unafraid of man.
They then explored the Bay of Fundy, and, after zig-
zagging about, decided to fix on the harbour of St. John's
1 There are no real rabbits in America. This was probably the Polar Hare (Lepus
timidus glacialis), or the common small varying hare (L. americanus).
62 Pioneers in Canada
(New Brunswick) as the site for their colony. The future
capital of New France, therefore, was begun on La Sainte
Croix (Dochet) Island, near the mouth of the wonderful
tidal estuary of the Uigudi (Ouygoudy) River.
Here they passed the winter, but suffered so badly from
scurvy1 that, when in the spring of 1605 Du Pont Grave
arrived from Brittany with supplies, the remnant of the
colony was removed to the opposite coast of Nova Scotia to
Port Royal (afterwards named by the English Annapolis2).
The French seem to have fallen in love with this place
from the very first. Nevertheless here they suffered from
scurvy during the winter as elsewhere. Before moving
over here, however, Champlain, together with De Monts,
had explored the west of New England south of New
Brunswick as far as Plymouth, just south of Boston.
Off the coast of Maine (Richmond's Island) they en-
countered agricultural Amerindians of a new tribe, the
Penobskot probably, who cultivated a form of rank nar-
cotic tobacco (Nicotiana rusticd), which they called Petun.
(A variety of this has produced the handsome garden flower
Petunia, whose Latin name is derived from this native word
Petun.) They also grew maize or Indian corn, planting
very carefully three or four seeds in little mounds three
1 How awful was this " mal de terre" or scurvy amongst the French settlers may
be seen from this description of Champlain : " There were produced in the mouths of
those who had it great pieces of superfluous and drivelling flesh, which got the upper
hand to such an extent that scarcely anything but liquid could be taken. Their teeth
became very loose and could be pulled out with the fingers without its causing them
pain. . . . Afterwards a violent pain seized their arms and legs, which remained
swollen and very hard, all spotted as if with fleabites ; and they could not walk on
account of the contraction of the muscles. . . . They suffered intolerable pains in the
loins, stomach, and bowels, and had a very bad cough and short breath. . . . Out of
seventy-nine who composed our party, thirty-five died and twenty were on the point
of death (when spring began in May)."
Scurvy is said to be a disease of the blood caused by a damp, cold, and impure
atmosphere combined with absence of vegetable food and a diet of salted or semi-
putrid meat or fish, such as was so often the winter food of Amerindians and of the
early French pioneers in Canada. We have already noted Cartier's discovery of the
balsam remedy. a From Queen Anne.
The Foundation of Canada 63
feet apart one from the other, the soil in between being
kept clear of weeds. The American farmers of to-day
cannot adopt any better method.
The islands round about Portland (Maine) were matted
all over with wild red currants, so that the eye could
scarcely discern anything else. Attracted by this fruit,
clouds of wild pigeons had assembled.1 They manifested
hardly any fear of the French, who captured large numbers
of them in snares, or killed them with guns. The natives
of southern Maine fled with dismay on sighting the
French ships, for they had never before seen sailing
vessels, but later on they timidly approached the French
ships in a canoe, then landed and went through a wild
dance on the shore to typify friendliness. Champlain
took with him some drawing paper and a pencil or crayon,
together with a quantity of knives and ship's biscuit.
Landing alone, he attracted the natives towards him by
offering them biscuits, and having gathered them round
him (being of course as much unable to understand their
speech as they were French), he proceeded to ask questions
by means of certain drawings, chiefly the outlines of the
coast. The savages at once seized his idea, and taking
up his pencil drew on the paper an accurate outline of
Massachusetts Bay, adding also rivers and islands un-
known to the French. They went on by further intelligent
signs to supply information. For instance, they placed
six pebbles at equal distances to intimate that Massa-
chusetts Bay was occupied by six tribes and governed
by as many chiefs. By drawings of growing maize and
other plants they intimated that all these people lived
by agriculture.
Champlain thought Massachusetts (in his first voyage)
1 The pigeons referred to by Champlain were probably the Passenger pigeon (£cto-
pistes) which at one time was extraordinarily abundant in parts of North America,
though it has now been nearly killed out by man. It would arrive in flocks of millions
on its migratory journeys in search of food.
64 Pioneers in Canada
a most attractive region in the summer, what with the
blue water of the enclosed arms of the sea, the lofty forest
trees, and the fields of Indian corn and other crops.
When these French explorers reached the harbour of
Boston, the islands and mainland were swarming with
the native population. The Amerindians were intensely
interested in the arrival of the first sailing vessel they
had ever seen. Although it was only a small barque,
its size was greater than any canoe known to them. As
it seemed to spread huge white wings and to glide silently
through the water without the use of paddles or oars, it
filled them with surprise and admiration. They manned
all their canoes1 and came out in a flotilla to express their
honour and reverence for the wonderful white men. But
when the French took their leave, it was equally obvious
that the natives experienced a sense of relief, for they
were disquieted as well as filled with admiration at the
arrival of these wonderful beings from an unknown
world.
Champlain describes the wigwams or native huts as
being cone-shaped, heavily thatched with reeds, with an
opening at the top of the roof for the smoke to escape.
Inside the huts was a low bed raised a foot from the
ground and made of short posts driven into the ground,
with a surface made of boards split from trees. On these
boards were laid either the dressed skins of deer or bear,
or thick mattresses made of reeds or rushes. The beds
were large enough for several people to lie on. Champ-
lain describes the huts as being full of fleas, and like-
wise the persons of the nearly naked Indians, who carried
these fleas out with them into the fields when they were
working, so that the Frenchmen by stopping to talk to
1 It is interesting to learn from his accurate notes that in Massachusetts (and from
thence southwards) there were no more bark canoes, but that the canoes were "dug-
outs " — trunks of tall trees burnt and chipped till they were hollowed into a narrow
vessel of considerable length.
The Foundation of Canada 65
the natives became covered with fleas to such an extent
that they were obliged to change their clothes.
In the fields were cultivated not only maize, but beans
similar to the beans grown by the natives of Brazil,
vegetable marrows or pumpkins, Jerusalem artichokes1,
radishes, and tobacco. The woods were filled with oaks,
walnut trees2, and the red "cedar" of North America,
really a very large juniper, the foliage of which in the
summertime often assumes a reddish colour, together
with the trunk. This Virginian juniper or "red cedar"
is now quite a common tree in England. In warm
weather it exhales a delicious aromatic scent.
All these natives of the Massachusetts coast were de-
scribed by Champlain as being almost naked in the
summertime, wearing at most a small piece of leather
round the waist, and a short robe of spun hemp which
hung down over the shoulders. -Their faces were painted
red, black and yellow. The men pulled out any hairs
which might come on the chin, and thus were beardless.
They were armed with pikes, clubs, bows, and arrows.
The pikes were probably made of wood with the ends
hardened by being burnt to a point in the fire, and the
arrow tips were made of the sharp termination of the
tail of the great king-crab.3
1 This tuber, which is a well-known and very useful vegetable in England, comes
from the root of a species of sunflower (Helianthus tuberosus). It has nothing to do
with the real artichoke, which is a huge and gorgeous thistle, and it has equally nothing
to do with Jerusalem. The English people have always taken a special delight in mis-
pronouncing and corrupting words in order to produce as much confusion as possible
in their names for things. Jerusalem is a corruption of Girasole, which is the Italian
name given to this sunflower with the edible roots, because its flower is supposed
always to turn towards the sun. The Jerusalem artichoke was originally a native of
North America.
s These walnut trees were afterwards known in modern American speech as hick-
ories, butter-nuts, and pig-nuts, all of which are allied to, but distinct from, the
European walnut.
3 Limulus polyphemus. This extraordinary crustacean is one of the oldest of living
animals in its history, as it is closely related to the Xiphosura and even the Trilobites
of the Primary Epoch, which existed millions of years ago. In a rough way it is a
kind of connecting link between the Crustacea, or crabs and lobsters, and the Scorpions
and spiders.
(0812) 5
66 Pioneers in Canada
These Massachusetts "Indians" described to Champ-
lain a wonderful bird which at some seasons of the year
they caught in snares and ate. This Champlain at once
guessed was the wild turkey, now, of course, quite extinct
in that region. This wild turkey of the eastern half of
North America (including southern Canada) was quite
a distinct form from the Mexican bird, which last is the
origin of our domestic turkey.
In July, 1606, as De Monts had not returned from
France, and the little colony at Port Royal was without
supplies, they decided to leave two Frenchmen in charge
of the local chief of the Mikmak Indians, and find their
way along the coast to Cape Breton, where they might
get a fishing vessel to take them back to France. But
after travelling in an open boat — a chaloupe — round the
coast of Nova Scotia they met another small boat off
Cape Sable, under the charge of the secretary of De
Monts, and learnt that Lieutenant-General DE POUTRIN-
COURT1 (one of the great names amongst the pioneers of
Canada, and the man who had really chosen Port Royal
for the French headquarters at Nova Scotia) had already
returned from France with fresh supplies. Consequently,
Champlain and his companions returned to Port Royal,
and all set to work with eagerness to develop the settle-
ment. Champlain relates in his book how he created
vegetable gardens, trout streams and ponds, and a re-
servoir of salt water for sea fish; but he was soon off
again on a fresh journey of exploration, because De
Monts was not satisfied with Nova Scotia on account of
the cold in winter. Accordingly Champlain examined
the whole coast round the Bay of Fundy, and down to
Cape Cod, and the islands of Martha's Vineyard and
Nantucket. But in this region, already visited in past
times by French, Spanish, and English ships, they found
> Jean de Biencourt, the Sieur de Poutrincourt and Baron de Saint-Just, were his
full titles.
The Foundation of Canada 67
the natives treacherous and hostile. An unprovoked at-
tack was made on the French after they landed, and
several of the seamen were killed with arrows.
On the 24th of May, 1607, a small barque of six or
seven tons burden (fancy crossing the wide Atlantic from
Brittany to Nova Scotia in a ship of that size at the present
day!) arrived outside Port Royal from France, with an
abrupt notification that De Monts' ten years' monopoly
and charter were cancelled by Henry IV, and that all the
colony was to be withdrawn and brought back to France.
Henry IV took this action simply because De Monts
attempted to make his monopoly a real one,1 and stop the
ships of fur traders who were trading with the Amerindians
of Cape Breton without his licence. These fur traders of
Normandy then complained bitterly that because De Monts
was a Protestant he was allowed not only to have this
monopoly, but to endanger the. spiritual welfare of the
savages by spreading his false doctrines! So King Henry
IV, volatile and capricious, like most of the French kings,
cancelled a charter which had led to such heroic and
remarkable results.
The greater part of the little colony had to leave Port
Royal and make its way in small boats along the Nova
Scotia coasts till they reached Cape Breton Island. Here
fishing vessels conveyed them back to Brittany. It was in
this boat journeying along the coast of Nova Scotia that
Champlain discovered Halifax Harbour, then called by
the Indian name of Shebuktu. As they passed along this
coast with its many islands, they feasted on ripe rasp-
berries, which grew everywhere "in the greatest possible
quantity ".
Poutrincourt, however, had succeeded in taking back
1 You will observe that neither the French nor the English sovereigns of the six-
teenth and seventeenth centuries went to much personal expense over the creation of
colonies. They simply gave a charter or a monopoly, which cost them nothing, but
which made other people pay.
68 Pioneers in Canada
with him samples of the corn, wheat, rye, barley, and oats
which had been so successfully grown on the island of
Sainte Croix and at Port Royal, and also presented to that
monarch five brent-geese1 which he had reared up from
eggs hatched under a hen. The king was so delighted at
these presents that he once more veered about and gave
to De Monts the monopoly of the fur trade for one more
year, in order to enable him to renew his colonies in New
France.
The Sieur de Monts was again appointed by Henry IV
Lieutenant-General in New France. The latter engaged
Champlain as his lieutenant, and also sent out Du Pont
Grave in command of the second vessel, as head of the
trading operations. This time, on the advice of Cham-
plain, the expedition made its way directly to the St.
Lawrence River, stopping first at Tadoussac, where Du
Pont Grave proceeded to take very strong measures with
the Basque seamen, who were infringing his monopoly by
trading with the natives in furs. Apparently they were
still allowed to continue their whale fishery.
Once more Champlain heard from the Montagnais
Indians of the great Salt Sea to the north of Saguenay,
in other words, the southern extension of Hudson's Bay;
and in his book he notes that the English in these latter
years "had gone thither to find their way to China".
However, he kept his intent fixed on the establishment of
a French colony along the St. Lawrence, and may be said
to have founded the city of Quebec (the site of which was
then covered with nut trees) on the 4th of July, 1608. Then
his enterprise was near being wrecked by a base conspiracy
got up between a surgeon and a number of French artisans,
who believed that by seizing and killing Champlain, and
then handing over the infant settlement to the Spanish
1 Branta canadtnsis, a. handsome black-and-brown goose with white markings,
which the French pioneers in Canada styled "outarde" or "bustard", and whose
eggs were considered very good eating.
The Foundation of Canada 69
Basques, they might enable these traders and fishermen
with their good strong ships to overcome Du Pont Grave,
and seize the whole country. Naturally (they believed)
the Basques would reward the conspirators, who would
thus at a stroke become rich men. They none of them
wished to go to France, but would live here independent
of outside interference. A conspirator, however, revealed
the plot to Champlain as he was planting one of the
little gardens which he started as soon as he had been
in a place a few days. He went about his business very
discreetly, arrested all the leading conspirators, gave them
a fair trial, had the ringleader executed by Pont Grave,
and sent three others back to France. After this he settled
down at Quebec for the winter, taking care, however, in
the month of October, to plant seeds and vines for coming
up in the spring.
In the summer of 1609 Champlain, apparently with the
idea of thus exploring the country south of the St. Law-
rence, decided to accompany a party of Algonkins and
Hurons from Georgian Bay and the neighbourhood of
Montreal, who were bent on attacking the Iroquois con-
federacy in the Mohawk country at the headwaters of the
Hudson River. He was accompanied by two French
soldiers — Des Marais and La Routte — and by a few Mon-
tagnais Indians from Tadoussac.
The Hurons1 were really of the same group (as regards
language and descent) as the Iroquois (Irokwa), but in
those days held aloof from the five other tribes who had
formed a confederacy2 and alliance under the name of
1 Huron was a French name given to the westernmost group of the Iroquois family
(see p. 159). The Huron group included the Waiandots, the Eries or Erigas, the
Arendaronons, and the Atiwandoronk or "neutral" nation. The French sometimes
called all these Huron tribes "the good Iroquois". Iroquois was probably pro-
nounced ' ' Irokwa ", and seems to have been derived from a word like Irokosia, the
name of the Adirondack mountain country.
2 The confederacy was founded about 1450 by the great Hiawatha (of Longfellow's
poem), himself an Onondaga from south of Lake Ontario, but backed by the Mohawks
only, in the beginning of his work.
70 Pioneers in Canada
Ongwehonwe — "Superior Men". The Iroquois (Mo-
hawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Kayugas, and Senekas)
dominated much of what is now New York State, and
from the mountain country of the Adirondaks and Cat-
skills descended on the St. Lawrence valley and the
shores of Lakes Ontario and Huron to rob and mas-
sacre.
The route into the enemy's country lay along the
Richelieu River and across Lake Champlain to its southern
end, in sight of the majestic snow-crowned Adirondak
Mountains. On the way the allies stopped at an island,
held a kind of review, and explained their tactics to Cham-
plain. They set no sentries and kept no strict watch at
night, being too tired; but during the daytime the army
advanced as follows: The main body marched in the centre
along the warpath ; a portion of the troops diverged on
either side to hunt up food for the expedition; and a third
section was told off for "intelligence" work, namely, they
ran on ahead and roundabout to locate the enemy, looking
out especially along the rivers for marks or signals showing
whether friends or enemies had passed that way. These
marks were devised by the chiefs of the different tribes,
and were duly communicated to the war leaders of tribes
in friendship or alliance, like our cipher codes ; and equally
they were changed from time to time to baffle the enemy.
Neither hunters nor main body ever got in front of the
advance guard, lest they should give an alarm. Thus
they travelled until they got within two days or so of the
enemies' headquarters; thenceforward they only marched
by night, and hid in the woods by day, making no
fires or noise, and subsisting only on cooked maize
meal.
At intervals the soothsayers accompanying the army
were consulted for signs and omens; and when the war-
chiefs decided on their plan of campaign they summoned
all the fighting men to a smooth place in a wood, cut sticks
The Foundation of Canada 71
a foot long (as many as there were warriors), and each leader
of a division "put the sticks in such order as seemed to
him best, indicating to his followers the rank and order
they were to observe in battle. The warriors watched care-
fully this proceeding, observing attentively the outline which
their chief had made with the sticks. Then they would
go away and set to placing themselves in such order as
the sticks were in. This manoeuvre they repeated several
times, and at all their encampments, without needing a
sergeant to maintain them in the proper order they were
able to keep accurately the positions assigned to them "
(Champlain).
The Hurons who were accompanying Champlain fre-
quently questioned him as to his dreams, they themselves
having a great belief in the value of dreams as omens and
indications of future events. One day, when they were
approaching the country of the Iroquois, Champlain
actually did have a dream. In this he imagined that he
saw the Iroquois enemies drowning in a lake near a moun-
tain. Moved to pity in his dream he wished to help them,
but his savage allies insisted that they must be allowed
to die. When he awoke he told the Amerindians of his
dream, and they were greatly impressed, as they regarded
it as a good omen.
Near the modern town of Ticonderoga the Hurons and
Algonkins of Georgian Bay and Ottawa met a party of
Iroquois, probably of the Mohawk tribe. The Iroquois
had built rapidly a stockade in which to retreat if things
should go badly with them, but the battle at first began
in the old heroic style with as much ceremony as a French
duel. First the allies from the St. Lawrence asked the
Iroquois what time it would suit them to begin fighting
the next day; then the latter replied: "When the sun is
well up, if you don't mind? We can see better then to kill
you all." Accordingly in the bright morning the Hurons
and Algonkins advanced against the circular stockade of
72 Pioneers in Canada
the Iroquois, and the Iroquois marched out to fight in
great pomp, their leaders wearing plumed headdresses.
With this exception both parties fought quite naked, and
armed only with bows and arrows.
"I marched twenty paces in advance of the rest"
(wrote Champlain) "till I was within about thirty paces
of the Iroquois. ... I rested my musket against my
cheek, and aimed directly at one of the three chiefs.
With the same shot two fell to the ground, and one of
their men was so wounded that he died some time after-
wards. I had loaded my musket with four balls. When
they saw I had shot so favourably for them, they (the
Algonkins and Hurons) raised such loud cries that one
could not have heard it thunder.
"Meantime the arrows flew on both sides. The Iro-
quois were greatly astonished that two men had been so
quickly killed, though they were equipped with armour
woven from copper thread and with wood, which was
proof against their arrows."
Whilst Champlain was loading to fire again one of
his two companions fired a shot from the woods, where-
upon the Iroquois took to flight, abandoning their camp
and fort. As they fled they threw off their armour of
wooden boards and cotton cloth.
As to the way in which the Hurons tortured their
Iroquois prisoners, Champlain writes of one instance.
"They commanded him (the prisoner) to sing, if he
had courage, which he did, but it was a very sad song."
The Hurons kindled a fire, and when it was well alight
they each took a brand from the blaze, the end of which
was red-hot, and with this burnt the bodies of their pri-
soners tied to stakes. Every now and then they stopped
and threw water over them to restore them from fainting.
Then they tore out their finger nails and applied fire to
the extremities of the fingers. After that they tore the
scalps off their heads, and poured over the raw and bleed-
The Foundation of Canada 73
ing flesh a kind of hot gum. Then they pierced the arms
of the prisoners near the wrists, and drew up their sinews
with sticks inserted underneath, trying to tear them out
by force, and, if failing, cutting them. One poor wretch
"uttered such terrible cries that it excited my pity to see
him treated in this manner, yet at other times he showed
such firmness that one would have said he suffered scarcely
any pain at all ".
In this case Champlain, seeing that the man could not
recover from his injuries, drew apart and shot him dead,
"thus putting an end to all the tortures he would have
suffered ".
But the savage Hurons were not yet satisfied. They
opened the corpse and threw its entrails into the lake.
Then they cut off head, arms, and legs, and cut out the
heart; this they minced up, and endeavoured to force the
other prisoners to eat it.
With those of his allies who were Montagnais Indians
from Tadoussac, Champlain returned to that place. As
they neared the shore the Montagnais women undressed
themselves, jumped into the river, and swam to the prows
of the canoes, from which they took the heads of the slain
Iroquois. These they hung about their necks as if they
had been some costly chain, singing and dancing mean-
while.
However, in spite of these and other horrors, Cham-
plain had "separated from his Upper Canadian allies
with loud protestations of mutual friendship ", promising
to go again into their country and assist them with con-
tinued "fraternal" relations.
From this expedition Champlain learned much regard-
ing the geography of eastern North America, and he
brought back with him to France, to present to King
Henry IV, two scarlet tanagers — one of the commonest
and most beautiful birds of the eastern United States — a
girdle of porcupine quills made from the Canadian por-
74 Pioneers in Canada
cupine, and the head of a gar-pike caught in Lake Cham-
plain.1
On Champlain's return from France in 1610 (he and
other Frenchmen and Englishmen of the time made sur-
prisingly little fuss about crossing the North Atlantic in
small sailing vessels, in spite of the storms of spring and
autumn) he found the Iroquois question still agitating
the minds of the Algonkins, Montagnais, and Hurons.
Representatives of these tribes were ready to meet this
great captain of the Mistigosh or Matigosh? (as they called
the French), and implored him to keep his promise to take
part in another attack on the dreaded enemy of the Adiron-
dak heights. Apparently the Iroquois (Mohawks) this
time had advanced to meet the attack, and were ensconced
in a round fortress of logs built near the Richelieu River.3
The Algonkins and their allies on this expedition were
armed with clubs, swords, and shields, as well as bows
and arrows. The swords of copper (?) were really knife
blades attached to long sticks like billhooks. Before the
barricade, as usual, both parties commenced the fight by
hurling insults at each other till they were out of breath,
and shouting "till one could not have heard it thunder".
The circular log barricade, however, would never have
1 Unconsciously, no doubt, he brought away with him to the King of France one of
the most remarkable freshwater fish living on the North-American continent, for the
gar-pike belongs, together with the sturgeon and its allies, to an ancient type of fish
the representatives of which are found in rock formations as ancient as those of the
Secondary and Early Tertiary periods. Champlain may be said to have discovered
this remarkable gar-pike (Lepidosteus osseus), which is covered with bony scales "so
strong that a poniard could not pierce them ". The colour he describes as silver-grey.
The head has a snout two feet and a half long, and the jaws possess double rows of
sharp and dangerous teeth. These teeth were used by the natives as lancets with
which to bleed themselves when they suffered from inflammation or headache. Cham-
plain declares that the gar-pike often captures and eats water birds. It would swim in
and among rushes or reeds and then raise its snout out of the water and keep perfectly
still. Birds would mistake this snout for the stump of a tree and would attempt to
alight on it ; whereupon the fish would seize them by the legs and pull them down
under the water.
- Spelt by Champlain with a " ch" instead of sh.
3 Then called the Riviere des Iroquois.
The Foundation of Canada 75
been taken by the Algonkins and their allies but for the
assistance of Champlain and three or four Frenchmen,
who with their musketry fire at short range paralysed the
Iroquois. Champlain and one other Frenchman were
wounded with arrows >n the neck and arm, but not seri-
ously. The victory of the allies was followed by the usual
torture of prisoners, which Champlain made a slight —
only slight — attempt to prevent.
But results far more serious arose from these two
skirmishes with the Iroquois in 1609 a°d 1610. The
Confederacy of the Five Nations (afterwards six) realized
that they had been attacked unprovoked by the dominant
white men of the St. Lawrence, called by the Montagnais
Mistigosh, and by the Iroquois Adoresetui (" men of iron",
from their armour). They became the bitter enemies of
the French, and tendered help first to the Dutch to estab-
lish themselves in the valley of the Hudson, and secondly
to the English. In the great Colonial wars of the early
eighteenth century the Iroquois were invaluable allies to
the British forces, Colonial and Imperial, and counted for
much in the struggle which eventually cost France Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, the two Canadas, and
Louisiana. On the other hand, the French alliance with
the Hurons, Algonkins, and Montagnais, begun by this
brotherhood-in-arms with Champlain, secured for France
and the French such widespread liking among the tribes
of Algonkin speech, and their allies and friends, that the
two Canadas and much of the Middle West, together with
Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois, became French in
sympathy without any war of conquest. When the French
dominion over North America fell, in 1759, with the cap-
ture of Quebec by Wolfe's army, tribes of Amerindians
went on fighting for five years afterwards to uphold the
banner and the rule of the beloved French king.
On Champlain's next visit to Canada, in 1610, he
handed over to the Algonkin Indians a French youth
76 Pioneers in Canada
named Etienne Brule (see p. 88), to be taught the Algonkin
language (the use of which was spread far and wide over
north-east America), and, further, sent a Huron youth
to France to be taught French. Between 1611 and 1616
he had explored much of the country between Montreal
(the foundations of which city he may be said to have
laid on May 29, 1611, for his stockaded camp is now
in the centre of it) and Lakes Huron and Ontario,
especially along the Ottawa River, that convenient short
cut (as a water route) between the St. Lawrence at Sault
St. Louis (Montreal) and Lakes Huron and Superior.
With short portages you can get in canoes from Mon-
treal to the waters of Hudson Bay, or to Lake Winnipeg
and the base of the Rocky Mountains.
In exploring this "River of the Algonkins" (as he
called it), Champlain was nearly drowned between two
rocks, and much hurt, from over bravery and want of
knowledge of how to deal with a canoe on troubled water;
but on June 4, 1613, he stood on the site of the modern
city of Ottawa — the capital of the vast Canadian Dominion
— and gazed at the marvellous Rideau or Curtain Fall,
where the Rideau River enters the Ottawa. But the air
was resonant with the sound of falling water. Three miles
above the falls of the Gatineau and the Rideau, the main
Ottawa River descended with a roar and a whirl of white
foam and rain bow-tinted 'mist into the chasm called the
Chaudiere or Kettle. On a later occasion he describes
the way in which the Algonkins propitiated the Spirit of
the Chasm:
" Continuing our way, we came to the Chaudiere Falls,
where the savages carried out their customary ceremony.
After transporting their canoes to the foot of the fall they
assemble in one spot, where one of them takes up a col-
lection on a wooden platter, into which each person puts
a bit of tobacco. The collection having been made, the
plate is placed in the midst of the troop, and all dance
The Foundation of Canada 77
about it, singing after their style. Then one of the
captains makes an harangue, setting forth that for a long
time they have been accustomed to make this offering,
by which means they are ensured protection against their
enemies, that otherwise misfortune would befall them from
the evil spirit. This done, the maker of the harangue
takes the plate and throws the tobacco into the midst of
the cauldron (the chasm of foaming water), whereupon
they all together raise a loud cry. These poor people
are so superstitious, that they would not believe it possible
for them to make a prosperous journey without observing
this ceremony at this place; for sometimes their enemies
(Iroquois) await them at this portage, not venturing to
go any farther on account of the difficulty of the journey.
Consequently they are occasionally surprised and killed
by the Iroquois at this place (the south bank of the
Ottawa)."
Above the Chaudiere Champlain met the Algonkin
chief, Tessouat, and thus described the burial places of
his tribe:
"On visiting the island I observed their cemeteries,
and was struck with wonder as I saw sepulchres of a shape
like shrines, made of pieces of wood fixed in the ground
at a distance of about three feet from each other, and
intersecting at the upper end. On the intersections above
they place a large piece of wood, and in front another
upright piece on which is carved roughly, as would be
expected, the figure of the male or female interred. If
it is a man, they add a shield, a sword attached to a handle
after their manner, a mace, and bow and arrows. If it
is a chief, there is a plume on his head, and some other
matachia or embellishment. If it is a child, they give
it a bow and arrow, if a woman or girl, a boiler, an earthen
vessel, a wooden spoon, and an oar. The entire sepulchre
is six or seven feet long at most, and four wide ; others are
smaller. They are painted yellow and red, with various
78 Pioneers in Canada
ornaments as neatly done as the carving. The deceased is
buried with his dress of beaver or other skins which he
wore when living, and they lay by his side all his posses-
sions, as hatchets, knives, boilers, and awls, so that these
things may serve him in the land whither he goes; for they
believe in the immortality of the soul, as I have elsewhere
observed. These carved sepulchres are only made for
the warriors, for in respect to others they add no more
than in the case of women, who are considered a useless
class, accordingly but little is added in their case."
In the summer of 1615 Champlain, returning from
France, made his way up the Ottawa River, and, by a
short portage, to Lake Nipissing, thence down French
River to the waters of Lake Huron. On the banks of
the French River he met a detachment of the Ottawa
tribe (of the Algonkin family). These people he styled
the Cheveux Releves, because the men's hair was gathered
up and dressed more carefully and becomingly on the
top of the head than (he says) could at that time be
done by a hairdresser in France. This arrangement of
the hair gave the men a very handsome appearance, but
here their toilet ended, for they wore no clothes whatever
(in the summertime), making up for this simplicity by
painting their faces in different colours, piercing their
ears and nostrils and decorating them with shell beads,
and tattooing their bodies and limbs with elaborate patterns.
These Ottawas carried a club, a long bow and
arrows, and a round shield of dressed leather, made
(wrote Champlain) "from the skin of an animal like the
buffalo".1 The chief of the party explained many things
to the white man by drawing with a piece of charcoal
JThis was the first intimation probably that any European sent home for publi-
cation regarding the existence of the bison in North America, though the Spanish
explorers nearly a hundred years before Champlain must have met with it in travelling
through Louisiana, Texas, and northern Mexico. The bison is not known ever to
have existed near Hudson Bay, or in Canada proper (basin of the St. Lawrence).
South of Canada it penetrated to Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River, but not
farther eastward.
The Foundation of Canada 79
on the white bark of the birch tree. He gave him to
understand that the present occupation of his band of
warriors was the gathering of blueberries, which would
be dried in the sun, and could then be preserved for eating
during the winter.
From French River, Champlain passed southwards to
the homeland of the Hurons, which lay to the east of
what Champlain called "the Fresh Water Sea" (Lake
Huron). This country he describes in enthusiastic terms.
The Hurons, like the other Iroquois tribes (and unlike
the hunting races to the north of them), were agricul-
turists, and cultivated pumpkins, sunflowers,1 beans and
Indian corn.
The Hurons persuaded Champlain to go with them to
attack the Iroquois tribe of the Senekas (Entuh6norons)
on the south shores of Lake Ontario. On the way thither
he noticed the abundance of stags and bears, and, near
the lake, of cranes, white and purple-brown.2
On the southern shores of the lake3 were large numbers
xThe Amerindians of the Lake regions made much use of the sunflowers of the
region (Helianthus multiflorus). Besides this species of sunflower already mentioned,
which furnishes tubers from its roots (the "Jerusalem" artichoke) others were valued
for their seeds, and some or all of these are probably the originals of the cultivated
sunflower in European gardens. The largest of these was called Soleille by the French
Canadians. It grew in the cultivated fields of the Amerindians to seven or eight feet
in height, with an enormous flower. The seeds were carefully collected and boiled.
Their oil was collected then from the water and was used to grease the hair. This
same Huron country (the Simcoe country of modern times) was remarkable for its wild
fruits. There was the Canada plum (Prunus americana), the wild black cherry
(Prunus serotina), the red cherries (P. pennsylvanica), the choke cherry (P. vir-
giniana), wild apples (Pyrus coronaria), wild pears (a small berry-like pear called
"poire" by the French: Pyrus canadensis), and the may-apple (Podophyllum pelta-
turn). Champlain describes this may-apple as of the form and colour of a small
lemon with a similar taste, but having an interior which is very good and almost like
that of figs. The may-apples grow on a plant which is two and a half feet high, with
not more than three or four leaves like those of the fig tree, and only two fruits on
each plant.
2 The cranes of Canada — so often alluded to by the French explorers as ' ' Grues " —
are of two species, Grus canadensis, with its plumage of a purple-grey, and Grus
americanus, which is pure white (see p. 139).
3 Lakes Ontario and Huron were probably first actually reached by Father Le
Caron, a Recollet missionary who came out with Champlain in 1615 (see p. 90), and
by foienne Brute, Champlain's interpreter.
8o Pioneers in Canada
of chestnut trees, "whose fruit was still in the burr. The
chestnuts are small but of a good flavour." The southern
country was covered with forests, with very few clearings.
After crossing the Oneida River the Hurons captured
eleven of the Senekas, four women, one girl, three boys,
and three men. The people had left the stockade in which
their relations were living to go and fish by the lake
shore. One of the Huron chiefs — the celebrated Iroquet,
who had been so much associated with Champlain from
the time of his arrival — proceeded at once to cut off the
finger of one of these women prisoners. Whereupon
Champlain, firmer than in years gone by, interposed
and reprimanded him, pointing out that it was not the
act of a warrior such as he declared himself to be, to
conduct himself with cruelty towards women "who had
no defence but their tears, so that one should treat them
with humanity on account of their helplessness and weak-
ness ". Champlain went on to say that this act was base
and brutal, and that if he committed any more of such
cruelties he, Champlain, "would have no heart to assist
or favour them in the war". To this Iroquet replied
that their enemies treated them in the same manner, but
that since this was displeasing to the Frenchmen he
would not do anything more to women, but he would
not promise to refrain from torturing the men.
However, in the subsequent fighting which occurred
when they reached the six-sided stockade of the Senekas
(a strong fortification which faced a large pond on one
side, and was surrounded by a moat everywhere else
except at the entrance), the Hurons and Algonkins showed
a great lack of discipline. Champlain and the few French-
men with him, by using their arquebuses, drove the enemy
back into the fort, but not without having some of their
Indian allies wounded or killed. Champlain proposed
to the Hurons that they should erect what was styled in
French a cavalier — a kind of box, with high, loopholed
The Foundation of Canada 81
sides, which was erected on a tall scaffolding of stout
timbers. This was to be carried by the Hurons to within
a pike's length of the stockade. Four French arquebusiers
then scrambled up into the cavalier and fired through the
loopholes into the huts of the Seneka town. Meantime
the Hurons were to set fire, if possible, to the wooden
stockade. They managed the whole business so stupidly
that the fire produced no effect, the flames being blown
in the opposite direction to that which was desired. The
brave Senekas threw water on to the blazing sticks and
put out the fire. Champlain was wounded by an arrow
in the leg and knee. The reinforcement of the five hun-
dred Hurons expected by the allies did not turn up.
The Hurons with Champlain lost heart, and insisted on
retreating. Only the dread of the French firearms pre-
vented the retreat being converted into a complete disaster.
Whenever the Senekas came near enough to get speech
with the French they asked them "why they interfered
with native quarrels ".
Champlain being unable to walk, the Hurons made
a kind of basket, similar to that in which they carried
their wounded. In this he was so crowded into a heap,
and bound and pinioned, that it was as impossible for
him to move "as it would be for an infant in his swaddling
clothes ". This treatment caused him considerable pain
after he had been carried for some days ; in fact he suffered
agonies while fastened in this way on to the back of a savage.
He was afterwards obliged to pass the winter of 1615-6
in the Huron country. At that time it swarmed with
game. Amongst birds, there were swans, white cranes,
brent-geese, ducks, teal, the redbreasted thrush (which
the Americans call " robin "), brown larks (Anthus), snipe,
and other birds too numerous to mention, which Cham-
plain seems to have brought down with his fowling-piece
in sufficient quantities to feed the whole party whilst
waiting for the capture of deer on a large scale.
(0312) Q
82 Pioneers in Canada
Meanwhile, many of the Indians were catching fish,
"trout and pike of prodigious size". When they desired
to secure a large number of deer, they would make an
enclosure in a fir forest in the form of the two converging
sides of a triangle, with an open base. The two sides of
these traps were made of great stakes of wood closely
pressed together, from 8 to 9 feet high; and each of the
sides was 1000 yards long. At the point of the triangle
there was a little enclosure. The Hurons were so ex-
peditious in this work that in less than ten days these
long fences and the "pound" or enclosure at their con-
vergence were finished. They then started before daybreak
and scattered themselves in the woods at a considerable
distance behind the commencement of these fences, each
man separated from his fellow by about 80 yards. Every
Huron carried two pieces of wood, one like a drumstick
and the other like a flat, resonant board. They struck
the flat piece of wood with the drumstick and it made a
loud clanging sound. The deer who swarmed in the
forest, hearing this noise, fled before the savages, who
drove them steadily towards the converging fences. As
they closed up, the Hurons imitated very cleverly the
yapping of wolves. This frightened the deer still more,
so that they huddled at last into the final enclosure,
where they were so tightly packed that they were com-
pletely at the men's mercy. "I assure you," writes
Champlain, "there is a singular pleasure in this chase,
which takes place every two days, and has been so
successful that in thirty-eight days one hundred and
twenty deer were captured. These were made good use
of, the fat being kept for the winter to be used as we
do butter, and some of the flesh to be taken to their
homes for their festivities."
Champlain himself, in the winter of 1615, pursuing
one day a remarkable bird "which was the size of a hen,
had a beak like a parrot and was entirely yellow, except
The Foundation of Canada 83
for a red head and blue wings, and which had the flight
of the partridge " — a bird I cannot identify — lost his way
in the woods. For^two days he wandered in the wilder-
ness, sustaining himself by shooting birds and roasting
them. But at last he found his way back to a river which
he recognized, and reached the camp of the Hurons, who
were extremely delighted at his return. Had they not
found him, or had he not come back of himself, they
told him that they could never again have visited the
French for fear of being held responsible for his death.
By the month of December of this year (1615) the
rivers, lakes, and ponds were all frozen. Hitherto,
Champlain had had to walk when he could not travel
in a canoe, and carry a load of twenty pounds, while
the Indians carried a hundred pounds each. But now
the water was frozen the Hurons set to work and made
their sledges. These were constructed of two pieces of
board, manufactured from the trunks of trees by the
patient use of a stone axe and by the application of fire.
These boards were about 6 inches wide, and 6 or 7 feet
long, curved upwards at the forward end and bound to-
gether by cross pieces. The sides were bordered with strips
of wood, which served as brackets to which was fastened
the strap that bound the baggage upon the sledge. The
load was dragged by a rope or strap of leather passing
round the breast of the Indian, and attached to the end
of the sledge. The sledge was so narrow that it could
be drawn easily without impediment wherever an Indian
could thread his way over the snow through the pathless
forests.
The rest of the winter and early spring Champlain
spent alone, or in company with Father Joseph Le Caron
(one of the Recollet missionaries), visiting the Algonkin
and Huron tribes in the region east of Lake Huron. He
has left this description of the modern country of Simcoe,
the home, three hundred years ago, of the long-vanished
84 Pioneers in Canada
Hurons1; and gives us the following particulars of their
home life. The Huron country was a pleasant land, most
of it cleared of forest. It contained eighteen villages, six
of which were enclosed and fortified by palisades of wood
in triple rows, bound together, on the top of which were
galleries provided with stores of stones, and birch-bark
buckets of water; the stones to throw at an enemy, and
the water to extinguish any fire which might be put to
the palisades. These eighteen villages contained about
two thousand warriors, and about thirty thousand people
in all. The houses were in the shape of tunnels, and
were thatched with the bark of trees. Each lodge or
house would be about 120 feet long, more or less, and
36 feet wide, with a lofoot passage-way through the middle
from one end to the other. On either side of the tunnel
were placed benches 4 feet high, on which the people slept
in summer in order to avoid the annoyance of the fleas
which swarmed in these habitations. In winter time they
slept on the ground on mats near the fire. In the summer
the cabins were filled with stocks of wood to dry and be
ready for burning in winter. At the end of each of these
long houses was a space in which the Indian corn was
preserved in great casks made of the bark of trees. Inside
the long houses pieces of wood were suspended from the
roof, on to which were fastened the clothes, provisions,
and other things of the inmates, to keep them from the
attacks of the mice which swarmed in these villages.
Each hut might be inhabited by twenty-four families,
who would maintain twelve fires. The smoke, having
no proper means of egress except at either end of the
long dwelling, and through the chinks of the roof, so
injured their eyes during the winter season that many
people lost their sight as they grew old.
•'Their life", writes Champlain, "is a miserable one
1 They were almost completely exterminated by the Iroquois confederacy between
thirty and forty years after Champlain's visit.
SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN
C31J
ALEXANDER HENRY THE ELDER
The Foundation of Canada 85
in comparison with our own, but they are happy amongst
themselves, not having experienced anything better, nor
imagining that anything more excellent could be found."
These Amerindians ordinarily ate two meals a day,
and although Champlain and his men fasted all through
Lent, "in order to influence them by our example", that
was one of the practices they did not copy from the
French.
The Hurons of this period painted their faces black
and red, mixing the colours with oil made from sunflower
seed, or with bears' fat. The hair was carefully combed
and oiled, and sometimes dyed a reddish colour; it might
be worn long or short, or only on one side of the head.
The women usually dressed theirs in one long plait.
Sometimes it was done up into a knot at the back of the
head, bound with eelskin. The men were usually dressed
in deerskin breeches, with gaiters of soft leather. The
shoes ("Moccasins") were made of the skin of deer,
bears, or beavers. In addition to this the men in cold
weather wore a great cloak. The edges of these cloaks
would often be decorated with bands of brown and red
colour alternating with strips of a whitish-blue, and
ornamented with bands of porcupine quills. These,
which were originally white or grey in colour, had been
previously dyed a fine scarlet with colouring matter from
the root of the bed-straw (Galium tinctorum). The women
were loaded with necklaces of violet or white shell beads,
bracelets, ear-rings, and great strings of beads falling
below the waist. Sometimes they would have plates of
leather studded with shell beads and hanging over the
back.
In 1616 Champlain returned to France, but visited
Quebec in 1617 and 1618. During the years spent at
Quebec, which followed his explorations of 1616, he was
greatly impeded in his work of consolidating Canada as
a French colony by the religious strife between the
86 Pioneers in Canada
Catholics and Huguenots, and the narrow-minded greed
of the Chartered company of fur-trading merchants for
whom he worked. But in 1620 he came back to Canada
as Lieutenant-Governor (bringing his wife with him), and
after attending to the settlement of a violent commercial
dispute between fur-trading companies he tried to com-
pose the quarrel between the Iroquois and the Algonkins,
and brought about a truce which lasted till 1627.
In 1628 came the first English attack on Canada. A
French fleet was defeated and captured in the Gulf of
St. Lawrence, and in the following year Champlain,
having been obliged to surrender Quebec (he had only
sixteen soldiers as a garrison, owing to lack of food),
voyaged to England more or less as a prisoner of state
in the summer of 1629. He found, on arriving there,
that the cession of Quebec was null and void, peace
having been concluded between Britain and France two
months before the cession. Charles I remained true to
his compact with Louis XIII, and Quebec and Nova
Scotia were restored to French keeping. In 1633 Champ-
lain returned to Canada as Governor, bringing with him
a considerable number of French colonists. It is from
i6jj that the real French colonization of Canada begins:
hitherto there had been only one family of settlers in the
fixed sense of the word; the other Frenchmen were fur
traders, soldiers, and missionaries. But Champlain only
lived two years after his triumphant return, and died at
Quebec on Christmas Day, 1635.
His character has been so well summed up by Dr.
S. E. Dawson, in his admirable book on the Story of the
St. Lawrence Basin, that I cannot do better than quote
his words:
"Champlain was as much at home in the brilliant
court of France as in a wigwam on a Canadian lake, as
patient and politic with a wild band of savages on Lake
Huron as with a crowd of grasping traders in St. Malo
The Foundation of Canada 87
or Dieppe. Always calm, always unselfish, always de-
pending on God, in whom he believed and trusted, and
thinking of France, which he loved, this single-hearted
man resolutely followed the path of his duty under all
circumstances; never looking for ease or asking for profit,
loved by the wild people of the forest, respected by the
courtiers of the king, and trusted by the close-fisted
merchants of the maritime cities of France."
CHAPTER V
After Champlain : from Montreal to the
Mississippi
A very remarkable series of further explorations were
carried out as the indirect result of Champlain's work.
In 1610 he had allowed a French boy of about eighteen
years of age, named ETIENNE BRULE, to volunteer to
go away with the Algonkins, in order to learn their lan-
guage. Brule was taken in hand by I roquet,1 a chief of
the "Little Algonkins", whose people were then occupy-
ing the lands on either side of the Ottawa River, including
the site of the now great city of Ottawa. After four years
of roaming with the Indians, Brule was dispatched by
Champlain with an escort of twelve Algonkins to the
headwaters of the Suskuehanna, far to the south of Lake
Ontario, in order to warn the Andastes2 tribe of military
operations to be undertaken by the allied French, Hurons,
and Algonkins against the Iroquois. This enabled Brule
to explore Lake Ontario and to descend the River Sus-
kuehanna as far south as Chesapeake Bay, a truly extra-
ordinary journey at the period. This region of northern
Virginia had just been surveyed by the English, and was
soon to be the site of the first English colony in North
America.3
1 Mentioned on p. 80.
2 The Andastes were akin to the Iroquois, but did not belong to their confederacy;
they lived in Pennsylvania.
3 The inaccurate statement has frequently been written about Newfoundland being
' ' the first British American colony ". Newfoundland was reached by the ship in
which John Cabot sailed on his lag? voyage of discovery, and a few years after-
After Champlain 89
In attempting to return to the valley of the St. Law-
rence in 1616, with his Andaste guides, Brule lost his
way, and to avoid starvation surrendered himself to the
Seneka Indians (the westernmost clan of the Iroquois)
against whom the recent warlike operations of the French
were being directed. Discovering his nationality, the
Senekas decided to torture him before burning him to
death at the stake. As they tore off his clothes they
found that he was wearing an Agnus Dei medal next
his skin. Brule told them to be careful, as it was a
medicine of great power which would certainly kill them.
By a coincidence, at that very moment a terrific thunder-
storm burst from a sky which until recently had been all
sunshine. The Senekas were so scared by the thunder
and lightning that they believed Brule to be a person of
supernatural powers. They therefore released him, strove
to heal such slight wounds as he had incurred, and carried
him off to their principal town, where he became a great
favourite. After a while they gave him guides to take
him north into the country of the Hurons.
His further adventures led him to discover Lake
Superior and the way thither through the Sault Ste.
Marie, and to reach a place probably not far from the
south coast of Hudson Bay, in which there was a copper
mine. Then he explored the Montagnais country north
of Quebec, and even at one time (in 1629) entered the
service of the English, who had captured Quebec and
Tadoussac from the French. When the English left this
region Brule travelled again to the west and joined the
Hurons once more.
wards its shores were sought by the English in common with the French and the
Portuguese, and later on the Spaniards and Basques, for the cod fishery. But no
definite British settlement, such as subsequently grew into an actual colony, was
founded in Newfoundland until the year 1624; the island was not recognized as
definitely British till 1713, and no governor was appointed till 1728. The first per-
manent English colonial settlement in America was founded at Jamestown, Virginia,
in 1607; and in the Bermudas and Barbados (West Indies) soon afterwards.
90 Pioneers in Canada
His licentious conduct amongst his Indian friends
seems to have roused them to such a pitch of anger that
in 1632 they murdered him, then boiled and ate his body.
But immediately afterwards misfortune seemed to fall on
the place. The Hurons were terrified at what they had
done, and thought they heard or saw in the sky the spirits
of the white relations of Brule — some said the sister, some
the uncle — threatening their town (Toanche), which they
soon afterwards burnt and deserted.
In 1615 Champlain, returning from France, had
brought out with him friars of the Recollet order.1
These were the pioneer missionaries of Canada, prominent
amongst whom was FATHER LE CARON, and these Recol-
lets traversed the countries in the basin of the St. Lawrence
between Lake Huron and Cape Breton Island, preaching
Christianity to the Amerindians as well as ministering
to the French colonists and fur traders. One of these
Recollet missionaries died of cold and hunger in attempt-
ing to cross New Brunswick from the St. Lawrence to the
Bay of Fundy, and another — Nicholas Viel — was the first
martyr in Canada in the spread of Christianity, for when
travelling down the Ottawa River to Montreal he was
thrown by the pagan Hurons (together with one of his
converts) into the waters of a rapid since christened Sault
le Recollet. Another Recollet, Father d'Aillon, prompted
by Brule, explored the richly fertile, beautiful country
known then as the territory of the Neutral nation, that
group of Huron-Iroquois Amerindians who strove to keep
aloof from the fierce struggles between the Algonkins and
Hurons on the one hand and the eastern Iroquois clans
1 The Recollet (properly Recollect) friars were a strict branch of the Franciscan
order that were sometimes called the Observantines. They were also known as "Recol-
lects " (pronounced in French rtcollet} because they were required to be constantly
keeping guard over their thoughts. This development of the Franciscan order of
preaching missionary friars was originally a Spanish one, founded early in the sixteenth
century, and becoming well established in the Spanish Netherlands. Many of them
were Flemings or Walloons.
After Champlain 91
on the other. This region, which lies between the Lakes
Ontario, Erie, and Huron, is the most attractive portion
of western Canada. Lying in the southernmost parts
of the Dominion, and nearly surrounded by sheets of
open water, it has a far milder climate than the rest of
eastern Canada.
In 1626 the Jesuit order supplanted the Recollets, and
commenced a campaign both of Christian propaganda and
of geographical exploration which has scarcely finished in
the Canada of to-day.
In 1627 the war between the Iroquois Confederacy
and the Huron and Algonkin tribes recommenced, and
this, together with the British capture of Quebec and
other portions of Canada, put a stop for several years to
the work of exploration. This was not resumed on an
advanced scale till 1634, when Champlain, unable himself,
from failing health, to carry out- his original commission
of seeking a direct passage to China and India across
the North - American continent, dispatched a Norman
Frenchman named JEAN NICOLLET to find a way to the
Western Sea. Nicollet, as a very young man, had lived
for years amongst the Amerindian tribes, especially
amongst the Nipissings near the lake of that name.
Being charged, amongst other things, with the task of
making peace between the Hurons and the tribes dwelling
to the west of the great lakes, Nicollet discovered Lake
Michigan. He was so convinced of the possibility of
arriving at the Pacific Ocean, and thence making his
way to China, that in the luggage which he carried in
his birch-bark canoe was a dress of ceremony made of
Chinese damask silk embroidered richly with birds and
flowers. He was on his way to discover the Winnebago
Indians, or " Men of the Sea ", of whom Champlain had
heard from the Hurons, with whom they were at war. But
the great water from which they derived their name was
not in this instance a sea, but the Mississippi River.
92 Pioneers in Canada
The Winnebago Indians were totally distinct from the
Algonkins or the Iroquois, and belonged to the Dakota
stock, from which the great Siou confederation1 was also
derived.
Nicollet advanced to meet the Winnebagos clad in
his Chinese robe and with a pistol in each hand. As
he drew near he discharged his pistols, and the women
and children fled in terror, for all believed him to be a
supernatural being, a spirit wielding thunder and light-
ning. However, when they recovered from their terror
the Winnebagos gave him a hearty welcome, and got
up such lavish feasts in his honour, that one chief alone
cooked 1 20 beavers at a single banquet.
Nicollet certainly reached the water-parting between
the systems of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi,
and under that name — Misi-sipi — "great water" — he
heard through the Algonkin Indians of a mighty river
lying three days' journey westward from his last camp.
Winnebago (from which root is also derived the names
of the Lakes Winnipeg and Winnipegosis much farther
to the north-west) meant "salt" or "foul" water. Both
terms might therefore be applied to the sea, and also to
the lakes and rivers which, in the minds of the Amer-
indians, were equally vast in length or breadth.
From 1648 to 1653 the whole of the Canada known
to the French settlers and explorers was convulsed by
the devastating warfare carried on by the Iroquois, who
during that period destroyed the greater part of the
Algonkin and Huron clans. The neutral nation of Lake
Erie (the Erigas) was scattered, and between the shores
of Lakes Michigan and Huron and Montreal the country
was practically depopulated, except for the handfuls of
French settlers and traders who trembled behind their
fortifications. Then, to the relief and astonishment of
the French, one of the Iroquois clans — the Onondaga —
1 See p. 160.
"
After Champlain 93
proposed terms of peace, probably because they had no
more enemies to fight of their own colour, and wished
to trade with the French.
The fur trade of the Quebec province had attracted
an increasing number of French people (men bringing
their wives) to such settlements as Tadoussac and Three
Rivers. Amongst these were the parents of PIERRE ESPRIT
RADISSON. This young man went hunting near Three
Rivers station and was captured in the woods by Mohawks
(Iroquois) who carried him off to one of their towns and
intended to burn him alive. Having bound him at a
stake, they proceeded to tear out some of his finger
nails and shoot arrows at the less vital parts of his
body. But a Mohawk woman was looking on and was
filled with pity at the sufferings of this handsome boy.
She announced her intention of adopting him as a member
of her family, and by sheer force of will she compelled
the men to release him. After staying for some time
amongst the Mohawks he escaped, but was again cap-
tured just as he was nearing Three Rivers. Once more
he was spared from torture at the intercession of his
adopted relations. He then made an even bolder bid
for freedom, and fled to the south, up the valley of the
Richelieu and the Hudson, and thus reached the most
advanced inland post of Dutch America — then called
Orange, now Albany — on the Hudson River. From
this point he was conveyed to Holland, and from Hol-
nd he returned to Canada.
