CHAP. I.
Transactions from my leaving Prince of Wales's Fort on my first Expedition, till our Arrival there again.
Set off from the Fort; arrive at Po-co-ree-kis-co River—One of the Northern Indians deserts—Cross Seal River, and walk on the barren grounds—Receive wrong information concerning the distance of the woods—Weather begins to be very cold, provisions all expended, and nothing to be got—Strike to the Westward, arrive at the woods, and kill three deer—Set forward in the North West quarter, see the tracks of musk-oxen and deer, but killed none—Very short of provisions—Chawchinahaw wants us to return—Neither he nor his crew contribute to our maintenance—He influences several of the Indians to desert—Chawchinahaw and all his crew leave us—Begin our return to the Factory; kill a few partridges, the first meal we had had for several days—Villany of one of the home Indians and his wife, who was a Northern Indian woman—Arrive at the Seal River, kill two deer; partridges plenty—Meet a strange Northern Indian, accompany him to his tent, usage received there; my Indians assist in killing some beaver—Proceed toward home, and arrive at the Fort
CHAP. II.
Transactions from our Arrival at the Factory, to my leaving it again, and during the First Part of my Second Journey, till I had the misfortune to break the Quadrant.
Transactions at the Factory—Proceed on my second journey—Arrive at Seal River—Deer plentiful for some time—Method of angling fish under the ice—Set our fishing-nets—Method of setting nets under the ice—My guide [xii] proposes to stay till the geese should begin to fly; his reasons accepted—Pitch our tent in the best manner—Method of pitching a tent in Winter—Fish plentiful for some time; grow very scarce; in great want of provisions—Manner of employing my time—My guide killed two deer—Move to the place they were lying at; there kill several more deer, and three beavers—Soon in want of provisions again—Many Indians join us from the Westward—We begin to move towards the barren ground—Arrive at She-than-nee, there suffer great distress for want of provisions—Indians kill two swans and three geese—Geese and other birds of passage plentiful—Leave She-than-nee, and arrive at Beralzone—One of my companions guns bursts, and shatters his left hand—Leave Beralzone, and get on the barren ground, clear of all woods—Throw away our sledges and snow shoes—Each person takes a load on his back; my part of the luggage—Exposed to many hardships—Several days without victuals—Indians kill three musk-oxen, but for want of fire are obliged to eat the meat raw—Fine weather returns; make a fire; effects of long fasting; stay a day or two to dry some meat in the Sun—Proceed to the Northward, and arrive at Cathawhachaga; there find some tents of Indians—A Northern Leader called Keelshies meets us; send a letter by him to the Governor—Transactions at Cathawhachaga; leave it and proceed to the Northward—Meet several Indians—My guide not willing to proceed; his reasons for it—Many more Indians join us—Arrive at Doobaunt Whoie River—Manner of ferrying over rivers in the Northern Indian canoes—No rivers in those parts in a useful direction for the natives—Had nearly lost the quadrant and all the powder—Some reflections on our situation, and conduct of the Indians—Find the quadrant and part of the powder—Observe for the latitude—Quadrant broke—Resolve to return again to the Factory
CHAP. III.
Transactions from the time the Quadrant was broken, till I arrived at the Factory.
Several strange Indians join us from the Northward—They plunder me of all I had; but did not plunder the Southern Indians—My guide plundered—We begin our return to the Factory—Meet with other Indians, who join our company—Collect deer-skins for clothing, but could not get them {xiii} dressed—Suffer much hardship from the want of tents and warm clothing—Most of the Indians leave us—Meet with Matonabbee—Some account of him, and his behaviour to me and the Southern Indians—We remain in his company some time—His observations on my two unsuccessful attempts—We leave him, and proceed to a place to which he directed us, in order to make snow-shoes and sledges—Join Matonabbee again, and proceed towards the Factory in his company—Ammunition runs short—Myself and four Indians set off post for the Factory—Much bewildered in a snow storm; my dog is frozen to death; we lie in a bush of willows—Proceed on our journey—Great difficulty in crossing a jumble of rocks—Arrive at the Fort
CHAP. IV.