Soon after his return he joined two Jesuit fathers who
were to visit a mission station of the Jesuits amongst the
Onondagas (Iroquois) on a lakelet about thirty miles south-
east of the present city of Rochester. The Iroquois (whose
language Radisson had learnt to speak) received them
with apparent friendliness, and there they passed the
winter. But in the spring Radisson found out that the
Onondaga Iroquois were intending to massacre the whole
94 Pioneers in Canada
of the mission. Instructed by him, the Jesuits pretended
to have no suspicions of the coming attack, but all the
while they were secretly building canoes at their fort.
As soon as they were ready for flight, and the sun ot
April had completely melted the ice in the River Oswego,
the French missionaries invited the Onondagas to a great
feast, no doubt making out that it was part of the Easter
festivities sanctioned by the Church. They pointed out to
their guests that from religious motives as well as those
of politeness it was essential that the whole of the food
provided should be eaten, "nothing was to be left on the
plate ". They set before their savage guests an enormous
banquet of maize puddings, roast pigs, roast ducks, game
birds, and fish of many kinds, even terrapins, or fresh-
water turtles. The Iroquois ate and ate until even their
appetites were satisfied. Then they began to cry off;
but the missionaries politely insisted, and even told them
that in failing to eat they were neglecting their religious
duties. To help them in this respect they played hymn
and psalm tunes on musical instruments. At last the
Onondagas were gorged to repletion, and sank into a
stertorous slumber at sunset. Whilst they slept, the
Jesuits, their converts, and Radisson got into the already
prepared canoes and paddled quickly down the Oswego
River far beyond pursuit.
Radisson next joined his brother-in-law, Medard
Chouart, and after narrowly escaping massacre by the
Iroquois (once more on the warpath along the Ottawa
River) reached the northern part of Lake Huron, and
Green Bay on the north-west of Lake Michigan. From
Green Bay they travelled up the Fox River and across a
portage to the Wisconsin, which flows into the Mississippi.
Down this river they sped (meeting people of the great
Siou confederation and Kri (Cree) Indians, these last an
Algonkin nation roaming in the summertime as far north
as Hudson's Bay, until at length they reached the actual
After Champlain 95
waters of the Mississippi, first of all white men. Returning
then to Lake Michigan, the shores of which seemed to them
an earthly paradise with a climate finer than Italy, they
journeyed northwards into Lake Huron, and thence north-
westwards through the narrow passages of St. Mary's River
into Lake Superior. The southern coast of Lake Superior
was followed to its westernmost point, where they made
a camp, and from which they explored during the winter
(in snowshoes) the Wisconsin country and collected infor-
mation regarding the Mississippi and its great western
affluent the Missouri. The Mississippi, they declared, led
to Mexico, while the other great forked river in the far west
was a pathway, perhaps, to the Southern Sea (Pacific).
The Jesuits, on the other hand, were convinced that
Hudson's Bay (or the " Bay of the North ") was at no great
distance from Lake Superior (which was true) and that it
must communicate to the north-west with the Pacific Ocean
or the sea that led to China.
In 1 66 1, without the leave of the French Governor of
Canada, who wanted them to take two servants of his own
with them and to give him half the profits of the venture,
Chouart and Radisson hurried away to the west, picked
up large bodies of natives who were returning to the
regions north of Lake Huron, with them fought their way
through the ambushed Iroquois, and once more navigated
the waters of Lake Superior. Once again they started
for the Mississippi basin and explored the country of
Minnesota, coming thus into contact with native tribes
which lived on the flesh of the bison. In Minnesota they
met a second time the Kri or Kinistino Indians of north-
central Canada, and joined one of their camps in the
spring of 1662, somewhere to the west of Lake Superior.
With Kri guides they started away to the north and north-
east, no doubt by way of the Lake of the Woods, the
English River, Lake St. Joseph, and the Albany River,
thus reaching the salt sea at James Bay, the southernmost
96 Pioneers in Canada
extension of Hudson Bay. Or they may have proceeded
by an even shorter route, though with longer portages for
canoes, through Lake Nipigon to the Albany.
The summer of 1662 they passed on the islands and
shores of James Bay hunting " buffalo"1 with the Indians.
Then, in 1663, travelling back along the same route they
had followed in the previous year, they regained Lake
Superior, and so passed by the north of Lake Huron to
the Ottawa River and the St. Lawrence. But on their
return to Three Rivers they were arrested by the French
Governor, D'Avaugour, who condemned them to imprison-
ment and severe fines. The courts of France gave them
no redress, and in their furious anger Chouart and Radis-
son went over to the English, offered their services to
England, and so brought about the creation of the Hudson
Bay Company.
Radisson's journey from England to Hudson Bay has
been treated of in an earlier chapter: it is preferable to
follow out to its finish the great, western impulse of the
French, which led them to neglect for a time the doings
of the British on the east coast of North America and in
the sub-Arctic regions of Hudson Bay.
From 1660 onwards the Jesuit missionaries again took
up vigorously that work of Christianizing the Amerindians
which had been so completely checked by the frightful
ravages of the Iroquois between 1648 and 1654.
By 1669 the Jesuits had three permanent stations in
western Canada. The first was the mission station at
Sault Ste. Marie, the second was the station of Ste. Esprit,
on Lake Superior (not far from the modern town of Ash-
land), and the third was the station of St. Fran9ois Xavier
at the mouth of the Fox River, on Green Bay, Lake
Michigan.
As regards some of the sufferings which these mis-
sionaries had to go through when travelling across Canada
1 More probably musk oxen.
After Cham plain 97
in the winter, I quote the following from The Relations of
the Jesuits (p. 35) : —
" I [Father de Crepieul] set out on the i6th of January,
1674, from the vicinity of Lake St. John, near the Saguenay
River, with an Algonkin captain and two Frenchmen.
We started after Mass, and walked five long leagues on
snowshoes with much trouble, because the snow was soft
and made our snowshoes very heavy. At the end of five
leagues, we found ourselves on a lake four or five leagues
long all frozen over, on which the wind caused great quan-
tities of snow to drift, obscuring the air and preventing us
from seeing where we are going. After walking another
league and a half with great difficulty our strength began
to fail. The wind, cold, and snow were so intolerable that
they compelled us to retrace our steps a little, to cut some
branches of fir which might in default of bark serve to
build a cabin. After this we tried to light a fire, but were
unable to do so. We were thus reduced to a most pitiful
condition. The cold was beginning to seize us to an extra-
ordinary degree, the darkness was great, and the wind
blew fearfully. In order to keep ourselves from dying with
cold, we resumed our march on the lake in spite of our
fatigue, without knowing whither we were going, and all
were greatly impeded with the wind and snow. After
walking a league and a half we had to succumb in spite
of ourselves and stop where we were. The danger we ran
of dying from cold caused me to remember the charitable
Father de Noue, who in a similar occasion was found dead
in the snow, kneeling and with clasped hands. . . . We
therefore remained awake during the rest of the night. . . .
On the following morning two Frenchmen arrived from
Father Albanel's cabin very opportunely, and kindled a
great fire on the snow. . . . After this we resumed our
journey on the same lake, and at last reached the spot
where Father Albanel was. ... A serious injury, caused
by the fall of a heavy load upon his loins, prevented him
(0312) 7
98 Pioneers in Canada
from moving, and still more, from performing a mis-
sionary's duties."
One of the Jesuit fathers, Allouez, in founding the
station of St. Fran9ois Xavier on Green Bay, Lake
Michigan, had gained further information about the won-
derful Mississippi, which he called " Messi Sipi ". He
also thoroughly explored Lake Nipigon, to the north of
Lake Superior. In 1669 two missionaries, named Dollier
de Casson and Galinee, started from the seminary of St.
Sulpice (Montreal) to reach the great tribes of the far west,
supposed to be eager to learn of Christianity and known
to be much more tractable than the Iroquois. These two
missionaries, in their expedition of seven canoes and twenty-
one Amerindians, were accompanied by a remarkable
young man commonly known as La Salle, but whose real
name was Robert Cavalier.1
Before leaving Lake Ontario, they actually passed the
mouth of the Niagara River and heard the falls, but had
not sufficient curiosity to leave their canoes and walk a
short distance to see them. The wonderful cascades of
Niagara, where the St. Lawrence leaving Lake Erie
plunges 328 feet down into Lake Ontario (which is not
much above sea level), remained nearly undiscovered and
undescribed until the year 1678, when they were visited by
Father Hennepin. Near the western end of Lake Ontario
the two Sulpician missionaries met another Frenchman,
Jolliet, who had come down to Lake Superior by way
of the Detroit passage, which is really the portion of the
St. Lawrence connecting Lake Huron with Lake Erie.
Jolliet told the missionary de Casson of a great tribe in
the far west, the Pottawatomies, who had asked for mis-
sionaries, and who were of Algonkin stock. La Salle, on
the other hand, was determined to make for the rumoured
Ohio River, which lay somewhere to the south-west of
Lake Erie.
1 La Salle was the name of his property in France
After Champlain 99
The two Sulpicians wintered in "the earthly paradise"
to the north of Lake Erie, passing a delightful six months
there in the amazing abundance of game and fish. They
then met with various disasters to their canoes, and con-
sequently gave up their western journey, passing north-
wards through Detroit and Lake St. Clair into Lake
Huron, and thence to the Jesuit mission station of the
Sault Ste. Marie. Here they were received rather coldly,
as being rivals in the mission field and in exploration.
They in their turn accused the Jesuits of thinking mainly,
if not entirely, of the foundation of French colonies, and
very little of evangelizing the natives.
JOLLIET, a Canadian by birth,1 was dispatched by the
Viceroy of Canada in 1672 to explore the far west. Two
years — 1670 — previously the French Government had for
the first time adopted a really definite policy about Canada,
and had taken formal possession of the Lake region and of
all the territories lying between the lakes and the Mis-
sissippi. A great assembly of Indians was held at Sault
Ste. Marie, near the east end of Lake Superior; and here
a representative of the French Government, accompanied
by numerous missionaries and by Jolliet, read a proclama-
tion of the sovereignty of King Louis XIV of France and
Navarre. Below a tall cross was erected a great shield
bearing the arms of France. Father Allouez addressed
the Indians in the Algonkin language, and told them of
the all-powerful Louis XIV, who "had ten thousand com-
manders and captains, each as great as the Governor of
Quebec ". He reminded them how the troops of this king
had beaten the unconquerable Iroquois, of how he pos-
sessed innumerable soldiers and uncountable ships; that
at times the ground of France shook with the discharge
of cannon, while the blaze of musketry was like the light-
ning. He pictured the king covered with the blood of
his enemies and riding in the middle of his cavalry, and
i Born at Quebec in 1645.
ioo Pioneers in Canada
ordering so many of his enemies to be slain that no
account could be kept of the number of their scalps,
whilst their blood flowed in rivers. The Amerindians
being what they were, addicted to warfare, and only re-
cognizing the right of the strongest, it may be that this
gospel of force was not quite so shocking and unchristian
as it reads to us nearly 250 years afterwards, though it
jars very much as coming from the lips of a missionary
of Christianity. However, it must be remembered that
but for the valour of the French soldiers in the awful
period between 1648 and 1666 (when the Mohawks re-
ceived a thorough and well-deserved thrashing) many of
the tribes addressed on this occasion by the Jesuit mis-
sionaries would have been completely exterminated; the
Iroquois would have depopulated much of north-eastern
America. It is obvious, indeed, from our study of the
conditions of life amongst the Amerindians, that one
reason why the New World was so poorly populated at
the time of its discovery by Europeans was the wars of
extermination between tribe and tribe; for America be-
tween the Arctic regions and Tierra del Fuego is mar-
vellously well supplied with natural food products — game,
fish, fruits, nuts, roots, and grain — much more so than
any area of similar extent in the Old World.
Jolliet was to be accompanied on his westward ex-
pedition by Father JACQUES MARQUETTE/ a Jesuit mis-
sionary who had become well acquainted with the tribes
visiting Lake Superior, and had learnt the Siou dialect of
the Illinois people. On May 17, 1673, Jolliet and Mar-
quette started from the Straits of Michili-Makinak with
only two bark canoes and five Amerindians. They
coasted along the north coast of Lake Michigan, passed
1 Father Jacques Marquette was born in the province of Champagne, eastern
France. He came to Canada when he was twenty-nine years old, having already
been prepared by the Jesuits for priesthood and missionary work since his seventeenth
year. He spent nine years in Canada, and died at the age of thirty-eight. He has
left an enduring memory for goodness, courage, and purity of life.
After Champlain 101
into Green Bay, and thence up the River Fox. They
were assisted by the Maskutins, or Fire Indians, and
were given Miami guides. Thence the natives assisted
them to transport their canoes and baggage over the very
short distance that separates the upper waters of the Fox
River from the Wisconsin River, and down the Wisconsin
they glided till they reached the great Mississippi. The
Governor of Quebec, who had sent Jolliet on this mission,
believed that the Great River of the west would lead
them to the Gulf of California, which was then called the
Vermilion Sea by the Spaniards, because it resembled in
shape and colour the Red Sea.
" On the i yth of June (1673)", writes Father Marquette,
"we safely entered the Mississippi with a joy that I cannot
express. Its current is slow and gentle, the width very
unequal. On its banks there are hardly any woods or
mountains. The islands are most beautiful, and they are
covered with fine trees. We saw deer and cattle (bison),
geese, and swans. From time to time we came upon
monstrous fish, one of which struck our canoe with such
violence that I thought it was a great tree. On another
occasion we saw on the water a monster with the head of
a tiger, a sharp nose like that of a wild cat, with whiskers
and straight erect ears. The head was grey, and the neck
quite black (possibly a lynx). . . . We found that turkeys
had taken the place of game, and the pisikwu, or wild cattle,
that of the other animals."
Father Marquette, of course, by his wild cattle means
the bison, of 'which he proceeds to give an excellent
description. He adds: "They are very fierce, and not
a year passes without their killing some savages. When
attacked, they catch a man on their horns if they can, toss
him in the air, throw him on the ground, then trample
him under foot and kill him. If a person fires at them
from a distance with either a bow or a gun, he must
immediately after the shot throw himself down and hide
102 Pioneers in Canada
in the grass, for if they perceive him who has fired they
run at him and atttack him."
Soon after entering the Mississippi, Marquette noticed
some rocks which by their height and length inspired awe.
"We saw upon one of them two painted monsters which
at first made us afraid, and upon which the boldest savages
dare not long rest their eyes. They are as large as a calf;
they have horns on their heads like those of deer, a hor-
rible look, red eyes, a beard like a tiger's, a face somewhat
like a man's, a body covered with scales, and so long a
tail that it winds all round the body and ends like that of
a fish. Green, red, and black are the three colours com-
posing the picture. Moreover, these two monsters are so
well painted that we cannot believe that any savage is
their author, for good painters in France would find it
difficult to paint so well, and, besides, they are so high
up on the rock that it is difficult to reach that place con-
veniently to paint them."1
As the Jolliet expedition paddled down the Mississippi
— ever so easily and swiftly — a marvellous panorama un-
folded itself before the Frenchmen's fascinated gaze. Im-
mense herds of bison occasionally appeared on the river
banks, flocks of turkeys flew up from the glades and
roosted in the trees and on the river bank. Everywhere
the natives seemed friendly, and Father Marquette was
usually able to communicate with them through his know-
ledge of the Illinois Algonkin dialect, which the Siou
understood.
On their first meeting with the Mississippi Indians, the
French explorers were not only offered the natives' pipes
to smoke in token of peace, but an old man amongst the
latter uttered these words to Jolliet: " How beautiful the
1 These remarkable rock pictures were situated immediately above the present city
of Alton, Illinois. In i8ia they still remained in a good state of preservation, but the
thoughtless Americans had gradually destroyed them by 1867 in quarrying the rock
for building stone.
After Champlain 103
sun is, O Frenchman, when them comest to visit us. Our
village awaits thee, and thou shalt enter all our cabins
in peace." . . . "There was a crowd of people," writes
Marquette; "they devoured us with their eyes, but never-
theless preserved profound silence. We could, however,
hear these words addressed to us from time to time in a
low voice : ' How good it is, my brothers, that you should
visit us '.
" . . . The council was followed by a great feast,
consisting of four dishes, which had to be partaken of
in accordance with all their fashions. The first course
was a great wooden platter full of sagamite, that is to
say, meal of Indian corn boiled in water, and seasoned
with fat. The Master of the Ceremonies filled a spoon
with sagamite three or four times, and put it to my mouth
as if I were a little child. He did the same to Monsieur
Jollyet. As a second course he caused a second platter
to be brought, on which were three fish. He took some
pieces of them, removed the bones therefrom, and, after
blowing upon them to cool them, he put them in our
mouths as one would give food to a bird. For the third
course, they brought a large dog that had just been
killed, but, when they learned that we did not eat this
meat, they removed it .from before us. Finally, the fourth
course was a piece of wild ox, the fattest morsels of which
were placed in our mouths. . . . We thus pushed for-
ward and no longer saw so many prairies, because both
shores of the river are bordered with lofty trees. The
cotton wood, elm and bass wood are admirable for their
height and thickness. There are great numbers of wild
cattle whom we hear bellowing. We killed a little par-
roquet, with a red and yellow head and green body.
. . . We have got down to near the 33° of latitude. . . .
We heard from afar savages who were inciting one
another to attack us by their continual yelling. They
were armed with bows and arrows, hatchets, clubs, and
104 Pioneers in Canada
shields. . . . Part of them embarked in great wooden
canoes, some to ascend, others to descend the river in
order to surround us on all sides. . . . Some young
men threw themselves into the water and seized my
canoe, but the current compelled them to return to land.
One of them hurled his club, which passed over without
striking us. In vain I showed the calumet (pipe of peace),
and made them signs that we were not coming to war
against them. The alarm continued; they were already
preparing to pierce us with arrows from all sides when
God suddenly touched the hearts of the old men who
were standing at the water's edge, who checked the ardour
of their young men. . . . Whereon we landed, not with-
out fear on our part. First we had to speak by signs,
because none of them understood the six languages which
I spoke. At last we found an old man who could speak
a little Illinois. We informed them that we were going
to the sea.
"The next day was spent in feasting on Indian corn
and dogs' flesh. The people here had an abundance of
Indian corn, which they sowed at all seasons. They cook
it in great earthen jars which are very well made, and also
have plates of baked earth. The men go naked and wear
their hair short; they pierce their noses, from which, as
well as from their ears, hang beads. . . . Their cabins
are made of bark, and are long and wide. They sleep
at the two ends, which are raised two feet above the
ground. They know nothing of the beaver, and their
wealth consists in the skins of wild cattle. They never
see snow in their country, and recognize the winter only
through the rains."
The expedition had passed the confluence of the
Missouri and that of the Ohio, and had finally reached
the place where the Arkansas River enters the Mississippi.
Here the Frenchmen gathered from the natives that the
sea was only ten days distant, and this sea they knew
After Champlain 105
(for Jolliet was able to take astronomical observations and
to make a rough survey) could only be the Gulf of Mexico.
Jolliet feared if he prosecuted his journey any farther, he
and his people would fall into the hands of the Spaniards
and be imprisoned, if not killed. Therefore, at this point
on the Lower Mississippi, the expedition turned back.
Its return journey was a weary business, for the current
was against the canoes as they were propelled northwards
up the Great River. But Jolliet learnt from the natives
of a better homeward route, that of following the Illinois
River upstream until the expedition came within a very
short distance of Lake Michigan, near where Chicago now
stands. Tbe canoes were carried over a low ridge of
ground, launched again in the Chicago River, and so
passed into Lake Michigan. (There is, in fact, at this
point the remains of an ancient water connection between
Lake Michigan and the Illinois' River, and a canal now
connects the two systems.) Jolliet, in describing this
region, realized that by cutting a canal through two
miles of prairie it would be possible to go "in a small
ship" from Lake Erie or Lake Superior "to Florida".
Father Marquette remained at his new mission on the
Fox River (he died two years afterwards on the shores
of the Straits of Michili-makinak). Jolliet, on returning
by way of the Ottawa River to Quebec, was nearly
drowned in the La Chine Rapids (Montreal), and all his
papers and maps were lost. The natives with him also
perished, but he struggled to shore with difficulty, and
ent on his way to Quebec to report his wonderful dis-
>veries to the Governor, Frontenac. Fortunately Father
Marquette had also kept a journal and had made maps,
and these reaching the superior of his mission arrived in
time to confirm Jolliet's statements.
Jolliet married at Quebec, and proceeded to explore
and develop the regions along the north coast of the Gulf
of St. Lawrence, travelling in this work as far as Hudson's
io6 Pioneers in Canada
Bay. He was given by the French Government the
Island of Anticosti as a reward for his achievements, but
the work and capital which he put into the development
of this long-neglected island came to nothing; for it was
captured by the English, and Jolliet died a poor man
whilst attempting to explore the coast of Labrador.
As to ROBERT CAVALIER DE LA SALLE, he had, after
all, discovered the Ohio, and had descended that river as
far as the site of the present town of Louisville. Then
he interested the Governor (Frontenac) of Canada in his
enterprises. A fort, called Fort Frontenac, was built at
what is now Kingston, at the point where the St. Law-
rence leaves Lake Ontario. La Salle returned to France,
and obtained the grant of the lordship of this fort and the
surrounding country on conditions of maintaining the
whole cost of the establishment, and making a settlement
of colonists. Another visit to France in 1677-8 secured
him further support and capital, and he returned from
France with a companion, Henry de Tonty.
La Salle, with de Tonty, started from Fort Frontenac
in September, 1678, so intensely anxious to commence
his discoveries that he disregarded the difficulties of the
winter season. On his way to Niagara he paid a visit
to the Iroquois to conciliate them, and cleverly got from
them permission to build a vessel on Lake Erie and also
to erect a blacksmith's forge, near where Niagara now
stands. The blacksmith's forge grew rapidly into a fort
before the Indians were aware of what was being done.
By August, 1679, he had built and launched (in spite of
extraordinary calamities and misfortunes) on the Upper
Niagara River the first sailing boat which ever appeared
on the four great upper lakes of the St. Lawrence basin.
In this ship he sailed through Lake Erie and past
Detroit into Lake Huron, and thence to Green Bay (Lake
Michigan), stopping at intervals amongst the canoes of
the amazed natives, who for the first time heard the sound
After Champlain 107
of cannon, for he had armed his vessel with guns. At
Green Bay he collected a large quantity of furs, which
had been obtained in trade by the men he had sent on
in advance. He loaded up his sailing boat, the Griffon,
and sent her on a voyage back to the east to transport
this splendid load of furs to the merchants with whom
he had become deeply indebted. Unhappily the Griffon
foundered in a storm on Lake Michigan, and was never
heard of again. Meantime La Salle, with de Tonty and
Father HENNEPIN, the discoverer of Niagara, had travelled
in canoes to the south-east end of Lake Michigan, had
passed up the Joseph River, and thence by portage into
the Kankaki, which flows into the Illinois. This river
he descended till he stopped near the site of the modern
Peoria. Below this place he built a fort — for it was winter
time — and although the natives were not very friendly
he collected enough information from them to satisfy him-
self that he could easily pass down the Illinois to the
Mississippi.
He sent one of the Frenchmen, Michel Accault, to-
gether with Father Hennepin, to explore the Illinois down
to the Mississippi; de Tonty he placed in charge of the
fort with a small garrison ; and then himself, on the last
day of February, 1680, started to walk overland from Lake
Michigan to Detroit. Eventually, by means of a canoe,
which he constructed himself, he regained Fort Frontenac
and Montreal. When he returned to Fort Crevecceur, on
the Illinois River,1 it was to meet with the signs of a hor-
rible disaster. The Iroquois in his absence had descended
1 He had named this place " Heartbreak" because when building it he had learnt
of the loss of his sailing ship Griffon, with the splendid supply of furs which was to
have paid off his debts, with all his reserve supplies and his men. This was not the
limit of his troubles ; for, after the overland journey of appalling hardships through a
country of melting ice, flood, swamp, and hostile Iroquois — the Iroquois being furious
with La Salle for having outwitted them in the building of this fort, and seeking him
everywhere to destroy him — when he got to Montreal it was only to learn that a ship,
coming from France with further supplies for his great journey had been wrecked at
the mouth of the St. Lawrence!
io8 Pioneers in Canada
on the place with a great war party. They had massacred
the Illinois people dwelling in a big settlement near the
fort, and the remains of their mutilated bodies were scat-
tered all over the place. Their town had been burnt; the
fort was empty and abandoned. There were no traces
of the Frenchmen, however, amongst the skulls and
skeletons lying around him; for the skulls retained suffi-
cient hair to show that they belonged to Amerindians.
Nevertheless, he deposited his new stock of goods and
most of his men in the ruins of the Fort Crevecceur, and
descended the River Illinois to the Mississippi. But he
was obliged to turn back. On the west bank of the river
were the scared Illinois Indians, on the east the raging
Iroquois. Whenever La Salle could safely visit a de-
serted camp he would examine the remains of the tor-
tured men tied to stakes to see if amongst them there
was a Frenchman.
But de Tonty was not dead. After incredible adven-
tures he had escaped the raids of the Iroquois and had
reached the Straits of Michili-makinak, between Lakes
Michigan and Huron, and there met La Salle, who was
once more on his way to Montreal.
Again de La Salle and de Tonty, in the winter of 1681,
returned to the south end of Lake Michigan, and made
their way over the snow to the Illinois River. On the
6th February, 1682, they left the junction of the Illinois
and the Mississippi to trace that great river to its outlet
in the sea. La Salle reached the delta on the 6th April,
1682, having on the way taken possession of the country
in the name of the King of France. Accault and Father
Hennepin had meantime paddled up the Northern Mis-
sissippi as far as its junction with the Wisconsin. At this
place their party was surrounded and captured by a large
band of Siou warriors.
The Frenchmen were at first in danger of being killed,
as the Sious refused to smoke with them the pipe of peace.
After Champlain 109
But being much less bloodthirsty than the Iroquois, they
soon calmed down and treated their captives with a certain
rough friendliness. All their goods were taken from them,
even the vestments worn by Father Hennepin. But they
were well supplied with food such as the country pro-
duced— bison, beef, fish, wild turkeys, and the grain of
the wild rice, which made such excellent flour. They
were gradually conveyed by the Siou1 to a large settle-
ment of that tribe on the shore of Mille Lacs, a sheet of
water not far distant from the westernmost extremity of
Lake Superior. Whilst staying at this Siou town Hen-
nepin conversed with Indians from the far north and
north-west, and from what they told him came to the
conclusion that there was no continuous waterway or
' 'Strait of Anian " across the North-American continent,
but that the land extended to the north-west till it finally
joined the north-eastern part of -Asia — a guess that was
not very far wrong. But he also surmised that there were
rivers in the far west which led to an ocean — the Pacific —
across which ships might go to Japan and China without
passing to the southward of the Equator.
Whilst moving up and down the northern Mississippi,
bison - hunting with the Indians, the Frenchmen were
met near the site of St. Paul by one of the great French
pioneers of the seventeenth century, the Sieur DANIEL DE
GREYSOLON DU L'HuT. This remarkable man, who was
an officer of the French army, had already planted the
French arms at the Amerindian settlement of Mille Lacs
in 1679, and had established himself as a powerful author-
ity at the west end of Lake Superior. He had also
summoned a great council of Amerindian tribes — the Siou
from the Upper Mississippi, the Assiniboins from the
Lake of the Woods (between Lake Superior and Lake
Winnipeg), and the Kri Indians from Lake Nipigon.
1 The real name of the Siou, as far as we can arrive at it through the records of the
French pioneers, was Issati or Naduessiu.
no Pioneers in Canada
He had further discovered, in 1679, the water route of
the St. Croix River from near Lake Superior to the
Mississippi.
Du L'Hut soon persuaded the Siou to let his fellow
countrymen return with him to Lake Superior. Accault
remained behind with the Siou, delighted with their wild,
roving life, and no doubt married an Indian wife and
became the father of some of those bold half-breeds who
played such a great part in the subsequent history of
innermost Canada. But Father Hennepin returned to
Montreal, and made his way eventually to France, where
he fell into great disgrace and was unfrocked. He had
richly merited this treatment, for after he heard of the
death of La Salle he impudently claimed the discovery
of the whole course of the Mississippi River for himself,
and for a long time was believed. He will certainly go
down in history as the man who discovered and described
Niagara Falls (in 1678), and he also assisted greatly to
clear up the geography of the time by the information he
collected from the Amerindians as to the vast extent of
the North-American continent; but he was a boastful,
unscrupulous man.
Du L'Hut, who came to the rescue of Accault and
Hennepin, was of noble family, and a member of the
king's bodyguard. He decided, however, to seek his
fortune in Canada, and obtained a commission as cap-
tain. It was his cousin, Henri de Tonty, who had accom-
panied La Salle. After returning to France to fight in
the wars then going on, he came back to Canada with
a younger brother, Claude. He had in him the spirit of
great adventurers, and longed to visit the unknown coun-
tries of the upper Mississippi. In the early part of these
journeys he rescued his fellow countrymen from the keep-
ing of the Sious in the manner described. After that he
spent thirty years travelling and trading about North
America, from the northern Mississippi into what we
After Champlain m
should now call Manitoba, and from the vicinity of Lake
Winnipeg to Hudson Bay. He brought the great Amer-
indian nation of the Dakotas into direct relations with the
French. He was absolutely fearless, and in no period of
Canadian history has France been more splendidly repre-
sented in the personality of any of her officers than she
was by Daniel de Greysolon du L'Hut. His was a tire-
some name for English scribes and speakers. It was
therefore written by them " Duluth " and pronounced
Dalath (instead of "Diiliit"). It is the name given to
the township near the southernmost extremity of Lake
Superior.
When the journeys of du L'Hut came to an end — he
died at Montreal in 1710 — and after the era of great French
explorations in North America drew to a close, the French
power was beginning to be eclipsed by that of the British,
who were building up the foundations of a colony on the
shores of Hudson's Bay, and were taking steps to acquire
Newfoundland and to colonize New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia.
Nevertheless, in 1720, the King of France, or rather
the regent acting for the king, decided that a serious
attempt must be made to discover the Western Sea, or
Pacific Ocean, from the French posts which had been
established in what is now known as Manitoba. The
French had already discovered the Missouri, and had
heard from several Indian tribes that it was possible to
cross the Rocky Mountains and descend by other rivers
to the waters of a great ocean, the coasts of which were
visited by Spaniards. Several expeditions were sent out,
more or less under the control of Jesuits, but did not
accomplish much.
The really great discoveries which link the "Great
North- West" for all time in history with France and
French names were initiated by PIERRE GAULTIER DE LA
VERENDRYE, who was born in 1685 at the town of Three
H2 Pioneers in Canada
Rivers, in Lower Canada, where his father was Governor.
He entered the army at the age of twelve, and took part
in the French campaigns in Flanders, winning the rank
of lieutenant at the battle of Malplaquet, where he received
nine wounds and was left for dead on the field. He then
returned to Canada, not having the necessary means with
which to support the position of a lieutenant; and then,
as France seemed to have entered upon a period of pro-
tracted peace, he determined to become an explorer. In
1728, when he was commandant of the trading post of
Nipigon, to the north of Lake Superior, he heard from
an Indian that there was a great lake beyond Lake
Superior, out of which flowed a river towards the west,
which ultimately led to a great salt lake where the water
ebbed and flowed. As a matter of fact, these stories
simply referred to Lake Winnipeg, but the importance
of them lay in the fact that they acted as a powerful in-
centive to La Verendrye to push his explorations west-
wards, and perhaps discover a route to the Pacific
Ocean.1
La Verendrye afterwards went to Quebec, where he
discussed his plans for Western exploration with the
Governor of New France, the Marquis de Beauharnais,
who was a distant connection of the Beauharnais family
from which sprang the first husband of the Empress
Josephine, the grandfather of Napoleon III.
This Governor entered into his scheme with enthu-
siasm, though he could obtain little or no money from
the ministers of Lous XVI. But a way out of the dif-
ficulty was found by the Governor giving La Verendrye
the monopoly of the fur trade in the far North-West.2
1 The water of Lake Winnipeg — whatever it may be now — was frequently stated by
Amerindians in earlier days to be " stinking water", or salt, brackish water, disagree-
able to drink, and this lake exhibits a curious phenomenon of a regular rise and fall,
reminding the observer of a tide, a phenomenon by no means confined to Lake
Winnipeg, but occurring on sheets of water of much smaller extent.
* What we should call to-day a "concession".
After Champlain 113
This monopoly enabled La Verendrye to obtain the funds
for his expenditure from the merchants of Montreal, and
in the summer of 1731 he started out on his explora-
tions, accompanied by three of his sons, his nephew,
fifty soldiers and French Canadian canoe men, and a Jesuit
missionary. For a guide they had the Indian, Oshagash,
who had first told La Verendrye of the western river
and the salt water. After many delays, necessitated by
the need for trading in furs to satisfy the merchants of
Montreal, La Verendrye and his expedition skated on
snowshoes down the ice of the Winnipeg River and
reached the shores of Lake Winnipeg. They were prob-
ably the first white men to arrive there. La Verendrye
established forts and posts along his route from Lake
Nipigon, but his expedition had not been a commercial
success. There was a deficit of £1700 between the amount
realized in furs and the cost of the equipment and wages
of the French and French Canadians. De Beauharnais
made a fresh appeal to the French Court; he urged that
the expenditure to convey La Verendrye's expedition to
the Pacific Ocean would not be a large one — perhaps
only ^"1500.
But the French Court was obdurate; it would not
furnish a penny. Thus La Verendrye, in all probability,
was prevented from forestalling the British explorers of
sixty and seventy years later, besides the expeditions of
Captain Cook and Captain Vancouver, which secured
for Great Britain a foothold on the Pacific seaboard of
British Columbia.
La Verendrye in his fort on Lake Winnipeg was in
a desperate position. He made a hasty journey back to
Montreal and even Quebec, to beat up funds and to
pacify the capitalists of his fur-trading monopoly. He
painted in glowing colours the prospects of cutting off
the trade of the Hudson's Bay Company and the build-
ing up of an immense commerce in valuable furs, and
(0318) 9
n4 Pioneers in Canada
these men agreed once again to furnish the funds for
the extension of the expedition. On his return he took
back with him his youngest son, Louis, a boy of eighteen.
Whilst he had been absent from Fort St. Charles (a post
which he had built on the Lake of the Woods, in com-
munication by water with the Winnipeg River), on Lake
Winnipeg, that place was visited by a party of Siou
Indians. They found the fort occupied in the absence
of the French by a number of Kri or "Knistino" In-
dians in French service. These Kris were frightened at
the arrival of the Sious and fired guns at them. "Who
fired on us?" demanded these haughty Indians from
Dakota, and the Kris replied, "The French". Then
the Sious withdrew, but vowed to be completely revenged
on the treacherous white man.
When La Verendrye reached Fort St. Charles its
little garrison was almost at the point of starvation. He
had travelled himself ahead of his party, and the im-
mense stock of supplies and provisions he was bringing
up country were a long way behind him when he reached
the fort. He therefore sent back his son Jean, together
with the most active of his Canadian voyageurs and the
Jesuit missionary, in order that they might meet the
heavily laden canoes and hurry them up country as fast
as possible. But this party was met by the Sious on
Rainy River, who massacred them to a man. They were
afterwards found lying in a circle on the beach, de-
capitated and mutilated. The heads of most of them
were wrapped ironically in beaver skins, and La Veren-
drye's son, Jean, was horribly cut and slashed, and his
mutilated, naked body decorated with garters and bracelets
of porcupine quills.
Meantime, during his absence in Lower Canada, two
of his sons in charge of Fort Maurepas, on Lake Win-
nipeg, had been very active. They had discovered the
great size of this lake, and also the entrance of the Red
After Champlain 115
River on the south. They then proceeded to explore
both the Red River and its western tributary the Assini-
boin. On the Assiniboin was afterwards built the post of
Fort La Reine, and from this place in 1738 La Verendrye
started with two of his sons, several other Frenchmen,
a few Canadian voyageurs, and twenty-five Assiniboin
Indians. Leaving the Assiniboin River, they crossed the
North Dakota prairies on foot. Owing to the timidity of
his Indian guides, La Verendrye was not led direct to
the Missouri River, the "Great River of the West",
but along a zigzag route which permitted his guides to
reinforce their numbers at Assiniboin villages, and every
now and then join in a bison hunt. All the party were
on foot, horses not then having reached the Assiniboin
tribe. But on the 28th of November, 1738, they drew
near to the Missouri and were met by a chief of the
great Mandan tribe, who was 'accompanied by thirty of
his warriors, and who presented La Verendrye with
young maize cobs and leaves of native tobacco, these
being regarded as emblems of peace and friendship.
The Mandan tribe differed materially in its habits
and customs from the Indians to the north, who sup-
ported themselves mainly, if not entirely, by hunting,
who cared very little for agriculture, and moved contin-
ually like nomads over great stretches of country, living
chiefly in tents or temporary villages. The Mandans,
on the other hand, were a people who practised agri-
culture, and had permanent and well-constructed towns.
In fact, their civilization and demeanour made such an
impression on the Assiniboin and other northern tribes
that they had been considered a sort of "white people",
somewhat akin to Europeans, and La Verendrye was
a little disappointed to find them only Amerindians in
race and colour.
The six hundred Assiniboins who had gathered about
La Verendrye's expedition proved to be a great trouble to
n6 Pioneers in Canada
him, as they were constantly picking quarrels with the
Mandans, who were very dishonest. Accordingly, La
Verendrye arranged with the Mandans to frighten them
away by pretending that the Siou Indians were on the
warpath. The six hundred Assiniboins bolted, but took
with them La Verendrye's interpreter, so that he was
henceforth obliged to communicate with the Mandans by
means of signs and gestures. This and other reasons
decided him to return — even though it was the depth of
winter, to Fort La Reine, but not before he had given
the head chief of the Mandans a flag and a leaden plate
which (unknown to the Mandans) meant taking possession
of their country in the name of the French king.
The journey back to Fort La Reine, over the plains of
the Assiniboin, was a terrible experience. The party had
to travel in the teeth of an almost unceasing north-east
wind which was freezingly cold. Night after night they
were obliged to dig deep holes in the snow for their
sleeping places. La Verendrye nearly died of agonizing
pain and fatigue during this journey, and was a long
time recovering from its effects.
As they continued to receive friendly messages from
the Mandans, inviting them to make further discoveries,
LA VERENDRYE'S sons, PIERRE and FRANCOIS, set out in
the spring of 1742, and, after some checks and disappoint-
ments, managed with a single Mandan guide to reach
Broad Lands on the Little Missouri River, where they
noticed the earths of different colours, blue, green, red,
black, white, and yellow, which are so characteristic of
this region. They reached the village of the Crow In-
dians, passed through a portion of the friendly tribe, the
Cheyennes (the name was probably pronounced Shian)
and got into the country which was constantly being
ravaged by the Snake Indians, or Shoshones. Here, on
the ist of January, 1743, when the mists of morning
cleared away, they saw upon the horizon the outline of
After Champlain 117
huge mountains. As they travelled westwards or south-
westwards, day after day, the jagged blue wall resolved
itself into towering snow-capped peaks, glittering in the
sun and provoking the appellation of " the Mountains of
Bright Stones ", a name probably given to the Rocky
Mountains by the Amerindians, but used in all the
earlier French and English maps until the end of the
eighteenth century.1
On the 1 2th of January they reached the very foot of
the mountains, the slopes of which they saw were thickly
covered with magnificent forests of pine and fir — forests,
that have since suffered to an appalling extent from annual
bush fires, which so far the United States Government
seems unable to check. Here they were to meet with a
bitter disappointment. They were travelling with a very
large war party of the Bow Indians for the purpose, if
need be, of attacking and routing the Shoshones; but a
Shoshone camp at the base of the mountains was found to
be deserted, and the Bow Indians jumped to the conclusion
that the Shoshones had turned back through the forest
unseen, and were now making with all speed for the
principal war camp of the Bow Indians, where they would
massacre the women and children. They would listen to
no remonstrances from the two Frenchmen, who perforce
had also to travel back, either alone or with the Bow
Indians, in the direction of their war camp, where the
idea of a Shoshone attack was found to be baseless.
Eventually, the two La Verendrye brothers were obliged
to make their way to the Missouri River, and abandon
any idea of finding a way to the Western Ocean across
the Rocky Mountains.
The French pioneers had already heard of the Spaniards
1 The term Rocky Mountains was probably first officially applied by the American
expedition, under Lewis and Clarke, sent out by the United States Government in 1804
to take possession of the coast of Oregon, but it was used twenty or thirty years earlier
*>V British explorers of Western Canada.
u8 Pioneers in Canada
in California, and the possibility of getting into touch with
them. They had now discovered, first of all Europeans,
the Rocky Mountains — that great snowy range of North
America which extends from Robson Peak on the eastern
borders of British Columbia to Baldy Peak in New Mexico.
Afterwards the La Verendryes directed their attention
more to the opportunities of reaching the Far West
through the streams that flowed into the system of Lake
Winnipeg, and in this way discovered, in or about 1743,
the great River Saskatchewan. This river La Verendrye's
sons followed up till they reached the junction between
the North and the South Rivers, and then they probably
learnt a good deal more of the Southern Saskatchewan,
on which they may have built one or two posts. La
Verendrye himself thought that this would prove to be
the best route by which the French could reach the
Western Sea.
By this time the French Government was becoming
alive to the importance of these discoveries, and it con-
ferred a decoration on La Verendrye, and allowed him
to hope that he might be furnished with means for further
exploration. But he died soon afterwards, at the close of
1749, and after his death his sons were treated with
gross ingratitude and neglect. The self-seeking Governor
of New France endeavoured to secure the fur trade for
his own friends, and sent an officer with a terribly long
name — Captain Jacques Repentigny Le Gardeur de Saint
Pierre — to continue the exploration towards the Pacific.
From 1750 to 1763 the French occupation of this region
of the two Saskatchewan Rivers was extended till in all
probability the French got within sight of the northern
Rocky Mountains in the vicinity of Calgary. Then came
the English conquest of Canada to stop all further enter-
prise in this direction, and the story was next to be taken
up by English, Scottish, and Canadian explorers.
It will be men with English and Scottish names,
After Champ lain 119
mainly, who will henceforth complete the work begun
and established so magnificently by Carder, Brule,
Nicollet, Jolliet, La Salle, du L'Hut, and La Verendrye,
though the French Canadians will also play a notable
part, together with "Americans", from New England.
CHAPTER VI
The Geographical Conditions of the
Canadian Dominion
Before we continue to follow the adventures of the
pioneers of British North America, I think — even if it
seems wearisome and discursive — my readers would better
understand this story if I placed before them a general
description of what is now the Dominion of Canada, more
particularly as it was seen and discovered by the earliest
European explorers.
The most prominent feature on the east, and that which
was nearest to Europe, was the large island of NEWFOUND-
LAND, 42,000 square miles in extent, that is to say, nearly
as large as England without Wales. It seems to bar the
way of the direct sea access by the Gulf of St. Lawrence
to the very heart of North America; and, until the Straits
of Belle Isle and of Cabot were discovered, did certainly
arrest the voyages of the earliest pioneers. Newfoundland,
as you can see on the map, has been cut into and carved
by the forces of nature until it has a most fantastic out-
line. Long peninsulas of hills alternate with deep,
narrow gulfs, and about the south-east and east coasts
there are innumerable islets, most of which in the days
of the early discoverers were the haunt of millions of
sea birds who resorted there for breeding purposes.
The heart of Newfoundland, so to speak, is an elevated
country with hills and mountains rising to a little over
2000 feet. A great deal of the country is, or was, dense
forests, chiefly consisting of fir trees. As numerous al-
120
The Geographical Conditions 121
most as the sea birds were the seals and walruses which
frequented the Newfoundland coasts. Inland there were
very large numbers of reindeer, generally styled nowa-
days by the French-Canadian name of Caribou1. Besides
reindeer there were wolves, apparently of a smaller size
than those of the mainland. There were also lynxes and
foxes, besides polar bears, martens, squirrels, &c. The
human inhabitants of Newfoundland, whom I shall de-
scribe in the next chapter, were known subsequently by
the name of Beothuk, or Beothik, a nickname of no
particular meaning. They had evidently been separated
for many centuries from contact with the Amerindians
of the mainland, though they may have been visited
occasionally on the north by the Eskimo. They had in
fact been so long separated from the other Amerindians
of North America that they were strikingly different
from them in their habits, customs, and language.
The climate of Newfoundland is not nearly so cold
as that of the mainland, nor so hot in summer, but it is
spoilt at times by fogs and sea mists which conceal the
landscape for days together. In the wintertime, and
quite late in the spring, quantities of ice hang about the
shores of the islands, and w.hen the warm weather comes,
these accumulations of ice slip away into the Atlantic in
the form of icebergs and are most dangerous to shipping.
To the south-east of Newfoundland the sea is very
shallow for hundreds of miles, the remains no doubt of
a great extension of North America in the direction of
Europe which had sunk below the surface ages ago. In
this shallow water — the u Banks" of Newfoundland — fish,
especially codfish, swarmed in millions, and still continue
to swarm with little, if any, diminution from the constant
toll of the fishing fleets. Another creature found in great
1 The first Frenchmen visiting North America, and seeing the caribou without their
horns, thought they were a kind of wild ass. The reindeer of Newfoundland is a sub-
species peculiar to this island.
122 Pioneers in Canada
abundance on these coasts is the true lobster,1 which
filled as important a part in the diet of the Beothuk
natives, before the European occupation, as the salmon
did in the dietary of the British Columbian tribes.
The next most striking feature in the geography of
Eastern North America is NOVA SCOTIA. As you look
at it on the map this province seems to be a long
peninsula connected with the mainland by the narrow
isthmus of Chignecto; but its northernmost portion —
Cape Breton — really consists of two big and two little
islands, only separated from Nova Scotia by a very
narrow strait — the Gut of Canso. On the north of
Nova Scotia lies the large Prince Edward Island, and
north of this again the small group of the Magdalen
Islands, discovered by Cartier, the resort of herds of im-
mense walruses at one time. Due west of Nova Scotia
the country, first flat (like Nova Scotia itself) and at one
time covered with magnificent forests, rises into a very
hilly region which culminates on the north in the Shik-
shok Mountains of the Gaspe Peninsula (nearly 4000 feet
in height) and the White Mountains (over 6000 feet) and
the Adirondak Mountains (over 5000 feet). The White,
the Green, and the Adirondak Mountains lie just within
the limits of the United States.
North of the Gaspe Peninsula, in the great Gulf of
St. Lawrence, is Anticosti Island, which rises on the south
in a series of terraces until it reaches an altitude of about
2000 feet. This island, which is well wooded, was said
to have swarmed with reindeer at one time, and perhaps
other forms of deer also, and to have possessed grizzly
bears which fed on the deer, besides Polar bears visiting
it in the winter.
1 Homarus americanus. The lobster of Newfoundland and the coasts of North-
east America is closely related to the common lobster of British waters. These true
lobsters resemble the freshwater crayfish in having their foremost pair of legs modified
into large, unequal-sized claws. The European rock-lobster of the Mediterranean and
French coasts (the langoustc of the French) has no large claws.
The Geographical Conditions 123
Newfoundland is separated from the mainland of
LABRADOR on the north by the Strait of Belle Isle, and
from Cape Breton Island on the south by Cabot Strait.
Labrador is an immense region on the continent, where
the coast (except for the deep inlet of Melville Lake) soon
rises into an elevated plateau 2000 feet in height, which is
strewn with almost uncountable lakes, out of which rivers
flow north, south, east, and west. On the north-east
corner of Labrador there are mountains from 3000 to
4000 feet, overlooking the sea. The whole of this vast
Labrador or Ungava Peninsula, which is bounded on the
south by the River and Gulf of St. Lawrence, and on
the north by Hudson's Bay and Hudson's Straits, is an
inhospitable land, at no time with much population.
"The winter of Labrador is long and severe; one
would need to have blood like brandy, a skin of brass,
and an eye of glass not to suffer from the rigours of a
Labrador winter. In the summer the frequent fogs render
the air damp, and the constant breezes from the immense
fields of ice floating in the gulf keep the land very cool, and
make any alteration in the winter dress almost unneces-
sary" (James M'Kenzie). Labrador and the lands farther
north on the continent of North America are separated
from Greenland on the east by the broad straits — a great
branch of the Atlantic — named after Davis and Baffin,
who first explored them. Passing up Davis Strait, along
the coast of Labrador to beyond 60° N. lat., the voyager
comes to Hudson's Straits, which, if followed up first to
the northwards and then to the south-west, would lead
him into the great expanse of Hudson's Bay, one of
the most important features in the geography of North
America.
HUDSON'S BAY, which is a great inland sea with an
area of about 315,000 square miles, has a southern loop or
extension called James Bay, the shores of which are not
at a very great distance either from Lake Superior to the
124 Pioneers in Canada
south-west, or from the source of the River Saguenay on
the south. The Saguenay flows into the Lower St. Law-
rence River. It is therefore not surprising that as soon
as the French began to settle in Lower Canada they heard
of a vast northern inland sea of salt water — Hudson's Bay.
But the people who discovered and surveyed Hudson's
Bay during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth
centuries were always on the search for a passage out of
its waters into the Arctic Sea, which would enable them
to get right round America into the Pacific Ocean.
In Arctic North America Nature really seems to have
been preparing during millions of years a grim joke with
which to baffle exploring humanity! It is easy enough
to pass from Davis Straits into Hudson's Bay, but to
get out of Hudson's Bay in the direction of the Arctic
Ocean is like getting out of a very cleverly arranged maze.
There are innumerable false exits, which have disappointed
one Arctic explorer after another. When they had dis-
covered that Hudson's Bay to the south was only like a
great bottle, and had no outlet, they explored its northern
waters; and when they found Chesterfield Inlet on the
north-west, which leads into Baker Lake, they thought
perhaps here was the passage through into the Arctic
Sea. But no; that was no good. To the north of Ches-
terfield Inlet was a broad channel called Roe's Welcome,
which led into Wager Bay and through frozen straits into
Fox's Channel, and this again into Ross Bay. Here only
a very narrow isthmus separates Hudson's Bay from the
Arctic Sea; but still it is an isthmus of solid land.
Turning to the north-east and north there are the broad
waters of Fox's Channel leading into Fox's Basin; but the
north-west corner of this inland sea was so blocked with ice
and islands that it was not until the year 1822 that the
real northern outlet of Hudson's Bay was discovered by
Captain EDWARD PARRY to be the narrow Fury and
Hecla Straits (the discovery was not completed until 1839
The Geographical Conditions 125
by the Hudson's Bay Company's explorers T. SIMPSON
and W. DEASE).
Here you have found the way out into the Gulf of
Boothia, which communicates in the north with Barrow
Strait and Baffin's Bay. But across the supposed penin-
sula of Boothia there were discovered, in 1847, by Dr.
JOHN RAE (also an officer of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany) the narrow Bellot Straits, which lead into Franklin
Straits and so into M'Clintock Channel and the Arctic
Ocean. After this you might theoretically (if the ice per-
mitted it) sail or steam your ship through Victoria Straits
and Coronation Gulf till you got into Beaufort Sea (part
of the open Arctic Ocean), or, by turning round Prince
Albert Land, pass through the Prince of Wales' Straits
or M'Clure Straits into the same Beaufort Sea.
The North- West Passage across the Arctic extremity
j of North America, therefore, did exist after all, and the
directest route would be up Davis Straits, through Hud-
son's Straits into Fox's Basin, then through the Fury and
Hecla Straits into the Gulf of Boothia, then through the
Bellot Straits and Franklin Straits (past Victorialand and
Kemp Peninsula) and out through the Dolphin and Union
Straits into the Arctic Ocean, and so on round the north
coast of Alaska, past Bering's Straits into Bering Sea and
the Pacific. But of course the accumulations of ice com-
pletely block continuous navigation.
The huge jagged island of BAFFIN'S LAND differs from
much of Arctic America in that it has high land rising
into mountains. This is so completely covered with ice
that it is of little interest under present circumstances to
the world of civilization, though the large herds of musk
oxen which it once supported were of much use to Arctic
explorers as a food supply in winter. The coasts are inha-
bited by a few thousand Eskimo, and Davis Straits and
Baffin's Bay possess a certain amount of commercial im-
portance owing to the whale fisheries which are carried on
126 Pioneers in Canada
there by the British, the Danes, the Americans, and the
Eskimo. In fact the importance of these whale fisheries
have of late made the Americans of the United States a
little inclined to challenge the British possession of these
great Arctic islands. North Devon, North Somerset,
Prince of Wales' Land, Melville Island, Banks Land,
Prince Albert Land, &c. &c., are names of other great
Arctic islands completely within the grip of the ice. The
nature of their interior is almost unknown. They are at
present of use to no form of man unless it be to a few
wandering Eskimo, who come to their coasts in the
summer to kill seals.
The great NORTH-WEST TERRITORIES of the Canadian
Dominion extend from the American frontier of Alaska
(which is the 141° of w. long.) to the Ungava Peninsula,
which abuts on Labrador. Where this vast region slopes
to the Arctic Ocean and Hudson's Bay it is rather low and
flat, except between Alaska and the Mackenzie River, and
between the Mackenzie and the watershed of Hudson's
Bay. The principal river system in the far North- West
is that of the great Mackenzie River, which flows into the
Arctic Ocean (Beaufort Sea) through an immense delta,
and is one of the longest rivers in the world. The
southernmost sources of the Mackenzie (such as the Peace
River and the Athabaska River) rise in the Rocky Moun-
tains to the east of British Columbia. These waters are
stored for a time in Lake Athabaska, and then under the
name of Slave River flow northwards into the Great
Slave Lake, and out of this, under the name of Mac-
kenzie River, into Beaufort Sea, through an immense
delta. The Great Bear Lake is also a feeder of the Mac-
kenzie.
Two other Arctic rivers at one time thought to be
of great importance as means of communication with the
Arctic Ocean, are the Great Fish River, which flows into
Elliot Bay, and the Coppermine River, which enters Coro-
The Geographical Conditions 127
nation Gulf. The other northward-flowing rivers (passing
through innumerable lakes and lakelets) enter Hudson's
Bay.
West of the great Mackenzie River rises the northern-
most extension of the Rocky Mountains. All this eastern-
most part of Alaska, which is under British control, is a
region of great elevation, something like parts of Central
Asia. The streams which rise here unite in the great
Yukon River, and this has its outlet in Bering's Sea.
Some points of the great mountains within the limits of
British territory in this direction reach to nearly 20,000 feet
(Mount Logan).
But the climate of the northern parts of the Canadian
Dominion differs very greatly in the west as compared to
the east. For instance, the northern parts of Labrador are
cruelly Arctic, hopelessly frozen, though they are in the
same latitude as St. Petersburg (the capital of European
Russia) and as the splendidly forested northern parts of
British Columbia. Eastern Labrador is a region in which
explorers have frequently perished from cold and starva-
tion. Although in the lofty parts of the Yukon country
(three hundred and fifty miles north of treeless Labrador)
the winter is intensely cold, and the ground is frozen for
a considerable depth downwards, all the year round, there
are still great forests; and a white and Amerindian popu-
lation find it possible to live there all the year round,
while animal life is extremely abundant. On the other
hand, a good deal of the territory between Mackenzie
River and Hudson's Bay is almost uninhabitable, except
during the summertime, owing to the depth of the snow
and the bare rocky nature of the ground.
The treeless area north of Lake Athabaska (the " barren
lands " of the Canadian Dominion) seems to consist of
nothing but slabs of rock and loose stones. Yet this
region is far from being without vegetation. The rock
I is often covered with a thin or thick sod of lichen (" rein-
128 Pioneers in Canada
deer moss ", in some districts three feet deep) intermixed
with the roots of the wishakapakka herb (Ledum palustre,
from which Labrador tea is made), of cranberries, goose-
berries, heather (with white bell flowers), and a dwarf
birch. This last, in sheltered places where a little vege-
table soil has been formed, grows into a low scrubby
bush. As to the gooseberries — here and farther south
— Hearne describes them as "thriving best on the stony
or rocky ground, open and much exposed to the sun ".
They spread along the ground like vines. The small
red fruit is always most plentiful and fine on the under
side of the branches, probably owing to the reflected heat
of the stones. In the bleaker places a hard, black,
crumply lichen — the "Tripe de roche" of the French
Canadians (Gyrophoreus) grows on the rocks and stones,
and is of great service to the Amerindians, as it fur-
nishes them with a temporary subsistence when no
animal food can be procured. This lichen, when boiled,
turns to a gummy consistence something like sago.
Hearne describes it as being remarkably good when used
to thicken broth ; but some other pioneers complained that
it made them and their Indians seriously ill. Another
lichen, "reindeer moss" (Cladina), is also eaten by men
as well as deer. The muskegs, or bogs and marshes,
produce in the summertime a very rapid growth of grass
(as well as breeding swarms of mosquitoes!), and thus
furnish food for the geese and swans which throng them
between June and October.
In the summertime all these northern territories of
Canada — from the basin of Lake Winnipeg, with its white
pelicans, to the Arctic circle — swarm with birds, wild
swans, geese, ducks, plovers, grouse, cranes, eagles, owls
of several kinds — especially the great snowy eagle-owl—
red-breasted thrushes, black and white snow-buntings,
scarlet grosbeaks (the female green and grey), crested
jays, and ravens "of a beautiful glossy black, richly
The Geographical Conditions 129
tinged with purple ", but smaller in size than those of
Europe.
This is also the country for bears. Some grizzlies still
linger here. Their range at one time extended to near the
Arctic circle. In Alaska (British as well as United States)
there is an enormous chocolate-coloured bear, the biggest
in the world. The Polar bear, usually creamy white along
the seacoast, is stated to range inland during the summer
over the "barren grounds", and to develop either a per-
manent local variety or a seasonal change of coat, which
is greyish-brown or blue-grey.
The black bear in northern Canada is said to give
birth at times to cubs which are cinnamon-brown in
colour.
"In the early summer the black bears swim up and
down the northern rivers with their mouths open, swallow-
ing the immense number of water-insects which have come
into being at that season." Hearne goes on to state that
bears which have subsisted on this food for some days,
when cut open emit a stench that is intolerable, and
which taints their flesh to a sickening degree. The
insects on which they feed are mostly of two kinds: one
a sort of grasshopper with a hard black skin, and the
other a soft, brown, sluggish fly. "This last is the most
numerous. In some of the lakes such quantities are forced
into the bays when the wind blows hard, that they are
pressed together in dead multitudes and remain a great
nuisance. I have several times, in my inland voyages from
York Fort (Hudson's Bay), found it scarcely possible to
land in some of those bays for the intolerable stench of
those insects, which in some places were lying in putrid
masses to the depth of two or three feet." It is more than
probable that the bears occasionally feed on these dead
insects. After the middle of July, when they take to a
diet of berries, they are excellent eating, and continue to
be so to the end of the winter.
( 0 312 ) 9
130 Pioneers in Canada
The Arctic foxes of this region when young are sooty
black all over, and gradually change to a light ash-grey
in colour, with a dark, almost blue, tint on the head,
legs, and back. In winter they usually become white
all over, with or without a black tip to the tail ; but it is
recorded by some travellers that not all the foxes of the
Canis lagopus species turn white; some keep their dark-
grey colour all the year round. The common fox
(C. vulpes fulvus) in Northern Canada is sometimes
black, with white-tipped hairs. Wolves in these far
northern regions do not seem to have been so abundant
as farther south.
The deer tribe are represented (north of the Atha-
baska region) by the reindeer and the elk (called by the
Canadians " Moose"). The wapiti or red deer (for which
the common Amerindian name in the north was Waskestu)
seldom ranged farther north than the vicinity of Lake
Winnipeg. The reindeer of the "barren ground" sub-
species extended to the Arctic seacoast, and were at one
time especially abundant in Labrador. Here they were
so tame, down to a hundred years ago, that fishermen
were often known to shoot many of them from the win-
dows of their huts near the seashore. This type (Rangifer
tarandus arcticus) might possibly be domesticated ; not so
the larger and much wilder Caribou woodland reindeer of
the more southern and western parts of the Dominion,
which dislikes the neighbourhood of man. The elk or
moose, east of the Rocky Mountains, was not found
northward of about 50° to 55°; but west of that range
extended over all British Columbia and Alaska, in which
latter country it grows to a giant size and develops
enormous antlers.
Hearne says of the elk in northern Canada: " In
summer, when they frequent the margins of rivers
and lakes, they are often killed by the Indians in the
water while they are crossing rivers or swimming from
The Geographical Conditions 131
the mainland to islands, &c. When pursued in this
manner, they are the most inoffensive of all animals,
never making any resistance; and the young ones are so
simple that I remember to have seen an Indian paddle
his canoe up to one of them and take it by the poll without
the least opposition; the poor, harmless animal seeming
at the same time as contented alongside the canoe as if
swimming by the side of its dam, and looking up in our
faces with the same fearless innocence that a house lamb
would; making use of its fore foot almost every instant
to clear its eyes of mosquitoes, which at that time were
remarkably numerous. . . . The moose are also the easiest
to tame and domesticate of any of the deer kind. I have
repeatedly seen them at Churchill as tame as sheep, and
even more so; for they would follow their keeper any
distance from home, and at his call return with him
without the least trouble, or ever offering to deviate from
the path."
The most northern range of the elk would seem to
be the region round Lake Athabaska.
The musk ox (Ovibos) is perhaps the most remarkable
beast of Arctic Canada.1 Samuel Hearne is my principal
source for the following notes as to its habits and appear-
ance: The number of bulls is very few in proportion to
the cows, for it is rare to see more than two or three full-
grown bulls with the largest herd ; and from the number
1 The musk ox, which is not an ox, but a creature about midway in structure and
affinities between cattle on the one hand and sheep and goats on the other, is a large
beast comparatively, being the size of a small ox, but appearing very much larger than
it is on account of the extremely thick coat of hair and wool. Both sexes have horns,
and the horns, after meeting in the middle and making more or less of a boss over the
forehead, droop down at the sides of the cheeks and then turn up with sharp points.
The musk ox once ranged right across the northern world, from England and Scandi-
navia, through Germany, Russia, and Siberia, to Alaska and North America. Many
thousands of years ago, during one of the Glacial periods, it inhabited southern Eng-
land. At the present day it is extinct everywhere, excepting in the eastern parts of
Arctic America, not going west of the Mackenzie River nor south of Labrador. It is
also found in Greenland.
132 Pioneers in Canada
of the males that are found dead, the Indians are of
opinion that they kill each other in contending for the
females. In the rutting season they are so jealous of the
cows that they run at either man or beast who offers to
approach them, and have been observed to run and bel-
low even at ravens and other large birds which chanced
to alight near them. They delight in the most stony and
mountainous parts of the "barren ground", but are seldom
found at any great distance from the woods. Though they
are a beast of great magnitude, and apparently of a very
unwieldy inactive structure, yet they climb the rocks with
ease and agility, and are nearly as surefooted as a goat.
Like it, too, they will feed on anything; and though they
seem fondest of grass, yet in winter, when grass cannot
be had in sufficient quantity, they will eat moss or any
other herbage they can find, as also the tops of willows
and the tender branches of the pine tree.
"The musk ox, when full grown, is as large as the
generality of English black cattle; but their legs, though
thick, are not so long, nor is their tail longer than that of
a bear; and, like the tail of that animal, it always bends
downward and inward, so that it is entirely hid by the
long hair of the rump and hind quarters. The hunch on
their shoulders is not large, being little more in proportion
than that of a deer. Their hair is in some parts very long,
particularly on the belly, sides, and hind quarters ; but the
longest hair about them, particularly the bulls, is under
the throat, extending from the chin to the lower part of
the chest between the fore legs. It there hangs down like
a horse's mane inverted, and is fully as long, which gives
the animal a most formidable appearance. It is of the hair
from this part that the Eskimo make their mosquito wigs
(face screens or masks). In winter the musk oxen are
provided with a thick fine wool or fur that grows at the
root of the long hair, and shields them from the intense
cold to which they are exposed during that season; but
The Geographical Conditions 133
as the summer advances this fur loosens from the skin,
and by frequently rolling themselves on the ground it
works out to the end of the hair, and in time drops off,
leaving little for their summer clothing except the long
hair. This season is so short in these high latitudes, that
the new fleece begins to appear almost as soon as the old
one drops off, so that by the time the cold becomes severe
they are again provided with a winter dress."
According to Hearne, the flesh of the musk ox does not
resemble that of the bison, but is more like the meat of
the moose or wapiti. The fat is of a clear white, " slightly
tinged with a light azure ". The calves and young heifers
are good eating, but the flesh of the bulls both smells and
tastes so strongly of musk as to be very disagreeable;
"even the knife that cuts the flesh of an old bull will
smell so strongly of musk that nothing but scouring the
blade quite bright can remove it, and the handle will
retain the scent for a long time ".
Bisons of the "wood" variety are (or were) found far
up the heights of the Rocky Mountains and in the regions
south-west of the Great Slave Lake. These "wood buf-
faloes " delight in mountain valleys, and never resort
to the plains. And higher than anything, of course,
range the great white mountain goat-antelopes (Oream-
nus montanus) from northern Alaska to the Columbia
River.
The north and the north-west were, of course, pre-
eminently the great fur-trading regions, though all parts
of the vast Dominion have at one time or another yielded
furs for commerce with the white man. The principal fur-
bearing smaller mammals of the north and north-west
were wolves, foxes, lynxes, gluttons (wolverene), otters,
martens (sables) and black fishing martens, mink (a kind
of polecat), ermine-stoats, weasels, polar hares (Lepus
timidus), beavers, musquash, lemming, gopher or pouched
ground-squirrels, and the common red squirrel of North
134 Pioneers in Canada
America. The grey squirrel and striped chipmunk are
only found in southern Canada.
The musquash (Fiber zibethicus) is such a characteristic
animal of northern Canada that it is worth while to give
Hearne's description of it (I would mention it is really a
huge vole, and no relation of the beaver): —
" The musk rat or musquash builds a dwelling near
the banks of ponds or swamps to shelter it from the bitter
cold of the winter, but never on land, always on the ice,
as soon as it is firm enough, taking care to keep a hole
open to admit it to dive for its food, which chiefly consists
of the roots of grass or arums. It sometimes happens in
very cold winters that the holes communicating with their
dwellings under the water are so blocked by ice that they
cannot break through them. When this is the case, and
they have no provisions left in the house, they begin to eat
one another. At last there may be only one rat left out of
a whole lodge. They occasionally eat fish, but in general
feed very cleanly, and when fat are good eating. They are
easily tamed and soon grow fond of their owner. They
are very cleanly and playful, and ' smell exceedingly
pleasant of musk', but their resemblance to the rat is so
great that few are partial to them, though of course they
are much larger in size, and have webbed hind feet and
a flat scaly tail. In Canadian regions farther south the
musquash no longer builds on the ice, but in swamps,
where it raises heaps of mud like islands in the surround-
ing water. On the top of these mounds they build their
nests, and on the top of the musquash nest, or ' lodge ',
wild geese frequently lay their eggs and bring forth their
young brood without any fear of being molested by foxes."
The YUKON territories of the Dominion, and above all
the State of BRITISH COLUMBIA, constitute a very distinct
region from the rest of British North America, not only in
their tribes of Amerindians but in their fauna, flora, and
climate. British Columbia is one of the most beautiful
The Geographical Conditions 135
and richly endowed countries in the world. Here, in spite
of northern latitudes, the warm airs coming up from the
Pacific Ocean act somewhat in the same way as the Gulf
Stream on north-west Europe, and favour the growth of
magnificent forests.
All this north-western part of British Columbia is very
mountainous, and the rocks are rich in minerals, especially
gold in the Fraser and Columbia Rivers, far north in the
upper valley of the Yukon, and copper and coal in Van-
couver Island.
The rainfall in British Columbia is considerable, and
the flora — trees, plants, ferns — richer than anywhere else
in North America, with many resemblances to the trees
and plants of Japan and northern China. In British
Columbia more than in any other part of the world are
found the noblest developments of the pines, firs, and
junipers (Coniferce).
The coast rivers swarm with salmon, and perhaps
because of the abundance of sea fish close in shore there
have been developed in the course of ages those remark-
able aquatic mammals, the sea lions or fur seals (Otaria),
whose relationship to the true seals is a very distant one.
On the Alaskan coasts and islands is Otaria ursina, the
creature which provides the sealskin fur of commerce.
There is also the much larger sea lion (Otaria stelleri), on
the coasts of British Columbia and Vancouver Island.
Alexander Henry, jun., gives some interesting facts about
this remarkable beast.
"The natives at Oak Point, during the time Mr. Keith
was there, killed five very large sea lions by spearing
them at night. Two canoes being lashed together, they
approach very softly, and throw their spears, which are
fastened by a long, strong cord, with a barb so fixed in a
socket that, when it strikes the animal and pierces the flesh,
it is detached from the shaft of the spear, but remains
fastened to the cord. This is instantly made fast between
136 Pioneers in Canada
the canoes; the animal dives and swims down river, drag-
ging the canoes with such velocity that they may be in
danger of filling, and require great skill in steering. In
this manner they are carried down some miles before the
animal becomes exhausted with loss of blood, makes for
the shore, and lies on the beach, where they dispatch it
and cut it up. The price of a sea lion among the natives is
one slave and an assortment of other articles. Mr. Keith
bought the flesh of one of these animals, and we had some
roasted; it resembles bear's meat. The hair is like that
of a horse, in summer of a chestnut colour. The natives,
and also the Russians, are particularly fond of marine
animals, such as whales, &c. ; they drink the oil like milk."
Another notable water beast of the British Columbia
coast was the sea otter (Enhydris), described on p. 305.
Such an immense value was set on its fur that it is now
nearly extinct within British limits.
The huge chocolate-coloured bear of the Yukon valley
has already been mentioned ; also the very large, blackish-
brown wild dog (Cants pambasileus), which from one or
two passages in the writings of Canadian pioneers may
also be found as far south as the British Columbian Rocky
Mountains. In the Yukon country the elk (which was
formerly very common in British Columbia) grows to
gigantic proportions with longer and larger antlers than
elsewhere. In the forested mountains of British Columbia
(as well as farther north) are the wood bison, the white
mountain goat, grizzly bears, black bears, two kinds of
lynx, the wapiti red deer, and the large bighorn sheep.
These (Ovis montana) sheep are of a grey or leaden
colour; the rump and the inner side of the legs are white;
the hoofs black, about one inch long. "The hair is rather
soft, and at the roots is mixed with exceedingly fine white
wool, which seems to grow only in certain patches. The
neck is relatively much thicker than that of other animals
of the same size; the legs and hoofs are also strongly built.
The Geographical Conditions 137
like the neck." The horns of the female are comparatively
small, flat, and have only a small bend backward ; they are
of a dirty-yellowish white, marked with closely connected
annulations to the very tip. The legs are brown, as are
also the ends of the hairs about the neck; the hoofs are
black. " A ewe will weigh about 100 Ib. when in full
flesh, with only the entrails taken out. The head bears
every resemblance to that of our European sheep." The
colour of the males is nearly the same as that of the females,
only rather browner; they are much larger and more
strongly built, with a pair of enormous horns, which incline
backward. As they grow they bend downward, and in the
course of time form a complete curve and project forward.
At the root the horns are nearly three inches square, the
flat sides opposite; they are marked with closely connected
ridges and end in a tapering flat point.
When the horns grow to a" great length, forming a
complete curve, the tips project on both sides of the head
so as to prevent the ram from feeding. This, with their
great weight, causes the sheep to dwindle to a mere
skeleton and die. The bighorn sheep feed much in the
caverns of the Rocky Mountains, eating a kind of moss
and grass growing on the floors of these caves, and also
a peculiar soft, sweet-tasting "clay", of which the natives
also are fond.
The southern part of British Columbia contains the
mule deer of western North America (Mazama macrotis),
and a very strange rodent, the sewellel or mountain beaver
(Haplodon), a creature distantly allied to squirrels, mar-
mots, and beavers, but restricted in its distribution to a
few parts of California, Oregon, and British Columbia.
Amongst the birds noteworthy in the landscape are the
white-headed sea eagles and Californian condors (Pseudo-
gryphus calif omianus). Humming-birds range through
British Columbia and Vancouver Island between mid-
April and October.
138 Pioneers in Canada
In the regions about the upper Kootenay River
(Eastern British Columbia), before the railway was con-
structed, there were wild horses, descended, no doubt,
from those which had escaped from the Spaniards in New
Mexico and California. They went in large herds, and
in the winter when the snow was deep the natives would
try to catch them by running them down with relays of
fresh horses, or driving them up the mountains into the
deepest snow or some narrow pass. A noose would then
be thrown about the exhausted animal, which would be
instantly mounted by an Indian and broken immediately
to the saddle. Some of these wild horses were exceedingly
swift, well-proportioned, and handsome in shape, but they
seldom proved as docile as those born in captivity. When
in a wild condition they would snort so loudly through the
nostrils on descrying an enemy that they could be heard
at a distance of five hundred yards.
The provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba
— the MIDDLE WEST — represent mainly the great prairie
region of the Canadian Dominion. Nearly all the streams
here flow from the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains
and direct their course to the basin of Lake Winnipeg and
to Hudson's Bay. A few turn south-west to the Missouri
and Mississippi. The landscapes here remind one more
of the middle part of the United States. The climate is
severe in winter but very warm and dry in summer. In
the extreme south, within the basin of the upper Missouri,
the "prickly pear" (Opuntia) cactus grows in sheltered
places, and suggests affinities with distant Colorado and
California.
These great plains and river courses of the middle West
were, until about fifty years ago, one of the world's great
natural parks or zoological gardens. Large numbers of
wapiti deer, of the smaller Virginian deer,1 and of the
1 Matama americana, similar to, but quite distinct from, the larger mule deer of
British Columbia.
The Geographical Conditions 139
prongbuck " antelope"1 thronged the grassy flats, and
elk browsed on the foliage of the thickets along the river
banks. Grizzly bears and black bears,2 large grey wolves,
the small coyote wolf, the pretty little kit fox and large red
fox preyed on these herbivores, as did also pumas and
lynxes. Marmots and prairie hares (Lepus campestris) —
often called rabbits by the pioneers, who also named the
marmots "wood-chucks" — frolicked in the herbage, and
formed the principal prey of the numerous rattlesnakes.
By the shores of streams and lakes stood rows of stately
cranes: the whooping crane, of large size, pure white,
with black quill feathers, the crown of the head crimson
scarlet and the long legs black; and the purple-brown
crane, somewhat smaller in size. On hot, calm days in
the region of Lake Winnipeg the cranes soar to an amazing
height, flying in circles, till by degrees they are almost out
of sight. Yet their loud note sdunds so distinct and near
that the spectator might fancy they were close to him.
The air at this season is full of great birds — eagles,
buzzards, hawks, and falcons — soaring in circles to look
out for prey among the flocks of wild swans, white geese,
bernicle geese and brent geese, duck and teal, which cover
the backwaters and the marshes and shallow lagoons.
Turkey buzzards, coming up from the south, act as sca-
vengers during the summer months. Immense flocks of
passenger pigeons, buntings, grosbeaks, attack the ripen-
ing fruits and the wild rice of the swamps. Grouse in
uncountable numbers inhabit the drier tablelands and open
moors.3
1 The prongbuck (Antilocapra americana) is not a true antelope, though in out-
ward appearance it resembles a large gazelle. It was called " cabri " by the French
Canadians.
* ' ' Bears make prodigious ravages in the brush and willows ; the plum trees, and
every tree that bears fruit share the same fate. The tops of the oaks are also very
roughly handled, broken, and torn down, to get the acorns. The havoc they commit
is astonishing. . . . " — Alex. Henry, jun.
3 Nowhere in the world are there so many kinds of grouse as in North America.
In the more northern regions are several species of ptarmigan or snow partridges
Pioneers in Canada
But — a hundred years ago and more — the dominant
features in the fauna of the Middle West was the bison.
Between the Athabaska and Saskatchewan Rivers on the
north, the Rocky Mountains on the west, and Lake
Superior on the east the bison passed backwards and for-
wards over the great plains and prairies in millions, when
white explorers first penetrated these lands. They moved
in herds which concealed the ground from sight for miles.
Here are some word pictures selected from the writings
of the pioneers between 1770 and 1810:
"The buffaloes chiefly delight in wide open plains,
which in those parts produce very long coarse grass, or
rather a kind of small flags and rushes, upon which they
feed; but when pursued they always take to the woods.
They are of such an amazing strength, that when they
fly through the woods from a pursuer, they frequently
brush down trees as thick as a man's arm; and be the
snow ever so deep, such is their strength and agility,
that they are enabled to plunge through it faster than
the swiftest Indian can run in snowshoes. To this I have
been an eyewitness many times, and once had the vanity
to think that I could have kept pace with them ; but
though I was at that time celebrated for being particularly
fleet of foot in snowshoes, I soon found that I was no
match for the buffaloes, notwithstanding they were then
plunging through such deep snow, that their bellies made
(Lagoptts], which turn white in winter, and the spruce partridges (Canachites); in the
more genial climate of the great plains of eastern Canada and in the Far West the
ruffled grouse and hazel grouse (Bonasa), the sage cocks (Centrocercus), the prairie
hens ( Tympanuchus), and the blue or pine grouse (Dendrapagus).
"To snare grouse requires no other process than making a few little hedges across
a creek, or a few short hedges projecting at right angles from the side of an island of
willows, which those birds are found to frequent. Several openings must be left in
each hedge, to admit the birds to pass through, and in each of them a snare must be
set ; so that when the grouse are hopping along the edge of the willows to feed, which
is their usual custom, some of them soon get into the snares, where they are confined
till they are taken out. I have caught from three to ten grouse in a day by this simple
contrivance, which requires no further attendance than going round them night and
morning" (Hearne).
INDIANS LYING IN WAIT FOR MOOSE
The Geographical Conditions 141
a trench in it as large as if many sacks had been hauled
through it. Of all the large beasts in those parts the
buffalo is easiest to kill, and the moose are the most
difficult; neither are the (red) deer very easy to come
at, except in windy weather: indeed it requires much
practice and a great deal of patience to slay any of them,
as they will by no means suffer a direct approach, unless
the hunter be entirely sheltered by woods or willows.
"The flesh of the buffalo is exceedingly good eating,
and so entirely free from any disagreeable smell or taste,
that it resembles beef as nearly as possible."
"The spots of wood along the Park River are ravaged
by buffaloes (bison) ; none but the large trees are standing,
the bark of which is rubbed perfectly smooth, and heaps
of hair and wool lie at the bottom of the trees . . . and
even the grass is not permitted to grow. . . . The ground
is trampled more by these cattle- than about the gate of
a farmyard."
"The Kris informed me they had seen a calf as white
as snow in a herd of buffalo. White buffalo are very
scarce. They are of inestimable value among the nations
of the Missouri. . . . There were also some of a dirty-
grey colour, but these are very rare."
"I brought home two buffalo calves alive; they no
sooner lost sight of the herd than they followed my horse
like dogs, directly into the fort. On chasing a herd at
this season the calves follow it until they are fatigued,
when they throw themselves down in high grass and
lie still, hiding their heads if possible. But seeing only
a man and his horse they remain quiet and allow them-
selves to be taken. Having been a little handled, they
follow like dogs."
In the spring, when the ice melted, innumerable
buffaloes were killed through attempting to cross the
rivers on the melting ice. They would drift by an ob-
server (such as Alexander Henry, jun.) in entire herds
142 Pioneers in Canada
of drowned corpses. Vast numbers perished. They
formed one continuous line on the current for two days
and two nights.
"By this time the river was crowded with them, swim-
ming across, bellowing and grunting terribly. The bulls
really looked fierce; all had their tails up, and each ap-
peared eager to land first. The scene would have struck
terror to one unaccustomed to such innumerable herds.
From out in the plains, as far as the eye could reach,
to the middle of the river, they were rushing toward
us, and soon began to land about ten yards off. I shot
one dead on the spot, my ball having broken his neck;
my hunter and guide only wounded theirs. This dis-
charge suddenly halted those on the south side, and turned
those that were still in the water."
In the autumn: — "Plains burned in every direction
and blind buffalo seen every moment wandering about.
The poor beasts have all the hair singed off; even the
skin in many places is shrivelled up and terribly burned,
and their eyes are swollen and closed fast. It was really
pitiful to see them staggering about, sometimes running
afoul of a large stone, at other times tumbling down hill
and falling into creeks not yet frozen over. In one spot
we found a whole herd lying dead."
Throughout British North America, from the Yukon
to Newfoundland, and from Labrador to Vancouver's
Island, the rivers and freshwater lakes swarm with fish,
and fish that in most cases is exceedingly good to eat.
Salmon are most strikingly abundant in the rivers of
British Columbia and Newfoundland, but they also ascend
most of the rivers flowing into the Atlantic and Hudson's
Bay. In the great lakes of Canada and of the middle
west there are trout and white fish (Coregonus), pike, bass,
chub, barbel, and five species of sturgeon. In the rivers
and lakes of the far north - west is found the blackfish
(Dallid).
The Geographical Conditions 143
Hearne writes of Lake Athabasca that it swarms with
fish, such as pike, trout, perch, barbel, and other kinds
not easily identified. Apparently there is also a form of
gar-pike found here (see p. 74); this is described as
having scales of a very large and stiff kind, and being a
beautiful bright silver in colour. The size of these gar-
pike range from two feet to four feet in length. Their
flesh was delicately white and soft, but so foul and rank
in taste that even the Indians would not eat it. The trout
in Lake Athabaska seem to have been enormous, weigh-
ing from 35 to 40 pounds, while pike were of about the
same weight.
The Amerindian tribes and the early European ex-
plorers lived mainly on fish, which was a palatable and
easily obtained food. Yet it must be admitted that they
had a splendid array of large and small game from which
to take their toll.
Nor was the whole Dominion, from west to east and
up to the Arctic zone, wanting in wild vegetable pro-
duce fit for man's consumption. The sugar maple (Acer
saccliarinum) and its ally the Negundo maple provided
a delicious syrup; the bark of certain poplars and the
bast of the sugar pine were chewed for their well-flavoured
sweetness; the wild rice of the marshes will be further
described in the next chapter. The wild fruits included
delicious strawberries, cherries, gooseberries, currants,
black currants, grapes (in the south only), blackberries
of many kinds, whortleberries, cranberries, pears of the
service tree (Pyrus canadensis1}, and raspberries of
various types — red, yellow, and black. Southern Canada
and Nova Scotia contained various nut trees of the
walnut order (hickories, butter-nuts, &c.), and hazel nuts
were found everywhere except in the north.
We have left undescribed what is still politically the
most important part of the whole of British North
1 Sometimes called Amelanchitr canadensit.
144 Pioneers in Canada
America — UPPER and LOWER CANADA. These regions
lie within the basin of the great St. Lawrence River,
beyond all doubt the most important waterway of North
America, more important even than the Mississippi.
The main origin of the St. Lawrence in the west is
Lake Superior, the largest sea of fresh water in the
world, which is connected with Lake Nipigon on the
north. The waters of Lake Superior are carried over
the Sault Ste. Marie rapids into Lake Huron and find
a huge backwater in Lake Michigan.1 Out of Lake
Huron again they flow past Detroit into Lake Erie.
From Duluth, at the westernmost extremity of Lake Su-
perior, to Buffalo, on the easternmost point of Lake Erie,
including all Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, with its
bays and channels, a steamer can pass with just the one
difficulty (easily surmounted) of the rapids at Sault Ste.
Marie between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. But
after you have left Lake Erie on the east you find your-
self in the Niagara River, which at the Niagara Falls
plunges several hundred feet downwards into Lake On-
tario. From Lake Ontario to the sea along the St.
Lawrence there is uninterrupted navigation, though there
are rapids that require careful steering both with steamers
and boats. Quebec marks the place where the St. Law-
rence River suddenly broadens from a river into a tidal
gulf of brackish or salt water. Ocean steamers from all
over the world can come (except during the height of
the winter, when the water freezes) to Quebec. But for
the ice in wintertime Quebec would be the great sea-
port of eastern Canada.
" If pitiless rock is commonly understood by an ' iron-
bound shore ', then the coasts of the River St. Lawrence
along the northern side of the Gulf may truly be so styled,
1 The south shore of Lake Superior, the whole of Lake Michigan, the west shore
of Lake Huron, and the south coasts of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are within thr
territories of the United States.
The Geographical Conditions 145
as nothing scarcely is to be seen for hundreds of leagues
but bare rocky mountains, capes and cliffs in various
shapes and figures, some of which are dotted with a few
spruce firs, while others present their bald pates deprived
of covering by the unmerciful hand of time " (James
M'Kenzie).
The winters of the Quebec province are extremely
cold, but the summer and autumn are warm and sunny.
The best winter climate, possibly, in all Canada (though
not as good as that of Vancouver Island, British Columbia)
is to be found in the small peninsula region, on the shores
of Lakes Erie and Huron, between Toronto and Detroit.
This is the district which the Jesuit missionaries described
as "an earthly paradise" even during the winter-time.
The following extracts, mostly from the journals of
Alex. Henry, jun., give a good idea of the difference
in climate and temperature between the western and the
central parts of the Canadian Dominion.
The late spring of northern Canada (Lake Nipigon,
50° N. lat.): — About May 15, the tops of the poplars
begin to appear green, with fresh buds; the hills are
changing their hue from a dry straw colour to a de-
lightful verdure, and fragrant odours greet us.
" Early in March, 1800, in the Assiniboin country
(Manitoba, about 29° N. lat.) the snow was entirely gone,
for this winter had been an abnormally mild one for
central Canada. The birds soon realized the openness
of the season, for, on the 7th of March, turkey-buzzards
began to arrive from the south, and cormorants, ducks,
swans, and other spring birds; indeed, by the 24th of
March not only had the snow quite melted, but the
meadows had grown so dry with the hot sun that some
accidents set them on fire. By April the nth the weather
had become excessively hot, and immense flocks of the
traveller - pigeon (Ectopistes) flew northwards over the
country."
(0818) 10
146 Pioneers in Canada
In somewhat similar latitudes (50°) the spring bursts
on the Pacific coast region of British Columbia towards
the end of February. "The tall raspberry bushes were
in blossom with a beautiful red flower, which appeared
more forward than the leaf (Rubus spectabilis). The elder
had sprouts an inch long, the alder was also beginning
to sprout, and willows were budding."
Although nowhere in Upper and Lower Canada (or
in the maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia) are the forests so splendid as in parts of British
Columbia, yet nevertheless when this region was first
discovered the magnificence of its woodlands greatly im-
pressed even the explorers of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, who were not as much given to praise of land-
scape beauty as are we of later times. These Canadian
forests include oaks, elms, pines and firs, chestnuts and
beeches, birch trees and sycamores, maples and poplars,
willows, alders, and hazelnuts (these last sometimes grow-
ing into tall trees with thick trunks). The trees and low-
growing plants are partly like those of the north-eastern
United States, and partly resemble those of northern and
central Europe.
Nowadays, owing to two centuries of incessant killing,
the beasts and birds of Upper and Lower Canada are
not nearly so abundant as they were a hundred years
ago. When Canada proper was first discovered, the
wapiti red deer was still found in the basin of the St.
Lawrence; it has long since been extinct. There are,
however, still lingering, reindeer in the north, and elk
in the forests of the east. There are also Virginian
deer (Mazama), but there is no bison (and, so far as we
know, never has been). There is no prongbuck, and
many other creatures characteristic of the United States
and British Columbia are not found in Upper and Lower
Canada or in the maritime provinces. The tree porcupine
(Erethizon dorsatus\ which the Canadians call " Urson ",
The Geographical Conditions 147
or " Little Bear" is found still in the well-wooded regions
of eastern and southern Canada, as well as in British
Columbia and Alaska. In southern Canada there is the
wood hare (Lepus sylvaticus\ and in the east and north
the varying hare (L. americanus) which turns white in
winter.
Perhaps the most characteristic animal of this region
was and is still the beaver, though the beaver is found
all over British North America as far north as the Saskat-
chewan province and westwards into British Columbia.
It is curious that the Indians of central Canada had
a belief (recorded by French and English pioneers) that
occasionally in the dusk, or at night, they have seen an
enormously large beaver in the water, so large that at
first sight they have taken it for a moose. Travellers
who have related this have surmised that the Indian per-
haps saw a bear swimming, or a female moose, and in
the dim light mistook it for a giant beaver. But as we
know that there were once giant beavers (Trogontherium)
as large as a bear, existing in England, it is just pos-
sible there may have been a gigantic type of beaver
\ingering in Canada before the opening up of the country
by Europeans.
The beaver of North America is a very similar animal
to the beaver which used to exist wild in Wales, Eng-
land, France, Germany, and central Europe, and which
still lingers in some parts of the Rhine valley, Poland,
Russia, and Siberia; but the American form is classified
as a separate species — Castor canadensis.
Beavers were sometimes exterminated or diminished
in numbers by an epidemic disease, which, according to
JAMES TANNER1, destroyed vast quantities of them.
"I found them dead or dying in the water, on the
ice, and on the land; sometimes I found one that, having
1 A remarkable eighteenth-century pioneer who joined the Indians when a boy and
lived as one of them.
148 Pioneers in Canada
cut a tree half down, had died at its roots; sometimes
one who had drawn a stick of timber halfway to his lodge
was lying dead by his burthen. Many of them which I
opened were red and bloody about the heart. Those in
large rivers and running water suffered less; almost all
of those that lived in ponds and stagnant water, died.
Since that year the beaver have never been so plentiful
in the country of Red River and Hudson's Bay as they
used formerly to be."
The great attraction which Canada offered to France
and England as a field of adventure lay in its wonderful
supply of furs. The beaver skins were perhaps the com-
monest article of export, and were generally regarded
as a unit of value, such as a shilling might be. Other
skins were valued at "so many beavers," or the smaller
ones at half or a quarter of a beaver each. Besides
beaver skins, which were used for making hats, as well
as capes and coats, the following furs and skins were
formerly, or are still, exported from Canada. "Buffalo"
robes — the carefully rubbed -down hides of the bison,
rendered, by shaving and rubbing, so thin and supple
that they could be easily folded; reindeer and musk-ox
skins treated in the same way; marten or sable skins;
mink (a kind of polecat); ermine (the white winter dress
of the stoat); the fishing marten, or pekan ; otter skins;
black bear and white polar bear skins; raccoon, musk-
wash, squirrel, suslik, and marmot skins, and the soft
white fur of the polar hare; the white skins of the Arctic
fox, the skins of the blue fox, black fox, and red fox;1
wolf skins, and the furs of the wolverene or glutton, and
of the skunk — a handsome black-and-white creature of
the weasel family, which emits a most disgusting smell
1 The blue fox is the Arctic fox (Cants lagopus) in its summer dress ; the black
fox is a beautiful variety or sub-species of the common fox (C. vulpes); so also is the
red or " cross " fox. There is also common throughout the Canadian Dominion the
pretty little kit fox (Canis velox).
The Geographical Conditions 149
from a gland in its body. (The skunk only comes from
the south-central parts of the Canadian Dominion). At
one time a good many swans' skins were exported for
the sake of the down between the feathers, also the
skins of grebes.
A general fact that must not be forgotten in studying
the adventures of the pioneers of Canada was the means
which Nature and savage man had provided or invented
for quickly traversing in all directions this enormous area
of nearly half North America. These means consisted
(i) of the distribution of salt and fresh water in such a
way that by means of ocean-sailing ships explorers coming
from the east could enter through straits and bays of the
sea into the heart of Canada; and (2) the facility, on quit-
ting the seashore, of passing up navigable rivers in boats
or canoes into big lakes, and from these lakes into other
rivers leading to other lakes. Moreover, the different river
systems approached so closely to one another that even
the Amerindians and the Eskimo, long before the white
man, had realized that they had only to pick up their
light canoes and carry them a few miles, to launch them
on fresh waters which might provide hundreds or even
thousands of miles of continuous travel. These are the
celebrated "portages" of Canadian history, from the
French word porter^ to carry, transport. Sometimes the
portages were made still easier for loaded canoes by a
road being cleared through the scrub and over the rocks,
and wooden rollers placed across it. Strong men could
then easily haul a loaded canoe over these wooden rollers
until it could be launched again in the water. Often these
portages were made to circumvent dangerous rapids or
waterfalls. The Indians and the French Canadians soon
learnt how to steer canoes down rushes of water — rapids —
which we should think very dangerous on an English
river; but of course many of the rivers were obstructed
150 Pioneers in Canada
at intervals by descents of water which no canoe could
traverse up or down, and in these cases a path was cut
from one smooth part of the river to another, and the
canoe carried or hauled overland.
In this way the great French and British explorers
found it possible to travel by water from the Atlantic to
the Pacific Ocean across a width of land of something like
2500 miles. The only serious walking that had to be
done was the crossing somewhere or other of the Rocky
Mountains, where the streams, of course, were far too
precipitate in descent to be navigable. In the hot, dusty
plains of Assiniboia and the upper Missouri region the
Amerindians had introduced horses, obtained indirectly
from Spanish Mexico, and these were of great service
to the white pioneers, especially in their pursuit of the
bison.
So much for the summer season, when the rivers were
full and overflowing, and the ground consisted of bare
rock, sand, or soil covered with vegetation ; the abun-
dance of navigable streams and the suitability of the
country to horses rendered very little walking necessary
for those who wished to traverse the Canadian Dominion
from end to end.
But the winter changed these conditions, the rivers
became coated with thick ice, and the ground was covered,
except in steep places, with an unvarying mantle of snow.
Yet transport became just as easy as in the summertime,
though perhaps a trifle more fatiguing. Men and women
put on snowshoes shaped like tennis rackets, and flew
over the hard snow quicker than a canoe could travel,
dragging after them small sledges on which their luggage
was packed; or, if they had not much luggage, carrying
it slung round the shoulders and scurrying away on their
snowshoes even swifter for the weight they carried; or
they travelled over the smooth ice of the rivers and
lakes.
The Geographical Conditions 151
Winter travellers, however, were sometimes troubled
with a disorder known as the snowshoe evil. This arose
from the placing of an unusual strain on the tendons of
the leg, occasioned by the weight of the snowshoe. It
often resulted in severe inflammation of the lower leg.
The local remedy was a drastic one: it was to place a
piece of lighted touchwood on the most inflamed part, and
to leave it there till the flesh was burnt to the nerve!
In the north and the regions round Hudson's Bay,
and also in the far west — British Columbia and Alaska —
there were dogs, more or less of the Eskimo breed, trained
by Eskimo or by Amerindians to drag the sledges. In
the months of December and January it is true that the
daylight in Arctic Canada (north of Lake Athapaska)
became so short that the sun at its greatest altitude only
appeared for two or three hours a short distance above
the horizon. But there were compensations. The bril-
liancy of the Aurora Borealis, even without the assistance
of the moon and the stars, made some amends for that
deficiency, for it was frequently so light all night that
travellers could see to read a very small print (Samuel
Hearne). The importance of these " Northern lights"
must not be overlooked in forming an opinion on the
habitability of the far north in the "dark" winter
months. The display was frequent and brilliant.
The Athapaskan Indians called this phenomenon Ed-
thin, that is to say, " reindeer". When the Aurora
Borealis was particularly bright in the sky they would
say that deer were plentiful in that part of the heavens.
Their fancy in this respect was not quite so silly as one
might think. They had learnt from experience that the
Aurora Borealis was in some way connected with electri-
city, and experience had equally shown them that the
skin of the reindeer, if briskly stroked by the hand on a
dark night, would emit as many electric sparks as the
back of a cat. On the other hand, the Amerindians in
152 Pioneers in Canada
the southern and more temperate regions thought the
Aurora Borealis was a vast concourse of "spirits of the
happy day " dancing in the clouds.
Thus there were no climatic reasons why, both in
summer and in winter, immense distances should not be
quickly covered in Canada between the Rocky Mountains
and the Atlantic Ocean. This is how a mere hundred of
white pioneers opened up Canada to the knowledge of the
civilized world far quicker than the same area could have
been discovered in Africa or Asia. Sometimes, for about
a month, between the melting of the snow and ice and the
steady flowing of the rivers in the late spring, or between
the uncertain autumn of November and the confirmed
winter of December, there might be an interval of a few
weeks in which journeys had to be made on foot under
conditions of great hardship, through mud, swamp, and
over sharp stones or slippery rocks.
"The plains are covered with water from the melting
of the snow so suddenly, and our men suffer much, as they
are continually on the march, looking after Indians in
every creek and little river. The water is commonly knee
deep, in some places up to the middle, and in the morning
is usually covered with ice, which makes it tedious and
even dangerous travelling. Some of our men lose the
use of their legs while still in the prime of life ", wrote
one eighteenth-century pioneer, in the Canadian spring.
Severe as were the winter conditions of climate, the
explorers were just as willing to travel through the winter
as the summer, because in the winter they were spared the
awful plague of mosquitoes and midges which still renders
summer and early-autumn travel throughout the whole of
Canada, from the United States borders on the south to
the Arctic Ocean on the north, a severe trial, and even an
unbearable degree of physical suffering.
CHAPTER VII
The Amerindians and Eskimo: the Aborigines
of British North America
I have already attempted to describe in the first chapter
the ancient peopling of America from north-eastern Asia,
but it might be useful if I gave here some description of
the Eskimo and Amerindian tribes of the Canadian Do-
minion at the time of its gradual discovery by Europeans,
especially during the great explorations of the eighteenth
and early nineteenth centuries.
It is evident that the ESKIMO — who are quite distinct
from the Amerindians in physical type, language, customs,
and industries — have been for thousands of years the only
inhabitants of Arctic America. When the Norsemen came
to the New World they seem to have met with Eskimo as
far south as New England, but in more recent times the
Eskimo have only been found inhabiting the extreme
north and north-east: in Greenland, on the Labrador
coast, on Baffin's Land, and along the Arctic coast of
the North-American continent, between the Coppermine
River and the westernmost extremity of Alaska, as well
as on the opposite islands and promontories of Asia.
Their name for themselves as a people is usually
"Innuit" (in Greenland, " Karalit "). Eskimo is a cor-
ruption of Eskimantsik, a northern Algonkin word mean-
ing "eaters of raw flesh". Although their geographical
range extends over a distance of about three thousand five
hundred miles — from north-easternmost Asia to the east
coast of Greenland — the difference in their dialects is little
more than that between French and Italian ; whereas the
168
154 Pioneers in Canada
difference between the speech of one Amerindian tribe and
another — even where they belong to the same language
group — is very great — not less than that between German
and Latin, or English and French, or even between Russian
and Hindustani. This fact — of the widespread Eskimo
language — makes some authorities suppose that the pre-
sence of the Eskimo in Arctic America cannot be such a
very ancient event as, from other evidence, one might
believe. Perhaps the bold travelling habits of the Eskimo
— which makes them range over vast distances of ice and
snow when hunting seals, walruses, whales, musk ox, or
reindeer — enables them to keep in touch with their far-
away relations.
The canoes or kayaks in which they travel (first de-
scribed by the Norsemen in the tenth century) are made
out of the hide of the seal or walrus. The leather is
stretched over a framework constructed from driftwood or
whales' bones. There is a hole in the middle for the man
or woman to insert their legs. This hole they fill up with
their bodies. If the canoe capsizes, the Eskimo cannot
fall out, but bobs up immediately. He and the canoe are
really " one-and-indivisible " when he is navigating the
seas and lakes, plying deftly a large paddle.
In regard to food they were certainly not particular or
squeamish. They loved best of all whales' blubber, or to
drink the fishy-tasting oil from bodies of whales, seals, or
walruses. Besides the meat of Polar bears and of any fur
animals they could catch, or the musky beef of the musk
ox, they devoured eagerly sea birds' eggs, Iceland moss,
and even the parasitic insects of their own heads and
bodies! Hearne relates that they will eat with a relish
whole handfuls of maggots that have been produced in
meat by the eggs of the bluebottle fly! On the other
hand, they held cannibalism in horror, whereas for two-
two's their Amerindian neighbours on the west and south
would eat human flesh without repugnance.
The Amerindians and Eskimo 155
The Eskimo, though occasionally tall, are as a rule
stumpy and thickset, with very small hands and feet,
broad faces, and projecting cheekbones, a narrow nose
without the aquiline bridge of the Amerindian, slanting
narrow eyes, and long heads containing large well-devel-
oped brains. In disposition the Eskimo are nearly always
merry, affectionate to one another, honest, and modest.
Modern travellers in the Arctic regions give them invari-
ably a high character; but Frobisher, Davis, and the
explorers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ac-
cused them of treachery and an inclination to steal. Iron
in any shape or form they could hardly resist taking.
Moreover, if they are the same people as the Skraellings
of the Norse traditions they must have been of a fiercer
disposition a thousand years ago.
The Amerindians who inhabited (more or less) the
rest of the Canadian Dominion, and the whole remainder
of the New World, differed in physical appearance from
the Eskimo mainly in being taller and better proportioned,
with shorter and rounder heads, larger, fuller eyes, a
bigger nose, and a handsomer personal appearance. The
skin colour, as a rule, was darker and browner than the
greyish- or pinkish-yellow of the Eskimo.
The various human types that went to form the Amer-
indian race (beside the Eskimo element in them) seem to
have entered north-west America from Asia, and first to
have peopled the Pacific slopes of the Rocky Mountains,
after which they wandered farther and farther south till
they got into a warmer climate. Then they crossed the
Rocky Mountains and peopled the centre and east of
what is now the United States. As they pushed their
way north up the valleys of the great rivers, they no
doubt killed, mingled with, or pushed back the Eskimo.
At last their northernmost extensions reached to the Mac-
kenzie River, the vicinity of Hudson's Bay, Labrador,
and Newfoundland. But in all the middle, west, and
156 Pioneers in Canada
even east of Canada they seem to have been relatively
recent arrivals?- not to have inhabited the country for a
great many centuries before the white man came, and all
their recorded and legendary movements in North America
have been from the south-west towards the north-east (after
they had got across the Rocky Mountains). The few
cultivated plants they had, such as maize (Indian corn),
tobacco, and pumpkins, they brought with them or re-
ceived from the south.
The only domestic animal possessed by either Eskimo
or Amerindian was the dog. We are most of us by now
familiar with the type of the Eskimo dog — a large, wolf-
like animal with prick ears and a bushy tail curled over
its back. In this carriage of the tail the Eskimo and most
other true dogs differ from wolves, with whom the tail
droops between the hind quarters. But there is a small
wild American wolf — the coyote — which carries its tail more
upright, like that of the true dog; and the coyote seems
indeed an intermediate form between the wolf and the
original wild dog. Most of the domestic dogs of the
Amerindians2 (as distinguished from those of the Eskimo)
1 There may have been an earlier race inhabiting north-east America which was
killed out or driven away by the last Glacial period.
1 "The dogs of the Northern Indians are of various sizes and colours, but all of
them have a foxy or wolf-like appearance, sharp noses, bushy tails, and sharp ears
standing erect" (Samuel Hearne).
Hearne also remarks that the northern Indians had a superstitious reverence and
liking for the wolf. They would frequently go to the mouth of the burrows where the
female wolves lived with their young, take out the puppies and play with them, and
even paint the faces of the young wolves with vermilion or red ochre.
When first observed by Europeans the unhappy Beothiks (of Newfoundland) had
apparently no domestic dogs, only " tame wolves", whom they distinguished from the
wild wolves by marking their ears. They were made more angry by the European
seamen attacking and killing the wolves than by anything else they did. Apparently
some kind of alliance had been struck up between the Beothiks — a nation of hunters —
and the wolf packs which followed in their tracks ; and the Newfoundland wolves' were
on the way to becoming domesticated "dogs". Later on it was realized that the
island did produce a special breed — the celebrated Newfoundland dog— the original
type of which was much smaller than the modern type, nearly or entirely black in
colour, with a sharper muzzle and less pendulous ears. But its feet were as strongly
The Amerindians and Eskimo 157
seem to have been derived from the coyote or small wolf
of central North America.
On the Pacific coast there were other types of domestic
dog, resembling greatly breeds that are found in eastern
Asia and the Pacific islands. Some of these were naked,
and others grew silky hair, which was woven by the
natives into cloth (see p. 323). The Eskimo dog almost
certainly has been derived from northern Asia, and is
closely related to the well-known Chinese breed — the chow
dog — and the domestic breeds of ancient Europe. Even
the commonest type of house dog in the Roman Empire
was very much like an Eskimo or a chow in appearance.
There is a true wild dog, however, in the Yukon province
of the Canadian Dominion and in Alaska — Cants pam-
basileus — a dark, blackish-brown in colour. This may
have been a parent of the Eskimo dog, but it is also doubt-
less closely allied to the original (extinct) wild dog of
northern Asia, from which the chow and many other
breeds are directly descended. The Eskimo never under
ordinary circumstances ate their dogs; on the other hand,
the Amerindians were fond of dog's flesh, and in some
tribes simply bred dogs for the table.
When Europeans first reached America all these
Amerindian tribes, and also the Eskimo, were still, for
all practical purposes, in the Stone Age. Those who
lived in the north had discovered the use of copper and
had shaped for themselves knives and spear blades out of
copper, but not even this metal was in use to any great
extent, and for the most part they relied, down to the end
of the eighteenth century, for their implements and weapons,
on polished and sharpened stones, on deer's antlers, buffalo
webbed and its habits as aquatic as those of the "Newfoundland" of the modern
breed. Some people have noticed the resemblance between the farmers' dogs in
Norway and the Newfoundland type, and have thought that the latter may not be
altogether of wolf extraction, but be descended from the dogs brought from Norway
and Iceland by the Norse adventurers who visited Newfoundland in the tenth and
eleventh centuries.
158 Pioneers in Canada
horns, sticks, sharp shells, beavers' incisor teeth,1 the claws
or spines of crustaceans, flints, and suchlike substances
— in short, they were leading the same life and using
almost exactly the same tools as the long-since-vanished
hunter races of Europe of five thousand to one hundred
thousand years ago — the people who pursued the mammoth,
the bison, the Irish "elk", and the other great beasts of
prehistoric Europe. Indeed, North America represented to
some extent, as late as a hundred years ago, what Europe
must have looked like in the days of palaeolithic Man.
The AMERINDIANS of the Canadian Dominion (when
the country first became known to Europeans) belonged
to the following groups and tribes. The order of enumera-
tion begins in the east and proceeds westwards. I have
already mentioned the peculiar Beothiks of Newfoundland.2
In Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick,
and the Gaspe Peninsula there were the Mikmak Indians
belonging to the widespread ALGONKIN family or stock.