Transactions during our Stay at Prince of Wales's Fort, and the former Part of our third Expedition, till our Arrival at Clowey, where we built Canoes, in May 1771.
Preparations for our departure—Refuse to take any of the home-guard Indians with me—By so doing, I offend the Governor—Leave the Fort a third time—My instructions on this expedition—Provisions of all kinds very scarce—Arrive at the woods, where we kill some deer—Arrive at Island Lake—Matonabbee taken ill—Some remarks thereon—Join the remainder of the Indians' families—Leave Island Lake—Description thereof—Deer plentiful—Meet a strange Indian—Alter our course from West North West to West by South—Cross Cathawhachaga River, Cossed Lake, Snow-Bird Lake, and Pike Lake—Arrive at a tent of strangers, who are employed in snaring deer in a pound—Description of a pound—Method of proceeding—Remarks thereon—Proceed on our journey—Meet with several parties of Indians; by one of whom I sent a letter to the Governor at Prince of Wales's Fort—Arrive at Thleweyazayeth—Employment there—Proceed to the North North West and North—Arrive at Clowey—One of the Indian's wives taken in labour—Remarks thereon—Customs observed by the Northern Indians on those occasions
{xiv} CHAP. V.
Transactions at Clowey, and on our Journey, till our Arrival at the Copper-mine River.
Several strange Indians join us—Indians employed in building canoes; description and use of them—More Indians join us, to the amount of some hundreds—Leave Clowey—Receive intelligence that Keelshies was near us—Two young men dispatched for my letters and goods—Arrive at Peshew Lake; cross part of it, and make a large smoke—One of Matonabbee's wives elopes—Some remarks on the natives—Keelshies joins us, and delivers my letters, but the goods were all expended—A Northern Indian wishes to take one of Matonabbee's wives from him; matters compromised, but had like to have proved fatal to my progress—Cross Peshew Lake, when I make proper arrangements for the remainder of my journey—Many Indians join our party, in order to make war on the Esquimaux at the Copper River—Preparations made for that purpose while at Clowey—Proceed on our journey to the North—Some remarks on the way—Cross Cogead Lake on the ice—The sun did not set—Arrive at Congecathawhachaga—Find several Copper Indians there—Remarks and transactions during our stay at Congecathawhachaga—Proceed on our journey—Weather very bad—Arrive at the Stoney Mountains—Some account of them—Cross part of Buffalo Lake on the ice—Saw many musk-oxen—Description of them—Went with some Indians to view Grizzlebear Hill—Join a strange Northern Indian Leader, called O'lye, in company with some Copper Indians—Their behaviour to me—Arrive at the Copper-mine River
CHAP. VI.
Transactions at the Copper-mine River, and till we joined all the Women to the South of Cogead Lake.
Some Copper Indians join us—Indians send three spies down the river—Begin my survey—Spies return, and give an account of five tents of Esquimaux—Indians consult the best method to steal on them in the night, and {xv} kill them while asleep—Cross the river—Proceedings of the Indians as they advance towards the Esquimaux tents—The Indians begin the massacre while the poor Esquimaux are asleep, and slay them all—Much affected at the sight of one young woman killed close to my feet—The behaviour of the Indians on this occasion—Their brutish treatment of the dead bodies—Seven more tents seen on the opposite side of the river—The Indians harass them, till they fly to a shoal in the river for safety—Behaviour of the Indians after killing those Esquimaux—Cross the river, and proceed to the tents on that side—Plunder their tents, and destroy their utensils—Continue my survey to the river's mouth—Remarks there—Set out on my return—Arrive at one of the Copper-mines—Remarks on it—Many attempts made to induce the Copper Indians to carry their own goods to market—Obstacles to it—Villany and cruelty of Keelshies to some of those poor Indians—Leave the Copper-mine, and walk at an amazing rate till we join the women, by the side of Cogead Whoie—Much foot-foundered—The appearance very alarming, but soon changes for the better—Proceed to the southward, and join the remainder of the women and children—Many other Indians arrive with them
CHAP. VII.