West and south of the Mikmaks, in New Brunswick and
along the borders of New England, were other tribes of
the Algonkin group : the Etchemins, Abenakis, Tarratines,
Penobscots, Mohikans, and Adirondacks. North of these,
in the eastern part of the Quebec province, on either
side of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, were the Montagnais.
This name, though it looks like a French word meaning
"mountaineers", was also spent Montagnet, and in
various other ways, showing that it was originally a native
name, pronounced Montanye. The Montagnais in various
clans extended northwards across Labrador until they
touched the Eskimo, with whom they constantly fought.
The interior of Labrador was inhabited by another
Algonkin tribe, the Naskwapi, living in a state of rude
1 Of which they made very serviceable chisels.
a See also pp. 156, 164, 186, and 199. In this list I have put in italics the names
of the tribes more important in history, and in capitals the principal group names.
The Amerindians and Eskimo 159
savagery. The Algonkins proper, whose tribe gave their
name to the whole stock because the French first became
acquainted with them as a type, dwelt in the vicinity of
Montreal, Lake Ontario, and the valley of the St. Law-
rence. In upper Canada, about the great lakes and the
St. Lawrence valley, were the Chippeways, or Ojibwes,
and the Ottawas. West and north of Lake Michigan were
the Miamis, the Potawatomis, and the Fox Indians (the
Saks or Sawkis). Between Lake Winnipeg and Lake
Superior were the Cheyennes (Shians) ; between North and
South Saskatchewan, the Blackfeet or Siksika Indians
(sections of which were also called Bloods, Paigans,
Piegans, &c.). North of Lake Winnipeg, as far as Lake
Athabaska, and almost from the Rocky Mountains to the
shores of Hudson's Bay, were the widespread tribe of the
Kris, or Knistino.^ The Gros Ventres or Big Bellies
— properly called Atsina — inhabited the southern part
of the middle west, between the Saskatchewan and the
Missouri basins; and the Monsoni or Maskegon were
found in eastern Rupert Land.
" All the above-enumerated tribes, except the Beothik 7
indigenes of Newfoundland, belong to the great and wide-
spread AJ^GONKIN group. (Algonkin is a word derived |
from the " Algommequin " of Champlain.) In the valley
of the St. Lawrence the French first encountered those
Indians wholh they called Huron. This was a French
word meaning "crested", because these people wore their
hair in a great crest over the top and back of the head,
which reminded the French of the appearance of a wild
boar (Hure). The real name of the Hurons, who dwelt
at a later date between Lakes Huron, Erie, Ontario, and
the neighbourhood of Montreal, was Waiandot (Wyandot) ;
but they went under a variety of other names, according
to the clans, such as the Eries and the Atiwandoran or
Neutral Nation. They were also called the "Good" Iro-
1 Kinistino, Kiristineaux, Kilistino; called "Crees" or " Kris" for short.
ibo Pioneers in Canada
quois, to distinguish them from the six other nations, the
iROguois proper of the French Canadians, who signalized
themselves by fiendish and frightful warfare against the
French and the various tribes of Algonkin Indians. The
Hurons and the rest of the six tribes grouped under the
name of iROQUOis1 were of the same stock originally,
forming a separate group like that of the Algonkins,
though they are supposed to be related distantly to the
Dakota or Siou. Amongst the "Six Nations" or tribes
banded together in warfare and policy were the celebrated
"Mohawks" who dwelt on the southern borders of the
St. Lawrence basin and near Lake Champlain. As the
others of the six nations (including the Senekas and
Onondagas) inhabited the eastern United States, well
outside the limits of Canada, they need not be referred
to here.
Between the South Saskatchewan, the Rocky Moun-
tains, and Lake Superior, nearly outside the limits of the
Canadian Dominion, was the great DAKOTA, or -Siou
group,2 divided into the distinct tribe of^ Assiniboinjbv
"Stone" Indians (because they used hot stoTT5s in cook-
ing), the "Crows" or Absaroka, the Hidatsa or Minitari
(also called Big Bellies, like the quite distinct Atsina of
the Algonkin family), the Menomini (the most north-
eastern amongst the Siouan tribes, and the first met with
by the British and French Canadians south-west of Lake
Superior), the Winnebagos en the southern borders of
Manitoba, the Yanktons or Yanktonnais, the " Santi
Siou " proper — generally calling themselves Dakota or
Mdewakanton — and the "Tetons" along the northern
Dakota frontier and into the Rocky Mountains — also
1 "Iroquois" was a name invented by Champlain (see p. 69). Apparently this
confederation called themselves Hodenosauni. The termination "ois" in all French-
American names is pronounced " wa" — Irokwa.
3 The far-famed term Siou is said to have been an abbreviation of one of the
original French names for this type of Amerindian, Nadonession. In early books they
are often called the Nadouessies.
The Amerindians and Eskimo 161
known as Blackfeet, Sans Arcs (" without bows"), "Two-
kettles", " Brules" or " Burnt" Indians, &c.
Next must be mentioned the very important and wide-
spread ATHAPASKAN or Dene (Tinne) group, named after
Lake Athapaska (or Athabaska), because that sheet of
water became a great rallying place for these northern
tribes. The Athapaskan group of Indians indeed repre-
sents the "Northern Indians" of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's reports and explorers. They drew a great distinc-
tion between the Northern Indians (the Athapaskan tribes)
and the Southern Indians, which included all the other
Amerindian groups dwelling to the south of the Atha-
paskan domain. But although nowadays so much asso-
ciated with the far north and north-west of America, the
Athabaskan group evidently came from a region much
farther south, and has been cut in half by other tribal
movements, wars, and migrations; for the Athapaskan
family also includes the Apaches and the Navaho of the
south-western portions of the United States and the adjoin-
ing territories of Mexico. The northern and southern
divisions of the Athapaskan group are separated by some-
thing like twelve hundred miles. The following are the
principal tribes into which the Northern ATHAPASKAN
group was divided at the time of the first explorations of
the north-west. There were the Chippewayan Indians1
round about Lake Athapaska, and the Caribou Eaters or
Ethen-eldeli between Lake Athapaska and Reindeer Lake.
The " Slaves ", or Slave Indians of the Great Slave Lake
and the upper Mackenzie River; the Beaver and Sarsi
Indians (known also as the Tsekehn), about the Peace
River and the northern part of Alberta province; and the
Yellow Knives, or Totsan-ottine (so called from their being
1 These northern Indians are described by Hearne as having very low foreheads,
small eyes, high cheekbones, Roman noses, broad cheeks, and long, broad chins.
Their skins were soft, smooth and polished, somewhat copper-coloured, and inclining
towards a dingy brown. The hair of the head was black, strong, and straight. They
were not in general above middle size, though well proportioned.
(0312) 11
i6a Pioneers in Canada
found with light-coloured copper knives when first dis-
covered by Europeans), north-east of the Great Slave
Lake and along the Coppermine River: the Dogribs be-
tween the Great Slave Lake and Great Bear Lake, perhaps
(except in Alaska) the most northern extension of the
Amerindian type towards the Arctic regions. West of
the Dogribs dwelt — and still dwell — the interesting tribe
of Hare Indians, or Kawcho-Tinne. They extend north-
wards to the Anderson River, on the verge of the Arctic
Ocean. West of the lower Mackenzie River, and stretch-
ing thence to the Porcupine or Yukon Rivers, are the
Squinting Indians (" Loucheux", or Kuchin), who in
former times were met with much farther to the south-east
than at the present day. Finally, there are the Nahani
Indians, who have penetrated through the Rocky Moun-
tains to the Stikine River, reaching thus quite close to
the Pacific Ocean. This penetration" northwards of groups
of Athapaskan Indians into districts inhabited for the
most part by Amerindian tribes differing widely in lan-
guage and customs from all those east of the Rocky
Mountains, explains the way in which stories of the great
western sea — the Pacific — reached, by means of trading
intercourse, those Amerindian tribes of the middle-west
and upper Canada, and so stirred up the French and
English explorers of the seventeenth and eighteenth cen-
turies to make the marvellous journeys which are re-
counted in this book.
West of the Rocky Mountains, in British Columbia
and Vancouver Island (besides southern Alaska), the
Amerindian tribes form the Nutka- Columbian group,
which is markedly distinct from the Amerindians east of
the Rocky Mountains, from whom they differ widely in
language, type, and culture. They are divided into quite
a large number of small separate groups — the Wakashan
or Nutkas of Vancouver Island and south-western British
Columbia, the Shahaptian or " Nez perces" Indians of the
Plicno Thompson
AN AMERINDIAN TYPE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
The Amerindians and Eskimo 163
Columbia basin, and the Chinuks of the lower Columbia
River, the Salishan or " Flathead " group (including the
Atnas) of the Eraser and Thompson Rivers and central
British Columbia; and the Haida Indians of Queen
Charlotte's Islands and the north-west coast of British
Columbia. It must be remembered that these different
groups are only based on the relationships of their com-
ponent tribes in language or dialect, and do not always
imply that the tribes belonging to them had the same
customs and dispositions; but they were generally able
to communicate with one another in speech, whereas if
they met the Indians of another group the language might
be so totally different that they could only communicate by
means of signs.
Sign and gesture language1 was extraordinarily devel-
oped amongst all the Amerindian races from the Arctic
Ocean to the Antarctic. Not only that, but they were
quick to understand the purpose of pictures. They could
draw maps in the sand to explain the geography of their
country, and Europeans could often make them understand
what they required by rough drawings. They themselves
related many events by means of a picture language — the
beginning of hieroglyphics; and in the south-eastern parts
of Canada, as in the United States, these signs or picto-
graphs were recorded in bead-shell work — the celebrated
"wampum ".
All these tribes, of course, varied very much in per-
sonal appearance, though not in disposition. The van-
1 " It is surprising how dexterous all these natives of the plains are in communicat-
ing their ideas by signs. They hold conferences for several hours, upon different sub-
jects, during the whole of which time not a single word is pronounced upon either side,
and still they appear to comprehend each other perfectly well. This mode of com-
munication is natural to them; their gestures are made with the greatest ease, and they
never seem to be at a loss for a sign to express their meaning" (Alex. Henry the
Younger, 1800). But it should also be noted that during the last hundred years the
peoples belonging to the Nutka-Columbian group have developed a trade language
which they use in common. This is a mixture of Chinuk, English, French, Chinese,
and Hawaaian.
164 Pioneers in Canada
ished Beothiks of Newfoundland are described as having
been a good-looking tall people, with large black eyes
and a skin so light, when washed free from dirt or paint,
that the Portuguese compared them to gipsies; and the
writer of Fabian's Chronicle, who saw two of them (brought
back by Cabot) at Henry VII's Court, in 1499, took them
for Englishmen when they were dressed in English clothes.
It was these people — subsequently killed out by the British
settlers on Newfoundland — who originated the term " Red
Indians", or, in French, Peaux Rouges, because their
skins, like those of so many other Amerindians, were
painted with red ochre.
Many of the British Columbian peoples made them-
selves artificially ugly by flattening the sides of the head.
To press the skull whilst it was soft, they squeezed the
heads of their children between boards; others, such as
the warlike tribes of the upper Missouri, had a passion
for submitting themselves to mutilation by the medicine
man of the clan, in order to please the sun god. Such
would submit to large strips being cut from the flesh of
their shoulders, arms, or legs, or having their cheeks
slashed. The result, of course, was to leave their limbs
and features horribly scarred when they healed up. In
some tribes, however, a young man could not obtain — or
retain — a wife unless he had shown his bravery by sub-
mitting to this mutilation. Women often cut off one or
more joints of their fingers to show their grief for the
death of children.
In some tribes, especially of the far north-west and
of the Rocky Mountains, the personal habits of men and
women, or of the women only, were so filthy, and their
dislike to bathing so pronounced, that they became ob-
jects of loathing to white men ; in other tribes personal
cleanliness was highly esteemed, especially on the sea-
coast of British Columbia or along the banks of the great
rivers. Usually the men were better looking and better
The Amerindians and Eskimo 165
developed than the women — for one reason, because they
were better fed.
Here is a description by PETER GRANT — a pioneer of
the North- West Company — of the Ojibwe Indians dwelling
near the east end of Lake Superior at the beginning of
the nineteenth century: —
"Their complexion is a whitish cast of copper colour,
their hair black, long, straight, and of a very strong tex-
ture. The young men allow several locks of the hair to
fall down over the face, ornamented with ribbons, silver
brooches, &c. They gather up another lock from behind
the head into a small clump, and wrap it up with very
thin plates of silver, in which they fix the tail feathers of
the eagle or any other favourite bird with the wearing of
which they have distinguished themselves in war. They
are very careful with their hair, anointing it with bears' oil,
which gives it a smooth and glossy appearance. The teeth
are of a beautiful ivory white, the cheeks rather high and
prominent, the eyes black and lively. Their countenances
are generally pleasant, and they might often be called
handsome. The ears are pierced in infancy, and the lobe
is extended to an unnatural size by suspending lead or
any other heavy metal from the outer rim, which in time
brings them down near the shoulder. The nose orna-
ments hang down half an inch, and nearly touch the
upper lip.
"The men are bold, manly, and graceful in their gait,
always carrying their bodies erect and easy. On the other
hand, the women, by walking with the toes of their feet
turned inwards, have a disagreeable and lame appearance.
The men are specially fond of painting their faces and
bodies with vermilion, white and blue clay, charcoal or
soot mixed with a little grease or water. With this colour
they daub the body, legs, and thighs in bars and patches,
and take the greatest pains about painting the face, usually
with red and black. Their skins are generally tattooed
166 Pioneers in Canada
with figures representing the sun, stars, eagles, serpents,
&c., especially objects which have appeared to them in
their dreams. The women's faces are much less painted,
usually a spot of red on each cheek and a circle of red
round the roots of the hair or eyes."
Here is a summary of what Alexander Henry, sen.,
wrote of the Kri or Knistino Indians of Lake Athabaska
about 1770: —
"The men in general tattoo their bodies and arms
very much. The women confine this ornamentation to
the chin, having three perpendicular lines from the middle
of the chin to the lip, and one or more running on each
side, nearly parallel with the corner of the mouth. Their
dress consists of leather; that of the men is a pair of
leggings, reaching up to the hip and fastened to the
girdle. Between the legs is passed a strip of woollen
stuff, but when this cannot be procured they use a piece
of dressed leather about nine inches broad and four feet
long, whose ends are drawn through the girdle and hang
down before and behind about a foot. . . . The shirt is of
soft dressed leather, either from the prong-buck or young
red deer, close about the neck and hanging to the middle
of the thigh; the sleeves are of the same, loose and open
under the arms to the elbows, but thence to the wrist
sewed tight. The cap is commonly a piece of leather, or
skin with the hair on, shaped to fit the head, and tied
under the chin ; the top is usually decorated with feathers
or other ornament. Shoes are made of buffalo (bison)
hide, dressed in the hair, and mittens of the same. Over
the whole a buffalo robe is thrown, which serves as cover-
ing day and night.
"Such is their common dress, but on particular occa-
sions they appear to greater advantage, having their cap,
shirt, leggings, and shoes perfectly clean and white,
trimmed with porcupine quills and other ingenious work
of their women, who are supposed to be the most skilful
The Amerindians and Eskimo 167
hands in the country at decorations of this kind. The
women's dress consists of the same materials as the
men's. Their leggings do not reach above the knee, and
are gathered below that joint; their shoes always lack
decoration. The shift or body garment reaches down to
the calf, where it is generally fringed and trimmed with
quillwork; the upper part is fastened over the shoulders
by strips of leather; a flap or cape hangs down about a
foot before and behind, and is ornamented with quillwork
and fringe. This covering is quite loose, but tied around
the waist with a belt of stiff parchment fastened on the
side, where also some ornaments are suspended. The
sleeves are detached from the body garment; from the
wrist to the elbow they are sewed, but thence to the
shoulder they are open underneath and drawn up to the
neck, where they are fastened across the breast and back.
"Their ornaments are two or three coils of brass wire
twisted around the rim of each ear, in which incisions are
made for that purpose; blue beads, brass rings, quillwork,
and fringe occasionally answer. Vermilion (a red clay)
is much used by the women to paint the face.
"Their hair is generally parted on the crown and
fastened behind each ear in large knots, from which are
suspended bunches of blue beads or other ingenious work
of their own. The men adjust their hair in various forms;
some have it parted on top and tied in a tail on each side,
while others make one long queue which hangs down be-
hind, and around which is twisted a strip of otter skin or
dressed buffalo entrails. This tail is frequently increased
in thickness and length by adding false hair, but others
allow it to flow loose naturally. Combs are seldom used
by the men, and they never smear the hair with grease,
but red earth is sometimes put upon it. White earth
daubed over the hair generally denotes mourning. The
young men sometimes have a bunch of hair on the crown,
about the size of a small teacup, and nearly in the shape
1 68 Pioneers in Canada
of that vessel upside down, to which they fasten various
ornaments of feathers, quillwork, ermine tails, &c. Red
and white earth and charcoal are much used in their
toilets; with the former they usually daub their robes and
other garments, some red and others white. The women
comb their hair and use grease on it."
The Slave Indians (a tribe of the Athapaskan family)
tattooed their cheeks with charcoal inserted under the skin,
also daubed their bodies, robes, and garments profusely
with red earth (generally called, in the text of travellers,
vermilion), but they had another favourite pigment, pro-
cured from the regions on the west of the Rocky Moun-
tains, some kind of graphite, like the lead of lead pencils.
With this they marked their faces in black lead after red
earth has been applied, and thus gave themselves a ghastly
and savage appearance. Their dress consists of a leather
shirt trimmed with human hair and porcupine-quill work,
and leggings of leather. Their shoes and caps were made
of bison leather, with the hair outside. Their necklaces
were strings of grizzly-bear claws, and a "buffalo" robe
was thrown over all occasionally. Some of them occa-
sionally had quite light skins — when free of dirt or paint —
and grey eyes, and their hair, instead of being black, was
greyish-brown. These last features (grey eyes and brown
hair) characterized many individuals among the northern
British-Columbian tribes.
The Naskwapis of inland Labrador — allied in speech
to the Kris and the Montagnais, but in blood to the
Eskimo — are described as above the middle size in height,
slender, and long-legged, their cheeks being very pro-
minent, eyes black, nose rather flat, mouth large, lips
thick, teeth white, hair rough and black, and the com-
plexion a yellowish "frog" colour. They were dressed
in elaborate and warm garments made of reindeer skin.
The ordinary covering for the head of the men was the
skin of a bear's head. "Thus accoutred, with the addi-
The Amerindians and Eskimo 169
tion of a bow and quiver, a stone axe, and a bone knife,
a Naskwapi man possessed no small degree of pride and
self-importance" (James M'Kenzie).
The handsomest tribes of Amerindians encountered by
the Canadian pioneers seem to have been the Ojibwes of
Lake Superior, the Iroquois south of the St. Lawrence,
and the Mandans of the upper Missouri.
Until well on in the nineteenth century none of the
Canadian Amerindians were particular about wearing
clothes if the weather was hot. The men, especially,
were either quite oblivious of what was seemly in clothing
(except perhaps the Iroquois) or thought it necessary to
go naked into battle, or to remove all clothing before
taking part in religious ceremonies.
It is commonly supposed that the Red Man was a
rather glum person, seldom seen to smile and averse to
showing any emotion. That is not the impression one
derives from the many pen portraits of Amerindians in
the journals of the great pioneers. Here, on the con-
trary, you see the natives laughing, smiling, kissing
eagerly their wives and children after an absence, dis-
playing exuberant and cordial friendship towards the
white man who treated them well, having love quarrels
and fits of raging jealousy, moods of deep remorse after
a fight, touching devotion to their comrades or chiefs,
and above all to their children. They are most emotional,
indeed, and, apart from this chapter you will find frequent
descriptions of how they wept at times over the remem-
brance of their dead relations and friends.
Hearne remarked, in 1772, that when two parties of
Athapaska Indians met, the ceremonies which passed
between them were very formal. They would advance
within twenty or thirty yards of each other, make a full
halt, and then sit or lie down on the ground, not speaking
for some minutes. At length one of them, generally an
elderly man, broke silence by acquainting the other party
170 Pioneers in Canada
with every misfortune that had befallen him and his com-
panions from the last time they had seen or heard of each
other, including all deaths and other calamities which had
happened to any other Indians during the same period.
When he finished, another orator, belonging to the other
party, related in like manner all the bad news that had
come to his knowledge. If these orations contained any
news that in the least affected either party, it would not be
long before some of them began to sigh and sob, and soon
after to break out into a loud cry, which was generally ac-
companied by most of the grown persons of both sexes; and
sometimes it was common to hear them all — men, women,
and children — joining in one universal howl. When the
first transports of grief had subsided, they advanced by
degrees, and both parties mixed with each other, the
men with the men, the women with the women. They
then passed round tobacco pipes very freely, and the
conversation became general. They had now nothing
but good news left to tell, and in less than half an hour
probably nothing but smiles and cheerfulness would be
seen on every face.
One direction in which the Amerindians did not shine
was in their treatment of women. This perhaps was worse
than in other uncivilized races. Woman was very badly
used, except perhaps for the first year of courtship and
marriage. Courtship began by the young man throwing
sticks at the girl1 who pleased his fancy, and if she re-
sponded he asked her in marriage. But not long after
she had become a mother she sank into the position of
a household drudge and beast of burden. For example,
amongst the Beaver Indians, an Athapaskan tribe of the
1 The manner of courtship among the Ojibwes seemed to Peter Grant not only
singular, but rude. "The lover begins his first addresses by gently pelting his
mistress with bits of clay, snowballs, small sticks, or anything he may happen to
have in his hand. If she returns the compliment, he is encouraged to continue the
farce, and repeat it for a considerable time, after which more direct proposals of
marriage are made by word of mouth."
The Amerindians and Eskimo 171
far north-west, it is related by Alexander Mackenzie that
the women are permanently crippled and injured in phy-
sique by the hardships they have to undergo. "Having
few dogs for transport in that country, the women alone
perform that labour which is allotted to beasts of burden
in other countries. It is not uncommon whilst the men
carry nothing but a gun, that their wives and daughters
follow with such weighty burdens that if they lay them
down they cannot replace them ; nor will the men deign
to perform the service of hoisting them on to their backs.
So that during their journeys they are frequently obliged
to lean against a tree for a small degree of temporary re-
lief. When they arrive at the place which their tyrants
have chosen for their encampment, they arrange the tent
in a few minutes by forming a curve of poles meeting
at the top and expanding into a circle of twelve or fifteen
feet in diameter at the bottom, covered with dressed skins
of the moose sewn together. During these preparations the
men sit down quietly to the enjoyment of their pipes, if
they happen to have any tobacco."
Among the Ojibwe and Huron Indians of the Great
Lakes the men sometimes obliged their wives to bring
up and nourish young bears instead of their own chil-
dren, so that the bears might eventually be fattened for
eating. If food was scarce, the women went without before
even the male slaves of the tribe were unprovided with
food. Women might never eat in the society of males,
not even if these males were slaves or prisoners of war.
If food was very scarce, the husband as likely as not
killed and ate a wife; perhaps did this before slaying
and eating a valuable dog. (On the other hand, Mac-
kenzie instances the case of a woman among the Slave
Indians who, in a winter of great scarcity, managed to
kill and devour her husband and several relations.) So
terrible was the ill-treatment of the women in some tribes
that these wretched beings sometimes committed suicide
172 Pioneers in Canada
to end their tortures. Even in this, however, they were
not let off lightly, for the Siou men invented as a tenet
of their religion the saying that "Women who hang
themselves are the most miserable of all wretches in the
other world ".
On the other hand, the kind treatment of children by
fathers as well as mothers is an " Indian " trait commented
on by writer after writer. Here is a typical description
by Alexander Henry the Elder, concerning the children
of the Ojibwe tribe:
"As soon as the boys begin to run about, they are
provided with bows and arrows, and acquire, as it were
'by instinct', an astonishing dexterity in shooting birds,
squirrels, butterflies, &c. Hunting in miniature may be
justly said to comprise the whole of their education and
childish diversion. Such as excel in this kind of exer-
cise are sure of being particularly distinguished by their
parents, and seldom punished for any misbehaviour, but,
on the contrary, indulged in every degree of excess and
caprice. I have often seen grown-up boys of this de-
scription, when punished for some serious fault, strike
their father and spit in his face, calling him ' bad dog ',
or ' old woman ', and, sometimes, carrying their in-
solence so far as to threaten to stab or shoot him,
and, what is rather singular, these too- indulgent parents
seem to encourage such unnatural liberties, and even
glory in such conduct from their favourite children. I
heard them boast of having sons who promised at an
early age to inherit such bold and independent senti-
ments. . . . Children of nine or ten years of age not
only enjoy the confidence of the men, but are gene-
rally considered as companions and very deliberately join
in their conversations."
When death overtook anybody the grief of the female
relations was carried to great excess. They not only
cut their hair, cried and howled, but they would some-
CARIBOU SWIMMING A RIVER
The Amerindians and Eskimo 173
times, with the utmost deliberation, employ some sharp
instrument to separate the nail from the finger and then
force back the flesh beyond the first joint, which they
immediately amputated. "Many of the old women have
so often repeated this ceremony that they have not a
complete finger remaining on either hand " (Mackenzie).
The Amerindians of North America were religious
and superstitious, and had a firm faith in a world of
spiritual agencies within or outside the material world
around us. Most of them believed in the existence of
" fairies", — woodland, earth, mountain, or water spirits —
whom they declared they could see from time to time
in human semblance. Or such spirit or demi-god might
assume for a time or permanently the form of an animal.
To all such spirits of earth, air, and water, or to the
sacred animals they inhabited, sacrifices would be offered
and prayers made. Great importance was attributed to
dreams and visions. They accustomed themselves to make
long fasts, so that they might become light-headed and see
visions, or hear spirit voices in a trance. To prepare their
minds for this state they would go four or five days with-
out food, and even abstain from drinking.
Undoubtedly their "medicine men" developed great
mesmeric powers, and this force, combined with rather
clumsy juggling and ventriloquism, enabled them to
perform a semblance of "miracles". The Iroquois of-
fered much opposition to Christianity, thinking it would
tame their warriors too quickly and affect their national
independence; but by the greater part of the Amerindians
the message of the Gospel brought by the French priests
was eagerly received, and the converts became many and
most sincere. Their reverence for the missionaries and
belief in them was increased when they saw how effec-
tually they were able to protect them from too- rapacious
white adventurers, fierce soldiers, and unscrupulous
traders.
174 Pioneers in Canada
The Miamis of Lake Michigan held the symbol of
the cross in great respect. A young Frenchman who
was trading with them got into a passion and drew his
sword to avenge himself for a theft committed on his
goods. The Miama chieftain, to appease him, showed
him the cross, which was planted in the ground at the
end of his lodge, and said to him: "Behold the tree of
the Black Gown; he teaches us to pray and not to lose
our temper," — of course, referring to the missionary in
the black gown who had been amongst them. Before
the cross was planted here these Miamis kept in their
houses one or more bogies, to which they appealed in
times of distress or sickness. One of these was the
skull of the bison with its horns. Another was the skin
of the bear raised on a pole in the middle of the hut
and retaining the head, which was usually painted green.
The women sometimes died of terror from the stories told
them by the men about these idols, and the Jesuits did
a great deal of good by getting them abolished in many
places.
The Supreme Being of the Eskimos was a goddess
rather than a god: a mother of all things who lived
under the sea. On the other hand, most of the Amer-
indian tribes believed in one great God of the Sky —
Manito, as He was called by the peoples of Algonkin
stock, Nainubushan by the Siou and their kindred.
This Being was usually kindly disposed towards man;
but they also (in most cases) believed in a bad Manito,
who was responsible for most of the harm in the world.
But sometimes the Great Manito was capricious, or ap-
parently made many mistakes which he had afterwards
to rectify. Thus the Siou tribes of Assiniboia believed
that the Supreme Being (whom they called Eth-tom-e)
first created mankind and all living things, and then,
through some oversight or mistake, caused a great flood
to cover the earth's surface. So in a hurry he was obliged
The Amerindians and Eskimo 175
to make a very large canoe of twigs and branches, and
into this he put a pair of every kind of bird and beast,
besides a family of human beings, who were thus saved
from drowning, and began the world afresh when the
waters subsided. This legend was something like the
story of Noah's ark, but seems in some form or another
to have existed in the mind of all the North -American
peoples before the arrival of Christian missionaries.
Much the same story was told by the Ojibwes about
the Great Hare-God, Nainiboju.
The Siou and the Ojibwe (and other tribes also) be-
lieved that after death the soul lay for a time in a trance,
and then found itself floating towards a River which must
be crossed. Beyond the River lay the Happy Hunting
Grounds, the Elysian fields ; but to oppose the weary soul
anxious to reach this paradise there ramped on the other
side a huge, flaming-red bison bull. If it had been ordained
by the Great Spirit that the soul's time was not yet come,
this red bison pushed it back, and the soul was obliged
to re-enter the body, which then awoke from its trance or
swoon and resumed its worldly activities.
Suicide was regarded as the most heinous of crimes.
Any man killing himself deliberately, fell into the river
of the ghost world and was never heard of again, while
women who hanged themselves "were regarded as the
most miserable of all wretches in the other world".
Their belief in spirits — even ancestral spirits — taking
up an abode in the bodies of beasts, birds, or reptiles, or
even in plants or stones, caused them to view with respect
of a superstitious kind many natural objects. Some one
thing — a beast, bird, reptile, fish, plant, or strange stone
had been fixed on as the abode of his tutelary spirit by
some father of a family. The family grew into a clan, and
the clan to a tribe, and the object sacred in the eyes of its
father and founder became its "totem", crest, or symbol.
As a rule, whatever thing was the totem of the indi-
176 Pioneers in Canada
vidual or the clan was held sacred in their eyes, and, if
it was an animal, was not killed, or, if killed, not eaten.
Many of the northern Indians would refrain from killing
the wolf or the glutton, or if they did so, or did it by
accident, they would refuse to skin the animal. The elder
people amongst the Athapaskan Indians, in Hearne's day,
would reprove the young folk for " speaking disrespect-
fully" of different beasts and birds.
Their ideas of medicine and surgery were much mixed
up with a belief in magic and in the mysterious powers
of their "medicine men". This person, who might be
of either sex, certainly knew a few simple medicines to be
made from herbs or decoctions of bark, but for the most
part he attempted to cure the sick or injured by blowing
lustily on the part affected or, more wisely, by massage.
A universal cure, however, for all fevers and mild ailments
was sweating. Sweating huts were built in nearly every
settlement. They were covered over in a way to exclude
air as much as possible. The inside was heated with red-
hot stones and glowing embers, on to which from time to
time water was poured to fill the place with steam. The
Amerindians not only went through these Turkish baths
to cure small ailments but also with the idea of clearing
the intelligence and as a fitting preliminary to negotiations
— for peace, or alliance, or even for courtship. In many
tribes if a young "brave" arrived with proposals of
marriage for a man's daughter he was invited to enter the
sweating house with her father, and discuss the bargain
calmly over perspiration and the tobacco pipe.
Tobacco smoking indeed was almost a religious cere-
mony, as well as a remedy for certain maladies or states
of mind. The "pipe of peace" has become proverbial.
Nevertheless tobacco was still unknown in the eighteenth
century to many of the Pacific-coast and far-north-west
tribes, as to the primitive Eskimo. It was not a very old
practice in the Canadian Dominion when Europeans first
The Amerindians and Eskimo 177
arrived there, though it appeared to be one of the most
characteristic actions of these red-skinned savages in the
astonished eyes of the first pioneers. They used pipes
for smoking, however, long before tobacco came among
them, certain berries taking the place of tobacco.
The Amerindians of the southern parts of Canada and
British Columbia were more or less settled peoples of
towns or villages, of fixed homes to which they returned
at all seasons of the year, however far afield they might
range for warfare, trade, or hunting. But the more
northern tribes were nomads: people shifting their abode
from place to place in pursuit of game or trade. Unlike
the people of the south and west (though these only grew
potatoes) they were not agriculturists: the only vegetable
element in their food was the wild rice of the marshes, the
sweet-tasting layer between the bark and the wood of
certain trees, and the fruits or fungi of the forest or the
lichen growing on the rocks. Though these people might
in summertime build some hasty wigwam of boughs and
moss, their ordinary dwelling place was a tent.
The Wood Indians, or Opimitish Ininiwak, of the
Athapaskan group (writes Alexander Henry, sen.) had
no fixed villages; and their lodges or huts were so rudely
fashioned as to afford them very inadequate protection
against the weather. The greater part of their year was
spent in travelling from place to place in search of food.
The animal on which they chiefly depended was the hare
— a most prominent animal in Amerindian economy and
tradition. This they took in springes. From its skin
they made coverings with much ingenuity, cutting it into
narrow strips and weaving this into the shape of a blanket,
which was of a very warm and agreeable quality.
The Naskwapi Algonkins of inland Labrador were
savages that led a wandering life through the bare, flat
parts of that country, subsisting chiefly upon flesh, and
clothing themselves with the skin of the caribou, which
(0312) 12
178 Pioneers in Canada
they caught in pitfalls or shot with the bow and arrow.
"Very few sights, I believe, can be more distressing to
the feelings of humanity than a Labrador savage, sur-
rounded by his wife and five or six small children, half-
famished with cold and hunger in a hole dug out of the
snow and screened from the inclemency of the weather
by the branches of the trees. Their whole furniture is
a kettle hung over the fire, not for the purpose of cooking
victuals, but for melting snow" (James M'Kenzie).
A description of the tents of the Kris or Knistino
(Algonkins of the Athabaska region), written by Alexander
Henry, sen., applies with very little difference to all the
other tribes dwelling to the east of the Rocky Mountains.1
These tents were of dressed leather, erected with poles,
generally seventeen in number, of which two were tied
together about three feet from the top. The first two poles
being erected and set apart at the base, the others were
placed against them in a slanting position, meeting at the
top, so that they all formed nearly a circle, which was then
covered with the leather. This consisted of ten to fifteen
dressed skins of the bison, moose, or red deer, well sewed
together and nicely cut to fit the conical figure of the poles,
with an opening above, to let out smoke and admit the
light. From this opening down to the door the two edges
of the tent were brought close together and well secured
with wooden pegs about six inches long, leaving for the
door an oval aperture about two feet wide and three feet
high, below which the edges were secured with similar
pegs. This small entrance did well enough for the natives,
who would be brought up to it from infancy, but a Euro-
pean might be puzzled to get through, as a piece of hide
stretched upon a frame of the same shape as the door, but
somewhat larger, hung outside, and must be first raised
by the hand of the incomer.
Such tents were usually spacious, measuring twenty
1 See also p. 249.
The Amerindians and Eskimo 179
feet in diameter. The fire was always made in the centre,
around which the occupants generally placed a range of
stones to prevent the ashes from scattering and to keep
the fire compact. New tents were perfectly white; some
of them were painted with red and black figures. These
devices were generally derived from the dreams of the
Amerindians, being some mythical monster or other
hideous animal, whose description had been handed down
from their ancestors. A large camp of such tents, pitched
regularly on a level plain, had a fine effect at a distance,
especially when numerous bands of horses were seen
feeding in all directions.
The " lodges" or long houses made of poles, fir
branches, moss, &c., wherein, among the Iroquois, Al-
gonkin, and Siou peoples, several families made a common
habitation, are described here, and there in the course of
the narrative. The houses of the coast tribes of British
Columbia were bigger, more elaborate, and permanent,
and in this region the natives had acquired some idea of
carpentry, and had learnt to make planks of wood by
splitting with wedges or hewing with adzes.
One of these British Columbian houses was measured,
and found to be seventy feet long by twenty-five feet wide;
the entrance in the gable end was cut through a plank five
and a half feet wide, and nearly oval. A board suspended
on the outside answered for a door; on the other side of
the broad plank was rudely carved a large painted figure
of a man, between whose legs was the passage. But other
houses on the Pacific coast, visited by Cook or Vancouver,
are said to have been large enough to accommodate seven
hundred people. These houses of the Pacific coast region
were exceedingly filthy, sturgeon and salmon being strewn
about in every direction. The men inhabiting them were
often disgusting in their behaviour, while the women are
declared to have been "devoid of shame or decency".
According to Mackenzie, such habitations swarmed
i8o Pioneers in Canada
with fleas, and even the ground round about them "was
alive with this vermin ". The Alexander Henrys, both
uncle and nephew, complain of the flea plague (partly
due to the multitude of dogs) in every Indian village or
encampment.
The domestic implements of the Amerindians were
few. Pottery seems to have been unknown amongst the
northern tribes to the east and north of the Mississippi
valley, but earthen jars and vessels were made by the
Dakota-Siou group in the valley of the Mississippi.
Amongst these agricultural Indians the hoe was made
of a buffalo's blade bone fastened to a crooked wooden
handle. The Ojibwes manufactured chisels out of beavers'
teeth. The Eskimo and some of the neighbouring Amer-
indian tribes used oblong " kettles " of stone — simply great
blocks of stone chipped, rubbed, and hollowed out into
receptacles, with handles at both ends. (It is suggested
that they borrowed the idea of these stone vessels for
cooking from the early Norse settlers of Greenland; see
p. 18.)
The Amerindians of the regions west of the Rocky
Mountains made kettles or cooking vessels out of blocks
of "cedar" (Juniper) wood; east of the Rocky Mountains
the birch-bark kettle was universal. Of course these
vessels of wood or bark could not be placed on the fire
or embers to heat or boil the contents, as was possible with
the "kettles" of stone or the cooking pots of clay. So
the people using them heated the water in which the food
or the soup was boiled by making stones red-hot in the
fire and then dropping them into the birch-bark or cedar-
wood tubs. Many of the northern Indians got into the
way of eating their food raw because of the difficulty of
making a fire away from home.
In regard to food, neither Amerindian nor Eskimo was
squeamish. They were almost omnivorous, and specially
delighted in putrid or noisome substances from which a
The Amerindians and Eskimo 181
European would turn in loathing, and from the eating of
which he might conceivably die.
It was only in the extreme south of Canada or in
British Columbia (potatoes only) that any agriculture was
carried on and that the natives had maize, pumpkins, and
pease to add to their dietary; but (as compared to the
temperate regions of Europe and Asia) Nature was gene-
rous in providing wild fruits and grain without trouble of
husbandry. The fruits and nuts have been enumerated
elsewhere, but a description might be given here of the
"wild oats" (Avena fatua) and the "wild rice" of the
regions of central Canada and the middle west. The wild
oats made a rough kind of porridge, but were not so
important and so nourishing as the wild rice which is so
often mentioned in the stories of the pioneers, who liked
this wild grain as much as the .Indians did.
This wild rice (Zizania aquatica) grew naturally in
small rivers and swampy places. The stems were hollow,
jointed at intervals, and the grain appeared at the ex-
tremity of the stalk. By the month of June they had
grown two feet above the surface of the shallow water,
and were ripe for harvesting in September. At this
period the Amerindians passed in canoes through the
water-fields of wild rice, shaking the ears into the canoes
as they swept by. The grain fell out easily when ripe,
but in order to clean it from the husk it was dried over
a slow fire on a wooden grating. After being winnowed
it was pounded to flour in a mortar, or else boiled like
rice, and seasoned with fat. "It had a most delicate
taste ", wrote Alexander Henry the Elder.
Fish was perhaps the staple of Amerindian diet, be-
cause in scarcely any part of the Canadian Dominion is
a lake, river, or brook far away. In the region of the
Great Lakes fish were caught in large quantities in Octo-
ber, and exposed to the weather to be frozen at nighttime.
They were then stored away in this congealed state,
182 Pioneers in Canada
and lasted good — more or less — till the following
April.
Pemmican — that early form of potted meat so familiar
to the readers of Red-Indian romances — was made of the
lean meat of the bison. The strips of meat were dried in
the sun, and afterwards pounded in a mortar and mixed
with an equal quantity of bison fat. Fish "pemmican"
was sun-dried fish ground to powder.
A favourite dish among the northern Indians was
blood mixed with the half-digested food found in the
stomach of a deer, boiled up with a sufficient quantity
of water to make it of the consistency of pease porridge.
Some scraps of fat or tender flesh were shredded small
and boiled with it. To render this dish more palatable
they had a method of mixing the blood with the contents
of the stomach in the paunch itself, and hanging it up in
the heat and smoke of the fire for several days — in other
words, the Scotch haggis. The kidneys of both moose
and buffalo were usually eaten raw by the southern
Indians, for no sooner was one of those beasts killed than
the hunter ripped up its belly, snatched out the kidneys,
and ate them warm, before the animal was quite dead.
They also at times put their mouths to the wound the
ball or the arrow had made, and sucked the blood; this,
they said, quenched thirst, and was very nourishing.
The favourite drink of the Ojibwe Indians in the winter-
time was hot broth poured over a dishful of pure snow.
The Amerindians of the Nipigon country (north of
Lake Superior) and the Ojibwes and Kris often relapsed
into cannibalism when hard up for food. Indeed some of
them became so addicted to this practice that they simply
went about stalking their fellow Indians with as much
industry as if they were hunting animals. " These prowl-
ing ogres caused such terror that to sight the track of one
of them was sufficient to make twenty families decamp in
all the speed of their terror" (Alexander Henry). It was
The Amerindians and Eskimo 183
deemed useless to attempt any resistance when these mon-
sters were coming to kill and eat. The people would even
make them presents of clothes and provisions to allow
them and their children to live. There were women can-
nibals as well as men (see p. 171).
As the greater part of their food came from the chase,
and their only articles of commerce likewise, they devoted
themselves more entirely to hunting and fishing than to
any other pursuit. The women did most of the fishing
(and all the skin-curing for the fur market and for their
own dress), while the men pursued with weapons the
beasts of the chase, trapped them in pitfalls or snares,
or drove them into "pounds" (excavated enclosures).
Illustrating the wonderful sagacity of the Amerindians
as game trackers, Alexander Henry the Elder tells the
following story in the autumn 6f 1799: —
" We had not gone far from the house before we fell
upon the fresh tracks of some red deer (wapiti), and soon
after discovered the herd in a thicket of willows and
poplars; we both fired, and the deer disappeared in dif-
ferent directions. We pursued them, but to no purpose,
as the country was unfavourable. We then returned to
the spot where we had fired, as the Indian suspected that
we had wounded some of them. We searched to see if
we could find any blood; on my part, I could find tracks,
but no blood. The Indian soon called out, and I went to
him, but could see no blood, nor any sign that an animal
had been wounded. However, he pointed out the track
of a large buck among the many others, and told me that
from the manner in which this buck had started off he was
certain the animal had been wounded. As the ground
was beaten in every direction by animals, it was only after
a tedious search that we found where the buck had struck
off. But no blood was seen until, passing through a
thicket of willows, he observed a drop upon a leaf, and
next a little more. He then began to examine more
1 84 Pioneers in Canada
strictly, to find out in what part of the body the animal
had been wounded; and, judging by the height and other
signs, he told me the wound must have been somewhere
between the shoulder and neck. We advanced about a
mile, but saw nothing of the deer, and no more blood.
I was for giving up the chase; but he assured me the
wound was mortal, and that if the animal should lie down
he could not rise again. We proceeded two miles farther,
when, coming out upon a small open space, he told me
the animal was at no great distance, and very probably in
this meadow. We accordingly advanced a few yards, and
there we found the deer lying at the last gasp. The
wound was exactly as I had been told. The sagacity of
the Saulteurs [Ojibwes] in tracing big wood animals is
astonishing. I have frequently witnessed occurrences of
this nature; the bend of a leaf or blade of grass is enough
to show the hunter the direction the game has taken.
Their ability is of equally great service to war parties,
when they discover the footsteps of their enemies."
The Assiniboin Indians (a branch of the Sious) down
to about fifty years ago captured the bison of the plains in
hundreds at a time by driving them into large excavated
areas below the level of the ground.
Alexander Henry, jun., gives the following description
of this procedure in 1810:—
"The pounds are of different dimensions, according to
the number of tents in one camp. The common size is
from sixty to one hundred paces or yards in circumference,
and about five feet in height. Trees are cut down, laid
upon one another, and interwoven with branches and
green twigs; small openings are left to admit the dogs
to feed upon the carcasses of the (old) bulls, which are
generally left as useless. This enclosure is commonly
made between two hummocks, on the declivity or at the
foot of rising ground. The entrance is about ten paces
wide, and always fronts the plains. On each side of this
The Amerindians and Eskimo 185
entrance commences a thick range of fascines, the two
ranges spreading asunder as they extend to the distance
of one hundred yards, beyond which openings are left at
intervals; but the fascines soon become more thinly planted,
and continue to spread apart to the right and left until
each range has been extended about three hundred yards
from the pound. The labour is then diminished by only
placing at intervals three or four cross sticks, in imitation
of a dog or other animal (sometimes called 'dead men');
these extend on the plain for about two miles, and double
rows of them are planted in several other directions to a
still greater distance. Young men are usually sent out
to collect and bring in the buffalo — a tedious task, which
requires great patience, for the herd must be started by
slow degrees. This is done by setting fire to dung or
grass. Three young men will bring in a herd of several
hundred from a great distance. When the wind is aft it
is most favourable, as they can then direct the buffalo with
great ease. Having come in sight of the ranges, they
generally drive the herd faster, until it begins to enter the
ranges, where a swift-footed person has been stationed
with a buffalo robe over his head, to imitate that animal-
but sometimes a horse performs this business. When he
sees buffaloes approaching he moves slowly toward the
pound until they appear to follow him ; then he sets off at
full speed, imitating a buffalo as well as he can, with the
herd after him. The young men in the rear now discover
themselves, and drive the herd on with all possible speed.
There is always a sentinel on some elevated spot to notify
the camp when the buffalo appear; and this intelligence is
no sooner given than every man, woman, and child runs
to the ranges that lead to the pound to prevent the buffalo
from taking a wrong direction. Then they lie down be-
tween the fascines and cross sticks, and, if the buffalo
attempt to break through, the people wave their robes,
which causes the herd to keep on, or turn to the opposite
186 Pioneers in Canada
side, where other persons do the same. When the buffalo
have been thus directed to the entrance of the pound, the
Indian who leads them rushes into it and out at the other
side, either by jumping over the enclosure or creeping
through an opening left for that purpose. The buffalo
tumble in pell-mell at his heels, almost exhausted, but
keep moving around the enclosure from east to west, and
never in a direction against the sun. What appeared
extraordinary to me on those occasions was that, when
word was given to the camp of the near approach of the
buffalo, the dogs would skulk away from the pound and
not approach until the herd entered. Many buffaloes
break their legs and some their necks in jumping into
the pound, as the descent is generally six or eight feet,
and stumps are left standing there. The buffalo being
caught, the men assembled at the enclosure, armed with
bows and arrows; every arrow has a particular mark of
the owner, and they are let fly until the whole herd is
killed. Then the men enter the pound, and each claims
his own; but commonly there is what they term the
master of the pound, who divides the animals and gives
each tent an equal share, reserving nothing for himself.
But in the end he is always the best provided for; every-
one is obliged to send him a certain portion, as it is in his
tent that the numerous ceremonies relating to the pound
are observed. There the young men are always welcome
to feast and smoke, and no women are allowed to enter,
as that tent is set apart for the affairs of the pound.
Horses are sometimes used to collect and bring in buffalo,
but this method is less effectual than the other; besides,
it frightens the herds and soon causes them to withdraw
to a great distance. When horses are used the buffalo are
absolutely driven into the pound, but when the other
method is pursued they are in a manner enticed to their
destruction."
A somewhat similar method was adopted by the
The Amerindians and Eskimo 187
northern Kris and Athapascans for the capture of rein-
deer.
As regards means of transport, the use of dogs as
draught animals was by no means confined to the Eskimo:
they were used in wintertime to draw sledges over the
snow or ice by nearly all the northern Indian tribes, and
by the people of the Rocky Mountains and Pacific coast.
After the Amerindians of the prairies and plains received
horses (indirectly through the Spaniards of Mexico)1 they
sometimes employed the smaller and poorer kind of ponies
as pack animals; but for the most part throughout the
summer season of the Canadian Dominion — from May to
October — transport and travel by canoe was the favourite
method.
There were four very well marked types of canoe or
boat in British North America* There was the already-
described Eskimo kayak, made of leather stretched over
a framework of wood or bone; the Amerindians of the
Dominion, south of the Eskimo and east of the Rocky
Mountains, used the familiar "birch-bark" canoe;2 the
peoples of the Pacific coast belt possessed something more
like a boat, made out of a hollowed tree trunk and built
up with planks; and the tribes of the Upper Mississippi
used round coracles. Here are descriptions of all three
kinds of Amerindian canoe from the pens of eighteenth-
century pioneers: The birch-bark canoe used on the
Great Lakes was about thirty-three feet long by four and
a half feet broad, and formed of the smooth rind or bark
of the birch tree fastened outside a wooden framework.
It was lined with small splints of juniper cedar, and the
vessel was further strengthened with ribs of the same
wood, of which the two ends were fastened to the gun-
wales. Several bars rather than seats were laid across
1 See p. 150.
a In the far north-west, on the rivers of the Pacific slope, the natives used spruce-fir
bark instead of birch.
i88 Pioneers in Canada
the canoe from gunwale to gunwale, the small roots of
the spruce fir afforded the fibre with which the bark was
sewn or stitched, and the gum of the pine tree supplied
the place of tar and oakum. Bark, some spare fibre, and
gum were always carried in each canoe for repairs, which
were constantly necessary (one continually reads in the
diaries of the pioneers of "stopping to gum the canoe").
The canoes were propelled with paddles, and occasionally
a sail.
The aborigines of Newfoundland — the Beothiks — are
said to have known the birch-bark canoe, framework
canoe, but to have employed "dug-outs" — hollowed tree
trunks. The canoes of the Mandans of the upper Mis-
souri basin were like coracles, of circular form, made ot
a framework of bent willow branches over which was
stretched a raw bison-hide with the hair inside. This
was sewn tightly round the willow rim. In lieu of a
paddle they use a pole about five feet long, split at one
end to admit a piece of board about two feet long and
half a foot broad, which was lashed to the pole and so
formed a kind of cross. There was but one for each
canoe. The paddler of this coracle made directly for the
opposite shore; every stroke he gave turned his "dish"
almost entirely round; to recover his position and go on
his intended route, he must give a stroke on the other
side, which brought him up again ; and so on till he got
over, not without drifting down sometimes nearly a mile.
Alexander Henry, jun., thus describes a canoe of the
Clatsop people on the Lower Columbia (Pacific coast,
opposite Vancouver Island): "This was a war canoe —
the first of the kind I had seen. She was about thirty-
six feet long and wide in proportion, the stem rising up-
right about six feet, on top of which was a figure of some
imaginary monster of uncouth sculpture, having the head
of a carnivorous animal with large erect ears but no body,
clinging by arms and legs to the upper end of the canoe,
The Amerindians and Eskimo 189
and grinning horribly. The ears were painted green,
the other parts red and black. The stern also rose about
five feet in height, but had no figure carved on it. On
each side of both stem and stern broad strips of wood
rose about four feet, having holes cut in them to shoot
arrows through. She had a high sprit-sail made of
handkerchiefs and pieces of gunny-cloth or jute, forming
irregular stripes, I am told these Indians commonly have
pieces of squared timber, not unlike a three-inch plank,
high and broad, perforated to shoot arrows through; this
is fixed on the bow of the war canoe to serve as bulwarks
in battle."
Canoe voyages were mainly embarked on for trading;
but in all probability before the coming of the European
there was little trading done between one tribe and an-
other, except in the region west of the Rocky Mountains,
in which — especially to the north — the Amerindians were
so different in their habits and customs from those dwell-
ing east of the mountains as to suggest that they must
very occasionally have been in touch with some world
outside America, such as Hawaii, Kamschatka, or Japan.
In these Pacific coastlands they used a white seashell as
a currency and a medium of exchange. So also did the
Iroquois people and the southern AlgonKin tribes, in the
form of u wampum ". The principal articles of barter were
skins of fur animals, porcupine quills, dogs, slaves, and
women.
First Hunting (to supply food), then Trading in the
products of the chase, and lastly War were the main
subjects which occupied the Amerindian's thoughts before
the middle of the nineteenth century. They usually went
to war to turn other tribes out of profitable hunting
grounds or productive fisheries; or because they wanted
slaves or more wives; or because a chief or a medicine
man had a dream ; or because some other notability felt
he had given way too much to tears over some personal
Pioneers in Canada
or public sorrow, and must show his manliness by killing
the people of another tribe. In their wars they knew no
mercy when their blood was up, and frequently perpe-
trated frightful cruelties for the sheer pleasure of seeing
human suffering. Yet these devilish moods would alter-
nate with fits of sentimentality. A man or a woman
would suddenly take a war prisoner, or a person who was
wounded or half-tortured to death, under their protection,
and a short time afterwards the whole war party would
be greeting this rescued wretch (usually a man — they
were far more pitiless towards women) as brother, son,
or friend, and even become quite maudlin over a scratch
or a bruise; whereas an hour or so before they were on
the point of disembowelling, or of driving splinters up
the nails and setting them on fire. In warfare they often
gave way to cannibalism.
Though extremely fond of singing — they sang when
they were merry; when they thought they were going
to die; when they were victorious in hunting, love, or
war; when they were defeated; when they were paddling
a canoe or sewing a moccasin — they had but a poor range
of musical instruments. Most of the tribes used flutes
made out of the wing bones of cranes or out of reeds,
and some had small trumpets of wood, bark, or buffalo
horn. The Pacific coast Indians made gongs or "xylo-
phones " out of blocks or slabs of resonant wood.
Here is a specimen of Amerindian singing. It is the
song which accompanied the famous Calumet dance in
celebration of the peacemaking qualities of tobacco-smok-
ing. It was taken down by the Jesuit missionaries in the
seventeenth century from the Ilinwa (Illinois) Algonkin
P Indians of the middle west, and its notation reminds one
I of Japanese music.
The Amerindians and Eskimo
THE CALUMET OR TOBACCO-PIPE DANCE
i
Ni - na - ha - ni, ni - na - ha - ni, ni - na - ha - ni
- ni on - go; Ni - na - ha - ni, ni - na - ha - ni,
±^=M^hM
ni - na - ha - ni ho - ho; ni - na - ha - ni, ni - na - ha - ni,
I L I I | -_ L^f. _ _
_J_J_J J r^rr^^
ni - na - ha - ni, Ka - wa ban - no - ge at - chi - cha
Ko - ge a - ke a - wa; Ba - no - ge a - chi - cha
^zJ,J J J_Ji
sha - go - be h^, h^, h£! Min - tin - go mi - ta - de
^=£=g±c^
pi - ni, pi - ni h£ ! A - chi - cha 16 ma - chi
i i h i s~^>
•^g. -J. ^ V ^::-^:
mi nam ba mik - tan - de, mik-tan -de pi - ni, pini he!
iQ2 Pioneers in Canada
Ninahani, &c., ongo; ninahani, &c., hoho; ninahani, &c.
Kawa bannoge atchicha Koge ake awa;
Banoge atchicha shagobe h£ h£ h6 ! Mintingo mitade
Pini pini h6! Atchicha 1£ machi mi nam ba miktande,
Miktande pini pini h£!
Dancing was little else than posturing and jumping
in masks — usually made to look like the head of a wild
beast. But the men were usually very athletic. Wrestling
competitions were almost universal, especially as a means
of winning a wife. The conqueror in a wrestling match
took the wife or wives of the defeated man. Their running
powers for endurance and speed became justly celebrated.
"Their principal and most inveterate game is that of
the hoop," writes Alexander Henry, sen., "which proves
as ruinous to them as the platter does to the Saulteurs
(Ojibwe)." This game was played in the following man-
ner. A hoop was made about two feet in diameter, nearly
covered with dressed leather, and trimmed with quillwork,
feathers, bits of metal, and other trinkets, on which were
certain particular marks. Two persons played at the same
time, by rolling the hoop and accompanying it, one on
each side; when it was about to fall, each gently threw
one arrow in such a manner that the hoop might fall upon
it, and according to that mark on the hoop which rested
on the arrows they reckoned the game. They also played
another game by holding some article in one hand, or
putting it into one of two shoes, the other hand or shoe
being empty. They had another game which required
forty to fifty small sticks, as thick as a goose quill and
about a foot long; these were all shuffled together and
then divided into two bunches, and according to the even
or odd numbers of sticks in the bunch chosen, the players
lost or won.
A favourite game amongst the Ojibwe is described as
"the hurdle", which is another name for the Canadian
The Amerindians and Eskimo 193
national game of La Crosse. When about to play, the
men, of all ages, would strip themselves almost naked,
but dress their hair in great style, put ornaments on
their arms, and belts round their waists, and paint their
faces and bodies in the most elaborate style. Each man
was provided with "a hurdle", an instrument made of
a small stick of wood about three feet long, bent at the
end to a small circle, in which a loose piece of network
is fixed, forming a cavity big enough to receive a leather
ball about the size of a man's fist. Everything being
prepared, a level plain about half a mile long was chosen,
with proper barriers or goals at each end. Having pre-
viously formed into two equal parts, they assembled in
the very middle of the field, and the game began by
throwing up the ball perpendicularly in the air, when
instantly both parties (writes -an eyewitness) "formed
a singular group of naked men, painted in different
colours and in the most comical attitudes imaginable,
holding their rackets elevated in the air to catch the
ball ". Whoever was so fortunate as to catch it in his
net ran with it to the barrier with all his might, sup-
ported by his party; whilst the opponents were pursuing
and endeavouring to knock the ball out of the net.
He who succeeded in doing so ran in the same manner
towards the opposite barrier, and was, of course, pursued
in his turn. If in danger of being overtaken, he might
throw it with his hurdle towards any of his associates
who happened to be nearer the barrier than himself.
They had a particular knack of throwing it a great dis-
tance in this manner, so that the best runners had not
always the advantage; and, by a peculiar way of work-
ing their hands and arms while running, the ball never
dropped out of their "hurdle".
" The best of three heats wins the game, and, besides
the honour acquired on such occasions, a considerable
prize is adjudged to the victors. The vanquished, how-
corn) 13
194 Pioneers in Canada
ever, generally challenge their adversaries to renew the
game the next day, which is seldom refused. The game
then becomes more important, as the honour of the whole
village is at stake, and it is carried on with redoubled
impetuosity, every object which might impede them in
their career is knocked down and trodden under foot
without mercy, and before the game is decided, it is a
common thing to see numbers sprawling on the ground
with wounded legs and broken heads, yet this never
creates any disputes or ill-will after the play is decided "
(Alexander Henry, sen.).
It has been computed that in the middle of the eigh-
teenth century the Amerindian population of the vast
territories now known as the Dominion of Canada num-
bered about 300,000. It now stands at an approximate
110,000. The chief diminution has taken place in New-
foundland, Lower and Upper Canada, New Brunswick,
Assiniboia, and British Columbia. There may even have
been an increase in the north and north-west. The first
great blow to the Amerindians of these regions was the
smallpox epidemic of 1780. The next was the effect of
the strong drink1 introduced by the agents of the Hudson's
Bay and, still more, the two North-west Companies.
Phthisis or pulmonary consumption also seems to have
been introduced from Europe (though Hearne thought
that the Northern Indians had it before the white man
came). In fact, before the European invaded America
neither Eskimo nor Amerindian seem to have had many
diseases. They suffered from ulcers, scurvy, digestive
troubles, rheumatism, headache, bronchitis, and heart
complaints, but from few, if any, "germ" diseases.
Some of the agents of the North-west Company apolo-
gize in their writings for the amount of rum that was
circulated among the Amerindians at the orders of that
1 Before the white man came to North America the natives had no form of intoxi-
cating drink.
The Amerindians and Eskimo 195
company to stimulate trade, by saying that it was seven
parts water. Nevertheless it excited them to madness,
as the following extracts show. These are mostly taken
from the journals of Alexander Henry the Younger, but
they are typical of what was recorded by many other
writers who describe the far interior of British North
America between 1775 and 1835.
"To see a house full of drunken Indians, consisting
of men, women, and children, is a most unpleasant sight;
for, in that condition, they often wrangle, pull each other
by the hair, and fight. At times, ten or twelve of both
sexes may be seen fighting each other promiscuously,
until at last they all fall on the floor, one upon another,
some spilling rum out of a small kettle or dish which
they hold in their hands, while others are throwing up
what they have just drunk. To add to this uproar, a
number of children, some on their mothers' shoulders,
and others running about and taking hold of their
clothes, are constantly bawling, the elder ones, through
fear that their parents may be stabbed, or that some
other misfortune may befal them in the fray. These
shrieks of the children form a very unpleasant chorus
to the brutal noise kept up by their drunken parents."
"In a drinking match at the Hills yesterday, Gros
Bras (Thick Arms) in a fit of jealousy stabbed Aupusoi
to death with a hand-dague (dagger); the first stroke
opened his left side, the second his belly, and the third
his breast; he never stirred, although he had a knife
in his belt, and died instantly. Soon after this Aupusoi's
brother, a boy about ten years of age, took the deceased's
gun, loaded it with two balls, and approached Gros Bras's
tent. Putting the muzzle of the gun through the door
the boy fired the two balls into his breast and killed
him dead, just as he was reproaching his wife for her
affection for Aupusoi, and boasting of the revenge he
196 Pioneers in Canada
had taken. The little fellow ran into the woods and
hid. Little Shell (Petite Coquille) found the old woman,
Aupusoi's mother, in her tent; he instantly stabbed her.
Ondainoiache then came in, took the knife, and gave her
a second stab. Little Shell, in his turn taking the knife,
gave a third blow. In this manner did these two rascals
continue to murder the old woman, as long as there was
any life in her. The boy escaped into Langlois' house,
and was kept hid until they were all sober. Next mor-
ning a hole was dug in the ground, and all three were
buried together. This affair kept the Indians from hunt-
ing, as Gros Bras was nearly related to the principal
hunters."
"Grand' Gueule stabbed Perdrix Blanche with a knife
in six places. Perdrix Blanche fighting with his wife,
fell in the fire and almost roasted, but had strength
enough left notwithstanding his wounds to bite her nose
off."
" In the first drinking match a murder was committed
in an Assiniboine tent, but fortunately it was done by an
Ojibwe. L'Hiver stabbed Mishewashence to the heart
three times, and killed him instantly. The wife and chil-
dren cried out, and some of my people ran to the tent
just as L'Hiver came out with the bloody knife in his
hand, expecting we would lay hold of him. The first
person he met was William Henry, whom he attempted
to stab in the breast; but Henry avoided the stroke, and
returned the compliment with a blow of his cudgel on
the fellow's head. This staggered him; but instantly re-
covering he made another attempt to stab Henry. Foiled
in this design, and observing several coming out of the
fort, he took to his heels and ran into the woods like a
deer. I chased him with some of my people, but he
was too fleet for us. We buried the murdered man,
The Amerindians and Eskimo 197
who left a widow and five helpless orphans, having no
relations on this river. The behaviour of two of the
youngest was really piteous while we were burying the
body; they called upon their deceased father not to
leave them, but to return to the tent, and tried to pre-
vent the men from covering the corpse with earth, scream-
ing in a terrible manner; the mother was obliged to take
them away."
''Men and women have been drinking a match for
three days and nights, during which it has been drink,
fight — drink, fight — drink, and fight again — guns, axes,
and knives being their weapons — very disagreeable."
" Mithanasconce was so troublesome (in drink) that we
were obliged to tie him with ropes to prevent his doing
mischief. He was stabbed in the back in three different
places about a month ago. His wounds were still open,
and had an ugly appearance; in his struggling to get
loose they burst out afresh and bled a great deal. We
had much trouble to stop the blood, as the fellow was
insensible to pain or danger; his only aim was to bite
us. We had some narrow escapes, until we secured his
mouth, and then he fell asleep."
"Some Red Lake Indians having traded here for
liquor which they took to their camp, quarrelled amongst
themselves. One jumped on another and bit his nose
off. It was some time before the piece could be found;
but, at last, by tumbling and tossing the straw about,
it was recovered, stuck on, and bandaged, as best the
drunken people could, in hopes it would grow again "
(Alexander Henry, jun.).
As regards drunkenness, several authors among the
early explorers declared that the French Canadian
198 Pioneers in Canada
voyageurs were more disagreeable when drunk even
than the Amerindians, for their quarrels were noisier
and more deadly. " Indeed I had rather have fifty
drunken Indians in the fort than sixty -five drunken
Canadians", writes Alexander Henry in 1810. And
yet the extracts I have given from his journal show
that it would be hard to beat the Amerindians for dis-
agreeable ferocity when intoxicated.
Henry, summing up his experiences before leaving
for the Pacific coast in 1811, writes these remarks in
his diary: —
" What a different set of people they would be, were
there not a drop of liquor in the country! If a murder
is committed among the Saulteurs (Ojibwes), it is always
in a drinking match. We may truly say that liquor is
the root of all evil in the north-west. Great bawling
and lamentation went on, and I was troubled most of
the night for liquor to wash away grief."
As a rule, the treatment of the Amerindians by the
British and French settlers was good, except the thrust-
ing of alcohol on them. But in Newfoundland a great
crime was perpetrated. Between the middle of the seven-
teenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries the
British fishermen and settlers on the coasts of New-
foundland had destroyed the native population of Beothik
Indians.
Before the English arrived on the coasts of Newfound-
land the Beothiks lived an ideal life for savages. They
were well clothed with beasts' skins, and in the winter
these were supplemented by heavy fur robes. Countless
herds of reindeer roamed through the interior, passing
from north to south in the autumn and returning in the
spring. Vast flocks of willow grouse (like ptarmigan)
were everywhere to be met with ; the many lakes were
covered with geese, swans, and ducks. The woods were
full of pigeons; the salmon swarmed up the rivers to
GREAT AUKS, GANNETS, PUFFINS, AND GUILLEMOTS
The Amerindians and Eskimo 199
breed; the sea round the coasts was — except in the
wintertime — the richest fishery in the world. They
caught lobsters in the rock pools, and speared or clubbed
seals and great walruses for their flesh and oil. An oc-
casional whale provided them with oil, blubber, and meat.
The Great Auk — which could not fly — swarmed in millions
on the cliffs and islets. So abundant was this bird, and
so fat, that its body was sometimes used as fuel, or as a
lamp. In the summertime their fish and flesh diet could
be varied by the innumerable berries growing wild — straw-
berries, raspberries, currants, cranberries, and whortle-
berries. The capillaire plant yielded a lusciously sweet,
sugary substance.1
The Beothiks were a tall, good-looking people, with
large black eyes and a light-coloured skin. The early
French and Biscayan seamen, who resorted to the coasts
of Newfoundland for the whale fisheries, reported these
"Red Indians" to be "an ingenious and tractable people,
if well used, who were ready to help the white men with
great labour and patience in the killing, cutting-up, and
boiling of whales, and the making of train oil, without
other expectation of reward than a little bread or some
such small hire".
Yet from the beginning of the seventeenth century the
Beothiks — then about four thousand in number — were ill-
treated by the European fishermen who frequented the
Newfoundland coasts. They soon greatly decreased in
numbers, and became very shy of white men. The
French, when they occupied the south coast ol New-
foundland, brought over Mikmak Indians to chase and
kill the Beothiks or "Red" Indians. The Eskimo at-
tacked them from Labrador. Finally, when Newfoundland
became British in the eighteenth century, the English
fishermen settlers and fur hunters attacked and slew the
harmless Beothiks with a wanton ferocity (described by
1 This was the Moxie plum or creeping snowberry (Chiogenes hispidula
200 Pioneers in Canada
horror-struck officers of the British navy) which is as bad
as anything attributed to the Spaniards in Cuba and His-
paniola. By about 1830 they were all extinct. As late
as 1823 the following anecdote is recorded of two English
settlers whose names are hidden behind the initials C and
A. "When near Badger Bay they fell in with an Indian
man and woman, who approached, apparently soliciting
food. The man was first killed, and the woman, who was
afterwards found to be his daughter, in despair remained
calmly to be fired at, when she was also shot through the
chest and immediately expired. This was told Mr. Cor-
mack by the man who did the deed." Even English
women in the late eighteenth century were celebrated for
their skill "in shooting Red Indians and seals".
"For a period of nearly two hundred years this bar-
barity had continued, and it was considered meritorious
to shoot a Red Indian. 'To go to look for Indians'
came to be as much a phrase as to look for partridges
(ptarmigan). They were harassed from post to post, from
island to island; their hunting and fishing stations were
unscrupulously seized by the invading English. They
were shot down without the least provocation, or captured
to be exposed as curiosities to the rabble at the fairs of the
western towns of Christian England at twopence a piece."1
Too late — when the worry and anxiety of the Napoleonic
wars were over — the British Government sent a commission
of naval officers to enquire into the treatment of the Beo-
thiks by the settlers. One woman alone remained, as a
frightened semi-captive, to be consoled and soothed. There
are Indians in the south of Newfoundland at the present
day, but they are Mikmaks who come over from the ad-
joining regions of Cape Breton and Nova Scotia. So
tender, indeed, is the modern government of the island
1 These are the remarks of an English chaplain in the island, quoted by the Rev.
George Patterson, who contributed a most interesting article on the vanished Beothiks
of Newfoundland to the Royal Society of Canada in 1891.
The Amerindians and Eskimo 201
towards these (out of compunction for the past) that they
are allowed to kill the reindeer and other wild animals
without the licence which is exacted from white people,
and so are actually injuring Newfoundland's resources!
Since the great Dominion of Canada was brought into
existence in 1871 as a unified, responsible government, the
treatment of the remaining Amerindian natives of British
North America has been admirable; and splendid work
has been done in reclaiming them to a wholesome civili-
zation by the Moravian, Roman Catholic, and Church of
England missionaries.
CHAPTER VIII
The Hudson Bay Explorers and the British
Conquest of all Canada
In a general way the discovery of the main features
of the vast Canadian Dominion may be thus apportioned
amongst the different European nations. First came the
British, led by an Italian pilot. They discovered Cape
Breton Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. Then
came the Portuguese, who discovered the north-east of
Newfoundland and the coast of Labrador, while a French
expedition under an Italian captain reached to Nova Scotia
and southern Newfoundland. A Spanish expedition under
a Portuguese leader shortly afterwards reached the coast
of New Brunswick. After that the French from Brittany,
Normandy, and the west coast of France laid bare the
west coast of Newfoundland, the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
the River St. Lawrence, and the Great Lakes.
Sir Francis Drake led the way in the exploration of the
north-west coast of North America. He reached, in 1579,
as far north on that side as the country of Oregon, which
he christened New Albion. This action stirred up the
Spaniards, who explored the coast of California, and in
1591-2 sent an Ionian Island pilot, Apostolos Valeriano
(commonly called Juan de Fuca), in charge of an expedi-
tion to discover the imagined Straits of Anian. He gave
strength to this idea of a continuous water route across
temperate North America by entering (in 1592) the straits,
since called Juan de Fuca, between Vancouver Island and
the modern State of Washington, and passing thence into
202
The Hudson Bay Explorers 203
the Straits of Georgia, which bear a striking resemblance
in their features to the Straits of Magellan.
French explorers and adventurers, as we have seen,
penetrated from the basin of the St. Lawrence to the
north and west until they touched the southern extension
of Hudson Bay (James's Bay), discovered Lake Winni-
peg and the Saskatchewan Rivers, the upper Missouri
and the whole course of the Mississippi, and finally re-
corded the existence of the Rocky Mountains.
Parallel with these movements the British discovered
the broad belt of sea between Greenland and North
America and the whole area of Hudson Bay. After
the French had ceased to reign in North America, the
British were to reveal the great rivers flowing into the
Arctic Ocean, the coasts and islands of the Arctic Ocean,
the Yukon River, and the coasts and islands of British
Columbia and Alaska.
The first Europeans, however, to reach Alaska were
Russians led by Vitus Bering, a great Danish sea captain
in the Russian service. Bering was born in 1680 at
Horsens, in the province of Aarhuus, E. Denmark, and
entered the service of Peter the Great, who was desirous
of knowing where Asia terminated and America began.
Bering discovered the straits which bear his name in 1728,
and in 1741 was wrecked and died on Bering's Island.
Captain James Cook, the British discoverer of Australia
and of so many Pacific islands, completed the work of
Bering in 1788 in charting the north-west American coast
right into the Arctic Ocean.
It has already been related in Chapter III how the
Hudson's Bay Chartered Company came to be founded.
Soon after their first pioneers were established, in 1670,
at Fort Nelson, on the west coast of Hudson Bay, near
where York Factory now stands, there was born — or
brought out from England as an infant — a little boy
named Henry Kellsey, who as a child took a great fancy
204 Pioneers in Canada
to the Amerindians who came to trade at Fort Nelson.
As he played with them, and they returned his affection,
he learnt their language, and — for some inconceivable
reason — this gave great offence to the stupid governor of
the fort (indeed, when Kellsey as a grown man, some
years afterwards, compiled a vocabulary of the Kri lan-
guage for the use of traders, the Hudson's Bay Company
ordered it to be suppressed). Stupid Governor Geyer not
only objected to Kellsey picking up the Kri language, but
punished him most severely for that and for his boyish
tricks and jokes; so much so, that Kellsey, when he was
about ten years old, ran away with the returning Indians,
some of whom had grown very fond of him whilst they
stayed at Fort Nelson.
Six years afterwards an Indian brought to the gover-
nor of the fort a letter written by Kellsey in charcoal
on a piece of white birch bark. In this he asked the
governor's pardon for running away, and his permission
to return to the fort. As a kind reply was sent, Kellsey
appeared not long afterwards grown into a young man,
accompanied by an Indian wife and attended by a party
of Indians. He was dressed exactly like them, but differed
from them in the respect which he showed to his native
wife. She attempted to accompany her husband into the
factory or place of business, and the governor stopped her;
but Kellsey at once told him in English that he would not
enter himself if his wife was not suffered to go with him,
and so the governor relented. After this Kellsey (who
must then have been about seventeen) seems to have regu-
larly enrolled himself in 1688 in the service of the Com-
pany, and he was employed as a kind of commercial
traveller who made long journeys to the north-west to
beat up a fur trade for the Company and induce tribes
of Indians to make long journeys every summer to the
Company's factory with the skins they had secured be-
tween the autumn and the spring. In this way Kellsey
The Hudson Bay Explorers 205
penetrated into the country of the Assiniboines, and he
finally reached a more distant tribe or nation called by
the long name of Newatamipoet.1 Kellsey first of all
made for Split Lake, up the Nelson River, and thence
paddled westwards in his canoe for a distance of 71 miles.
Here he abandoned the canoe, and, for what he estimated
as 316 miles, he tramped through a wooded country, first
covered with fir and pine trees, and farther on with poplar
and birch. Apparently he then reached a river flowing
into Reindeer Lake. In a general way his steps must
have taken him in the direction of Lake Athapaska.
On the way he had much trouble with the Assiniboin
Indians and Kris, with whom he had caught up, and with
whom he was to travel in the direction of these mysterious
Newatamipoets. The last-named tribe, who were probably
of the Athapaskan group, had killed, a few months pre-
viously, three of the Kri women, and the Kri Indians who
belonged to Kellsey's party were bent, above all things,
on attacking the Newatamipoets and punishing them for
this outrage. Kellsey only wished to open up peaceful
relations with them and create a great trade in furs with
the Hudson's Bay Company, so he kept pleading with the
Indians not to go to war with the Newatamipoets. On
this journey, however, one of the Kri Indians fell ill and
died. The next day the body was burnt with much cere-
mony— first the flesh, and then the bones — and after this
funeral the companions of the dead man began to reason
as to the cause of his death, and suddenly blamed Kellsey.
Kellsey had obstructed them from their purpose of aveng-
ing their slain women, therefore the gods of the tribe were
angry and claimed this victim in the man who had died.
Kellsey was very near being sent to the other world to
complete the sacrifice; but he arranged for "a feast of
tobacco " — in other words, a calm deliberation and the
smoking of the pipe of peace. He explained to the angry
i Spelt in the documents of the Hudson's Bay Company, Naywatame-poet.
206 Pioneers in Canada
Indians that his Company had not supplied him with guns
and ammunition with which to go to war, but to induce
them to embark on the fur trade and to kill wild animals
for their skins. If, instead of this, they went to war, or
injured him, they need never again go down to Fort
Nelson for any further trade or supplies. Four days
afterwards, however, the attention of the whole party was
concentrated on bison.
Bison could now be seen in abundance. Kellsey was
already acquainted with the musk ox, which he had seen
in the colder regions near to Hudson Bay; but the bison
seemed to him quite different, with horns growing like
those of an English ox, black and short. In the middle
of September he reached the country of the Newatamipoets,
and presented to their chief, on behalf of the Hudson's
Bay Company, a present of clothes, knives, awls, tobacco,
and a gun, gunpowder, and shot. On this journey Kell-
sey encountered the grizzly bear, a more common denizen
of the western regions of North America. According to
his own account, he and one of the Indians with him were
attacked by two grizzly bears and obliged to climb into
the branches of trees. The bears followed them ; but
Kellsey fired and killed one, and later on the other also.
For this feat he was greatly reverenced by the Indians,
and received the name of Mistopashish, or " little giant".
Kellsey afterwards rose to be governor of York Fort, on
the west coast of Hudson Bay.
The next great explorer ranging westward from Hud-
son Bay was Anthony Hendry.1 Anthony Hendry left
York factory in 1754, with a company of Kri Indians, to
1 The young or old reader of this and other books dealing with the exploration
of the Canadian Dominion will be indeed puzzled between the various Hendrys and
Henrys. The last-named was a prolific stock, from which several notable explorers
and servants of the fur-trading companies were drawn. In this book a careful distinc-
tion must be made between the Anthony Hendrey or Hendey, who commenced his
exploration of the west in 1754; the unrelated Alexander Henry the Elder, who
journeyed between 1761 and 1776 ; and the nephew of the last-named, Alexander Henry
the Younger, whose pioneering explorations occurred between 1799 and 1814.
pNfVifee
The Hudson Bay Explorers 207
make a great journey of exploration to the west, and with
the deliberate intention of wintering with the natives and
not returning for that purpose to Hudson Bay. By
means of canoe travel and portages he reached Oxford
Lake. From here he gained Moose Lake, and soon after-
wards "the broad waters of the Saskatchewan — the first
Englishman to see this great river of the western plains".1
Twenty-two miles upstream from the point where it reached
the Saskatchewan he came to a French fort which had only
been standing for a year, and which represented probably
the farthest advance northwards of the French Canadians.
The situation was a rather delicate one, for the Hud-
son's Bay Company was a thorn in the side of French
Canada. However, in this year — 1754 — the two nations
were not actually at war, and the two Frenchmen in
charge of the fort received him " in a very genteel man-
ner", and invited him into their home, where he readily
accepted their hospitality. At first they spoke of detaining
him till the commandant of the fort returned, but aban-
doned this idea after reflection, and Hendry continued his
journey up the Saskatchewan. He then left the river and
marched on foot over the plains which separate the North
and the South Saskatchewan Rivers. The South Saskat-
chewan was found to be a high stream covered with birch,
poplar, elder, and fir. He and his Indian guides were
searching for the horse-riding Blackfeet Indians.2 All
the Amerindians known to the Hudson's Bay Company
hitherto travelled on foot, using snowshoes in the winter ;
but vague rumours had reached the Company that in the
far south-west there were great nations of Indians which
did all their hunting on horseback.
Hendry had now found them, and he also met a small
tribe of Assiniboins — the Mekesue or Eagle Indians —
who differed from the surrounding tribes by going about,
1 The Search for the Western Sea, by Lawrence J. Burpee.
* See p. 159.
208 Pioneers in Canada
at any rate in the summertime, absolutely naked. Here,
too, between the two Saskatchewans, they saw herds of
bison on the plains grazing like English cattle. But
they also found elk (moose), wapiti or red deer, hares,
grouse, geese, and ducks. He records in his journal: "I
went with the young men a- buffalo-hunting, all armed
with bows and arrows; killed several; fine sport. We
beat them about, lodging twenty arrows in one beast.
So expert were the natives that they will take the arrows
out of the buffalo when they are foaming and raging
with pain and tearing up the ground with their feet and
horns until they fall down." The Amerindians killed
far more of these splendid beasts than they could eat, and
from these carcasses they merely took the tongues and a
few choice pieces, leaving the remainder to the wolves
and the grizzly bears.
At last they arrived at the temporary village of the
Blackfeet. Two hundred tents or tipis were pitched in
two parallel rows, and down this avenue marched Anthony
Hendry, gazed at silently by many Blackfeet Indians until
he reached the large house or lodge of their great chief,
at the end of the avenue of tents. This lodge was large
enough to contain fifty persons. The chief received him
seated on the sacred skin of a white buffalo. The pipe
of peace was then produced and passed round in silence,
each person taking a ceremonial puff. Boiled bison beef
was then brought to the guests in baskets made of willow
branches. Hendry told the great chief of the Blackfeet
that he had been sent by the great leader of the white
men at Hudson Bay to invite the Blackfeet Indians to
come to these eastern waters in the summertime, and
bring with them beaver and wolf skins, for which they
would get, in return, guns, ammunition, cloth, beads,
and other trade goods. But this chief, though he listened
patiently, pointed out that this fort on Hudson Bay was
situated at a very great distance, that his men only knew
The Hudson Bay Explorers 209
how to ride horses, and not how to paddle canoes. More-
over, they could not live without bison beef, and disliked
fish.
After leaving the headquarters of the Blackfeet, Hendry
rambled over the beautiful country of fir woods and pine
woods until he must have got within sight of the Rocky
Mountains, though these are not mentioned in his journal.
Then, after passing the winter (which did not begin as
regards cold weather till the 2nd of December, and was
over at the end of March) he returned to the French fort
on the Saskatchewan, where he was received by the
Commandant, de La Corne, with great kindness and
hospitality. These Frenchmen, he found, were able to
speak in great perfection several Indian languages; they
were well dressed, and courtly in manners, and led a
civilized life in these distant wilds. They had excellent
trade goods and were sincerely liked by the Indians, but
for some reason or other they lacked Brazilian tobacco,
which seems to have been a commodity much in favour
amongst the Indians. With this the Hudson's Bay
Company were kept well supplied, and that alone enabled
them in any degree to compete with the French. But
in ten years more this French fort would be abandoned
owing to the cession of Canada to Britain.
The British, in fact, all through the first half of the
eighteenth century, by their superiority in sea power, were
steadily strangling the French empire in North America.
Acadia, or Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick had been,
as we have seen, recognized as British in 1713, and
Newfoundland, also, subject to certain conditions, giving
France the exclusive right to fish on the western and
northern coasts of Newfoundland. The result was that
when " New France", 01 Canada and Louisiana combined,
was at its greatest extent of conquered and administered
territory, France held but a very limited seacoast from
which to approach it — just the mouth of the Mississippi,
(0312) H
Pioneers in Canada
and a little bit of Alabama on the south and Cape Breton
Island on the east. Cape Breton Island was commanded
by the immensely strong fortress of Louisburg, and the
possession of this place gave the French some security in
entering the Gulf of St. Lawrence through Cabot Straits.
But Louisburg was captured by the British colonists of
New England (United States) in 1745; and although it
was given back to France again, it was reoccupied in
1758, and served as a basis for the armaments which
were directed against Quebec in 1759, and which resulted
at the close of that year in the surrender of that im-
portant city. In 1763 all Canada was ceded to the British,
and Louisiana (which had become the western barrier of
the about-to-be-born United States) was ceded to Spain-
the French flag flew no more on the Continent of North
America, save in the two little islands of St. Pierre and
Miquelon adjoining Newfoundland, wherein it still re-
mains as a reminder of the splendid achievements of
Frenchmen in America.
CHAPTER IX
The Pioneers from Montreal : Alexander
Henry the Elder
After 1763, when the two provinces of Canada were
definitely ceded to Great Britain, the exploring energies
of the Hudson's Bay Fur-trading Company revived.
But before this rather sluggish organization could take
full advantage of the cessation of French opposition,
independent British pioneeers were on their way to ex-
plore the vast north-west and west, soon carrying their
marvellous journeys beyond the utmost limits reached by
La Verendrye and his sons. Eventually these pioneers,
who had Montreal for their base and who wisely associated
themselves in business and exploration with French
Canadians, founded in 1784 a great trading association
known as the North-west Trading Company. A few
years later certain Scottish pioneers brought a rival
exploration and trading corporation into existence and
called it the "X. Y. Company". In 1804 these rival
Montreal fur-trading associations were fused into a new
North-west Trading Company. Between this and the
old Hudson's Bay Company an intensely bitter rivalry
and enmity — almost at times a state of war — arose, and
continued until 1821, when the North-west Company and
that of Hudson's Bay amalgamated. It is necessary that
these dry details should be understood in order that the
reader may comprehend the motives and reasons which
prompted the journeys which are about to be described.
'211
212 Pioneers in Canada
Jonathan Carver, of Boston, U.S.A., was perhaps the
pioneer of all the British traders into the far west of
Canada, beyond Lake Superior, after Canada had been
handed over to the British.1 In 1766-7 he reached the
Mississippi at its junction with the St. Peter or Minnesota
River, and journeyed up it to the land of the Dakota.
Thomas Currie, of Montreal, in 1770 travelled as far as
Cedar Lake,2 where there had been established the French
post of Fort Bourbon. He was succeeded the next year
by James Finlay, who extended his explorations to the
Saskatchewan, whither he was followed by Alexander
Henry the Elder in 1775.
Alexander Henry (styled The Elder to distinguish him
from his famous nephew of the same name) was a native
of New Jersey (U.S.A.), where he was born in 1739. His
parents were well-to-do people of the middle class who are
believed to have emigrated at the beginning of the eight-
eenth century from the West of England, and to have been
related to Matthew Henry, the Bible commentator. Their
son, Alexander, received a good education, and after some
commercial apprenticeship at Albany (New York) came
to Quebec when Canada was occupied by the British in
1760; at which period he was about twenty-one years old.
He was in such a hurry to try a trading adventure in the
country of the great lakes that he ventured into central
Canada before it was sufficiently calmed down and recon-
ciled to British rule. The hostility, curiously enough,
manifested itself much more among the Amerindians than
the settlers of French blood. These white men had not
been so well treated by the arrogant French officers and
officials as much to mind the change to the greater free-
dom of British government. But the Indian chiefs and
1 Carver was not so remarkable for his actual journeys as for his confident predic-
tions of a feasible transcontinental route being found to the Pacific coast.
3 The white-barked conifer, which gives its name to this lake, is Thuja cccidentalit.
There are no real " cedars" in America.
The Pioneers from Montreal 213
people loved the French, largely owing to the goodness
and solicitude of the missionaries.
"The hostility of the Indians", wrote Henry in his
journal, travelling along the coast of Lake Huron, "was
exclusively against the English. Between them and my
Canadian attendants, there appeared the most cordial
goodwill. This circumstance suggested one means of
escape, of which, by the advice of my friend, Campion,
I resolved to attempt availing myself; namely, that of
putting on the dress usually worn by such of the
Canadians as pursue the trade into which I had en-
tered, and assimilating myself, as much as I was able,
to their appearance and manners. To this end I laid
aside my English clothes and covered myself only with
a cloth passed about the middle;- a shirt, hanging loose;
a ' molton ', or blanket coat, and a large, red worsted cap.
The next thing was to smear my face and hands with
dirt and grease; and, this done, I took the place of one
of my men, and, when the Indians approached, used the
paddle with as much skill as I possessed. I had the
satisfaction to find, that my disguise enabled me to pass
several canoes without attracting the smallest notice."
When he reached Fort Michili-makinak1 he wrote:
" At two o'clock in the afternoon, the Chipeways came
to my house, about sixty in number, and headed by
Minavavana, their chief. They walked in single file,
each with his tomahawk in one hand and scalping knife
in the other. Their bodies were naked from the waist
upward, except in a few examples, where blankets were
thrown loosely over the shoulders. Their faces were
painted with charcoal, worked up with grease; their
bodies, with white clay, in patterns of various fancies.
Some had feathers thrust through their noses, and their
JThe famous place of call (the name means "Turtle Island") in the narrow strait
between Lakes Huron and Michigan, and near Lake Superior. (See p. 230. ) But some
authorities declare that Michili-makinak means ' ' Island of the great wounded person ".
214 Pioneers in Canada
heads decorated with the same. . . . It is unnecessary
to dwell on the sensations with which I beheld the ap-
proach of this uncouth, if not frightful assemblage.
"The chief entered first, and the rest followed without
noise. On receiving a sign from the former, the latter
seated themselves on the floor.
" Minavavana appeared to be about fifty years of age.
He was six feet in height, and had, in his countenance,
an indescribable mixture of good and evil. . . . Looking
steadfastly at me, where I sat in ceremony, with an inter-
preter on either hand and several Canadians behind me,
he entered at the same time into conversation with Cam-
pion, enquiring how long it was since I left Montreal,
and observing that the English, as it would seem, were
brave men, and not afraid of death, since they dared to
come, as I had done, fearlessly among their enemies."
The Indians now gravely smoked their pipes, whilst
Henry inwardly endured tortures of suspense. At length,
the pipes being finished, a long pause of silence followed.
Then Minavavana, taking a few strings of wampum in
his hand, began a long speech, of which it is only
necessary to give a few extracts: —
" Englishman, it is to you that I speak, and I demand
your attention !
" Englishman, although you have conquered the
French, you have not yet conquered us! We are not
your slaves. These lakes, these woods and mountains,
were left to us by our ancestors. They are our in-
heritance, and we will part with them to none. Your
nation supposes that we, like the white people, cannot
live without bread — and pork — and beef! But, you
ought to know, that He, the Great Spirit and Master
of Life, has provided food for us in these spacious
lakes, and on these woody mountains.
" Englishman, our father, the King of France, em-
ployed our young men to make war upon your nation.
The Pioneers from Montreal 215
In this warfare many of them have been killed, and it
is our custom to retaliate, until such time as the spirits
of the slain are satisfied. But the spirits of the slain are
to be satisfied in either of two ways. The first is by
the spilling of the blood of the nation by which they
fell; the other by covering the bodies of the dead, and
thus allaying the resentment of their relations. This is
done by making presents.
" Englishman, your king has never sent us any pre-
sents, nor entered into any treaty with us, wherefore he
and we are still at war; and, until he does these things,
we must consider that we have no other father, nor friend,
among the white men, than the King of France; but,
for you, we have taken into consideration, that you
have ventured your life among, us in the expectation
that we should not molest you. You do not com*
armed with an intention to make war; you come in
peace, to trade with us, and supply us with necessaries,
of which we are in want. We shall regard you, there-
fore, as a brother, and you may sleep tranquilly, with-
out fear of the Chipeways. . . . As a token of our
friendship, we present you with this pipe to smoke."
When Minavavana had finished his harangue, an
Indian presented Henry with a pipe, the which, after
he had drawn smoke through it three times, was carried
back to the chief, and after him to every person in the
room. This ceremony ended, the chief arose, and gave
the Englishman his hand, in which he was followed
by all the rest.
At the Sault Ste Marie, on the river connecting Lake
Superior and Huron, Henry spent part of the spring of
1763-4, and engaged with a few French Canadians and
Indians in making maple sugar, the season for which
— April — was now at hand.
A temporary house for eight persons was built in
a convenient part of the maple woods, distant about
216 Pioneers in Canada
three miles from the fort. The men then gathered the
bark of white birch trees, and made out of it vessels to
hold the sap which was to flow from the incisions they
cut in the bark of the maple trees. Into these cuts they
introduced wooden spouts or ducts, and under them were
placed the birch-bark vessels. When these were filled,
the sweet liquid was poured into larger buckets, and
the buckets were emptied into bags of elkskin containing
perhaps a hundred gallons. Boilers (probably of metal,
introduced by the French) were next set up in the camp
over fires kept burning day and night, and the maple sap
thus boiled became, by concentration, maple sugar.
The women attended to all the business of sugar manu-
facture, while the men cut wood and went out hunting
and fishing to secure food for the community; though,
as -a matter of fact, sugar and syrup were their main
sustenance during all this absence from home. "I have
known Indians", wrote Henry, "to live for a time wholly
on maple sugar and syrup and become fat." The sap
of the maple had certain medicinal qualities which were
exceedingly good for persons who had previously been
eating little else than meat and fish, so that the three
weeks of sugar -boiling in Canada was, no doubt, a
splendid assistance to the health of the natives. On this
particular occasion described by Henry, the party re-
turned, after three weeks' absence, to the Sault Ste
Marie with 1600 Ib. of maple sugar, and 36 gallons
of syrup.1
Henry returned in the summer of 1763 to Fort Michili-
makinak. The place was then held by a British garrison
under Major Etherington; Shortly after Henry's arrival,
an Ojibwe chief named Wawatam came often to his lodg-
ings, and, taking a great fancy to the Englishman, asked
leave to become his blood brother. He was about forty-
1 There are at least two species of maple in Canada yielding sugar from their sap ;
but the best is Acer safcharinum. The maple leaf is the national emblem of Canada.
The Pioneers from Montreal 217
five years of age, and of an excellent character amongst
his nation. He warned Henry that he, Wawatam, had
had bad dreams during the winter, in which he had
been disturbed " by the noises of evil birds", and gave
him other roundabout warnings that the Indians of dif-
ferent tribes were going to attack the British garrison
at Michili - Makinak, and endeavour to destroy all the
English in Upper Canada. Henry did not pay over
much attention to this warning, because "the Indian
manner of speech is so extravagantly figurative".
The King's birthday was celebrated with, no doubt,
somewhat tipsy rejoicings in the summer of 1763. The
Ojibwe Indians outside the fort pretended they were
going to have a great game of La Crosse with the Saki
or "Fox" Indians. This game was got up to find a
pretext for entering the fort and taking the British
officers and garrison at a disadvantage. Some of the
officers and soldiers, suspecting nothing in the way of
danger, were outside the fort by the waterside. How-
ever, the sport commenced, and suddenly the ball was
struck over the pickets of the fort. At once the Ojibwes,
pretending great ardour in their game, came leaping,
struggling and shouting over the defences into the fort
as though "in the unrestrained pursuit of a rude, athletic
exercise ". Once inside the fortifications, they attacked
the unsuspicious and unarmed soldiers and officers, of
whom they killed seventy out of ninety.
Henry had not gone with the others, but had stayed
in his room writing letters. Suddenly he heard the In-
dian warcry and a noise of general confusion. Looking
out of his window he saw a crowd of Indians inside the
fort furiously cutting down and scalping every English-
man they could reach. Meantime, the French Canadian
inhabitants of the fort looked on calmly, neither inter-
vening to stop the Indians, nor suffering any injury from
them. Realizing that all his fellow countrymen were prac-
218 Pioneers in Canada
tically destroyed, Henry endeavoured to hide himself. He
entered the house of his next-door neighbour, a French-
man, and found the whole family at the windows gazing
at the scene of blood before them. He implored this
Frenchman to put him into some place of safety until
the massacre was over. The latter merely shrugged his
shoulders and intimated that he could do nothing for
him; but a Pani Indian woman, a slave of this French-
man, beckoned to Henry to follow her, and hid him in
a garret. Then the Indians burst into the house and
asked the Frenchman if he had got any Englishmen
concealed, the latter returned an evasive answer, telling
them to search for themselves. Henry hid himself under
a heap of birch-bark vessels, which were used in maple-
sugar manufacture. The door was unlocked, the four
Indians dashed in, their bodies covered with blood, and
armed with tomahawks. The hidden man thought that
the throbbing of his heart must make a noise loud enough
to betray him. The Indians searched the garret, and one
of them approached Henry so closely as almost to touch
him; yet he remained undiscovered, possibly owing to
the dark colour of his clothes and the dim light in the
room. Then the Indians, after describing to the French-
man how many they had killed and scalped, returned
downstairs, and the door was locked behind them.
But the next day the Indians insisted on a further
search, and, regarding every attempt at concealment as
vain, Henry, by a desperate resolve, rose from his bed
and presented himself in full view to the Indians as they
entered the room. They were all in a state of intoxi-
cation and entirely naked. One of them, upwards of six
feet in height, had all his face and body covered with
charcoal and grease, but with a large white ring encircling
each of his eyes. This man, walking up to Henry, seized
him with one hand by the collar of his coat, and in the
other held up a large carving knife, making a feint as
The Pioneers from Montreal 219
if to plunge it into his breast, his eyes meanwhile fixed
steadfastly on those of the Englishman. At length, after
some seconds of the most anxious suspense, he dropped
Henry's arm, saying: " I won't kill you," adding that he
had often fought in war with the English and brought
away many scalps, but that on a certain occasion he had
lost a brother whose name was Musinigon, and that he
would adopt Henry in his place.
One would like the story to have stopped here at this
happy turn of events, but Wenniway (as this saviour of
Henry was called) entertained a very fickle regard for
his adopted brother, and, though he once or twice inter-
vened, subsequently took no great pains to see that his
life was spared. However, for the time being he was
reprieved, and regarded Wenniway as his " master".
Nevertheless, he was soon haled out of the house by
another Indian, apparently coming with Wenniway's
authority. This man ordered him to undress, and then
took away all his clothes, giving him such dirty rags
or strips of leather as he possessed himself. He frankly
owned that his motive for stripping him was that,
as he wished afterwards to kill him, Henry's clothes
might not be stained with blood! With the intention
of assassinating him, in fact, he dragged Henry along
to a region of bushes and sandhills, and then produced
a knife and attempted to execute his purpose. But with
the rage and strength of absolute despair Henry wrenched
himself free, pushed his would-be murderer on one side,
and ran for his life towards the fort.
Here Wenniway rather indifferently helped him to take
refuge in the house of the Frenchman in which he had
formerly hidden, but the same night he was roused from
sleep and ordered to come below, where to his surprise
he found himself in the presence of three of the British
officers who had formerly commanded in this fort, and
who were now prisoners of the Ojibvves. The Indian
220 Pioneers in Canada
chiefs for the time being had handed these men over to
the surveillance of the French Canadians, together with
the seventeen surviving English soldiers and traders.
Henry, like the others, was almost without clothes. The
French Canadian in whose house he had taken refuge
refused to give him as much as a blanket, but another
Canadian, less indifferent to the sufferings of a fellow
white man, did give him a blanket, but for which he
would certainly have perished from cold.
The next day he and the other English prisoners were
embarked in canoes and taken away to Lake Michigan.
On reaching the mouth of that lake, at the Beaver Islands,
the Ojibwe canoes, on account of the fog, were obliged
to approach the lands of the Ottawa Indians. These last
suddenly seized the canoes as they entered shallow water,
and professed great indignation at the capture of Fort
Michili-Makinak and the slaughter of the Englishmen.
They declared their intention of saving the survivors,
and charged the Ojibwes with being about to kill and
eat them. By the Ottawa Indians, therefore, the twenty
Englishmen were carried back again and deposited in Fort
Michili-Makinak, which was now taken possession of by
the Ottawas. The English were still held as prisoners.
After hearing all the Ojibwes had to say, and receiving
from them large presents, the Ottawas finally decided to
restore their English prisoners to the Ojibwes, who con-
sequently took them away with ropes tied round their
necks, and put them into an Indian habitation. Here,
as they were starving, they were offered loaves of bread,
but with the horrible accompaniment of seeing the slices
cut with knives still covered with the blood of the mur-
dered English. The Ojibwes moistened this blood on
the knife blades with their spittle, and rubbed it on the
slices of bread, offering this food then to their prisoners,
so that they might force them to eat the blood of their
countrymen.
The Pioneers from Montreal 221
The next morning, however, there appeared before
Menehewehna, the great war chief of the Ojibwes, Henry's
friend and adopted brother, Wawatam. This man made
an earnest speech to the council of Ojibwe chiefs and
braves, in which he pleaded hard for the Englishman's life,
at the same time tendering from out of his own goods a
considerable ransom. After much pipe-smoking and an
embarrassing silence, the war chief rose to his feet and
accepted the ransom, giving Wawatam permission to
take away into safety his adopted brother. "Wawatam
led me to his lodge, which was at the distance of a few
yards only from the prison lodge. My entrance appeared
to give joy to the whole family; food was immediately
prepared for me; and I now ate the first hearty meal
which I had made since my capture. I found myself one
of the family; and, but that I had still my fears as to
the other Indians, I felt as happy as the situation could
allow."
The next day seven of the English prisoners were
killed by the Ojibwes, and Henry actually saw their
dead bodies being dragged out into the open. They
had been killed in cold blood by an Indian chief who
had just arrived from a hunting expedition, and who,
not having been present at the attack on the fort, now
desired to satisfy his warlike instincts and his agreement
with the policy of the Ojibwes by going into the lodge
where the English officers and men were tied up, and
slaughtering seven of them in cold blood.
Shortly afterwards two of the Ojibwes took the fattest
longst the dead men, cut off his head, and divided his
)dy into five parts, one of which was put into each of
ive kettles hung over as many fires, which were kindled
>r this purpose at the door of the house in which the
)ther prisoners were tied up. They then sent to insist
on the attendance at their cannibal feast of Wawatam,
the adopted brother and protector of Henry. The invi-
222 Pioneers in Canada
tation was delivered after the Amerindian fashion. A
small cutting of cedar wood about four inches in length
supplies the place of the written or printed invitation to
dinner of European civilization, and the man who bore
the slip of cedar wood gave particulars as to place and
time by word of mouth. Guests on these occasions were
expected to bring their own dish and spoon.
In spite of repugnance, Wawatam, to save his life and
that of Henry, was obliged to go. He returned after an
absence of half an hour, bringing back in his dish the
portion given to him — a human hand and a large piece
of flesh. His objection to eat this gruesome food was
apparently not very deep or persistent. He excused the
custom by saying that amongst all Amerindian nations
there existed this practice of making a war feast from
out of the bodies of the slain after a successful
battle.
Soon after this episode of horror the Ojibwes aban-
doned Fort Michili-Makinak, for fear the English should
come to attack it. Henry was hidden by his adopted
brother, Wawatam, in a cave, where he found himself
by the light of the next morning sleeping on a bed of
human bones, which the night before he had taken to
be twigs and boughs. The whole of the cave was, in
fact, filled with these human remains. No one knew or
remembered the reason. Henry thought that the cave
had been an ancient receptacle for the bones of persons
who had been sacrificed and devoured at war feasts; for,
however contemptuous they may be of the flesh, the
Amerindians paid particular attention to the bones oil
human beings — whether friends, relations, or enemies-
preserving them unbroken, and depositing them in some
place kept exclusively for that purpose.
The great chief of the Ojibwes, however, advised thai
Henry, who had rejoined Wawatam, should be dressed
in disguise as an Indian to save him from any furthei
The Pioneers from Montreal 223
harm, for the natives all round about were preparing for
what they believed to be an inevitable war with the
English.
" I could not but consent to the proposal, and the chief
was so kind as to assist my friend and his family in effect-
ing that very day the desired metamorphosis. My hair
was cut off, and my head shaved, with the exception of
a spot on the crown, of about twice the diameter of a
crown piece. My face was painted with three or four
different colours; some parts of it red, and others black.
A shirt was provided for me, painted with vermilion,
mixed with grease. A large collar of wampum1 was put
round my neck, and another suspended on my breast.
Both my arms were decorated with large bands of silver
above the elbow, besides several- smaller ones on the
wrists; and my legs were covered with mitasses, a kind
of hose, made, as is the favourite fashion, of scarlet cloth.
Over all I was to wear a scarlet blanket or mantle, and on
my head a large bunch of feathers. I parted, not without
some regret, with the long hair which was natural to it,
and which I fancied to be ornamental; but the ladies of
the family, and of the village in general, appeared to think
my person improved, and now condescended to call me
handsome, even among Indians."
He then went away to live with his protectors, and with
them passed a by no means unhappy autumn, winter, and
spring, hunting and fishing.
Here are some of his adventures at this period.
"To kill beaver, we used to go several miles up the
rivers, before the approach of night, and after the dusk
came on, suffer the canoe to drift gently down the current,
without noise. The beavers, in this part of the evening,
come abroad to procure food, or materials for repairing
their habitations, and as they are not alarmed by the canoe,
they often pass it within gunshot.
* Shell beatfc.
224 Pioneers in Canada
"On entering the River Aux Sables, Wawatam took
a dog, tied its feet together, and threw it into the stream,
uttering, at the same time, a long prayer, which he ad-
dressed to the Great Spirit, supplicating his blessing on
the chase, and his aid in the support of the family, through
the dangers of a long winter. Our ' lodge ' was fifteen
miles above the mouth of the stream. The principal
animals, which the country afforded, were red deer (wapiti),
the common American deer, the bear, racoon, beaver, and
marten.
"The beaver feeds in preference on young wood of the
birch, aspen, and poplar tree1; but, in defect of these, on
any other tree, those of the pine and fir kinds excepted.
These latter it employs only for building its dams and
houses. In wide meadows, where no wood is to be found,
it resorts, for all its purposes, to the roots of the rush and
water lily. It consumes great quantities of food, whether
of roots or wood; and hence often reduces itself to the
necessity of removing into a new quarter. Its house has
an arched dome-like roof, of an elliptical figure, and rises
from three to four feet above the surface of the water. It
is always entirely surrounded by water; but, in the banks
adjacent, the animal provides holes or washes, of which
the entrance is below the surface, and to which it retreats
on the first alarm.
"The female beaver usually produces two young at
a time, but not unfrequently more. During the first year,
the young remain with their parents. In the second, they
occupy an adjoining apartment, and assist in building, and
in procuring food. At two years old, they part, and build
houses of their own ; but often rove about for a consider-
able time before they fix upon a spot. There are beavers,
called, by the Indians, old bachelors, who live by them-
selves, build no houses, and work at no dams, but shelter
themselves in holes. The usual method of taking these
1 fofulus nigra, called by the French Canadians liard.
The Pioneers from Montreal 225
is by traps, formed of iron, or logs, and baited with
branches of poplar.
"According to the Indians, the beaver is much given
to jealousy. If a strange male approaches the cabin, a
battle immediately ensues. Of this the female remains
an unconcerned spectator, careless as to which party the
law of conquest may assign her. The Indians add that
the male is as constant as he is jealous, never attaching
himself to more than one female.
"The most common way of taking the beaver is that
of breaking up its house, which is done with trenching
tools, during the winter, when the ice is strong enough to
allow of approaching them; and when, also, the fur is in
its most valuable state.
" Breaking up the house, however, is only a preparatory
step. During this operation, the family make their escape
to one or more of their washes. These are to be discovered
by striking the ice along the bank, and where the holes
are, a hollow sound is returned. After discovering and
searching many of these in vain, we often heard the whole
family together in the same wash. I was taught occa-
sionally to distinguish a full wash from an empty one, by
the motion of the water above its entrance, occasioned
by the breathing of the animals concealed in it. From
the washes, they must be taken out with the hands; and in
doing this, the hunter sometimes receives severe wounds
from their teeth. Whilst I was a hunter with the Indians,
I thought beaver flesh was very good ; but after that of the
ox was again within my reach, I could not relish it. The
tail is accounted a luxurious morsel.
"One evening, on my return from hunting, I found
the fire put out, and the opening in the top of the lodge
covered over with skins — by this means excluding, as
much as possible, external light. I further observed that
the ashes were removed from the fireplace, and that dry
sand was spread where they had been. Soon after, a fire
(C312) 15
226 Pioneers in Canada
was made withoutside the cabin, in the open air, and a
kettle hung over it to boil.
" I now supposed that a feast was in preparation. I
supposed so only, for it would have been indecorous to
enquire into the meaning of what I saw. No person,
among the Indians themselves, would use this freedom.
Good breeding requires that the spectator should patiently
wait the result.
" As soon as the darkness of night had arrived, the
family, including myself, were invited into the lodge. I
was now requested not to speak, as a feast was about to be
given to the dead, whose spirits delight in uninterrupted
silence.
" As we entered, each was presented with his wooden
dish and spoon, after receiving which we seated ourselves.
The door was next shut, and we remained in perfect
darkness.
"The master of the family was the master of the feast.
Still in the dark, he asked everyone, by turn, for his dish,
and put into each two boiled ears of maize. The whole
being served, he began to speak. In his discourse, which
lasted half an hour, he called upon the manes of his
deceased relations and friends, beseeching them to be
present, to assist him in the chase, and to partake of the
food which he had prepared for them. When he had
ended, we proceeded to eat our maize, which we did
without other noise than what was occasioned by our
teeth. The maize was not half boiled, and it took me
an hour to consume my share. I was requested not to
break the spikes,1 as this would be displeasing to the
departed spirits of their friends.
" When all was eaten, Wawatam made another speech,
with which the ceremony ended. A new fire was kindled,
with fresh sparks, from flint and steel; and the pipes
being smoked, the spikes were carefully buried, in a hole
1 The grains of maize (Indian corn) grow in compact cells, round a pithy core.
The Pioneers from Montreal 227
made in the ground for that purpose, within the lodge.
This done, the whole family began a dance, Wawatam
singing, and beating a drum. The dance continued the
greater part of the night, to the great pleasure of the
lodge. The night of the feast was that of the first day
of November."
In the month of January, Henry happened to observe
that the trunk of a very large pine tree was much torn
by the claws of a bear, made both in going up and down.
On further examination he saw there was a large opening,
in the upper part, near which the smaller branches were
broken. From these marks, and from the additional cir-
cumstances that there were no tracks on the snow, there
was reason to believe that a bear lay concealed in the tree.
He communicated his discovery to his Indian friends,
and it was agreed that all the family should go together
in the morning to cut down the tree, the girth of which
was not less than eighteen feet! This task occupied
them for one and a half days with their poor little axes,
till about two o'clock in the second afternoon the tree fell
to the ground. For a few minutes everything remained
quiet, and Henry feared that all his expectations would
be disappointed; but, as he advanced to the opening,
there came out a female bear of extraordinary size, which
he had shot and killed before she had proceeded many
yards.
"The bear being dead, all my assistants approached,
and all, but more particularly my old mother, (as I was
won't to call her), took the bear's head in their hands,
stroking and kissing it several times; begging a thousand
pardons for taking away her life; calling her their rela-
tion and grandmother; and requesting her not to lay the
i fault upon them, since it was truly an Englishman that
i had put her to death.
"This ceremony was not of long duration; and if it
f was I that killed their grandmother, they were not them-
228 Pioneers in Canada
selves behindhand in what remained to be performed.
The skin being taken off, we found the fat in several
places six inches deep. This, being divided into two
parts, loaded two persons; and the flesh parts were as
much as four persons could carry. In all, the carcass
must have exceeded five hundredweight.
" As soon as we reached the lodge, the bear's head
was adorned with all the trinkets in the possession of the
family, such as silver armbands and wristbands, and
belts of wampum; and then laid upon a scaffold, set up
for its reception, within the lodge. Near the nose was
placed a large quantity of tobacco.
"The next morning no sooner appeared, than pre-
parations were made for a feast to the manes. The lodge
was cleaned and swept; and the head of the bear lifted
up, and a new Stroud blanket, which had never been
used before, spread under it. The pipes were now lit;
and Wawatam blew tobacco smoke into the nostrils of
the bear, telling me to do the same, and thus appease
the anger of the bear, on account of my having killed
her.
"At length, the feast being ready, Wawatam com-
menced a speech, resembling, in many things, his address
to the manes of his relations and departed companions;
but, having this peculiarity, that he here deplored the
necessity under which men laboured, thus to destroy their
friends. He represented, however, that the misfortune
was unavoidable, since without doing so, they could by
no means subsist. The speech ended, we all ate heartily
of the bear's flesh; and even the head itself, after re-
maining three days on the scaffold, was put into the
kettle. The fat of our bear was melted down, and the
oil filled six porcupine-skin bags. A part of the meat
was cut into strips, and fire-dried, after which it was
put into the vessels containing the oil, where it remained
in perfect preservation, until the middle of summer."
The Pioneers from Montreal 229
In the spring of 1762 Henry once more returned to
Fort Michili-Makinak, and went sugar-making with his
Indian companions. Whilst engaged in this agreeable
task, a child belonging to one of the party fell into a
kettle of boiling syrup. It was instantly snatched out,
but with little hope of its recovery. So long, however,
as it lived, a continual feast was observed ; and this was
made "to the Great Spirit and Master of Life", that he
might be pleased to save and heal the child. At this
feast Henry was a constant guest ; and often found some
difficulty in eating the large quantity of food which, on
such occasions as these, was put upon his dish.
Several sacrifices were also offered ; among which were
dogs^ killed and hung upon the tops of poles, with the
addition of blankets and other articles. These, also, were
yielded to the Great Spirit, in the humble hope that he
would give efficacy to the medicines employed. But the
child died. To preserve the body from the wolves it was
placed upon a scaffold, and then later carried to the
borders of a lake, on the border of which was the burial
ground of the family.
"On our arrival there, which happened in the begin-
ning of April, I did not fail to attend the funeral. The
grave was made of a large size, and the whole of the
inside lined with birch bark. On the bark was laid the
body of the child, accompanied with an axe, a pair of
snowshoes, a small kettle, several pairs of common shoes,
its own strings of beads, and — because it was a girl — a
carrying belt and a paddle. The kettle was filled with
meat. All this was again covered with bark; and at about
two feet nearer the surface logs were laid across, and these
again covered with bark, so that the earth might by no
means fall upon the corpse.
"The last act before the burial, performed by the
mother, crying over the dead body of her child, was that
of taking from it a lock of hair for a memorial. While
230 Pioneers in Canada
she did this, I endeavoured to console her by offering
the usual arguments: that the child was happy in being
released from the miseries of this present life, and that
she should forbear to grieve, because it would be restored
to her in another world, happy and everlasting. She
answered that she knew it, and that by the lock of hair
she should discover her daughter; for she would take it
with her. In this she alluded to the day when some
pious hand would place in her own grave, along with the
carrying belt and paddle, this little relic, hallowed by
maternal tears."
After many ups and downs of hope and despair, and
many narrow escapes of being killed and made into broth
for warlike Ojibwes, Henry at length obtained permission
to travel with a party of Ojibwe Indians who were invited
to visited Sir William Johnson at Niagara. This British
Governor of Canada was attempting to enter into friendly
relations with the Amerindian tribes, and induce them to
accept quietly the transference of Canada from French to
English control.
Before starting, however, to interview this great White
Governor, the Ojibwes decided to consult their oracle,
the Great Turtle, after which Fort Michili-Makinak was
named.1 Behind Fort Michili-Makinak is an extraordinary
mound or hill of stone supposed to resemble this reptile
exactly, and in fact to be in some way the residence of a
supernatural giant turtle.
For invoking and consulting the Great Turtle, the first
thing to be done was to build a large house, within which
was placed a kind of tent, for the use of the priest and
reception of the spirit. The tent was formed of moose
skins, hung over a framework of wood made out of five
pillars of five different species of timber, about ten feet in
1 Michili, pronounced "Mishili", means "great", and Makinak, "turtle", in the
translation of some Canadian writers. The turtle in question is, of course, not the
turtle of sea waters, but the Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) found in most
Canadian lakes and the big rivers of North America, east of the Rocky Mountains.
The Pioneers from Montreal 231
232 Pioneers in Canada
Then came from the tent a succession of songs, in
which a diversity of voices met the ear. From his first
entrance, till these songs were finished, we heard nothing
in the proper voice of the priest. But now he addressed
the multitude, declaring the presence of the Great Turtle,
and the spirit's readiness to answer such questions as
should be proposed. The questions were to come from
the chief of the village, who was silent, however, till after
he had put a large quantity of tobacco into the tent, in-
troducing it at the aperture. This was a sacrifice offered
to the spirit; for the spirits were supposed by the Indians
to be as fond of tobacco as themselves. This done, the
chief desire^ the priest to enquire: Whether or not the
English were preparing to make war upon the Indians?
and whether or not there were at Fort Niagara a large
number of English troops?
The priest was heard to put the questions, and then the
tent shook and rocked so violently that Henry expected to
see it levelled with the ground. But apparently answers
were given, after which a terrific cry announced, with suf-
ficient intelligibility, the departure of the Turtle. Subse
quently the priest interpreted the Great Turtle's answers
which gave a great deal of information regarding the dis
position and numbers of the English soldiers, and the
presents which Sir William Johnson was preparing fo
the Ojibwes; and which finally approved the wisdom o
the embassy proceeding on its way.
Journeying along the shores of Lake Huron, they
stopped to avoid a gale of wind and to rest. Henry
gathering firewood, disturbed a rattlesnake which mani
fested hostile intentions. He went back to the canoe to
fetch his gun; but upon telling the Ojibwes that he was1
about to kill a rattlesnake they begged him to desist
They then seized their pipes and tobacco pouches and
returned with him to the place where he had left the
rattlesnake, which was still coiled up and angry.
The Pioneers from Montreal 233
"The Indians, on their part, surrounded it, all address-
ing it by turns, and calling it their grandfather-, but yet
keeping at some distance. During this part of the cere-
mony they filled their pipes; and now each blew the
smoke towards the snake, who, as it appeared to me,
really received it with pleasure. In a word, after remain-
ing coiled, and receiving incense for the space of half an
hour, it stretched itself along the ground, in visible good
humour. Its length was between four and five feet.
Having remained outstretched for some time, at last it
moved slowly away, the Indians following it, and still
addressing it by the title of grandfather, beseeching it to
take care of their families during their absence, and to be
pleased to open the heart of Sir William Johnson, so that
he might show them charity, and fill their canoe with rum.
"One of the chiefs added a petition, that the snake
would take no notice of the insult which had been offered
him by the Englishman, who would even have put him
to death, but for the interference of the Indians, to whom
it was hoped he would impute no part of the offence."
Early the next morning they proceeded on their way,
with a serene sky and very little wind, so that to shorten
the journey they determined to steer across the lake to an
island which just appeared on the horizon. But after
hoisting a sail the wind increased, and the Indians, be-
ginning to be alarmed, frequently called on the rattlesnake
to come to their assistance. By degrees the waves grew
high, and at last it blew a hurricane, Henry and his
companions expecting every moment to be swallowed up.
From prayers the Indians now proceeded to sacrifices,
both alike offered to the god-rattlesnake, or manito-kinibik.
One of the chiefs took a dog, and, after tying its fore legs
together, threw it overboard, at the same time calling on
the snake to preserve the party from being drowned, and
desiring him to satisfy his hunger with the carcass of the
dog. The snake was unpropitious, and the wind increased.
234 Pioneers in Canada
Another chief sacrificed another dog, with the addition of
some tobacco. In the prayer which accompanied these
gifts he besought the snake, as before, not to avenge upon
the Indians the insult which he had received from the
Englishman. " He assured the snake that I was absolutely
an Englishman, and of kin neither to him nor to them."
"At the conclusion of this speech, an Indian, who sat
near me, observed, that if we were drowned it would be
for my fault alone, and that I ought myself to be sacrificed,
to appease the angry manito; nor was I without appre-
hensions, that in case of extremity this would be my
fate; but, happily for me, the storm at length abated, and
we reached the island safely."
The next day they arrived at the shore of Lake Ontario.
Here they remained two days to make canoes out of the
bark of the elm tree, in which they might travel to Ni-
agara. For this purpose the Indians first cut down a
tree, then stripped off the bark in one entire sheet of about
eighteen feet in length, the incision being lengthwise.
The canoe was now complete as to its bottom and sides.
Its ends were next closed, by sewing the bark together;
and a few ribs and bars being introduced, the architecture
was finished. In this manner they made two canoes; of
which one carried eight men, and the other nine.
A few days later Henry was handed over safe and
sound to Sir William Johnson at Niagara. He was then
given the command of a corps of Indian allies which was
to accompany the expedition under General Bradstreet to
raise the siege of Detroit, which important place had been
long invested by a great Indian chief, Pontiac, who still
carried on the war on behalf of King Louis XV. This
enterprise was successful, and British control was extended
to many places in central Canada. Henry returned to,
Fort Michili-Makinak and regained much of the property
which he had lost in the Indian attacks. As some com-
pensation for his former sufferings he received from the
The Pioneers from Montreal 235
British commandant of Michili-Makinak the exclusive fur
trade of Lake Superior.
The currency at that period, and long before, in
Canadian history, was in beaver skins, which were ap-
proximately valued at the price of two shillings and six-
pence a pound. Otter skins were valued at six shillings
each, and marten skins at one shilling and sixpence, and
others in proportion; but all these things were classed at
being worth so many beaver skins or proportion of beaver
skins. Thus, for example, the native canoemen and porters
engaged by Henry for his winter hunts were paid each at
the rate of a hundred pounds weight of beaver skins.1
At various places on the River Ontonagan, which flows
into Lake Superior, Henry was shown the extraordinary
deposits of copper, which presented itself to the eye in
masses of various weight. The natives smelted the copper
and beat it into spoons and bracelets. It was so absolutely
pure of any alloy that it required nothing but to be beaten
into shape. In one place Henry saw a mass of copper
weighing not less than five tons, pure and malleable, so
that with an axe he was able to cut off a portion weighing
a hundred pounds. He conjectured that this huge mass
of copper had at some time been dislodged from the side
of a lofty hill and thence rolled into the position where he
found it. Farther to the north of Lake Superior he found
pieces of virgin copper remarkable for their form, some
resembling leaves of vegetables, and others the shapes
of animals.
In these journeys he collected some of the native
traditions, amongst others that of the Great Hare, Nani-
boju, who was represented to him as the founder or creator
of the Amerindian peoples. An island in Lake Superior
was called Naniboju's burial place. Henry landed there,
1 The smallest change, so to speak, was the skin of a marten, worth one shilling and
sixpence. If you went to a canteen for a drink you paid your score with a marten skin,
unless the value of your refreshment exceeded the sum of eighteen pence.
236 Pioneers in Canada
and "found on the projecting rocks a quantity of tobacco,
rotting in the rain ; together with kettles, broken guns,
and a variety of other articles. His spirit is supposed to
make this its constant residence ; and here to preside over
the lake, and over the Indians, in their navigation and
fishing."
In the spring of the following year (1768), whilst the
snow still lay many feet thick on the ground, he and his
men made sugar from the maple trees on a mountain, and
for nearly three weeks none of them ate anything but
maple sugar, consuming a pound a day, desiring no other
food, and waxing fat and strong on this diet. Then they
returned to the banks of the Ontonagan River, where the
wild fowl appeared in such abundance that one man, with
a muzzle-loading gun, could kill in a day sufficient birds
for the sustenance of fifty men. As soon as the ice and
snow had melted, parties of Indians came in from their
winter's hunt, bringing to Henry furs to pay him for all
the goods he had advanced. In this way the whole of
his outstanding credit was satisfied, with the exception
of thirty skins, which represented the contribution due
from one Indian who had died. In this case even, the
man's family had sent all the skins they could gather
together, and gradually acquitted themselves of the amount
due, in order that the spirit of the dead man might rest
in peace, which it could not do if his debts were not
acquitted.
In the following autumn he had an experience which
showed him how near famine was to great abundance, and
how ready the Amerindians were in cases of even sligh|
privation to turn cannibal, kill and eat the weaker member
of the party. He was making an excursion to the Saul
de Sainte Marie, and took with him three half-bree
Canadians and a young Indian woman who was journeying
in that direction to see her relations. As the distance was
short, and they expected to obtain much fish by the way,
:s
5
The Pioneers from Montreal 237
they only took with them as provisions a quart of maize
for each person. On the first night of their journey they
encamped on the island of Naniboju and set their net to
catch fish. But there arose a violent storm, which con-
tinued for three days, during which it was impossible for
them to take up the net or to leave the island. In con-
sequence of this they ate up all their maize. On the even-
ing of the third day the storm abated, and they rushed to
examine the net. It was gone ! It was impossible to return
to the point of their departure, where there would have
been plenty of food, on account of the strong wind against
them. They therefore steered for the Sault de Sainte
Marie. But the wind veered round, and for nine days
blew a strong gale against their progress in this direc-
tion, making the waves of the lake so high that they were
obliged to take refuge on the shore.
Henry went out perpetually to hunt, but all he got
during those nine days were two small snow-buntings.
The Canadian half-breeds with him then calmly proposed
to kill and feed upon the young woman. One of these
men, indeed, admitted that he had had recourse to this
expedient for sustaining life when wintering in the north-
west and running out of food. But Henry indignantly
repudiated the suggestion. Though very weak, he searched
everywhere desperately for food, and at last found on a
very high rock a thick lichen, called by the French Cana-
dians tripe de roche^ looking, in fact, very much like slices
of tripe. Henry fetched the men and the Indian woman,
and they set to work gathering quantities of this lichen.
The woman was well acquainted with the mode of pre-
paring it, which was done by boiling it into a thick
mucilage, looking rather like the white of an egg. On
this they made hearty meals, though it had a bitter and
disagreeable taste. After the ninth day of their sufferings
the wind fell, they continued their journey, and met with
1 See p. 128.
238 Pioneers in Canada
kindly Indians, who supplied them with as many fish as
they wanted. Nevertheless, they all were so ill afterwards
that they nearly died, from the effects of the lichen diet.
Some time after this Henry resolved to search for the
marvellous island of Yellow Sands,1 an island of Lake
Superior which, it is true, the French had discovered, but
about which they kept up a good deal of mystery. The
Indian legend was that the sands of this small island
consisted of gold dust, and the Ojibwe Indians, having
discovered this, and attempting to bring some away, they
were disturbed by a supernatural being of amazing size,
sixty feet in height, which strode into the water and com-
manded them to deliver back what they had taken away.
Terrified at his gigantic stature, they complied with his
request, since which time no Indian has ever dared to ap-
proach the haunted coast. Henry, however, with his men,
finally discovered this Island of Yellow Sands in 1771, in
the north-east part of Lake Superior. It was much smaller
than he had been led to expect, and very low and studded
with small lakes, probably made by the action of beavers
damming up the little streams. He found no supernatural
monster to dispute the island with him, but a number of
large reindeer, so unused to the sight of man that they
scarcely got out of his way, so that he was able to shoot
as many as he wanted. The ancestors of these reindeer
may have reached the island either by floating ice or by
swimming. They seem, with the birds, to have been the
island's only inhabitants, and to have increased and mul-
tiplied to a remarkable extent, small portions of the island's
surface being actually formed of immense accumulations
of reindeer bones.
Amongst the birds of the island, besides geese and
pigeons, were hawks. No serpents whatever were seen
1 The Isle of Yellow Sands, famed in legend for its terrible serpents and ogre sixty
feet high, was subsequently identified with the He de Pont Chartrain, which is distant
sixty miles from the north shore of Lake Superior.
The Pioneers from Montreal 239
by the party, but Henry remarks that the hawks nearly
made up for them in abundance and ferocity. They ap-
peared very angry at the intrusion of these strangers on
the sacred island, and hovered round perpetually, swoop-
ing at their faces and even carrying off their caps.
In 1775 Henry, having been greatly disappointed over
an attempt to work the copper of Lake Superior, entered
with vigour into a fur trade with the north-west. He pene-
trated from Lake Superior to the Lake of the Woods and
reached the great Lake Winnipeg. Here he encoun-
tered the Kristino,1 Knistino, or Kri Indians. He found
these people very different in appearance from the other
Amerindian tribes farther south. The men were almost
entirely naked in spite of the much colder climate. Their
bodies were painted with an ochre or clay so red that it
was locally known by the French Canadians as vermilion.
Every man and boy had his bow strung and in his hand,
with the arrow, ready to attack in case of need. Their
heads were shaved all over except for a large spot on
the crown. Here the hair grew very long, and was rolled
and gathered into a tuft; and this tuft, which was the
object of the greatest care, was covered with a piece of
skin. The lobes of their ears were pierced, and through
the opening was inserted the bones of fish or small beasts.
The women wore their hair in great length all over the
head. It was divided by a parting, and on each side was
collected into a roll fastened above the ear and covered
with a piece of painted skin or ornamented with beads.
The clothing of the women was of leather, the dressed
skins of buffalo or deer. This cloak was fastened round
the waist by a girdle, and the legs were covered with
leather gaiters. The Kristino men were eager that their
women should marry Europeans, because the half-breed
children proved to be bolder warriors and better hunters
than themselves, Henry found that although the Kris
1 See p. 166.
240 Pioneers in Canada
were much addicted to drunkenness they were peaceable
when inebriated, and, moreover, detached two of their
number, who refused ever to touch the liquor under such
circumstances, in order that they might guard the white
men, and not allow any drunken Indian to approach their
camp.
Henry and his party, after crossing Lake Winnipeg,
ascended the Saskatchewan (in the autumn of 1775). On
their way up this river they came to a village of Paskwaya
Indians, which consisted of thirty families, who were
lodged in tents of a circular form, composed of dressed
bison skins stretched upon poles twelve feet in length. On
their arrival the chief of this village, named Chatik, which
name meant Pelican,1 called the party rather imperiously
into his lodge or meeting house, and then told them very
plainly that his armed men exceeded theirs in number,
and that he would put the whole of the party to death
unless they were very liberal in their presents. To avoid
misunderstanding, he added that he would inform them
exactly what it was that he required : Three casks of gun-
powder, four bags of shot and ball, two bales of tobacco,
three kegs of rum, and three guns, together with knives,
flints, and other articles. He went on to say that he had
already seen white men, and knew that they promised
more than they performed. He, personally, was a peace-
ful man, who contented himself with moderate views in
order to avoid quarrels; nevertheless, he desired that an
immediate answer should be given before the strangers
quitted his lodge. A hurried consultation took place, and
Henry could do nothing but comply with the chief's de-
mands, for he was powerless to resist. Having, therefore,
intimated his acceptance of these demands, he was invited
to smoke the pipe of peace, and then obtained permission
to depart. After this the goods demanded were handed
i Elsewhere Henry observes the great numbers of pelicans to be seen on I^ake
Winnipeg.
The Pioneers from Montreal 241
over, but Chatik managed to snatch more rum from
them before they got safely away.
In the winter of 1776 Henry, who, together with his
party, had received welcome hospitality from the Hudson's
Bay Company's station at Cumberland House, resolved
to reach the western region known as the Great Plains,
or Prairies — that immense tract of country through which
flow the Athabaska, the Saskatchewan, the Red River,
and the Missouri. He and his party, of course, travelled
on snowshoes, and their goods were packed on sledges
made of thin boards, and drawn after them by the men.
The cold was intense, so that, besides wearing very warm
woollen clothes, they were obliged to wrap themselves in
blankets of beaver skin and huge bison robes. On these
plains there were occasional knolls covered with trees,
which were usually called " islands". These provided
the precious fuel which alone enabled the travellers to
support the intense cold of the nights.
After fifteen days of very difficult travel, during which
it had been impossible to kill any game, as the beasts
were mostly hidden in the dense woods on these rare
hillocks, the situation of his party became alarming.
They were now on the borders of the plains, and the
trees were getting small and scanty. On the twentieth
day of their journey they had finished the last remains
of their provisions. But Henry had taken the precaution
of concealing a large cake of chocolate1 as a reserve in
case of great need. His men had walked till they were
exhausted, and had lost both strength and hope, when
Henry informed them of the treasure which was still in
store. They filled the big kettle with snow. It held two
gallons of water, and into this was put one square of the
1 Chocolate from St. Domingue (Haiti) was a favourite form of portable nutriment
among the French Canadians, who also provided a means of subsistence for long
journeys called praline. This was made of roasted Indian corn on which sugar had
been sprinkled. It was a most nourishing food, as well as being an agreeable sweet-
meat.
(0312) 16
242 Pioneers in Canada
chocolate. The quantity was scarcely sufficient to give
colour to the water, but each man drank off a gallon of
this hot liquor and felt much refreshed. The next day
they marched vigorously for six hours on another two
gallons of chocolate and water. For five days the choco-
late kept them going, though more by faith than by any
actual nourishment that it imparted. They now began
to be surrounded by large herds of wolves, who seemed
to be conscious of their dire extremity and the probability
that they would soon fall an easy prey, yet were cunning
enough to keep out of gunshot. At last, however, at
sunset on the fifth day, they discovered on the ice the
remains of an elk's carcass on which the wolves had left
a little flesh. From these elk bones a meal of strong and
excellent soup was soon prepared, and the men's bodies
thrilled with new life.
"Want had lost his dominion over us. At noon we
saw the horns of a red deer, standing in the snow, on
the river. On examination we found that the whole car-
cass was with them, the animal having broken through
the ice in the beginning of the winter, in attempting to
cross the river, too early in the season; while his horns,
fastening themselves in the ice, had prevented him from
sinking. By cutting away the ice we were enabled to lay
bare a part of the back and shoulders, and thus procure
a stock of food amply sufficient for the rest of our journey.
We accordingly encamped, and employed our kettle to
good purpose, forgot all our misfortunes, and prepared
to walk with cheerfulness the twenty leagues which, as
we reckoned, still lay between ourselves and Fort des
Prairies. Though the deer must have been in this situa-
tion ever since the month of November, yet its flesh was
perfectly good. Its horns alone were five feet high or
more, and it will therefore not appear extraordinary that
they should be seen above the snow."
The next day they reached the Fort des Prairies,
The Pioneers from Montreal 243
established by the Hudson's Bay people, on the verge
of the Assiniboin country. The journey was resumed in
company with Messrs. Patterson and Holmes, and accom-
panied by a band of natives. They had entered the bison
country, and were regaled by the Indians with bison
tongue and beef.
" Soon after sunrise we descried a herd of oxen (bison)
extending a mile and a half in length, and too numerous
to be counted. They travelled, not one after another, as,
in the snow, other animals usually do, but, in a broad
phalanx, slowly, and sometimes stopping to feed. . . .
Their numbers were so great that we dreaded lest they
should fairly trample down the camp; nor could it have
happened otherwise, but for the doge, almost as numerous
as they, who were able to keep them in check. The
Indians killed several when close upon their tents, but
neither the fire of the Indians nor the noise of the dogs
could soon drive them away." The poor animals were
more frightened of the frightful snowstorm which was
raging than of what man or dog might do to them in
the shelter of the woods.
At last the party reached the residence of the great
chief of the Assiniboins, whose name was " Great Road ".
These Amerindians received Henry and his people with
the greatest respect, giving them a bodyguard, armed
with bows and spears, who escorted them to the lodge
or tent prepared for their reception. This was of circular
form, covered with leather, and not less than twenty
feet in diameter. On the ground within, bison skins were
spread for beds and seats.
"One-half of the tent was appropriated to our use.
Several women waited upon us, to make a fire and bring
water, which latter they fetched from a neighbouring tent.
Shortly after our arrival these women brought us water,
unasked for, saying that it was for washing. The refresh-
ment was exceedingly acceptable, for on our march we
244 Pioneers in Canada
had become so dirty that our complexions were not very
distinguishable from those of the Indians themselves."
Invited to feast with the great chief, they proceeded to
the tent of " Great Road", which they found neither more
ornamented nor better furnished than the rest. At theii
entrance the chief arose from his seat, saluted them in the
Indian manner by shaking hands, and addressed them in
a few words, in which he offered his thanks for the con-
fidence which they had reposed in him in trusting them-
selves so far from their own country. After all were
seated, on bearskins spread on the ground, the pipe, as
usual, was introduced, and presented in succession to each
person present. Each took his whiff, and then let it pass
to his neighbour. The stem, which was four feet in length,
was held by an officer attendant on the chief. The bowl
was of red marble or pipe stone.
When the pipe had gone its round, the chief, without
rising from his seat, delivered a speech of some length,
after which several of the Indians began to weep, and
they were soon joined by the whole party. "Had I not
previously been witness" (writes Henry) "to a weeping
scene of this description, I should certainly have been
apprehensive of some disastrous catastrophe; but, as it
was, I listened to it with tranquillity. It lasted for about
ten minutes, after which all tears were dried away, and
the honours of the feast were performed by the attending
chiefs." This consisted in giving to every guest a dish
containing a boiled bison's tongue. Henry having en-
quired why these people always wept at their feasts, and
sometimes at their councils, he was answered that their
tears flowed to the memory of their deceased relations,
who were formerly present on these occasions, and whom
they remembered as soon as they saw the feast or the
conference being got ready.1
1 The Assiniboins (whom Henry calls the Osinipoilles) are the Issati of older travel-
lers, and have sometimes been called the Weeper Indians, from their tendency to tears.
The Pioneers from Montreal 245
The chief to whose kindly reception they were so much
indebted was about five feet ten inches high, and of a
complexion rather darker than that of the Indians in
general. His appearance was greatly injured by the
condition of his head of hair, and this was the result of
an extraordinary superstition.
"The Indians universally fix upon a particular object,
as sacred to themselves; as the giver of their prosperity,
and as their preserver from evil. The choice is determined
either by a dream, or by some strong predilection of fancy ;
and usually falls upon an animal, or part of an animal, or
something else which is to be met with, by land, or by
water ; but ' Great Road ' had made choice of his hair —
placing, like Samson, all his safety in this portion of his
proper substance! His hair was the fountain of all his
happiness; it was his strength and his weapon, his spear
and his shield. It preserved him in battle, directed him in
the chase, watched over him on the march, and gave length
of days to his wife and children. Hair, of a quality like
this, was not to be profaned by the touch of human hands.
I was assured that it had never been cut nor combed from
his childhood upward, and, that when any part of it fell
from his head, he treasured up that part with care: mean-
while, it did not escape all care, even while growing on
the head; but was in the special charge of a spirit, who
dressed it while the owner slept. All this might be ; but
the spirit's style of hairdressing was at least peculiar; the
hair being suffered to remain very much as if it received
no dressing at all, and matted into ropes, which spread
themselves in all directions."
From this Assiniboin village Henry saw, for the first
time, one of those herds of horses which the Assiniboins
possessed in numbers. The herd was feeding on the
skirts of the plain. The horses were provided with no
fodder, but were left to find food for themselves, which
they did in winter by removing the snow with their feet
246 Pioneers in Canada
till they reach the grass. This was everywhere on the
ground in plenty.
Amongst these people they saw the paunch or stomach
of a bison employed as a kettle. This was hung in the
smoke of a fire and filled with snow. As the snow melted,
more was added, till the paunch was full of water. The
lower orifice of the organ was used for drawing off the
water, and stopped with a plug and string.
Henry also noticed amongst the Assiniboins the cele-
brated lariat. This is formed of a stone of about two
pounds weight, which is sewed up in leather and made
fast to a wooden handle two feet long. In using it the
stone is whirled round the handle by a warrior sitting on
horseback and riding at full speed. Every stroke which
takes effect brings down a man, a horse, or a bison. To
prevent the weapon from slipping out of the hand, a string,
which is tied to the handle, is also passed round the wris
of the wearer.
Alexander Henry extended his travels in the north
west within four hundred and fifty miles of Lake Atha-
baska. He met at this point some Chipewayan slaves in
the possession of the Assiniboins, and heard from them
(1) of the Peace River in the far west which led one through
the Rocky Mountains (he uses that name) to a region
descending towards a great sea (the Pacific Ocean); and
(2) of the Slave River which, after passing through several
lakes, also reached a great sea on the north. This, of
course, was an allusion to the Mackenzie River. Here
were given and recorded the chief hints at possible lines
of exploration which afterwards sent Alexander Mackenzie
and other explorers on the journeys that carried British-
Canadian enterprise and administration to the shores of
the Pacific and Arctic Oceans.
After 1776 Alexander Henry ceased his notable explora-
tions of the far west. In that year he paid a visit to
England and France, returning to Canada in 1777. Whilst
;
The Pioneers from Montreal 247
in France he was received at the French Court and had
the privilege of relating to Queen Marie Antoinette some
of his wonderful adventures and experiences. After two
more visits to England he settled down at Montreal as a
merchant (autumn of 1780), and in 1784 he joined with
other great pioneers in founding, at Montreal, The North-
west Trading Company. Eventually he handed over his
share in this enterprise to his nephew, Alexander Henry
the Younger, and established himself completely in a life
of ease and quiet. He died at Montreal in 1824, aged
eighty-five years.
CHAPTER X
Samuel Hearne
The first noteworthy explorer of the far north was
SAMUEL HEARNE,1 who had been mate of a vessel in
the employ of the whale fishery of Hudson Bay. He
entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company about
1765, and was selected four years afterwards by the
Governor of Prince of Wales's Fort (a certain Moses
Norton, a half-breed) to lead an expedition of discovery
in search of a mighty river flowing northwards, which was
rumoured to exist by the Eskimo. This " Coppermine"
River was said to flow through a region rich in deposits
of copper. From this district the northern tribes of Indians
derived their copper ornaments and axeheads.
Samuel Hearne started on the 6th of November, 1769,
from Prince of Wales's Fort at the mouth of the Churchill
River, on the north-west coast of Hudson Bay. Pre-
sumably he and the two " common white men" who were
with him travelled on snowshoes and hauled small sledges
after them. Travelling westward they passed over bleak
hills with very little vegetation — "the barren grounds,
where, in general, we thought ourselves well off if we
could scrape together as many shrubs as would make a
fire; but it was scarcely ever in our power to make any
1 Hearne was born in London in 1745. He entered the Royal Navy as a midship-
man at the tender age of eleven, and remained in the Navy till about 1765, when he
went out to Hudson Bay with the rank of quartermaster. He must have acquired
a considerable education, even in botany and zoology. He not only wrote well, and
was a good surveyor for rough map making, but he bad a considerable talent as a
draughtsman.
248
Samuel Hearne 249
other defence against the weather than by digging a hole
in the snow down to the moss, wrapping ourselves up in
our clothing, and lying down in it, with our sledges set
up edgeways to windward ". But the principal Indian
guide that he engaged was so obviously determined to
make the expedition a failure that Hearne returned to his
base, Prince of Wales's Fort, and made a second start on
the 23rd of February, 1770, this time taking care not to
be accompanied by any other white men, and insisting
that the Indians who accompanied him should be more
carefully chosen.
It must be remembered that in all these early expedi-
tions, French and English, the explorers relied for their
food almost entirely on what could be obtained as they
went along, in the way of venison, grouse, geese, fish,
and wild fruits. In the springtime they would probably
get goose eggs and some form of maple sugar through
the Indians. From the summer to the autumn there would
be an abundance of wild fruits and nuts, but for the rest
of the year it would be a diet almost entirely of flesh or
fish. As a stand-by there was probably pemmican, made
in times of plenty from fish, from bison meat and fat, or
from the dried flesh of deer or musk oxen ; but tea, coffee,
bread, biscuits, and such like accessories were absolutely
unknown to them, in fact they lived exactly as the Amer-
indians did. Their habitations, of course, were the tents
or houses of the natives, or what they made for them-
selves.
In order to pitch an Indian tent in winter it was first
necessary to search for a level piece of dry ground, and
this could only be ascertained by thrusting a stick through
the snow, down to the ground, all over the proposed plot.
When a suitable site had been found the snow was then
cleared away down to the very moss, in the shape of a
circle. When a prolonged stay was contemplated, even
the moss was cut up and removed, as it was very liable
250 Pioneers In Canada
when dry to catch fire. A quantity of poles were then
procured, proportionate in number and length to the size
of the tent cloth and the number of persons the tent was
intended to contain. Two of the longest poles were tied
together at the top and raised to an angle of about 45 de-
grees from the ground, so that the lower ends extended
on either side as widely as the proposed diameter of the
tent. The other poles were then arranged on either side
of the first two, so that they formed a complete circle round
the bottom, and their points were tied together at the top.
The tent cloth was usually of thin moose leather, and in
shape resembled the vane of a fan, so that the large outer
curve enclosed the bottom of the poles, and the smaller
one fitted round the apex of the poles at the top, leaving
an open space which let out the smoke and let in air
and light. The fire was made on the ground in the
centre of the floor, which floor was covered all over with
small branches of firs and pines serving as seats and beds.
Pine foliage and branches were laid round the bottom of
the poles on the outside, and a quantity of snow was
packed all round the exterior of the tent, thus excluding
a great part of the external air, and contributing much
to the warmth within.
For a month or more Hearne camped in this fashion
by the side of a lake, waiting till the season was sufficiently
open for him to continue his journey by water. He and
his party of Indians lived mainly on fish, but when these
became scarce they attempted to snare grouse or kill deer.
In the intervals of rare meals all the party smoked or slept,
unless they were obliged to go out to hunt and fish. They
would delight, after killing deer, in securing as much as
possible of the blood and turning it into broth by boiling
it in a kettle with fat and scraps of meat. This was
reckoned a dainty dish. Their spoons, dishes, and other
necessary household furniture were cut out of birch
bark.
Samuel Hearne 251
By the igth of May, geese, swans, ducks, gulls, and
other birds of passage were so plentiful, flying from south
to north, and halting to rest at the lake, that Hearne felt
the time had come to resume his journey, provisions being
now very plentiful and the worst of the thaw over. The
weather was remarkably fine and pleasant as the party
travelled northwards.
There must have been good patent medicines even in
those days. Of these Hearne possessed " Turlington's
Drops" and "Yellow Basilicon ", and with these he not
only healed the terrible wounds of a valuable Indian who
had cut his leg most severely (when making birch-bark
dishes, spoons, &c.), but also the hand of another Indian,
which was shattered with the bursting of a gun. These
medicines soon restored the use -of his hand, so that in
a short time he was out of danger, while the carver of
birch -bark spoons was able to walk. Nevertheless,
although they were to the south of the 6oth degree of
latitude, the snow was not completely melted until the
end of June.
All at once the weather became exceedingly hot, the
sledges had to be thrown away, and each man had to
carry on his back a heavy load. For instance, Hearne
was obliged to carry his quadrant for taking astronomical
observations, and its stand; a trunk containing books and
papers, &c. ; a large compass; and a bag containing all
his wearing apparel ; also a hatchet, a number of knives,
files, &c., and several small articles intended for presents
to the natives — in short, a weight of sixty pounds. More-
over, the barren ground was quite unsuited to the pitching
of the southern type of tent, the poles of which obviously
could not be driven into the bare rock, so that Hearne
was obliged to sleep in the open air in all weathers.
Very often he was unable to make a fire, and was con-
stantly reduced to eating his meat quite raw. " Notwith
standing these accumulated and complicated hardships,
252 Pioneers in Canada
we continued in perfect health and good spirits." The
average day's walk was twenty miles, sometimes without
any other subsistence than a pipe of tobacco and a drink
of water.
At last they saw three musk oxen grazing by the side
of a small lake. This seemed a splendid piece of fortune,
but, to their mortification, before they could get one of
them skinned, a tremendous downpour of rain ensued, so as
to make it out of their power to have a fire, for their only
form of fuel was moss. And the flesh of the musk ox eaten
raw was disgusting; it was coarse and tough, and tasted
so strongly of musk that Hearne could hardly swallow it.
"None of our natural wants," he writes, "except thirst,
are so distressing or hard to endure as hunger. . . . Foi
want of action, the stomach so far loses its digestive powers
that, after long fasting, it resumes its office with pain and
reluctance." After these prolonged fasts, his stomach was
scarcely able to contain two or three ounces of food without
producing the most agonizing pain. "We fasted many
times two whole days and nights, and twice for three days;
once for nearly seven days, during which we tasted not
a mouthful of anything, except a few cranberries, water,
scraps of old leather, and burnt bones."
At a place 63° north latitude he bought a canoe for
a single knife "the full value of which did not exceed
one penny", having been told that they would soon reach
rivers through which they could not wade. And, more-
over, they found an Indian who was willing to carry it.
In July his guide persuaded him to join an encampment
of natives — about six hundred persons living in seventy
tents — asserting that, as it was no use proceeding much
farther north in their search for the Coppermine River
that season, it would be well to winter to the west, and
resume their northern journey in the spring. The country,
though quite devoid of trees, and mostly barren rock, was
covered with a herb or shrub called by the Indian name
Samuel Hearne 253
of Wishakapakka,1 from which the European servants of
the Hudson's Bay Company had long been used to pre-
pare a kind of tea by steeping it in boiling water. Here
there were multitudes of reindeer feeding on the Cladina
lichen and the Indians with Hearne killed large numbers
for the food of the party, and also for their skins and the
marrow in their bones.
The Indian who had volunteered to carry the canoe
proved unequal to his task. But Hearne found another
of his carriers who was willing to take the burden. In
order, therefore, to be readier with his gun to shoot deer,
he transferred a portion of his own load to the ex-canoe
carrier. This portion consisted of the invaluable quadrant
and its stand, and a bag of gunpowder. The gunpowder
was of such importance to Hearne and his party that one
wonders he made this exchange ; for if he lost this powder
he had no means of killing game, and was entirely de-
pendent for food on the troop of Indians with whom he
was travelling, and whom he knew to be most niggardly
and inhospitable. Judge, therefore, of his horror when,
at the end of a day's march, this weakly Indian porter
was missing with his load. All night Hearne was unable
to sleep with anxiety, and the whole of the next day he
spent searching the rocky ground for miles to discover
some sign of the missing man. At that season of the
year it was like looking for a needle in a pottle of hay,
for there was no snow, and equally no herbage, on which
a man's foot could leave traces. However, at last, by
some miracle, they discovered the load by the banks of
a little river where a party of Indians had crossed.
Shortly afterwards, leaving his quadrant on its stand
for a few minutes, whilst he went to eat his dinner, a
violent wind arose and blew the whole thing on to the
1 This word is said to be a corruption or altered form of Wishakagamiu, a liquid
or broth (Kri language). The drink made from this shrub or herb (Ledunt palustre)
is now known as Labrador tea. It is a bitter aromatic infusion.
254 Pioneers in Canada
rocks, so that the quadrant was smashed and rendered
useless. On this account he determined once more to
return to Fort Prince of Wales. The Northern Indians1
with whom Hearne travelled backwards towards the fort
were most inhospitable, not to say dangerous. They
robbed him of most of his goods, and refused to allow
their women to assist his people to dress the reindeer
skins out of which it would be necessary shortly to make
coverings to protect them from the severe cold of the
autumn. In fact Hearne was in rather a desperate con-
dition by September, 1770, when he was joined by a
party of Indians under a famous leader, whom he calls
Matonabi.
Matonabi, though of Athapaskan stock, had, when a
boy, resided several years at Prince of Wales's Fort, and
learnt a little English, and, above all, was a master of
several Algonkin dialects or languages, so that he could
discourse with the Southern Indians. As soon as he
heard of Hearne's distress he furnished him with a good,
warm suit of skins, and had the reindeer skins dressed for
the Indian carriers who accompanied Hearne. In journey-
ing together, Matonabi invited him to return once more,
with himself as guide, to discover the copper mines.
"He attributed all our misfortunes to the misconduct
of my guides, and the very plan we pursued, by the desire
of the Governor, in not taking any women with us on this
journey, was, he said, the principal thing that occasioned
all our wants. 'For,' said he, 'when all the men are
heavy laden, they can neither hunt nor travel to any con-
siderable distance; and in case they meet with success in
hunting, who is to carry the produce of their labour?'
'Women,' added he, 'were made for labour; one of them
1 The Indians of the Athapaskan or De'nd group were usually called the Northern
Indians by the Hudson Bay people, in comparison to all the other tribes of the more
temperate regions farther south, who were known as the Southern Indians (Algonkins,
&c.).
Samuel Hearne 255
can carry, or haul, as much as two men can do. They
also pitch our tents, make and mend our clothing, keep
us warm at night; and, in fact, there is no such thing as
travelling any considerable distance, or for any length of
time, in this country, without their assistance.' 'Women,'
said he again, ' though they do everything, are maintained
at a trifling expense; for as they always stand cook, the
very licking of their fingers in scarce times is sufficient
for their subsistence.'
"This," added Hearne, "however odd it may appear,
is but too true a description of the situation of women in
this country : it is at least so in appearance ; for the women
always carry the provisions, though it is more than prob-
able they help themselves when the men are not present."
On the yth of December, 1770, Samuel Hearne started
again from Prince of Wales's Fort, Hudsons Bay, but
under very much happier circumstances, Matonabi being
practically in charge of the expedition.
Unfortunately, on reaching the Egg River, where
Matonabi's people had made a cache or hiding place in
I which they had stored a quantity of provisions and imple-
iments, they found that other Indians had discovered this
hiding place and robbed it of nearly every article. This
[was a great disappointment to Matonabi's people; but
IHearne remarks the fortitude with which they bore this,
Inor did one of them ever speak of revenge. But the
[expedition's scarcity of food obliged them to push on
Ifrom morning till night, day after day ; yet the road being
lirery bad, and their sledges heavy, they were seldom able
to do more than eighteen miles a day. Hearne himself
Ivrites that he never spent so dull a Christmas. For the
last three days he had not tasted a morsel of anything,
Except a pipe of tobacco and a drink of snow water, yet
le had to walk daily from morning till night heavily
aden. However, at the end of December they reached
Island Lake, where they entered a camp of Matonabi's
256 Pioneers in Canada
people, and here they found a little food in the way of
fish and dried venison. From Island Lake they made
their way in a zigzag fashion, stopping often to drive rein-
deer into pounds to secure large supplies of venison and
of skins, till, in the month of April, 1771, they reached a
small lake with an almost unpronounceable name, which
meant " Little Fish Hill", from a high hill which stood
at the west end of this sheet of water.
On an island in this lake they pitched their tents, as
deer were very numerous. During this time also they
were busily employed in preparing staves of birch wood,
about seven or eight feet long, to serve as tent poles in
the summer, and in the winter to be converted into snow-
shoe frames. Here also Chief Matonabi purchased another
wife. He had now with him no less than seven, most of
whom would for size have made good grenadiers. He
prided himself much on the height and strength of his
wives, and would frequently say few women could carry
off heavier loads. In fact in this country wives wera
very seldom selected for their beauty, but rather for their
strength.
"Ask a Northern Indian," wrote Hearne, "What is
beauty?' He will answer: 'A broad, flat face, small eyes,
high cheekbones, three or four broad black lines across
each cheek, a low forehead, a broad chin, a clumsy hook
nose, and a tawny hide."
But the model woman amongst these Indians was one
who was capable of dressing all kinds of skins and making
them into clothing, and who was strong enough to carry
a load of about a hundred pounds in weight in summer,
and to haul perhaps double that weight on a sledge in
winter. "As to their temper, it is of little consequence;
for the men have a wonderful facility in making the most
stubborn comply with as much alacrity as could possibly
be expected." When the men kill any large beast the
women are always sent to bring it to the tent. When it
SAMUEL HEARNE
ALEXANDER MACKENZIE
Samuel Hearne 257
is brought there, every operation it undergoes, such as
splitting, drying, pounding, is performed by the women.
When anything is prepared for eating it is the women
who cook it ; and when it is done, not even the wives and
daughters of the greatest chiefs in the country are served
until all the males — even the male slaves — have eaten
what they think proper. In times of scarcity it was fre-
quently the lot of the women to be left without a single
mouthful ; though, no doubt, they took good care to help
themselves in secret.
Hearne mentions that in this country among the
Northern Indians the names of the boys were various and
generally derived from some place, or season of the year,
or animal ; whilst the names of the girls were chiefly taken
from some part or property of a marten,1 such as the white
marten, the black marten, the summer marten, the marten's
head, foot, heart, or tail.
From the Lake of Little Fish Hill the party moved on
to Lake Clowey, and here the Northern Indians set to
work to build their canoes in the warm and dry weather,
which was about to come in at the end of May. These
canoes were very slight and simple in construction and
wonderfully light, which was necessary, for some of the
northern portages might be a hundred to one hundred
and fifty miles in length, over which the canoes would
have to be carried by the Indians. All the tools employed
in those days, in building such canoes and making snow-
shoes and all the other furniture and utensils of Indian
life, consisted of a hatchet^ a knife, a. file, and an ami ob-
tained from the stores of the Hudson's Bay Company. In
the use of these tools they were so dexterous that every-
thing they manufactured was done with a neatness which
could not be excelled by the most expert mechanic. These
northern canoes were flat-bottomed, with straight, upright
sides, and sharp prow and peak. The stern part of the
1 A fur-bearing animal (Mustela amtricana), very like the British pine marten.
(0312) 17
258 Pioneers in Canada
canoe was wider than the rest in order to receive the
baggage. The average length of the canoe would be
from twelve to thirteen feet, and the breadth in the widest
part about two feet. Generally but a single paddle was
used, and that rather attenuated. When transporting the
canoes from one river to another, a strong band of bark
or fibre would be fastened round the thwarts of the canoe,
and then slung over the breast and shoulders of the Indian
that was carrying it.
From Lake Clowey the northern progress was made
on foot, steady and fatiguing walking over the barren
grounds. The wooded region had been left behind to
the south; but for a distance of about twenty miles out-
side the living woods there was a belt of dry stumps more
or less ancient. According to Hearne, these vestiges of
trees to the north of the present forest limit were an indi-
cation that the climate had grown colder during the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuries, because, according to the
traditions of the Indians and the remembrances of their old
people, the forest had formerly extended much farther to
the north.
Whilst they were staying for the canoe building at
Lake Clowey, Hearne was a great deal bothered by the
domestic troubles of his Indian friend Matonabi. This
man had been constantly trying to add to his stock of
wives as he passed up country, and at Clowey he had
met the former husband of one of these women whom he
had carried off by force. The man ventured to reproach
him, whereupon Matonabi went into his tent, opened one
of his wives' bundles, and with the greatest composure
took out a new, long, box-handled knife; then proceeded
to the tent of the man who had complained, and without
any parley whatever took him by the collar and attempted
to stab him to death. The man had already received three
bad knife wounds in the back before other people, rushing
in to his assistance, prevented Matonabi from finishing
Samuel Hearne 259
him. After this, Matonabi returned to his tent as though
nothing had happened, called for water, washed the blood
off his hands and knife, and smoked his pipe as usual,
asking Hearne if he did not think he had done quite right!
" It has ever been the custom among those people for
the men to wrestle for any woman to whom they are
attached ; and of course the strongest party always carries
off the prize. A weak man, unless he be a good hunter
and well beloved, is seldom permitted to keep a wife that
a stronger man thinks worth his notice; for at any time
when the wives of those strong wrestlers are heavy laden
either with furs or provisions, they make no scruple of
tearing any other man's wife from his bosom and making
her bear a part of his luggage. This custom prevails
throughout all their tribes, and" causes a great spirit of
emulation among their youth, who are upon all occasions,
from their childhood, trying their strength and skill in
wrestling. This enables them to protect their property,
and particularly their wives, from the hands of those power-
ful ravishers, some of whom make almost a livelihood by
taking what they please from the weaker parties without
making them any return. Indeed it is represented as an
act of great generosity if they condescend to make an
unequal exchange, as, in general, abuse and insult are
the only return for the loss which is sustained.
"The way in which they tear the women and other
property from one another, though it has the appearance
of the greatest brutality, can scarcely be called fighting.
I never knew any of them receive the least hurt in these
rencontres^ the whole business consists in hauling each
other about by the hair of the head; they are seldom
known either to strike or kick one another. It is not
uncommon for one of them to cut off his hair and to
grease his ears immediately before the contest begins.
This, however, is done privately; and it is sometimes
truly laughable to see one of the parties strutting about
260 Pioneers in Canada
with an air of great importance, and calling out: 'Where
is he? Why does he not come out?' when the other will
bolt out with a clean-shorn head and greased ears, rush
on his antagonist, seize him by the hair, and, though
perhaps a much weaker man, soon drag him to the
ground, while the stronger is not able to lay hold of
him. It is very frequent on those occasions for each
party to have spies, to watch the other's motions, which
puts them more on a footing of equality. For want of
hair to pull, they seize each other about the waist, with
legs wide extended, and try their strength by endeavour-
ing to vie who can first throw the other down."
"Early in the morning of the twenty-ninth 'Captain'
Keelshies (an Indian) joined us. He delivered to me a
packet of letters and a two-quart keg of French brandy,
but assured me that the powder, shot, tobacco, knives,
&c., which he received at the fort for me, were all ex-
pended. He endeavoured to make some apology for this
by saying that some of his relations died in the winter,
and that he had, according to native custom, thrown all
his own things away; after which he was obliged to
have recourse to my ammunition and other goods to sup-
port himself and a numerous family. The very affecting
manner in which he related this story, often crying like
a child, was a great proof of his extreme sorrow, which
he wished to persuade me arose from the recollection of
his having embezzled so much of my property; but I was
of a different opinion, and attributed his grief to arise from
the remembrance of his deceased relations. However, as
a small recompense for my loss, he presented me with four
ready-dressed moose skins, which was, he said, the only
retribution he could then make. The moose skins, though
not the twentieth part of the value of the goods which he
had embezzled, were in reality more acceptable to me than
the ammunition and the other articles would have been, on
account of their great use as shoe leather, which at that
SamueJ Hearne 261
time was a very scarce article with us, whereas we had
plenty of powder and shot."
During Hearne's stay at Lake Clowey a great number
of Indians entered into a combination with those of his
party to travel together to the Coppermine River, with
no other intent than to murder the Eskimo who frequented
that river in considerable numbers. Before leaving Lake
Clowey all the Northern Indians who had assembled there
prepared their arms for the encounter, and did not forget
to make shields before they left the woods of Clowey.
These shields were composed of thin boards about three-
quarters of an inch thick, two feet broad, and three feet
long, and were intended to ward off the arrows of the
Eskimo.
When the now large expedition reached a river with the
fearful name of Congecathawhachaga, they found a por-
tion of the tribe known as Copper Indians,1 and these had
never before seen a white man. They gave a very friendly
reception to Hearne on account of Matonabi.
"They expressed as much desire to examine me from
top to toe as a European naturalist would a nondescript
animal. They, however, found and pronounced me to be
a perfect human being, except in the colour of my hair and
eyes; the former, they said, was like the stained hair of a
buffalo's tail, and the latter, being light, were like those
of a gull. The whiteness of my skin also was, in their
opinion, no ornament, as they said it resembled meat
which had been sodden in water till all the blood was
extracted. On the whole I was viewed as so great a
curiosity in this part of the world that during my stay
there, whenever I combed my head, some or other of
them never failed to ask for the hairs that came off, which
they carefully wrapped up, saying: 'When I see you
again, you shall again see your hair'."
1 Or " Tantsawhuts ". Like the "Dog-rib" Indians, mentioned farther on, they
belonged to the "Northern", Tinne", Athabaskan type.
262 Pioneers in Canada
The Copper Indians sent a detachment of their men
in the double capacity of guides and warriors, and the
whole party now turned towards the north-west, and after
some days' walking reached the Stony Mountains. " Surely
no part of the world better deserves that name ", wrote
Hearne. They appeared to be a confused heap of stones
quite inaccessible to the foot of man. Nevertheless, with
the Copper Indians as guides, they got over this range,
though not without being obliged frequently to crawl on
hands and knees. This range, however, had been so
often crossed by Indians coming to and fro that there was
a very visible path the whole way, the rocks, even in the
most difficult places, being worn quite smooth. By the
side of the path there were several large, flat stones covered
with thousands of small pebbles. These marks had been
gradually built up by passengers going to and fro from
the copper mines in the far north. The weather all this
time, although the month was July, was very bad — con-
stant snow, sleet, and rain. Hearne seldom had a dry
garment of any kind, and in the caves where they lodged
at night the water was constantly dropping from the roof.
Their food all this time was raw venison. One snowstorm
which fell on them was heavier than was customary even
in the winter, but at last the weather cleared up and sun-
shine made the journey far more tolerable.
As they descended the northern side of the Stony Moun-
tains they crossed a large lake, passing over its unmelted
ice, and called it Musk-ox Lake, from the number of these
creatures which they found grazing on the margin of it.
This was not the first time that Hearne had seen the
musk ox. These animals were wont to come down as fai
south as the shores of Hudson Bay.
On the northern side of the Stony Mountains Hearnf
was taken by the Indians to see a place which he called
Grizzly-bear Hill, which took its name from the numben
of those animals (presumably what we call grizzly bears'
Samuel Hearne 263
which resorted here for the purpose of bringing forth their
young in a cave in this hill. On the east side of the
adjoining marsh Hearne was amazed at the sight of the
many hills and dry ridges, which were turned over like
ploughed land by the long claws of these bears in search-
ing for the ground squirrels and mice which constitute a
favourite part of their food. It was surprising to see the
enormous stones rolled out of their beds by the bears on
these occasions.
As they neared the Coppermine River the weather
became very warm, and the country had a good supply
of firewood. Reindeer were abundant, and, the Indians
having killed some of these, Hearne sat down to the most
comfortable meal he had had for some months.
It was a kind of haggis, called by the Amerindians
" biati ", made with the blood of the reindeer, a good
quantity of fat shredded small, some of the tenderest of
the flesh, together with the heart and lungs, cut, or more
commonly torn, into small slivers — all which would be put
nto the stomach, and roasted by being suspended before
e fire by a string. Care had to be taken that it did not
et too much heat at first, as the bag would thereby be
liable to be burnt and the contents be let out. When it
was sufficiently done it emitted steam, " which", writes
Hearne, " is as much as to say: ' Come, eat me now '; and
if it be taken in time, before the blood and other contents
are too much done, it is certainly a most delicious morsel,
even without pepper, salt, or any other seasoning."
It was now almost impossible to sleep at night for the
mosquitoes, which swarmed in myriads as soon as the
warmth of the sun melted the ice and snow. When
Hearne actually reached the banks of the Coppermine
River he was a little disappointed at its appearance, as
it seemed to be only one hundred and eighty yards wide,
shallow, and full of shoals. The Chipewayan Amer-
indians with him now sent out their spies to try and
264 Pioneers in Canada
locate the Eskimo. Presently they found that there were
five tents of them on the west side of the river.
" When the Indians received this intelligence no
further attendance or attention was paid to my survey,
but their whole thoughts were immediately engaged in
planning the best method of attack, and how they might
steal on the poor Eskimo the ensuing night and kill them
all when asleep. To accomplish this bloody design more
effectually the Indians thought it necessary to cross the
river as soon as possible; and, by the account of the spies,
it appeared that no part was more convenient for the pur-
pose than that where we had met them, it being there
very smooth, and at a considerable distance from any fall.
Accordingly, after the Indians had put all their guns,
spears, shields, &c., in good order, we crossed the
river. . . .
1 'When we arrived on the west side of the river, each
painted the front of his shield ; some with the figure of the
sun, others with that of the moon, several with different
kinds of birds and beasts of prey, and many with the
images of imaginary beings, which, according to their
silly notions, are the inhabitants of the different elements,
Earth, Sea, Air, &c. On enquiring the reason of their
doing so, I learned that each man painted his shield with
the image of that being on which he relied most for success
in the intended engagement. Some were content with a
single representation ; while others, doubtful, as I suppose,
of the quality and power of any single being, had their
shields covered to the very margin with a group of hiero-
glyphics quite unintelligible to everyone except the painter.
Indeed, from the hurry in which this business was neces-
sarily done, the want of every colour but red and black,
and the deficiency of skill in the artist, most of those
paintings had more the appearance of a number of acci-
dental blotches, than 'of anything that is on the earth,
or in the water under the earth '. . . .
Samuel Hearne
265
"After this piece of superstition was completed, we
began to advance towards the Eskimo tents; but were
very careful to avoid crossing any hills, or talking loud,
for fear of being seen or overheard by the inhabitants."
When the attacking party was within two hundred
yards of the Eskimo tents, they lay in ambush for some
time, watching the motions of their intended victims ; and
here the Indians wanted Hearne (for whom they had a
sincere affection) to stay till the fight was over; but to
this he would not consent, lest, when the Eskimo came
to be surprised, they should try every way to escape, and,
finding him alone, kill him in their desperation.
While they lay in ambush the Northern Indians per-
formed the last ceremonies which were thought necessary
before the engagement. These chiefly consisted in paint-
ing their faces: some all black, some all red, and others
with a mixture of the two ; and to prevent their hair from
blowing into their eyes, it was either tied before or behind,
and on both sides, or else cut short all round. The next
thing they considered was to make themselves as light as
possible for running, which they did by pulling off their
stockings, and either cutting off the sleeves of their jackets,
or rolling them up close to their armpits; and though the
mosquitoes at that time "were so numerous as to surpass
all credibility ", yet some of the Indians actually pulled
off their jackets and entered the lists nearly or quite naked.
Hearne, fearing he might have occasion to run with the
rest, thought it also advisable to pull off his stockings
and cap, and to tie his hair as close up as possible.
By the time the Indians had made themselves thus
"completely frightful", it was nearly one in the morning.
Then, finding all the Eskimo quiet in their tents, they
rushed forth from their ambuscade, and fell on the poor,
unsuspecting creatures, unperceived till they were close
to the very eaves of the tents. A horrible massacre forth-
with took place, while Hearne stood neutral in the rear.
266 Pioneers in Canada
"The scene was shocking beyond description. The
poor unhappy victims were surprised in the midst of their
sleep, and had neither time nor power to make any resist-
ance; men, women, and children, in all upward of twenty,
ran out of their tents stark naked, and endeavoured to
make their escape; but the Indians having possession of
all the landside, to no place could they fly for shelter.
One alternative only remained, that of jumping into the
river; but, as none of them attempted it, they all fell a
sacrifice to Indian barbarity!
"The shrieks and groans of the poor expiring wretches
were truly dreadful; and my horror was much increased
at seeing a young girl, seemingly about eighteen years
of age, killed so near me, that when the first spear was
stuck into her side she fell down at my feet, and twisted
round my legs, so that it was with difficulty that I could
disengage myself from her dying grasp. As two Indian
men pursued this unfortunate victim, I solicited very hard
for her life ; but the murderers made no reply till they had
stuck both their spears through her body, and transfixed
her to the ground. They then looked me sternly in the
face, and began to ridicule me by asking if I wanted an
Eskimo wife; and paid not the smallest regard to the
shrieks and agony of the poor wretch, who was twining
round their spears like an eel!"
On his requesting that they would at least put the
woman out of her misery, one of the Indians hastily drew
his spear from the place where it was first lodged, an
pierced it through her breast near the heart. The lo
of life, however, even in this most miserable state, was
so predominant, that "though this might justly be called
the most merciful act that could be done for the poor
creature, it seemed to be unwelcome, for, though much
exhausted by pain and loss of blood, she made several
efforts to ward off the friendly blow." . . . "My own
situation and the terror of my mind at beholding this
Samuel Hearne
267
butchery, cannot easily be conceived, much less described ;
though I summed up all the fortitude I was master of on
the occasion, it was with difficulty that I could refrain from
tears; and I am confident that my features must have
feelingly expressed how sincerely I was affected at the
barbarous scene I then witnessed; even at this hour I
cannot reflect on the transactions of that horrid day with-
out shedding tears."
There were other Eskimo on the opposite shore of the
river. Though they took up their arms to defend them-
selves, they did not attempt to abandon their tents, for
they were utterly unacquainted with the nature of firearms ;
so much so that when the bullets struck the ground, they
ran in crowds to see what was sent them, and seemed
anxious to examine all the pieces of lead which they found
flattened against the rocks. At length one of the Eskimo
men was shot in the calf of his leg, which put them in
great confusion. They all immediately embarked in their
little canoes, and paddled to a shoal in the middle of the
river, which being somewhat more than a gunshot from
any part of the shore, put them out of the reach of our
barbarians.
" When the savages discovered that the surviving
Eskimo had gained the shore above - mentioned, the
Northern Indians began to plunder the tents of the
deceased of all the copper utensils they could find; such
as hatchets, bayonets, knives, &c., after which they
assembled on the top of an adjacent hill, and, standing
all in a cluster, so as to form a solid circle, with their
spears erect in the air, gave many shouts of victory,
constantly clashing their spears against each other, and
frequently calling out tima! timaf1 by way of derision to
the poor surviving Eskimo, who were standing on the
shoal almost knee deep in water."
" It ought to have been mentioned in its proper place,"
i " Tima'm the Eskimo language is a friendly word similar to what cheer?" — Hearne.
268 Pioneers in Canada
writes Hearne, after describing further atrocities, "that
in making our retreat up the river, after killing the Eskimo
on the west side, we saw an old woman sitting by the side
of the water killing salmon, which lay at the foot of the
fall as thick as a shoal of herrings. Whether from the
noise of the fall, or a natural defect in the old woman's
hearing, it is hard to determine, but certain it is, she had
no knowledge of the tragical scene which had been so
lately transacted at the tents, though she was not more
than two hundred yards from the place. When we first
perceived her she seemed perfectly at ease, and was entirely
surrounded with the produce of her labour. From her
manner of behaviour, and the appearance of her eyes,
which were as red as blood, it is more than probable that
her sight was not very good; for she scarcely discerned
that the Indians were enemies, till they were within twice
the length of their spears of her. It was in vain that she
attempted to fly, for the wretches of my crew transfixed
her to the ground in a few seconds, and butchered her in
the most savage manner. There was. scarcely a man
among them who had not a thrust at her with his spear;
and many in doing this aimed at torture rather than
immediate death, as they not only poked out her eyes,
but stabbed her in many parts very remote from those
which are vital.
" It may appear strange that a person supposed to be
almost blind should be employed in the business of fish-
ing, and particularly with any degree of success ; but when
the multitude of the fish is taken into the account, the
wonder will cease. Indeed they were so numerous at
the foot of the fall, that when a light pole, armed with
a few spikes, which was the instrument the old woman
used, was put under water, and hauled up with a jerk,
it was scarcely possible to miss them. Some of my
Indians tried the method, for curiosity, with the old
woman's staff, and seldom got less than two at a jerk,
Samuel Hearne 269
sometimes three or four. Those fish, though very fine,
and beautifully red, are but small, seldom weighing more
(as near as I could judge) than six or seven pounds, and
in general much less. Their numbers at this place were
almost incredible, perhaps equal to anything that is re-
related of the salmon in Kamschatka, or any other part
of the world."
Hearne seems to have been so intent on geographical
discovery that he did not allow his feelings to influence
him very long against the society of his Amerindian com-
panions, who apparently sat down and ate a dish of salmon
with him an hour or so after they had killed this last old
woman! The Indians now told him that they were ready
again to assist him in making an end of his survey, and
apparently on foot, for the Coppermine River was not
navigable here, even for a boat.
Thus, first of all white men coming overland, he
reached the sea coast of the Arctic Ocean. The tide was
then out, and a good deal of the sea surface was covered
with ice, on which he observed many seals lying about.
Along the sea coast and river banks were many birds;
gulls, divers or loons, golden plovers, green plovers, cur-
lews, geese, and swans. The country a little way inland
was obviously inhabited by numbers of musk oxen, rein-
deer, bears, wolves, gluttons, foxes, polar hares, snowy
owls, ravens, ptarmigans, gopher ground-squirrels, stoats
(ermines), and mice. In this region also he saw a bird
which the Copper Indians called the Alarm Bird. He
tells us that in size and colour it resembles a "Cobade-
koock"; but as none of us know what that is, we can
only go on to imagine that the Alarm Bird was a kind
of owl, as Hearne says it was "of the owl genus". When
it perceived people or beasts it directed its way towards
them immediately, and, after hovering over them for some
time, flew over them in circles or went away with them
in the same direction as they walked. All this time the
270 Pioneers in Canada
Id.
bird made a loud screaming noise like the cry of a chil
These owls were sometimes accustomed to follow the
Indians for a whole day, and the Copper Indians believed
that they would in some way conduct them to herds of
deer and musk oxen, which without the birds' assistance
might never be found. They also warned Indians of the
arrival of strangers. The Eskimo, according to Hearne,
paid no heed to these birds, and it was thus that they
allowed themselves to be surprised and massacred, for
if they had looked out from the direction in which the
Chipewayans were lying in ambush, they would have
seen a large flock of these owls continually flying about
and making sufficient noise to awaken any man out of
the soundest sleep.
The country on either side of the estuary of the Copper-
mine River was not without vegetation. There were
stunted pines and tufts of dwarf willows, and the ground
was covered with a lichen or herb, which the English ot
the Hudson's Bay Company knew by the name of Wisha-
kapaka,1 and which they dried and used instead of tea.
There were also cranberry and heathberry bushes, but
without fruit. The scrub grew gradually thinner and
smaller as one approached the sea, and at the mouth ol
the river there was nothing but barren hills and marsh.
The unfortunate Eskimo of this region, judging by the
examples seen by Hearne, were of low stature, with broad
thickset bodies. Their complexion was a dirty coppei
colour, but some of the women were almost fair and ruddy.
Their dress, their arms and fishing tackle were precisely
similar to those of the Greenland Eskimo. Their tent
were made of deerskins, and were pitched in a circulai
form. But these were only their summer habitations, '••
those for the winter being partly underground, with 2
roof framework of poles, over which skins were stretched:
and of course Nature did the rest, covering the roof with
1 Ledum palustrt.
Samuel Hearne 271
several feet of snow. Owing to being almost entirely
surrounded by snow, these winter houses were very warm.
Their household furniture consisted of stone kettles and
wooden troughs of various sizes, also dishes, scoops, and
spoons made of musk-ox horns. The stone kettles (which
some people think they borrowed from the Norse dis-
coverers of America in the eleventh century) were as large
as to be capable of containing five or six gallons. They
were, of course, carved out of solid blocks of stone, every
one of them being ornamented with neat moulding round
the rims, and some of the large ones with fluted work at
each corner. In shape they were oblong, wider at the
top than the bottom, and strong handles of solid stone
were left at each end to lift them up.
The Eskimo hatchets were made of a thick lump of
copper about five or six inches long, and one and a half
to two inches broad. They were bevelled away at one
end like a chisel. This piece of copper was lashed into
the end of a piece of wood about twelve or fourteen inches
long. The men's daggers and the women's knives were
also made of copper. The former were in shape like the
ace of spades, and the handle was made of reindeer antler.
With the Eskimo was a fine breed of dogs, with erect
ears, sharp noses, bushy tails. They were all tethered
to stones to prevent them from eating the flesh that was
spread all over the rocks to dry. Apparently, these
beautiful dogs were left behind still tethered by the wicked
Amerindians, after the massacre of their owners. Hearne,
however, noticed with these Coppermine River Eskimo
that the men were entirely bald, having all their head
hair pulled out by the roots. The women wore their hair
at the usual length.
Before leaving this region to return southwards, Hearne
:was led by the Indians to one of the copper mines about
thirty miles south-east of the river mouth. It was no
more than a jumble of rocks and gravel, which had been
272 Pioneers in Canada
rent in many ways, apparently by an earthquake shock.
This mine was at the time of Hearne's visit very poor in
copper, much of the metal having already been removed.
The Copper Indians set a great value on this native
metal even at the present day, and prefer it to iron for
almost every use except that of a hatchet, a knife, and
an awl. " For these three necessary implements", writes
Hearne, " copper makes but a very poor substitute."
On the return journey, in the course of which the Great
Slave Lake — which Hearne calls "Lake Athapuscow"-
was discovered and crossed on the ice, the party travelled
so hard and stayed so seldom to rest that Hearne suffered
terribly with his legs and feet. " I had so little power to
direct my feet when walking, that I frequently knocked
them against the stones with such force, as not only to
jar and disorder them, but my legs also; and the nails
of my toes were bruised to such a degree, that several oJ
them festered and dropped off. To add to this mishap,
the skin was entirely chafed off from the tops of both mj
feet, and between every toe ; so that the sand and gravel
which I could by no means exclude, irritated the raw parb
so much, that for a whole day before we arrived at the
women's tents, I left the print of my feet in blood almos'
at every step I took. Several of the Indians began t(
complain that their feet also were sore; but, on exami-
nation, not one of them was the twentieth part in so bac
a state as mine. This being the first time I had beer
in such a situation, or seen anybody foot -foundered, ]
was much alarmed, and under great apprehensions foi
the consequences. Though I was but little fatigued ir
body, yet the excruciating pain I suffered when walking
had such an effect on my spirits, that if the Indians hac
continued to travel two or three days longer at that un
merciful rate, I must unavoidably have been left behind
for my feet were in many places quite honeycombed b] .
the dirt and gravel eating into the raw flesh."
Samuel Hearne 273
"Among the various superstitious customs of those
people, it is worth remarking, and ought to have been
mentioned in its proper place, that immediately after my
companions had killed the Eskimo at the Copper River,
they considered themselves in a state of uncleanness,
which induced them to practise some very curious un-
usual ceremonies. In the first place, all who were
absolutely concerned in the murder were prohibited from
cooking any kind of victuals, either for themselves or
others. As luckily there were two in company who had
not shed blood, they were employed always as cooks till
we joined the women. This circumstance was exceed-
ingly favourable on my side; for had there been no persons
of the above description in company, that task, I was told,
would have fallen on me; which would have been no
less fatiguing and troublesome, than humiliating and
vexatious.
"When the victuals were cooked, all the murderers
took a kind of red earth, or ochre, and painted all the
space between the nose and chin, as well as the greater
part of their cheeks, almost to the ears, before they would
taste a bit, and would not drink out of any other dish, or
smoke out of any other pipe, but their own; and none
of the others seemed willing to drink or smoke out of
theirs."
He goes on to relate that they practised the custom
of painting the mouth and part of the cheeks before each
meal, and drinking and smoking out of their own utensils,
till the winter began to set in, and during the whole of that
time they would never kiss any of their wives or children.
They refrained also from eating many parts of the deer
and other animals, particularly the head, entrails, and
blood; and during their "uncleanness" their food was
never cooked in water, but dried in the sun, eaten quite
raw, or broiled. When the time arrived that was to put
an end to these ceremonies, the men, without a female
(0812) 18
274 Pioneers in Canada
being present, made a fire at some distance from the tents,
into which they threw all their ornaments, pipe stems, and
dishes, which were soon consumed to ashes; after which
a feast was prepared, consisting of such articles as they
had long been prohibited from eating, and when all was
over each man was at liberty to eat, drink, and smoke as
he pleased, "and also to kiss his wives and children at
discretion, which they seemed to do with more raptures
than I had ever known them to do it either before or
since ".
On the nth of January, as some of Hearne's com-
panions were hunting, they saw the track of a strange
snowshoe, which they followed, and at a considerable dis-
tance came to a little hut, where they discovered a young
woman sitting alone. As they found that she understood
their language, they brought her with them to the tents.
On examination she proved to be one of the Western
Dog-rib Indians, who had been taken prisoner by the
Athapaska Indians in the summer of 1770. From these,
in the following summer, she had escaped, with the inten-
tion of returning to her own country, but the distance
being so great, and the way being unknown to her, she!
forgot the track, so she built the hut in which they found
her, to protect her from the weather during the winter, and
here she had resided from the first setting in of the cold
weather. For seven months she had seen no human face. \
During all this time she had supported herself in com-J
parative comfort by snaring grouse, rabbits, and squirrels;!
she had also killed two or three beaver, and some porcu-
pines. That she did not seem to have been in want was
evident, as she had a small stock of provisions by her
when she was discovered, and was in good health and
condition; and Hearne thought her "one of the finest
women ", of the real Indian type, that he had seen in any
part of North America.
"The methods practised by this poor creature to pro-
Samuel Hearne 275
cure a livelihood were truly admirable, and are great proofs
that necessity is the real mother of invention. When the
few deer sinews that she had an opportunity of taking with
her were all expended in making snares and sewing her
clothing, she had nothing to supply their place but the
sinews of the rabbits' [he means hares'] legs and feet;
these she twisted together for that purpose with great
dexterity and success. The rabbits, &c., which she caught
in those snares, not only furnished her with a comfortable
subsistence, but of the skins she made a suit of neat and
warm clothing for the winter. It is scarcely possible to
conceive that a person in her forlorn situation could be so
composed as to be capable of contriving or executing any-
thing that was not absolutely necessary to her existence ;
but there were sufficient proofs that she had extended her
care much farther, as all her clothing, beside being calcu-
lated for real service, showed great taste and exhibited no
little variety of ornament. The materials, though rude,
were very curiously wrought and so judiciously placed as
to make the whole of her garb have a very pleasing, though
rather romantic, appearance.
"Her leisure hours from hunting had been employed
in twisting the inner rind or bark of willows into small
lines, like net twine, of which she had some hundred
fathoms by her; with this she intended to make a fishing
net as soon as the spring advanced. It is of the inner
bark of willows, twisted in this manner, that the Dog-rib
Indians make their fishing nets, and they are much pre-
ferable to those made by the Northern Indians.
" Five or six inches of an iron hoop, made into a knife,
and the shank of an arrowhead of iron, which served her
as an awl, were all the metals this poor woman had with
her when she eloped, and with these implements she had
made herself complete snowshoes, and several other useful
articles.
"Her method of making a fire was equally singular
276 Pioneers in Canada
and curious, having no other materials for that purpose
than two hard sulphurous stones. These, by long fric-
tion and hard knocking, produced a few sparks, which at
length communicated to some touchwood (a species of
fungus which grew on decayed poplars); but as this
method was attended with great trouble, and not always
with success, she did not suffer her fire to go out all the
winter. . . ."
Hearne regained Prince of Wales's Fort on Hudson
Bay in June, 1772. Subsequently he was dispatched, in
the year 1774, to found the first great inland trading
station and fort of the Hudson's Bay Company which was
established at any considerable distance westward of
Hudson Bay — the first step, in fact, which led to this char-
tered company becoming in time the ruler and colonizing
agent of Alberta and British Columbia. Hearne chose
for his station of "Cumberland House" a site at the
entrance to Pine Island Lake on the lower Saskatchewan
River.
In 1775 he became Governor of his old starting-point
on Hudson Bay — Fort Prince of Wales. During the
American war with France, the French admiral, La
Perouse, made a daring excursion into Hudson Bay (1782),
and summoned Hearne to surrender his fort. This he felt
obliged to do, not deeming his small garrison strong
enough to resist the French force.
Samuel Hearne returned to England in 1787, and died
(probably in London) in 1792.
CHAPTER XI
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys
It has been already mentioned that the conquest of
Canada by the British led to a great increase in travel
for the development of the fur trade. Previously, under
the French, permission was only granted to a few persons
to penetrate into the interior to trade with the natives,
commerce being regarded as a special privilege or mono-
poly to be sold or granted by the Crown. But after the
British had completely assumed control, nothing was done
to bar access to the interior. So long as the Catholic
missionaries had been practically placed in charge of the
Amerindians, and had served as buffers between them and
unscrupulous traders, they — the Amerindians — had been
saved from two scourges, smallpox and strong drink.1
But now, unhappily, all restrictions about trade in alcohol
were removed. In their eagerness to obtain ardent spirits
and "high" wine, the Indians eagerly welcomed British
traders and French Canadians in their midst. The fur
trade developed fast. The Hudson's Bay Company had
established its trading stations only in the vicinity or on
the coasts of that inland sea, far away from the two
Canadas, from the Middle West . and the vast North
West. After a little reluctance and suspicion, most of the
northern Amerindian tribes were persuaded to deflect their
caravans from the routes leading to Hudson Bay, and
to meet the British, the New Englander (" Bostonian "),
and the French Canadian traders at various rendezvous on
> See Sir Alexander Mackenzie's Travels, p. 5.
277
278 Pioneers in Canada
Lake Winnipeg and its tributary lakes and rivers. The
principal depot and starting-point for the north-west
traders was Grand Portage, on the north-west coast of
Lake Superior, whence canoes and goods were transferred
by a nine-mile portage to the waters flowing to Rainy
Lake, and so onwards to the Winnipeg River and the
vast system of the Saskatchewan, the Red River, and the
Assiniboine.
Amongst the pioneers in this new development of the
fur trade, who became also the great explorers of northern-
most America, was Alexander Henry (already described),
THOMAS CURRIE, JAMES FINLAY, PETER POND,] JOSEPH
and BENJAMIN FROBISHER, and SIMON M'TAVISH. These
and some of their supporting merchants in Montreal re-
solved to form a great fur-trading association, the cele-
brated North-west Trading Company, and did so in 1784.
Two of the Montreal merchant firms participating in
this confederation (Gregory and M'Leod) were inclined to
play a somewhat independent part, and called themselves
the New North-west Trading Company. They had the fore-
sight to engage as their principal agents in the north-west
(Sir) ALEXANDER MACKENZIE and his cousin RODERICK
MACKENZIE. Both these young men were Highlanders,
probably of Norse origin. Alexander Mackenzie was
born at Stornoway, in the Island of Lewis (Hebrides), in
1763. He was only sixteen when he started for Canada
to take up a position as clerk in the partnership concern
of Gregory & M'Leod at Montreal.
It may be said here briefly that this " New North-west
Company" went at first by the nickname of "The Little
Company" or "The Potties", this last being an Amer-
indian corruption of the French Les Petits. Later it
developed into the "X. Y. Company", or "Sir Alexander
' Peter Pond was a native of Connecticut, and in the opinion of his trading associates
rather a ruffian. He was strongly suspected of having murdered an amiable Swiss fur
trader named Wadin, and at a later date he actually did kill his trading partner, Ross.
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 279
Mackenzie & Co.". Although much in rivalry with the
original " Nor'-westers ", the rivalry never degenerated
into the actual warfare, the indefensible deeds of violence
and treachery, which later on were perpetrated by the
Hudson's Bay Company on the agents of the North-west,
and returned with interest by the latter. Often the New
North-west agents and the original Nor'-westers would
camp or build side by side, and share equably in the
fur trade with the natives; their canoemen and French-
Canadian voyageurs would sing their boating songs in
chorus as they paddled side by side across the lakes and
down the rivers, or marched with their heavy loads over
the portages and along the trails. Eventually, in 1804,
the X. Y. Company and the North-west fused into the
North-west Trading Company, -which until 1821 fought
a hard fight against the encroachments and jealousy of
the Hudson's Bay Company.
During the period, however, from 1785 to 1812 the men
of the north-west, of Montreal, and Grand Portage (as
contrasted with those of Hudson Bay) effected a revo-
lution in Canadian geography. They played the role of
imperial pioneers with a stubborn heroism, with little
thought of personal gain, and in most cases with full
foreknowledge and appreciation of what would accrue
to the British Empire through their success. It is im-
possible to relate the adventures of all of them within the
space of any one book, or even of several volumes. More-
over, this has been done already, not only in their own
published journals and books, but in the admirable works
of Elliot Coues, Dr. George Bryce, Dr. S. J. Dawson,
Alexander Ross, and others. I must confine myself here
to a description of the adventures of Sir Alexander Mac-
kenzie, with a glance at incidents recorded by Simon
Fraser and by Alexander Henry the Younger.
Mackenzie, having been appointed at the age of twenty-
two a partner in the New North-west Company, proceeded
280 Pioneers in Canada
to Grand Portage in 1785, and by the year 1788 (after
founding Fort Chipewayan on Lake Athabaska) conceived
the idea of following the mysterious Slave River to its
ultimate outlet into the Arctic or the Pacific Ocean. He
left Fort Chipewayan on June 3, 1789, accompanied by
four French -Canadian vqyageurs, two French -Canadian
women (wives of two voyageurs), a young German named
John Steinbruck, and an Amerindian guide known as
" English Chief". This last was a follower and pupil of
the Matonabi who had guided Hearne to the Coppermine
River and the eastern end of the Great Slave Lake. The
party of eight whites packed themselves and their goods
into one birch-bark canoe. English Chief and his two
wives, together with an additional Amerindian guide and
a hunter, travelled in a second and smaller canoe. The
expedition, moreover, was accompanied as far as Slave
River by LE Roux, a celebrated French-Canadian ex-
ploring trader who worked for the X. Y. Company. The
journey down the Slave River was rendered difficult and
dangerous by the rapids. Several times the canoes and
their loads had to be lugged past these falls by an over-
land portage. Mosquitoes tortured the whole party almost
past bearance. The leaders of the expedition and their
Indian hunter had to be busily engaged (the Indian
women also) in hunting and fishing in order to get food
for the support of the party, who seemed to have had little
reserve provisions with them. Pemmican was made of
fish dried in the sun and rubbed to powder. Swans, geese,
cranes, and ducks fell to the guns; an occasional beaver
was also added to the pot. When they reached the
Great Slave Lake they found its islands — notwithstand-
ing their barren appearance — covered with bushes pro-
ducing a great variety of palatable fruits — cranberries,
juniper berries, raspberries, partridge berries, goose-
berries, and the ' ' pathogomenan ", a fruit like a rasp-
berry.
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 281
Slave Lake, however, was still, in mid-June, under
the spell of winter, its surface obstructed with drifting
ice. In attempting to cross the lake the frail birch-bark
canoes ran a great risk of being crushed between the ice
floes. However, at length, after halting at several islands
and leaving Le Roux to go to the trading station he had
founded on the shores of Slave Lake, Mackenzie and his
two canoes found their way to the river outlet of Slave
Lake, that river which was henceforth to be called by his
name. Great mountains approached near to the west of
their course. They appeared to be sprinkled with white
stones, called by the natives "spirit stones" — indeed over
a great part of North America the Rocky Mountains were
called "the Mountains of Bright Stones" — yet these bril-
liant patches were nothing more -wonderful than unmelted
snow.
A few days later the party encountered Amerindians
of the Slave and Dog-rib tribes, who were so aloof from
even "Indian" civilization that they did not know the
use of tobacco, and were still in the Stone Age as regards
their weapons and implements. These people, though
they furnished a guide, foretold disaster and famine to
the expedition, and greatly exaggerated the obstacles
which would be met with — rapids near the entrance of
the tributary from Great Bear Lake — before the salt
water was reached.
The canoes of these Slave and Dog-rib tribes of the
Athapaskan (Tinne) group were covered, not with birch
bark, but with the bark of the spruce fir.
The lodges of the Slave Indians were of very simple
structure: a few poles supported by a fork and forming
a semicircle at the bottom, with some branches or a piece
of bark as a covering. They built two of these huts
facing each other, and made a fire between them. The
furniture consisted of a few dishes of wood, bark, or
horn. The vessels in which they cooked their victuals
282 Pioneers in Canada
were in the shape of a gourd, narrow at the top and
wide at the bottom, and made of ivdtdpe.
This was the name given to the divided roots of the
spruce fir, which the natives wove into a degree of com-
pactness that rendered it capable of containing a fluid.
Watape fibre was also used to sew together different
parts of the bark canoes. They also made fibre or thread
from willow bark. Their cooking vessels made of this
watape not only contained water, but water which was
made to boil by putting a succession of hot stones into
it. It would, of course, be impossible to place these vessels
of fibre on a fire, and apparently none of the Amerindians
of temperate North America knew anything about pottery.
Those that were in some degree in touch with the Eskimo
used kettles or cauldrons of stone. Elsewhere the vessels
for boiling water and cooking were made of bark or fibre,
and the water therein was made to boil by the dropping
in of red-hot stones. The arrows of these Slave Indians
were two and a half feet long, and the barb was made
of bone, horn, flint, or copper. Iron had been quite
lately introduced, indirectly obtained from the Russians
in Alaska. Their spears were pointed with barbed bone,
and their daggers were made of horn or bone. Their
great club, the pogamagdn, was made of a reindeer's
antler. Axes were manufactured out of a piece of brown
or grey stone, six to eight inches long and two inches
thick. They kindled fire by striking together a piece of
iron pyrites and touchwood, and never travelled without
a small bag containing such materials.
The Amerindians along the lower Mackenzie had
heard vague and terrible legends about the Russians,
far, far away on the coast of Alaska; they were repre-
sented as beings of gigantic stature, and adorned with
wings; which, however, they never employed in flying
(possibly the sails of their ships). They fed on large
birds, and killed them with the greatest ease. They also
BIG-HORNRIl SHRRP OK ROCKY MOUNTAINS
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 283
possessed the extraordinary power of killing with their
eyes (no doubt putting up a gun to aim), and they
travelled in canoes of very large dimensions.
" I engaged one of these Indians," writes Mackenzie,
"by a bribe of some beads, to describe the surrounding
country upon the sand. This singular map he im-
mediately undertook to delineate, and accordingly traced
out a very long point of land between the rivers . . .
which he represented as running into the great lake, at
the extremity of which he had been told by Indians of
other nations there was a white man's fort." The same
people described plainly the Yukon River westward of
the mountains, and told Mackenzie it was a far greater
stream than the one he was exploring. This was the first
" hint " of the existence of the great Alaskan river which
was ever recorded. They also spoke to Mackenzie
of "small white buffaloes" (?the mountain goat),
which they found in the mountains west of the Mac-
kenzie.
Whenever and wherever Mackenzie's party met these
northernmost tribes of Athapascan Indians they were
always ready to dance in between short spells of talking.
This dancing and jumping was their only amusement,
and in it old and young, male and female, went to such
exertions that their strength was exhausted. As they
jumped up and down they imitated the various noises
produced by the reindeer, the bear, and the wolf.
In descending the Mackenzie River, and again on the
return journey upstream, Mackenzie notices the abun-
dance of berries on the banks of the river, especially the
kind which was called "pears" by the French Canadians.
These were of a purple hue, rather bigger than a pea, and
of a luscious taste. There were also gooseberries and a
few strawberries. Quantities of berries were collected and
dried, but while on the lower Mackenzie the expedition
fed mainly on fat geese. On the beach of the great river
284 Pioneers in Canada
they found an abundance of a sweet fragrant root which
Mackenzie calls " liquorice".
Mackenzie seemed to think that along the lower
Mackenzie River, near the sea, there were not only rein-
deer, bears, wolverines, martens, foxes, and hares, but a
species of white buffalo or white musk ox, which may
have been the mountain goat above referred to. He
noted, in the cliffs or banks of the lower Mackenzie,
pieces of " petroleum" which bore a resemblance to
yellow wax but was more friable. His Indian guide
informed him that rocks of a similar kind were scattered
about the country at the back of the Slave Lake, near
where the Chipewayans collected copper. If so, there
may be a great oilfield yet to be discovered in Arctic
Canada.
On the river coming out of the Bear Lake Mackenzie
discovered coal; the whole beach was strewn with it. He
was attracted towards it by seeing smoke and noticing
a strong sulphurous smell. The whole bank of the river
was on fire for a considerable distance, and he thought
this was due to the natives having camped there and set
fire to the coal in the bank from their hearths. But sub-
sequent travellers have also found this lignite coal burn-
ing to waste, and imagine that, being full of gas, it catches
fire spontaneously if any landslip or other accident exposes
it to moist air. In 1906 it was still burning!
According to Mackenzie, the ground in the regions
about the lower reaches of the Mackenzie River is always
frozen at least five inches down from the surface, yet he
found small spruce trees growing in patches near the
delta of this river, besides pale-yellow raspberries of an
agreeable flavour, and a great variety of other plants
and herbs.
As the expedition drew near to the estuary of the great
Mackenzie River a range of lofty snowy mountains rose
into sight on the west. These mountains were said by
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 285
the natives to swarm with large bears — probably of the
huge chocolate-coloured Alaska type; and again a men-
tion was made of "small white buffaloes", which were
in all probability the large white mountain goat (Oream-
nus). The Amerindians along the river greatly mag-
nified the dangers, predicting impassable rapids between
the confluence of the Great Bear River and the sea. But
these stories were greatly exaggerated. Every now and
then the river would narrow and flow between white
precipitous limestone walls of rock, but there was no
obstacle to navigation, though it was very deep and the
current fast.
The travellers now began to get within touch of the
Eskimo and to hear of their occasional raids up the river
from the sea. They were said to use slings, from which
they flung stones with such dexterity as to prove formid-
able in their fights with the Amerindians, who regarded
them with great respect, the more so because of their
intercourse with the mysterious white people (Russians)
from whom they obtained iron.
Mackenzie just managed to reach within sight of the
sea, beyond the delta of the river, his most northern point
being about 69° 14" north latitude. Hence he gazed out
northwards over a vast expanse of piled-up ice in which
several small islands were embedded. In the spaces of
open water whales were visible (the small white whale,
Beluga). The water in between the islands was affected
by the tide. The travellers had, in fact, reached the Arctic
ocean. But, owing to the fickleness of their guides, and
the danger of being detained by some obstacle in these
northern latitudes without proper supplies for the winter,
Mackenzie was afraid to stay for further investigations,
and on July 16, 1789, turned his back on the sea and com-
menced his return journey up the stream of the great river
which was henceforth to bear his name.
The strength of the current made the homeward travel
286 Pioneers in Canada
much more lengthy and tedious. The Indians of the
party were troublesome, and the principal guide, English
Chief, was sulky and disobedient. This man had in-
sisted on being accompanied by two of his wives, of whom
he was so morbidly jealous that he could scarcely bring
himself to leave them for an hour in order to go hunting
or to prospect the country; consequently he did little or
nothing in the killing of game, and this kept the expedi-
tion on very small rations. Mackenzie got wroth with him,
and so gave him a sound rating. This irritated English
Chief to a high degree, and after a long and vehement
harangue he burst into tears and loud and bitter lamen-
tations. Thereat his friends and wives commenced crying
and wailing vociferously, though they declared that their
tears were shed, not for any trouble between the white
man and English Chief, but because they suddenly recol-
lected all the friends and relations they had lost within
the last few years! " I did not interrupt their grief for
two hours, but as I could not well do without them, I
was at length obliged to sooth it and induce the chief
to change his resolution (to leave me), which he did with
great apparent reluctance."
Later on English Chief told Mackenzie that he feared
he might have to go to war, because it was a custom
amongst the Athapaskan chiefs to make war after they
had given way to the disgrace attached to such a femi-
nine weakness as shedding tears. Therefore he would
undertake a warlike expedition in the following spring,
but in the meantime he would continue with Mackenzie
as long as he wanted him.
Mackenzie, rejoining Le Roux at the Slave Lake,
safely reached his station at Fort Chipewayan on Sep-
tember 12, 1789, just as the approach of winter was
making travel in these northern regions dangerous to
those who relied on unfrozen water as a means of
transit.
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 287
Mackenzie seems to have been a little disappointed
with the results of his northward journey; perhaps he
had thought that the outlet of Slave Lake and the Mac-
kenzie River would be into the Pacific, the Mer de
V Quest of his Canadian voyageurs. Yet he must have
realized that he had discovered something very wonder-
ful after all: the beginning of Alaska, the approach to
a region which, though lying within the Arctic circle,
has climatic conditions permitting the existence of trees,
abundant vegetation, and large, strange beasts, and which,
moreover, is highly mineralized. His work in this direc-
tion, however (and that of Hearne), was to be completed
in the next century by SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, SIR GEORGE
BACK, SIR JOHN RICHARDSON, and SIR JOHN Ross — all
knighthoods earned by magnificent services in geogra-
phical exploration — and by THOMAS SIMPSON, Dr. John
Rae,1 WARREN DBASE, JOHN M'LEOD, ROBERT CAMP-
BELL, and other servants of the Hudson's Bay Company.
In October, 1792, Mackenzie had determined to make
a great attempt to reach the Pacific Ocean. By this time
he and his colleagues had explored the Peace River (the
main tributary of Slave Lake), and had realized that they
could travel up it into the heart of the Rocky Moun-
tains. He wintered and traded at a place which he
called " New Establishment", on the banks of the Peace
River, near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. He
left this station on May 9, 1793, accompanied by ALEX-
ANDER MACKAY,S six French Canadians, and two Indian
guides. They travelled up the Peace River in a twenty-
five-foot canoe, and at first passed through scenery the
most beautiful Mackenzie had ever beheld. He describes
it as follows : —
"The ground rises at intervals to a considerable
1 See p. 125.
2 Alexander Mackay long afterwards left the service of the North-west Company,
and was killed by savages on the Alaska coast, near Nutka Sound.
288 Pioneers in Canada
height, and stretching inwards to a considerable dis-
tance: at every interval or pause in the rise, there is a
very gently ascending space or lawn, which is alternate
with abrupt precipices to the summit of the whole, or
at least as far as the eye could distinguish. This mag-
nificent theatre of nature has all the decorations which
the trees and animals of the country can afford it: groves
of poplars in every shape vary the scene; and their inter-
vals are enlivened with vast herds of elks and buffaloes:
the former choosing the steeps and uplands and the latter
preferring the plains. At this time the buffaloes were
attended with their young ones, who were striking about
them; and it appeared that the elks would soon exhibit
the same enlivening circumstance. The whole country
displayed an exuberant verdure; the trees that bear a
blossom were advancing fast to that delightful appear-
ance, and the velvet rind of their branches reflecting
the oblique rays of a rising or setting sun, added a
splendid gaiety to the scene which no expressions of
mine are qualified to describe."
Of course, as they neared the Rocky Mountains the
navigation of the Peace River became more and more diffi-
cult. At last they left the river to find their way across
the mountains till they should reach the headwaters of
a stream flowing towards the Pacific Ocean. Sometimes
they only accomplished three miles a day, having to
carry all their goods and their canoe. The mountainous
country was covered with splendid forests of spruce, pine,
cypress, poplar, birch, willow, and many other kinds of
trees, with an undergrowth of gooseberries, currants, and
briar roses. The travellers generally followed paths made
by the elks^just as in the dense forests of Africa the way
sometimes is cleared for human travellers by the elephant.
Every now and again they resumed their journey on the
1 For the word "elk" Mackenzie uses "moose deer". "Elk" in the Canadian
Dominion is misapplied to the great Wapiti red deer,
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 289
river between the falls and cascades. The mountains
seemed to be a solid mass of limestone, in some places
without any covering of foliage.
"In no part of the north-west", writes Mackenzie, "did
I see so much beaver work " (along the eastern branch of
the Peace River). In some places the beavers had cut
down acres of large poplars, and were busily at work on
their labours of dam-making during the night, between
the setting and the rising sun.
Gnats and mosquitoes came with the intense heat of
June to make life almost unbearable. As they got close
to the Rocky Mountains they encountered Amerindians
who had never seen a white man before, and who at
first received them with demonstrations of great hostility
and fright. But owing to the diplomatic skill of Mackenzie
they gradually yielded to a more friendly attitude, and
here he decided to camp until the natives had become
familiarized with him and his party, and could give them
information as to his route. But they could only tell
that, away to the west beyond the mountains, a month's
travel, there was a vast " lake of stinking water", to which
came, for purposes of trade, other white men with vessels
as big as islands.
These Rocky Mountain Indians made their canoes
from spruce bark1 in the following manner: The bark
is taken off the spruce fir to the whole length of the in-
tended canoe, only about eighteen feet, and is sewed with
ivdtdpe at both ends. Two laths are then laid across the
end of the gunwale. In these are fixed the bars, and
against them the ribs or timbers, that are cut to the length
to which the bark can be stretched ; and to give additional
strength, strips of wood are laid between them. To make
the whole water-tight, gum is abundantly employed.
Obtaining a guide from these people, Mackenzie con-
tinued his journey along the Parsnip, or southern branch
1 See p. 281.
(0812) 19
290 Pioneers in Canada
of the upper Peace River, partly by water, partly by land,
till he reached its source,1 a lake, on the banks of which
he saw innumerable swans, geese, and ducks. Wild
parsnips grew here in abundance, and were a grateful
addition to the diet of the travellers. As to birds, they
not only saw blue jays and yellow birds, but the first
humming bird which Mackenzie had ever beheld in the
north-west.8
From this tiny lake he made his way over lofty
mountains to another lake at no great distance, and from
this a small stream called the Bad River flowed south-
wards to join a still bigger stream, which Mackenzie
thought might prove to be one of the branches of the
mighty Columbia River that flows out into the Pacific
through the State of Oregon. It really was the Eraser
River, and of the upper waters of the Fraser Mackenzie
was the discoverer.3
Their experiences down the little mountain stream
which was to take them into the Fraser nearly ended
in complete disaster. "The violence of the current being
so great as to drive the canoe sideways down the river,
and break her by the first bar, I instantly jumped into the
water and the men followed my example; but before we
could set her straight, or stop her, we came to deeper
water, so that we were obliged to re-embark with the utmost
precipitation. . . . We had hardly regained our situa-
tions when we drove against a rock which shattered the
stern of the canoe in such a manner, that it held only by
1 Mr. Burpee points out that this was really the southernmost source of the mighty
congeries of streams which flowed northwards to form the Mackenzie River system.
Having traced the Mackenzie to the sea, its discoverer now stood four years after-
wards at its most remote source, 2420 miles from its mouth at which he had seen the
ice floes and the whales.
2 Humming birds arrive annually in British Columbia between April and May, and
stay there till the autumn. They winter in the warmer parts of California.
3 The great surveyor and map maker, David Thompson, was the first white man to
reach the upper waters of the Columbia River. The Fraser River was afterwards followed
to its outlet in the Straits of Georgia (opposite Vancouver Island) by Simon Fraser.
THE UI'PER WATERS OF THE ERASER RIVER
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 291
the gunwales, so that the steersman could no longer keep
his place. The violence of this stroke drove us to the
opposite side of the river, which is but narrow, when the
bow met with the same fate as the stern. ... In a few
moments, we came across a cascade which broke several
large holes in the bottom of the canoe, and started all
the bars. . . . The wreck becoming flat on the water, we
all jumped out . . . and held fast to the wreck; to which
fortunate resolution we owed our safety, as we should
otherwise have been dashed against the rocks by the force
of the water, or driven over the cascades. ... At length
we most fortunately arrived in shallow water, and at a
small eddy, where we were enabled to make a stand, from
the weight of the canoe resting on the stones, rather than
from any exertions of our exhausted strength. . . . The
Indians, when they saw our deplorable situation, instead
of making the least effort to help us, sat down and gave
vent to their tears."
Nobody, however, had been killed, though much of
the luggage was lost, and what remained had to be spread
out to dry. Many of Mackenzie's people, however, when
they took stock of their misfortunes, were rather pleased
than otherwise, as they thought the disaster would stop
him from any further attempt to reach the Western Sea.
He wisely listened to their observations without replying,
till their panic was dispelled, and they had got themselves
warm and comfortable with a hearty meal and a glass of
rum; though a little later only by their indifferent care-
lessness they nearly exploded the whole of the expedi-
tion's stock of gunpowder.
Fortunately the weather was fine. Mackenzie and his
fellow countryman, Mackay, allowed nothing to dismay
them or damp their spirits. Bark was obtained from the
forest, the canoe was repaired, and they heard from their
guide that this violent little stream would before long join
a great and much smoother river. But they were tor-
292 Pioneers in Canada
mented with sandflies and mosquitoes, and a day or two
afterwards the guide bolted, while the expedition had to
cross morasses in which they were nearly engulfed, and
the water journey was constantly obstructed by driftwood.
Nevertheless, at last they had "the inexpressible satisfac-
tion of finding themselves on the bank of a navigable river
on the western side of the first great range of mountains".
Here they re-embarked, and were cheerful in spite of
heavy rain.
As they paddled down this great stream, more than
two hundred yards wide, snow-capped mountains rose
immediately above the river. The current was strong,
but perfectly safe. Flocks of ducks, entirely white, except
the bill and a part of the wing, rose before them. Smoke
ascending in columns from many parts of the woods
showed that the country was well inhabited, and the air
was fragrant with the strong odour of the gum of cypress
and spruce fir.
Then came a series of cascades and falls and a most
arduous portage of the heavy canoe. These labours were
somewhat lightened by the discovery of quantities of wild
onions growing on the banks; but these, when mixed with
the pemmican, on which the party was subsisting, stimu-
lated their appetites to an inconvenient degree, seeing that
they were on short commons. Meeting with strange
Indians they found no one to interpret, and had to use
signs. But on the banks of the Eraser they were lucky
enough to find the " real red deer", the great wapiti stag,
which is absent from the far north-west, beyond the region
of the Saskatchewan. The canoe was loaded with venison.
The banks of the Fraser River sank to a moderate height
and were covered with poplars and cypresses, birch trees,
junipers, alders, and willows. The deserted house or
lodge of some Amerindian tribe was visited on the banks.
It was a finer structure than anything that Mackenzie
had seen since he left Fort Michili-Makinak in upper
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 293
Canada. It had been constructed for three families.
There were three fireplaces and three beds and a kind of
larder for the purpose of keeping fish. The whole " lodge"
was twenty feet long by three wide, and had three doors.
The walls were formed of straight spruce timbers with
some skill of carpentry. The roof was covered with bark,
and large rods were fixed across the upper part of the
building, where fish might hang and dry.
As they continued to descend the Eraser River, with
here and there a rapid which nearly swamped the canoe,
and lofty cliffs of red and white clay like the ruins of
ancient castles (stopping on their way to bury supplies of
pemmican against their return, and to light a fire on the
top of the burial place so as to mislead bears or other
animals that might dig it up)-, they were more or less
compelled to seek intercourse with the new tribes of Amer-
indians, whose presence on the river banks was obvious.
As usual, Mackenzie had to exercise great bravery, tact,
and guile to get into peaceful conversation with these
half - frightened, half -angry people. The peacemaking
generally concluded with the distribution of trinkets
amongst the men and women, and presents of sugar to
the children. Talking with these folk, however, through
such interpreters as there were amongst the Indians of
his crew, he learnt that lower down on the Eraser River
there was a peculiarly fierce, malignant race, living in
vast caves or subterranean dwellings, who would certainly
massacre the Europeans if they attempted to pass through
their country on their way to the sea. He therefore stopped
and set some of his men to work to make a new canoe.
He noticed, by the by, that these Amerindians of the
Eraser had small pointed canoes, " made after the fashion
of the Eskimo".
Renewing their voyage, they reached a house the roof
of which just appeared above the ground. It was deserted
by its inhabitants, who had been alarmed at the approach
294 Pioneers in Canada
of the white men, but in the neighbourhood appeared
gesticulating warriors with bows and arrows. Yet these
people of underground houses turned out to be friendly
and very ready to give information, partly because they
were in communication with the Amerindian tribes to the
east of the Rocky Mountains. From the elderly men of
this tribe Mackenzie ascertained that the Fraser River
flowed south by east, was often obstructed by rapids, and,
though it would finally bring them to a salt lake or inlet,
and then to the sea, it would cause them to travel for a
great distance to the south. He noticed the complete dif-
ference in the language of these Atna or Carrier Indians1
and that of the Nagailer or Chin Indians of the Athapaskan
group on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains.
He, however, learnt from these Atna Indians that
although the Fraser was out of the question as a quick
route to the sea, if he retraced his journey a little up this
river he would find another stream entering it from the
west, and along this they could travel upstream. And
then the route to the water "which was unfit to drink",
and the region to which came people with large ships,
would be of no great length. Accordingly, after having
had a tree engraved with Mackenzie's name and the date,
by the bank of the Fraser River, the expedition returned
to the subterranean house which they had seen the day
before.
"We were in our canoe by four this morning, and
passed by the Indian hut, which appeared in a state of
perfect tranquillity. We soon came in sight of the point
where we first saw the natives, and at eight were much
surprised and disappointed at seeing Mr. Mackay and
our two Indians coming alone from the ruins of a house
that had been partly carried away by the ice and water,
at a short distance below the place where we had appointed
1 Apparently these were of the Sikanni tribe, and only another branch of the greal
Tinne" (Atliapaskan) stock.
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 295
to meet. Nor was our surprise and apprehension dimin-
ished by the alarm which was painted in their countenances.
. . . They informed me they had taken refuge in that
place, with the determination to sell their lives ... as
dear as possible. In a very short time after we had
separated, they met a party of the Indians, whom we had
known at this place, and were probably those whom we
had seen landing from their canoe. These Indians ap-
peared to be in a state of extreme rage, and had their
bows bent, with their arrows across them. The guide
stopped to ask them some questions, which our people
did not understand, and then set off with his utmost speed.
Mr. Mackay, however, followed, and did not leave him
till they were both exhausted with running. . . . The
guide then said that some treacherous design was medi-
tated against them, . . . and conducted them through
very bad ways as fast as they could run. When he was
desired to slacken his pace, he answered that they might
follow him in any manner they pleased, but that he was
impatient to get to his family, in order to prepare shoes
and other necessaries for his journey. They did not,
however, think it prudent to quit him, and he would not
stop till ten at night. On passing a track that was but
lately made, they began to be seriously alarmed, and on
enquiring of the guide where they were, he pretended
not to understand. Then they all laid down, exhausted
with fatigue, and without any kind of covering ; they were
cold, wet, and hungry, but dared not light a fire, from
the apprehension of an enemy. This comfortless spot
they left at the dawn of day, and, on their arrival at the
lodges, found them deserted; the property of the Indians
being scattered about, as if abandoned for ever. The
guide then made two or three trips into the woods, calling
aloud, and bellowing like a madman. At length he set
off in the same direction as they had come, and had not
since appeared. To heighten their misery, as they did
296 Pioneers in Canada
not find us at the place appointed, they concluded that
we were all destroyed, and had already formed their plan
to take to the woods, and cross in as direct a line as they
could proceed, to the waters of the Peace River, a scheme
which could only be suggested by despair. They intended
to have waited for us till noon, and if we did not appear
by that time, to have entered without further delay on
their desperate expedition."
Making preparations for warfare, if necessary, yet
neglecting no chance of re-entering into friendly relations
with the natives, Mackenzie set to work to repair the
wretched canoe, which was constantly having holes knocked
through her. He dealt tactfully with the almost open
mutiny of his French Canadians and Indians. At last
everyone settled down to the making of a new canoe, on
an island in the river where there were plenty of spruce
firs to provide the necessary bark. Even here they were
plagued with thunderstorms. Nevertheless, the men set
to work, and as they worked Mackenzie addressed them
with simple fervour, saying he knew of their plans to
desert him, but, come what might, he was resolved to
travel on to the westwards until he reached the waters
of the Pacific.
This calmed down the mutineers, and, to the great
relief of all concerned, that very afternoon the runaway
guide of the Atna people returned and apologized for
having deserted them. He then offered once again to
conduct them to the seacoast. Nevertheless, again he
fled, and Mackenzie was obliged to guide the expedition,
according to the information he had gathered from the
natives, up the small western affluent of the upper Fraser,
which he called the West Road River (now known as the
Blackwater).
His perseverance was rewarded, for after proceeding
up this river for-some distance he saw two canoes coming
towards them containing the runaway guide and six of
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 297
his relations. The guide was dressed in a painted beaver
robe, and looked so splendid that they scarcely knew
him again. Once more he declared it really was his
intention not to disappoint them. Soon afterwards they
landed, buried their property and provisions, and placed
their canoe on a stage, shaded by a covering of small
trees and branches from the sun. Each man carried on
his back four bags and a half of pemmican, of an aver-
age weight of eighty-five pounds, or other loads (instru-
ments, goods for presents, ammunition, &c.) of ninety
pounds in weight. Moreover, each of the Canadians
carried a gun. The Amerindian servants of the expedi-
tion were only asked to carry loads of forty-five pounds
in weight. Mackenzie's pack, and that of his companion,
Mackay, amounted to about . seventy pounds. Loaded
like this they had to scramble up the wooded mountains,
first soaked in perspiration from the heat and then drenched
with heavy rain. Nevertheless they walked for about thir-
teen miles the first day. Now they began to meet natives
who were closely in touch with the seacoast, which lay to
the west at a distance of about six days' journey.
"We had no sooner laid ourselves down to rest last
night than the natives began to sing, in a manner very
different from what I had been accustomed to hear among
savages. It was not accompanied either with dancing,
drum, or rattle; but consisted of soft, plaintive tones,
and a modulation that was rather agreeable: it had some-
what the air of church music." The country through
which they travelled abounded in beavers. It was the
month of July, however, and they were harassed with
thunderstorms, some of which were followed by hailstones
as big as musket balls. After one such storm the ground
was whitened for two miles with these balls of ice.
In order not to be deserted by all of their new guides,
Mackenzie was obliged to insist on one of them sharing
his hut. This young Amerindian was dressed in beaver
298 Pioneers in Canada
garments which were a nest of vermin. His hair was
greased with fish oil, and his body smeared with red earth,
so that at first Mackenzie thought he would never be able
to sleep; but such was his fatigue that he passed a night
of profound repose, and found the guide still there in the
morning. In this region he notes that the balsam fir of
Canada was abundant, the tree which provided the gum
that cured Carder's expedition of scurvy. Some of the
natives with whom they now came into contact were re-
markable for their grey eyes, a feature often observed
amongst the Amerindians of the North Pacific coast
"On observing some people before us, our guides
hastened to meet them, and, on their approach, one of
them stepped forward with an axe in his hand. This
party consisted only of a man, two women, and the same
number of children. The eldest of the women, who prob-
ably was the man's mother, was engaged, when we
joined them, in clearing a circular spot, of about five feet
in diameter, of the weeds that infested it; nor did our
arrival interrupt her employment, which was sacred to
the memory of the dead. The spot to which her pious
care was devoted contained the grave of a husband and
a son, and whenever she passed this way she always
stopped to pay this tribute of affection."
By this time, exposure to wind and sun, the attacks
of mosquitoes and flies, the difficulty of washing or of
changing their clothes, had made all the Europeans of the
party as dark in skin colour as the Amerindians, so that
such natives as they met who had the courage to examine
them, did so with the intention of discovering whether
they had any white skin left. The natives whom they
now encountered (belonging to the maritime tribes) were
comely in appearance, and far more cleanly than the tribes
of the north-west. As already mentioned, they had grey
eyes, sometimes tinged with hazel. Their stature was
noble, one man measuring at least six feet four inches.
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 299
They were clothed in leather, and their hair was nicely
combed and dressed with beads. One of a travelling band
of these Indians, finding that Mackenzie's party was on
short rations and very hungry, offered to boil them a kettle
of fish roes.
" He took the roes out of a bag, and having bruised
them between two stones, put them in water to soak.
His wife then took an handful of dry grass in her hand,
with which she squeezed them through her fingers. In
the meantime her husband was employed in gathering
wood to make a fire, for the purpose of heating stones.
When she had finished her operation, she filled a wdtdpe
kettle nearly full of water, and poured the roes into it.
When the stones were sufficiently heated, some of them
were put into the kettle, and others were thrown in from
time to time, till the water was in a state of boiling. The
woman also continued stirring the contents of the kettle,
till they were brought to a thick consistency; the stones
were then taken out, and the whole was seasoned with
about a pint of strong rancid oil. The smell of this
curious dish was sufficient to sicken me without tasting
it, but the hunger of my people surmounted the nauseous
meal. When unadulterated by the stinking oil these boiled
roes are not unpalatable food."
Farther on their journey their hunger was alleviated
by wild parsnips, also roots which appeared, when pulled
up, like a bunch of white peas, with the colour and taste
of a potato. On their way they were obliged to cross
snow mountains, where the snow was so compact that
their feet hardly made any perceptible impression. " Before
us appeared a stupendous mountain, whose snow-clad sum-
mit was lost in the clouds." These mountains, accord-
ing to the Indians, abounded in white goats.1 Emerging
from the mountains on to the lower ground, sloping to-
wards the sea, at nightfall they came upon a native village
1 Oreamitus.
300 Pioneers in Canada
.
in the thickness of the woods. Desperate with his fatigue,
and risking any danger to obtain rest, Mackenzie walked
straight into one of the houses, where people were busily
employed in cooking fish, threw down his burden, shook
hands with the people, and sat down.
"They received me without the least appearance of
surprise, but soon made signs for me to go up to the
large house, which was erected, on upright posts, at some
distance from the ground. A broad piece of timber with
steps cut in it led to the scaffolding even with the floor,
and by this curious kind of ladder I entered the house at
one end ; and having passed three fires, at equal distances
in the middle of the building, I was received by several
people, sitting upon a very wide board, at the upper end
of it. I shook hands with them, and seated myself beside
a man, the dignity of whose countenance induced me to
give him that preference. ..."
Later on, this man, seeing Mackenzie's people arriving
tired and hungry, rose and fetched from behind a plank,
four feet wide, a quantity of roasted salmon. A whole
salmon was offered to Mackenzie, and another to Mackay ;
half a salmon was given to each of the French Canadian
vqyageurs. Their host further invited them to sleep in
the house, but, Mackenzie thinking it preferable to camp
outside, a fire was lit to warm the weary travellers, and
each was lent a thick board on which to sleep, so that
he might not lie on the bare ground.
"We had not long been seated round the fire when
we received a dish of salmon roes, pounded fine and beat
up with water so as to have the appearance of a cream.
Nor was it without some kind of seasoning that gave it
a bitter taste. Another dish soon followed, the principal
article of which was also salmon roes, with a large pro-
portion of gooseberries, and an herb that appeared to be
sorrel. Its acidity rendered it more agreeable to my taste
than the former preparation. Having been regaled with
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 301
these delicacies, for such they were considered by that
hospitable spirit which provided them, we laid ourselves
down to rest with no other canopy than the sky. But I
never enjoyed a more sound and refreshing rest, though
I had a board for my bed and a billet for my pillow."
The gooseberries, wortleberries, and raspberries which
Mackenzie ate at this hospitable village were the finest he
ever saw or tasted of their respective kinds. They were
generally eaten together with the dry roes of salmon.
Salmon was the staple food of the country, and very
abundant in the river which Mackenzie was following
down to the Pacific shore. The fish were usually caught
in weirs, and also by dipping nets. The natives were
so superstitious about the salmon, that they believed they
would give offence to the spirits if they ate any other
animal food, especially meat. They would scarcely allow
Mackenzie to carry venison in his canoe, in case the salmon
should smell it and abandon the river.
After this welcome rest they embarked in two canoes
on the stream which Mackenzie calls the Salmon River.
The stream was rapid, and they proceeded at a great rate,
stopping every now and then to get out and walk round
salmon weirs. Nevertheless, although other Indians ran
before them announcing their approach towards a village,
the noise of which was apparent in the distance, they
were received at this place in a very hostile way, the men
rapidly arming themselves with bows and arrows, spears,
and axes. But Mackenzie walked on alone to greet them,
and shook hands with the nearest man. Thereupon an
elderly man broke from the crowd and took Mackenzie
in his arms. Another then came and paid him the same
compliment. One man to whom he presented his hand
broke the string of a handsome robe of sea-otter skin and
threw it over Mackenzie.
The chief made signs to the white men to follow him
to his house, which Mackenzie found to be of larger
3oa Pioneers in Canada
dimensions and better materials than any he had yet seen.
" Very clean mats " were spread in this house for the chief,
his counsellors, and the two white men. A small roasted
salmon was then placed before each person.
"When we had satisfied ourselves with the fish, one
of the people who came with us from the last village
approached, with a kind of ladle in one hand, containing
oil, and in the other something that resembled the inner
rind of the cocoanut, but of a lighter colour. This he
dipped in the oil, and, having eaten it, indicated by his
gestures how palatable he thought it. He then presented
me with a small piece of it, which I chose to taste in its
dry state, though the oil was free from any unpleasant
smell. A square cake of this was next produced, when
a man took it to the water near the house, and having
thoroughly soaked it, he returned, and, after he had pulled
it to pieces like oakum, put it into a well-made trough,
about three feet long, nine inches wide, and five deep.
He then plentifully sprinkled it with salmon oil, and mani-
fested by his own example that we were to eat of it. I
just tasted it, and found the oil perfectly sweet, without
which the other ingredient would have been very insipid.
The chief partook of it with great avidity after it had re-
ceived an additional quantity of oil. This dish is con-
sidered by these people as a great delicacy; and on
examination, I discovered it to consist of the inner rind
of the hemlock pine tree, taken off early in summer, and
put into a frame, which shapes it into cakes of fifteen
inches long, ten broad, and half an inch thick; and in
this form I should suppose it may be preserved for a
great length of time. This discovery satisfied me respect-
ing the many hemlock trees which I had observed stripped
of their bark."
Mackenzie found some of the older men here with long
beards, and to one of them he presented a pair of scissors
for clipping his beard.
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 303
After describing some remarkable oblong " tables "
(as they might be called) of cedar wood — twenty feet
long by eight feet broad — made of thick cedar boards
joined together with the utmost neatness, and painted
with hieroglyphics and the figures of animals; and his
visit to a kind of temple in the village, into the archi-
tecture of which strangely carved and painted figures
were interwoven; Mackenzie goes on to relate an episode
giving one a very vivid idea of the helplessness of "native"
medicine in many diseases.
He was taken to see a son of the chief, who was suf-
fering from a terrible ulcer in the small of his back, round
which the flesh was gangrened, one of his knees being
afflicted in the same way. The poor fellow was reduced
to a skeleton, and apparently drawing very near to death.
" I found the native physicians busy in practising their
skill and art on the patient. They blew on him, and then
whistled ; at times they pressed their extended fingers with
all their strength on his stomach ; they also put their fore-
fingers doubled into his mouth, and spouted water from
their own with great violence into his face. To support
these operations the wretched sufferer was held up in a
sitting posture, and when they were concluded he was laid
down and covered with a new robe made of the skin of
a lynx. I had observed that his belly and breast were
covered with scars, and I understood that they were caused
by a custom prevalent among them of applying pieces of
lighted touchwood to their flesh, in order to relieve pain
or demonstrate their courage. He was now placed on a
broad plank, and carried by six men into the woods, where
I was invited to accompany them. I could not conjecture
what would be the end of this ceremony, particularly as
I saw one man carry fire, another an axe, and a third dry
wood. I was, indeed, disposed to suspect that, as it was
their custom to burn the dead, they intended to relieve the
ooor man from his pain, and perform the last sad duty of
304 Pioneers in Canada
surviving affection. When they had advanced a short
distance into the wood, they laid him upon a clear spot,
and kindled a fire against his back, when the physician
began to scarify the ulcer with a very blunt instrument,
the cruel pain of which operation the patient bore with
incredible resolution. The scene afflicted me, and I left
it."
The chief of this village had probably met Captain
Cook about ten years before. He had been down in a
large canoe1 with forty of his people to the seacoast, where
he saw two large vessels.
Farther down the river the natives, instead of regaling
them with fish, placed before them a long, clean, and
well-made trough full of berries, most of them resembling
blackberries, though white in colour, and others similar
to huckleberries. In this region the women were em-
ployed in beating and preparing the inner rind of the
juniper bark, to which they gave the appearance of flax,
and others were spinning with a distaff; again, others
were weaving robes of this fibrous thread, intermixed with
strips of sea-otter skin. The men were fishing on the
river with drag nets between two canoes, thus intercept-
ing the salmon coming up the river.
At last, on Saturday, the 2Oth of July, 1793, they
emerged from the Salmon River into an arm of the sea
(probably near King Island). The tide was out, and had
1 Mackenzie thus describes one of the large sea-going canoes of the coast natives :
"This canoe was built of cedar, forty-five feet long, four feet broad, and three and a
half in depth. It was painted black and decorated with white figures of different kinds.
The gunwale fore and aft was inlaid with the teeth of the sea otter." He adds that
"these coast tribes (north of Vancouver Island and of Queen Charlotte Sound) had
been in indirect contact with the Spaniards since the middle of the sixteenth century,
and with the Russians from the middle of the eighteenth century. Therefore, from
these two directions they had learnt the use of metal, and had obtained copper, brass,
and iron. They may possibly have had copper earlier still from the Northern Indians
on the other side of the Rocky Mountains ; but brass and iron they could, of course,
only have obtained from Europeans. They had already become very deft at dealing
with these metals, and twisted the iron into collars which weighed upwards of twelve
pounds, also beating it into plates for their daggers and knives."
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 305
left a large space covered with seaweed. The surround-
ing hills were involved in fog. . . . The bay appeared
to be some three miles in breadth, and on the coast the
travellers saw a great number of sea otters.1 At two in
the afternoon the swell was so high, and the wind, which
was against them, so boisterous, that they could not pro-
ceed along the seacoast in their leaky canoe. A young
chief who had come with them as one of their guides,
and who had been allowed to leave when the seacoast
was reached, returned bearing a large porcupine on his
back. He first cut the animal open and threw its entrails
into the sea, then singed the skin and boiled it in separate
pieces ; nor did he go to rest till, with the assistance of two
others who happened to be awake, every morsel of it had
been devoured. This was fortunate, because their stock
of provisions was reduced to twenty pounds' weight of
pemmican, sixteen pounds of rice, and six pounds of flour
amongst ten men, "in a leaky vessel, and on a barbarous
coast ".
The rise and fall of the tide here was noted at fifteen
feet in height. Mr. Mackay collected a quantity of small
mussels, which were boiled and eaten by the two Scotch-
men, but not by the Canadians, who were quite unac-
quainted with sea shellfish.
Near Point Menzies, which had already been reached
and named by Captain VANCOUVER in the spring of 1793
on his great voyage of discovery up the North American
coast,2 Alexander Mackenzie met a party of Amerindians,
1 These may have been small seals, but the sea otter (Enhydris lutris), now nearly
extinct, was at one time found in numbers along the north-west American coast, from
the Aleutian Islands and Alaska to Oregon. Owing to persecution it now leads an
almost entirely aquatic life, resting at times on the masses of floating seaweed.
* GEORGE VANCOUVER (born about 1758, and probably descended from Dutch or
Flemish ancestors) was one of the great pioneers of the British Empire. His name
is commemorated in Vancouver's Island, an important portion of British Columbia.
Vancouver entered the navy when only thirteen, sailed with Captain Cook, and eventu-
ally was appointed to command a naval expedition sent out in 1791 to survey and take
over from the Spaniards the north-west American coast north of Oregon. It is remark-
(0312) 30
306 Pioneers in Canada
amongst whom was a man of insolent aspect, who, by
means of signs and exclamations, made him understand
that he and his friends had been fired at by a white man
named Makuba (Vancouver), and that another white man,
called "Bensins", had struck him on the back with the
flat of his sword. This man more or less compelled Mac-
kenzie to accompany him in the direction of his village,
and on the way explained that " Makuba" had come there
with his "big boat". Indeed, Mackenzie's party per-
ceived the remains of sheds or buildings on the shore
where Europeans had probably made a camp, and here
they established themselves, taking up a position of de-
fence, because the attitude of the natives was rather
threatening.
At this camp there was a rock, and on this Alexander
Mackenzie, mixing up some vermilion or red clay in melted
grease, inscribed in large characters the following words:
"Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, the twenty-
second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-
three". He then shifted his camp to a place three miles
to the north-east, below a precipice from which issued
streams of fine water as cold as ice. And here he took
careful observations with his astronomical and surveying
instruments, in order to fix his position. Fortunately the
day was one of bright sunshine. Otherwise, had there
been a long persistence of cloud, he might have been
obliged to leave the Pacific coast without being able to
fix precisely the place where he had reached the sea.
Then he yielded to the passionate desire of his people
to withdraw inland from the possibly dangerous inhabi-
tants of the coast, and returned with them to the encamp-
able that he should only have missed Mackenzie's arrival at Point Menzies by about
two months. With what amazed rejoicing would these two heroic explorers have
greeted one another had they met on this remote point of the Pacific coast, the one
coming overland (so to speak) from Quebec and the Atlantic, and the other all the way
by sea from Falmouth via the Cape of Good Hope, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti,
ant} Hawaii.
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 307
ment where the porcupine had been eaten. Here the
guide made off into the woods. Mackenzie followed him,
and thus reached a village from which two men issued
armed with daggers and intending to attack him. While
stopping to defend himself, many other people assembled,
and amongst them he recognized the irritating person who
incessantly repeated the names "Makuba" and "Benzins".
However, this threatened danger was narrowly averted,
and eventually they left the village with a supply of food ;
but also in a state of considerable irritation with — fleas!
For some of the houses of these Pacific coast villages
swarmed with fleas to such an extent that Mackenzie and
his men were obliged to take to the water to rid themselves
of these vermin, which swarmed also on the ground that
was bare of grass.
The return journey up the Salmon River was a series
of bewildering vicissitudes. Sometimes Mackenzie and
his party were received in the most threatening way by
persons who had been warm friends on their downward
journey, then seemingly inevitable war was transformed
into peace, but guides deserted, or the Amerindians from
across the Rocky Mountains attempted to mutiny. How-
ever, they struggled through all their difficulties, till at
last they reached the place known as the Friendly Village,
and were here fortunately received with great kindness,
being once more entertained "with the most respectful
hospitality". " In short, the chief behaved to us with so
much attention and kindness that I did not withhold any-
thing in my power to give which might afford him satis-
faction. ... I presented him with two yards of blue cloth,
an axe, knives, and various other articles. He gave me
in return a large shell which resembled the under shell
of a Guernsey oyster, but was somewhat larger. Where
they procure them I could not discover, but they cut and
polish them for bracelets, ear-rings, and other personal
ornaments. ..."
ao8 Pioneers in Canada
The women of this place were employed in boiling
sorrel and different kinds of berries in large square kettles
made of cedar wood. This pottage, when it had attained
a certain consistency, they took out with ladles, and poured
it into frames about twelve inches square. These were
then exposed to the sun, until their contents became so
many dried cakes. This was their principal article of
food, and probably of traffic. These people had also
made portable chests of cedar, in which they packed
these cakes, as well as their salmon, both dried and
roasted. The only flesh they ate in addition to the
salmon was that of the sea otter and the seal; except
that one instance already mentioned of the young Indian
who feasted on the flesh of the porcupine.
"Their faces are round, with high cheekbones, and
their complexion between olive and copper. They have
small grey eyes with a tinge of red, . . . their hair is
of a dark-brown colour." The men wore their hair
long, and either kept it well combed and hanging loose
over the shoulders, or plaited it and bedaubed it with
brown earth so as to make it quite impervious to the comb.
Those who adopted this fashion had to carry a bone bodkin
about with them to ease the frequent irritation which
arose from the excessive abundance of vermin in their hair.
The women, on the other hand, usually wore their
hair short. Mackenzie noticed that the infants had their
heads enclosed with boards covered with leather, to press
the skull into the shape of a wedge. The women wore
a fringed apron, and over that a long robe made of
skins or leather, either loose or tied round the middle
with a girdle. Over these in wet weather was worn a
cap in the shape of an inverted bowl or dish. The
men also wore this cap, and in cold weather used the
robe, but in warm weather went about in no clothing
at all, except that their feet were protected with shoes
made of dressed elks' skins. In wet weather, over their
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 309
robe they wore a circular mat with an opening in the
middle sufficiently large to admit the head. This, spread-
ing over the shoulders, threw off the wet. As compared
with the Indians of the Rocky Mountains and the great
plains, the men and boys were very cleanly, being con-
stantly in the water. The women, however, were dirty.
At the end of July, 1793, Mackenzie left what he
calls the Friendly Village, and prepared to return to the
east across the Rocky Mountains, having distributed to
each man about twenty pounds weight of smoked salmon,
flour, and pemmican. The fatigue of ascending the
precipices of the mountains was past description. When
they arrived at a spot where water could be obtained, and
a camp made, they were in such an extremity of weari-
ness they could hardly crawl about to gather wood for
the purpose of making a fire; but two hours afterwards
the Amerindians of their party arrived and came to their
assistance. Then when they were sitting round a blazing
fire, and some of their fatigue had lessened, they could
sit and talk of past dangers, and indulge in the delightful
reflection that they were thus far advanced on their home-
ward journey. " Nor was it possible to be in this situation
without contemplating the wonders of it. Such was the
depth of the precipices below, and the height of the moun-
tains above, with the rude and wild magnificence of the
scenery around, that I shall not attempt to describe such
an astonishing and awful combination of objects. . . .
Even at this place, which is only, as it were, the first
step towards gaining the summit of the mountains, the
climate was very sensibly changed. The air that fanned
the village which we left at noon, was mild and cheering ;
the grass was verdant, and the wild fruits ripe around it.
But here the snow was not yet dissolved, the ground was
still bound by the frost, the herbage had scarce begun to
spring, and the crowberry bushes were just beginning
to blossom."
310 Pioneers in Canada
Eventually they found their canoe, and the property
which they had left behind, in perfect safety. At this
camp, where the canoe had been left behind, many natives
arrived both from the upper and lower parts of the river,
all of them dressed in beaver robes, which they were
ready enough to sell for large knives. It struck Alexander
Mackenzie as being very extraordinary that these people,
who had left absolutely untouched the property stored
at this place — when anyone passing by could have stolen
it and never have been detected — should now be so ready
to pilfer articles and utensils from the camp. So many
small things had been picked up and taken away by them,
when coming to sell their beaver robes, that he was obliged
to take some action. So, before all these beaver-clad
Amerindians had departed on their westward journey, he
told the rearguard that he had noticed the thefts, and
scarcely thought their relations who were guilty of steal-
ing realized the awful mischief that would result from
this dishonesty; that they were on their way now to the
sea to procure large quantities of salmon from the rivers,
but the salmon, which was absolutely necessary to their
existence, came from the sea which belonged to the white
men, and it only needed a message from the white men
to the powers of nature to prevent the fish coming up
from the sea into the rivers ; and if this word were spoken
they and their children might starve. He consequently
advised them to hurry after their friends, and see that all
the stolen articles were sent back. This plan succeeded.
The stolen articles were restored, and then Mackenzie
purchased from these people several large salmon, and
his party enjoyed a delicious meal.
Mackenzie declared that there were no bison to be
found on the west side of the Rocky Mountains1 (British
Columbia), and no wolves.
1 He was not quite accurate : there were a few " wood " bison in the north and east
of British Columbia.
Alexander Mackenzie's Journeys 311
Resuming their journey up the Eraser River, they
passed through the narrow gut between mountainous
rocks, which on the outward journey had been a passage
of some risk. But now the state of the water was such
that, they got up without difficulty, and had more time to
examine these extraordinary rocks, which were as per-
pendicular as a wall, and gave the traveller the idea of
a succession of enormous Gothic cathedrals. With little
difficulty they transported their canoe across the water
parting to the Peace River.
As they began to glide down this stream, homeward
bound, they noticed at the entrance of a small tributary
an object which proved to be four beaver skins hung up
to attract their attention. These were the skins which
had been given to Mackenzie, as a present by a native
as he travelled westwards. Not wishing to add to his
loads, he had left the skins behind, saying he would call
for them on his return. Mackenzie imagined, therefore,
that, being under the necessity of leaving the river, this
Indian had hung up the skins in the hope that they would
attract the attention of the travellers on their return. "To
reward his honesty, I left three times the value of the
skins in trade goods in their place." As the Peace River
carried them away from the great mountains, and the
plains extended before their sight, they stopped to repair
the canoe and to get in supplies of food from the herds
of game that were visible. They began with a hearty
meal of bison beef. ' ' Every fear of future want was
removed." Soon afterwards they killed an elk, the car-
cass of which weighed over two hundred and fifty pounds.
"As we had taken a very hearty meal at one o'clock, it
might naturally be supposed that we should not be very
voracious at supper; nevertheless, a kettleful of elk flesh
was boiled and eaten, and that vessel replenished with
more meat and put on the fire. All that remained of the
bones, &c., were placed after the Indian fashion round the
312
Pioneers in Canada
fire to roast, and at ten the next morning the whole was
consumed by ten persons and a large dog, who was
allowed his share of the banquet. Nor did any incon-
venience result from what may be considered as an in-
ordinate indulgence."
On the 24th of August, 1793, Mackenzie was back
again at Fort Chipewayan, after an absence of eleven
months, having been the first white man to cross the
broad continent of North America from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, north of Mexico.
CHAPTER XII
Mackenzie's Successors
The Spaniards of California had been aware in the
middle of the eighteenth century that there was a big
river entering the sea to the north of the savage country
known as Oregon. The estuary of this river was reached
in May, 1792, by an American sea captain of a whaling
ship — ROBERT GRAY, of Boston. He crossed the bar, and
named the great stream after his own ship, the Columbia.
Five months afterwards (October, 1792) Lieutenant
BROUGHTON, of the Vancouver expedition, entered the
Columbia from the sea, explored it upstream for a hun-
dred miles, and formally took possession of it for the
King of Great Britain. The news of this discovery
reached Alexander Mackenzie (no doubt after his return
from his overland journey to the Pacific coast), and he
at once jumped to the conclusion that the powerful stream
he had discovered in the heart of the Rocky Mountains,
and had partially followed on its way to the Pacific, must
be the Columbia. As a matter of fact it was the river
afterwards called Eraser.
If you look at the map of British North America, and
then at the map of Russian Asia — Siberia — you will notice
a marked difference in the arrangement of the waterways.
Those of the Canadian Dominion, on the whole, flow more
eastwards and westwards, or at any rate radiate in all
directions, so as to constitute the most wonderful system
of natural canals possessed by any country or continent.
On the contrary, the rivers of Siberia flow usually in
318
314 Pioneers in Canada
somewhat parallel lines from south to north. Siberia
also is far less well provided than British North America
with an abundance of navigable rivers, streams, and great
lakes. Therefore the traveller in pre-railway days wishing
to cross Siberia from west to east or east to west was
obliged to have recourse to wheeled traffic, to ride, or to
walk. Consequently, until the beginning of the twentieth
century, the "exploitation" (or turning to useful account)
of Siberia was a far more difficult process than the devel-
opment of North America, once the question of British
versus French or Spanish was settled. Siberia at one
time was almost as rich in fur-bearing animals as British
North America; yet so difficult was transport (and so
severe were the rigours of the climate) that the Russians,
once they reached the shores of the Pacific at the begin-
ning of the eighteenth century, began to stretch out their
influence to the opposite peninsula of Alaska mainly on
account of the fur trade. For it was easier and less ex-
pensive to bring furs from Alaska round Cape Horn, or
the Cape of Good Hope, to Europe than to convey them
overland from eastern Siberia. Then, also, the Chinese
market was becoming of importance to the fur trade.
Already Mackenzie, at the end of the eighteenth century,
is found considering whether a sea trade between China
and a British port on the North Pacific coast could not
be arranged so as to develop a profitable market among
the mandarins and grandees of the Celestial Empire for
a good proportion of the North-west Company's skins.
Peter Pond, already referred to on p. 278, is said to
have expressed his intention (in 1788) of going to treat with
the Empress Catherine II for a Russian occupation of the
Alaskan and Columbian coasts. For this reason, or the
mere desire to have a proportion of this fur-producing
country, the Emperor Paul, in 1799, created a Russian
Chartered Company to occupy the Alaska and north
Columbian coasts. Great Britain offered no objection—
Part of the Coast Region
of
BRITISH COLUMBIA
English Miles
o __ aj 40 6p 80 IQO
Mackenzie's Successors 315
in spite of having acquired some rights here by an agree-
ment with Spain — and that is why, when you look at the
map of the vast Canadian Dominion, you find with sur-
prise that it has been robbed (one might almost say) of
at least half of its legitimate Pacific seaboard. The
Russian Company was allowed to claim the north Colum-
bian coast between Alaska proper and Queen Charlotte
Islands.
In 1867 the Russian Government sold all Alaska and
the north Columbian coast to the United States, partly
to annoy Great Britain, whom it had not forgiven for
the Crimean War.
You will have noticed that quite a number of United
States citizens (mostly born British subjects in New
England) had taken part in the north-west fur trade
immediately after the British conquest of Canada disposed
of French monopolies. There were Jonathan Carver and
Peter Pond, for example ; and a much more worthy person
than the last named — Daniel W. Harmon, a New Eng-
lander, who entered the service of the North-west Com-
pany in 1800, and followed in Mackenzie's footsteps to the
upper Fraser River and the vicinity of the Skeena. Simon
Fraser also, whose tracing of the Fraser River from its
upper waters to the Pacific coast we shall presently deal
with, was a native of Vermont, though his father came
from Scotland. The furs which began to penetrate into the
United States by way of Detroit and Niagara, the rising
scale of luxury in dress in the towns of the eastern sea-
board of the United States, the voyages of American
whalers up the west coast of North America (including the
discovery of the Columbia River in 1792 by Captain
Robert Gray), the purchase of Louisiana from the Emperor
Napoleon in 1804 — with the vague claim it gave to the
coast line of Oregon on the Pacific: all these circum-
stances inspired far-sighted persons in the United States
at the beginning of the nineteenth century with a wish to
3i6 Pioneers in Canada
secure for their Government and commerce a share in the
fur trade and in these wonderful new lands of the Pacific
watershed. American ships (whaling ships) had already
become accustomed to sail round Cape Horn and to visit
the Oregon and Alaskan coasts. The American Govern-
ment therefore, immediately after the Louisiana purchase,
dispatched an American expedition under Captains Meri-
wether Lewis and Jonathan Clarke to travel up the Mis-
souri River and so across the mountains to the coast of
Oregon, a wonderful expedition, which they carried out
with great success in two years (1804-6), reaching the
lower Columbia River and following it down to the sea.
Consequently, with all this in the air, it is not very
surprising that the far-sighted John Jacob Astor, a wealthy
German merchant of New York, should have conceived
the idea of founding a great American fur-trading company
and of establishing it at the mouth of the Columbia River.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century he had
entered into arrangements with an Anglo-Canadian Com-
pany (the Mackinaw), which worked the southernmost
part of Canada, to fuse its enterprise with his, and thus
founded the South-west Company, the name of which (at
any rate in current speech) was afterwards changed into
the Pacific Fur-trading Company. After attempting in
vain to come to a working arrangement with the great
North-west Company, he decided to act quite indepen-
dently and to establish the headquarters of his new concern
at the mouth of the Columbia River. Accordingly, the
expedition was sent out in duplicate to the mouth of the
Columbia River, one-half going a six-months' voyage
round Cape Horn in a sailing ship, the Tongutn, and the
other marching overland or canoeing on lakes and rivers
in eighteen months from Montreal via the Mississippi and
Missouri. These two parties together founded "Astoria",
at the mouth of the Columbia. But most of Astor's em-
ployees were British subjects derived from men of the
Mackenzie's Successors 317
North-west and Mackinaw Companies; and when, in
1812, war broke out between the United States and Great
Britain, a British war vessel came up the Pacific coast
to Astoria and promptly turned it into " Fort George".
Forthwith the North-west Company bought up the derelict
property of Mr. Astor's Company from his not very honest
British employees, and the few Americans in the concern
retreated inland, and, after almost incredible sufferings
from the attacks of unfriendly Indians, succeeded in reach-
ing the Mississippi.
This Columbia River had in reality been discovered
at its sources, and traced down to the sea, between 1807
and 1811 by DAVID THOMPSON (once a Blue-coat boy in
London; from 1784 to 1792 in the service of the Hudson's
Bay Company, and after that one. of the most famous of
the Nor'-westers). The upper course of this river and
its northern affluents were annexed as British by David
Thompson ; the lower course did not at once become the
political property of the United States, but was considered
vaguely to be the joint property of both nations, till the
Oregon settlement of 1846. By the treaty of 1792, the
southern boundary of central Canada was agreed upon
as being the 49th degree of north latitude, but only be-
tween the Lake of the Woods and the Rocky Mountains.
The agreement of 1846 continued the 49th degree boundary
to the shore of the Pacific opposite Vancouver Island.
Prominent among the agents of the North-western
Company who followed Sir Alexander Mackenzie as a
pioneer towards the Pacific shores was ALEXANDER
HENRY THE YOUNGER, l regarding whose journeys some
extracts may be given.
The first entry in his diary of 1799 is not particularly
romantic, but shows some of the unexpected dangers
attending the life of an adventurer in the far north-west.
1 The nephew of the Alexander Henry already mentioned as an explorer between
1761 and 1775.
318 Pioneers in Canada
He had been riding through the Assiniboin country in
the autumn of 1799, probably after one of the very indi-
gestible meals which he describes here and there in his
pages. Alone, and crossing an open plain swarming with
wolves, he was seized suddenly with a violent colic, the
pain of which was so terrible that he could not remain
in the saddle. He dismounted, hobbled his horse, and
threw himself on the grass, where he lay in agony for
two hours, expecting every moment would be his last,
till, quite exhausted, he fell asleep. He was awakened,
however, by the howling of the wolves advancing to tear
him to pieces; yet he was so weak that he was scarcely
able to mount his horse, and then could only proceed at
a slow walk, with the wolves snapping at his horse's heels.
Near the site of the present city of Winnipeg, in the late
summer of 1800, he and his expedition were much troubled
by swarms of water snakes. They were harmless but not
pleasant in their familiarity, for they entered the tents and
took refuge in the explorers' beds ; and as they apparently
came from their breeding places in Amerindian graves
which covered the remains of people who had died of
smallpox in a recent epidemic, they were additionally
loathsome.
Smallpox indeed played a very important part in the
historical development of western North America. Prior
to 1780 the Amerindian tribes between the upper Mis-
sissippi and the Rocky Mountains, and between the Sas-
katchewans and the Missouri, were numerous and warlike.
At first, about 1765, they received in very friendly fashion
the pioneer British traders and French Canadians who
attempted to resume the fur trade where it had been dropped
by the French monopolists in 1760. But fifteen years
afterwards, enraged at the violence and wrongdoing of the
British and Canadian traders, and maddened by strong
drink, they were planning a universal massacre of the
whites, when suddenly smallpox (introduced by the Span-
Mackenzie's Successors 319
iards into New Mexico) came on them as a scourge,
which destroyed whole tribes, and depopulated much of
western North America.
Alexander Henry had many adventures with the bison
of the plains. Here is one of them.
"Just as I came up to him at full speed and prepared
to fire, my horse suddenly stopped. The bull had turned
about to face my horse, which was naturally afraid of
buffaloes, and startled at such a frightful object; he
leaped to one side to avoid the bull. As I was not
prepared for this I was pitched over his head, and fell
within a few yards of the bull's nose ; but fortunately for
me he paid no more attention to my horse than to me.
The grass was long, and I lay quiet until a favourable
opportunity offered as he presented his placotte. I dis-
charged both barrels of my double gun at him ; he turned
and made one plunge toward me, but had not time to
repeat it before he fell, with his nose not more than three
paces off. ... I had to return on foot as my horse had
bolted."
At this place — near the Red River (the season September)
— the country swarmed with big game such as North
America will never see any more: enormous numbers of
bison, of wapiti or Canadian red deer, moose or elk,
prong-buck, and of grizzly bears and black bears who fol-
lowed the herds to attack them. The rivers swarmed with
otters and beavers. The ground along the banks of the
river was worn into a smooth, hard pavement by the hoofs
of the thousands of buffaloes. Racoons, red foxes, wolves,
and pumas frequented the bush country and the chumps of
forest. A large white wolf, prowling rather imprudently,
came within a few yards of Henry, and was shot dead.
" We observed on the opposite beach no fewer than seven
bears drinking all at the same time. Red deer were
whistling in every direction, but our minds were not suf-
ficiently at ease to enjoy our situation." Large flocks
320 Pioneers in Canada
of swans (Cygnus columbianus) rose out of the Red River
apparently in a state of alarm and confusion, possibly
caused by the many herds of buffaloes rushing down to
the river to drink. At night everything was quiet except
the bellowing of buffaloes and the whistling of red deer.
"I climbed up a tall oak at the entrance of the plain,
from the top of which I had an extensive view of the
country. Buffalo and red deer were everywhere in sight
passing to and fro."
But the prairie had its nuisances as well as its wonders
of animal life. From the end of April to the end of July
the woods and grass swarmed with ticks (Ixodes), which
covered the clothes of the Europeans and entered their ears
and there caused serious inflammations. They would in
time get such a firm hold by the insertion of their heads
into the skin that they could not be removed without
pulling the body from the head, which caused a terrible
itching lasting for months. If left alone they adhered
to the flesh until they swelled to the size of a musket ball,
when they fell off of themselves. In the summertime
gadflies were exasperating in their attacks on men and
cattle. Mosquitoes were a veritable plague, and midges
also, between June and the end of September.
Not the least of the terrors of life in the far north-west
in those days was the vermin that collected in the houses
or huts built for a winter sojourn. It is frequently men-
tioned, in the records of the pioneers, how the lodges or
tents of the Amerindians swarmed with fleas and lice.
Henry notes on the igth of April, 1803: "The men began
to demolish our dwelling houses, which were built of bad
wood, and to build new ones of oak. The nests of mice
we found, and the swarms of fleas hopping in every direc-
tion, were astonishing."
Henry reached the Pacific coast in 1814, by way of the
Kootenay, Spokane, and Columbia River route, which had
been discovered by David Thompson, He describes well
Mackenzie's Successors 321
the forests of remarkable trees on this portion of the Pacific
coast, opposite the south end of Vancouver Island: the
crooked oaks loaded with mistletoe, the tall wild cherry
trees, the hazels with trunks thicker than a man's thigh,
the evergreen arbutus, the bracken fern, blackberries, and
black raspberries; and the game in these glades of trees
and fern: small Columbian Mazama deer, large lynxes,
bears, gluttons, wolves, foxes, racoons, and squirrels.
Overhead soared huge Californian condors (Pseudogry-
phus).
Henry was drowned in 1812 in the estuary of the
Columbia River, through the capsizing of a boat.
The question of the identity of the great river flowing
to the Pacific from near the headwaters of the Peace — the
river which Mackenzie had discovered and been forced
to leave — was finally decided by SIMON FRASER, one of
the most celebrated among the North-west Company's
pioneers. Like Mackenzie, he believed this stream to be
the upper Columbia.
Accompanied by John Stuart and Jules Quesnel, he
left the Fraser River at its junction with the Nechaco on
May 22, 1807, and, keeping as near as he could to the
course of the river, found himself in the country of the
Atna tribe, Amerindians of a diminutive size but active
appearance, from whom he obtained an invaluable guide
and faithful interpreter, Little Fellow, but for whose
bravery, wise advice, and clever diplomacy the journey
must have ended in disaster or disappointment — a remark
which might be made about nearly all the Amerindian
guides of the pioneers.
The Atna Indians were dressed in skins with the hair
outside, and were armed with bows and arrows. They
besmeared their bodies with fish oil and red earth, and
painted their faces in different colours. Bison were quite
unknown to them, being very seldom found in those lati-
tudes on the western side of the Rocky Mountains. The
(0812) 21
322 Pioneers in Canada
country of the Atna Indians on the upper Eraser abounded
in elk, wapiti, reindeer, bighorn sheep, mountain goats,1
and beaver.
Here is a description by Eraser of some of the rapids
in the upper part of the river named after him.
"The channel contracts to about forty yards, and is
enclosed by two precipices of immense height, which
bending towards each other make it narrower above than
below. The water which rolls down this extraordinary
passage in tumultuous waves and with great velocity has
a frightful appearance. However, it being impossible to
carry canoes by land, all hands without hesitation embarked,
as it were, a corps perdu upon the mercy of this awful
tide. Once engaged, the die was cast. Our great diffi-
culty consisted in keeping the canoes in the middle of
the stream, that is, clear of the precipice on the one side,
and of the gulfs formed by the waves on the other.
Thus, skimming along as fast as lightning, the crews,
cool and determined, followed each other in awful silence,
and when we arrived at the end we stood gazing at each
other in silent gratification at our narrow escape from total
destruction. ... I scarcely ever saw anything so dreary
and dangerous in any country (such precipices, mountains,
and rapids), and I still seem to see, whichever way I turn
my eyes, mountains upon mountains whose summits are
covered with eternal snow."
They had to take to these same mountains, the river
being unnavigable. The Asketti Indians brought them
different kinds of roots, especially wild onions boiled into
a syrup, excellent dried salmon, and some berries. These
Indians had visited the seacoast, and had seen ships of
war come there with white men, "very well dressed, and
very proud, for," continued the chief, getting up and
clapping his two hands upon his hips, and then striding
1 This remarkable beast (Oreamnus) they called "Aspai", and wove from its white
wool an excellent cloth for their clothing,
•'
Mackenzie's Successors 323
about the place with an air of importance, "this is the
way they go". In this country of the Hakamaw and
Asketti Indians, dogs were much in use for carrying
purposes, and could draw from one hundred to one hun-
dred and fifty pounds. They were considered by the
French Canadians very good eating, though only the
smaller kinds were eaten, the large dogs being of another
race and having a rank taste. They also shaved these
dogs in the summer time, and wove rugs from their
hair. These rugs were striped in different colours, cross-
ing at right angles, and resembling at a distance a
Highland plaid.
The tombs of the Indian villages on this western side
of the Rocky Mountains were superior to anything that
Eraser had ever seen amongst- savages. They were
about fifteen feet long, and of the form of a chest of
drawers. Upon the boards and posts, beasts and birds
were carved in a curious but crude manner, and pretty
well proportioned. Returning to the river, when the worst
of the rapids were passed, they descended it rapidly,
helped by a strong current, and at length entered a lake
where they saw seals, which showed that they had got
near to the Pacific Ocean. They also beheld a round
mountain, the now celebrated Mount Baker, which is
visible from so much of the surrounding country of
British Columbia and Vancouver Island. The trees were
splendid, junipers thirty feet in circumference in their
trunks and two or three hundred feet high. Mosquitoes,
however, were in clouds. Nearer to the coast the Indians
often appeared in the distance like white men, for the very
literal reason that they had covered their skins with white
paint. Their houses were built of cedar planks, and were
six hundred and forty feet long by sixty feet broad, all
under one roof, but of course separated into a great
number of partitions for different families. On the outside
the boards (as Mackenzie had noticed) were carved with
324 Pioneers in Canada
figures of men, beasts, and birds as large as life. Simon
Eraser, however, when he reached sea water, near the site
of New Westminster, was greatly disappointed that any
view of the main ocean should be obstructed by distant
lands. He had believed all along that he was tracing the
far-famed Columbia River to its entrance into the Pacific
Ocean; and now that, instead of this, he had discovered
an entirely new river, henceforth to be called after him but
without so long a course as the Columbia, his vanity was
hurt.
The Amerindians of the sea coast, opposite Vancouver
Island, showed hostility to Fraser's party, as they had
done farther north to Mackenzie. The Canadian voyageurs
got alarmed, and told Fraser's assistant, John Stuart, that
they had made up their minds to return by land across
the Rocky Mountains. Fraser and the other officers of
the expedition joined in arguing with them and recalling
them to their senses. Finally each member of the party
swore a solemn oath before Almighty God that they
would sooner perish than forsake in distress any of the
crew in the present voyage. After this ceremony was
over all hands dressed in their best apparel, and each
took charge of his own bundle. They therefore returned
as much as possible by the Fraser River, and only took
to the mountains when obliged by the rapids. They
had to pass many difficult rocks, defiles, precipices, in
which there was a beaten path made by the natives, and
made possible by means of scaffolds, bridges, and ladders,
so peculiarly constructed that it required no small degree
of necessity, dexterity, and courage in strangers to under-
take them. For instance, they had to ascend precipices
by means of ladders composed of two long poles placed
upright, with sticks tied crosswise with twigs; upon the
end of these others were placed, and so on to any
height; add to this that the ladders were often so slack
that the smallest breeze put them in motion, swinging
Mackenzie's Successors 325
them against the rocks, while the steps leading from
scaffold to scaffold were so narrow and irregular that
they could scarcely be traced by the feet without the
greatest care and circumspection; but the most perilous
part was when another rock projected over the one they
were clearing.
The Hakamaw Indians certainly deserved Eraser's
grateful remembrance for their able assistance throughout
these alarming situations. The descents were, if possible,
still more difficult; in these places the white men were
under the necessity of trusting their property to the
Indians, even the precious guns were handed from one
Indian to another; yet they thought nothing of it, they
went up and down these wild places with the same
agility as sailors do on a ship: After escaping innumer-
able perils in the course of the day, the party encamped
about sunset, being supplied by the natives with plenty
of dried fish.
Thus the main lines of the exploration of the great
Canadian Dominion were completed. Alexander Mac-
kenzie went to England in 1799 and received a knighthood
for his remarkable achievements. On his return he first
definitely created the New North-west or "X. Y." Com-
pany, and then brought about its fusion (after several years
of bitter rivalry) with the old North-west Company; and
it was this united and strengthened organization which,
between 1804 and 1819, sent out so many bold pioneers to
fill in the details of the map between the Columbia and
Missouri on the south, and the Great Slave Lake and
Liard River on the north. But during these years the
energies of the Hudson's Bay Company were reviving
under a strange personality — THOMAS DOUGLAS, EARL OF
SELKIRK. Lord Selkirk conceived the idea of putting
new life into the Hudson's Bay Company, reviving the
monopolies of trading granted in its old charter, and
turning its vague rights to land into the absolute owner-
326 Pioneers in Canada
ship of the enormous area of North America north and
west of the Canadian provinces. No regard of course
was paid to any rights of the natives, who as a matter
of fact were dying out rapidly from the effects of bad
alcohol and epidemic diseases.
His motive was to establish large colonies of stalwart
Highlanders as the tenants of a Chartered Company.
Alexander Mackenzie had already called the north-west
country "New Caledonia". Lord Selkirk wished to
make it so in its population.
Already he had been instrumental in establishing a
Scottish colony on Prince Edward's Island,1 which, after
some difficulties at the beginning, had soon begun to
prosper. Two or three years later he came to Montreal,
and there collected all the information he could obtain
from the partners in the North-west Company regarding
the prospects of trade and colonization in the far west.
In the year 1811 he had managed to acquire the greater
part of the shares in the Hudson's Bay Company, and,
placing himself at its head, he sent out his first hundred
Highlanders and Irish to form a feudatory colony in the
Red River district (the modern Manitoba). He also
dispatched an official to govern what might be called
the Middle West on behalf of the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany. This person, acting under instructions, claimed
the whole region beyond the provinces of Upper and
Lower Canada as the private property of the Hudson's
Bay Company, on the strength of their antiquated
charter issued by Charles II. The agents of the North-
west Company were warned (as also the two or three
thousand French Canadians and half-breeds in their pay)
that henceforth they must not cut wood, fish or hunt,
build or cultivate, save by the permission and as the
tenants of the Hudson's Bay Company.
i Prince Edward's Island is off the north coast of New Brunswick. It was named
after Queen Victoria's father, the Duke of Kent
Mackenzie's Successors 327
It is not surprising that such an outrageous demand,
when it was followed up by the use of armed force, soon
provoked bloodshed and a state of civil war throughout
the North-west Territories. Lord Selkirk himself took
command on the Red River, with a small army of dis-
ciplined soldiers. At length, in 1817, the British Govern-
ment intervened through the Governor-General of Canada,
and in 1818 Lord Selkirk left North America disgusted,
and two years afterwards died at Pau, in France, from
an illness brought on by grief at the failure of his pro-
jects.
Sir Alexander Mackenzie also died suddenly in 1820,
in Scotland. For twelve years he had been member of
parliament for Huntingdon, and since 1812 had been the
determined opponent in England of Lord Selkirk's plans
of forcible colonization. After his death, however, in 1821,
a sudden movement for reconciliation took place between
the two Companies. Thenceforth the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany ruled over the vast regions of British North America,
beyond Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and
the two Canadian provinces. Under their government the
work of geographical exploration went on apace. In 1834
one of their officers, J. M'Leod, discovered the Stikine
River in northern British Columbia, and by 1848 J. Bell
and Robert Campbell had revealed the Porcupine and
Yukon Rivers. By the time Thomas Simpson, Warren
Dease, and Dr. John Rae, on behalf of the Hudson's Bay
Company; and Franklin, Back, Parry, Richardson, and
M'Clintock, for the Imperial Government, had completed
the explorations mentioned in Chapter VI, all the main
features of Canadian geography were made known. The
next series of pioneers were to be those of the mining
industry — it was the discovery of gold in 1856 which
created British Columbia; of agriculture — the wheat-
growers of the Red River region made the province of
Manitoba; of the steamboat; and above all the railway.
328 Pioneers in Canada
Developments of science scarcely yet dreamt of will
demand in further time their pioneers, and these will not
come from abroad, but will assuredly be found in this
splendid Canadian people, the descendants of the men
or of the types of men I have attempted to describe.
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