Remarks from the Time the Women joined us till our Arrival at the Athapuscow Lake.
Several of the Indians sick—Methods used by the conjurors to relieve one man, who recovers—Matonabbee and his crew proceed to the South West—Most of the other Indians separate, and go their respective ways—Pass by White Stone Lake—Many deer killed merely for their skins—Remarks thereon, and on the deer, respecting seasons and places—Arrive at Point Lake—One of the Indian's wives being sick, is left behind to perish above-ground—Weather very bad, but deer plenty—Stay some time at Point Lake to dry meat, &c.—Winter set in—Superstitious customs observed by my companions, after they had killed the Esquimaux at Copper River—A violent gale of wind oversets my tent and breaks my quadrant—Some Copper and Dog-ribbed Indians join us—Indians propose to go to the Athapuscow Country to kill moose—Leave Point Lake, and arrive at the wood's edge—Arrive at Anawd Lake—Transactions there—Remarkable instance of a man being cured of the palsey by the conjurors—Leave Anawd Lake—Arrive at the great Athapuscow Lake
{xvi} CHAP. VIII.
Transactions and Remarks from our Arrival on the South Side of the Athapuscow Lake, till our Arrival at Prince of Wales's Fort on Churchill River.
Cross the Athapuscow Lake—Description of it and its productions, as far as could be discovered in Winter, when the snow was on the ground—Fish found in the lake—Description of the buffalo; of the moose or elk, and the method of dressing their skins—Find a woman alone that had not seen a human face for more than seven months—Her account how she came to be in that situation; and her curious method of procuring a livelihood—Many of my Indians wrestled for her—Arrive at the Great Athapuscow River—Walk along the side of the River for several days, and then strike off to the Eastward—Difficulty in getting through the woods in many places—Meet with some strange Northern Indians on their return from the Fort—Meet more strangers, whom my companions plundered, and from whom they took one of their young women—Curious manner of life which those strangers lead, and the reason they gave for roving so far from their usual residence—Leave the fine level country of the Athapuscows, and arrive at the Stony Hills of the Northern Indian Country—Meet some strange Northern Indians, one of whom carried a letter for me to Prince of Wales's Fort, in March one thousand seven hundred and seventy-one, and now gave me an answer to it, dated twentieth of June following—Indians begin preparing wood-work and birch-rind for canoes—The equinoctial gale very severe—Indian method of running the moose deer down by speed of foot—Arrival at Theeleyaza River—See some strangers—The brutality of my companions—A tremendous gale and snow-drift—Meet with more strangers; remarks on it—Leave all the elderly people and children, and proceed directly to the Fort—Stop to build canoes, and then advance—Several of the Indians die through hunger, and many others are obliged to decline the journey for want of ammunition—A violent storm and inundation, that forced us to the top of a high hill, where we suffered great distress for more than two days—Kill several deer—The Indians' method of preserving the flesh without the assistance of salt—See several Indians that were going to Knapp's Bay—Game of all kinds remarkably plentiful—Arrive at the Factory
{xvii} CHAP. IX.
A short Description of the Northern Indians, also a farther Account of their Country, Manufactures, Customs, &c.
An account of the persons and tempers of the Northern Indians—They possess a great deal of art and cunning—Are very guilty of fraud when in their power, and generally exact more for their furs than any other tribe of Indians—Always dissatisfied, yet have their good qualities—The men in general jealous of their wives—Their marriages—Girls always betrothed when children, and their reasons for it—Great care and confinement of young girls from the age of eight or nine years—Divorces common among those people—The women are less prolific than in warmer countries—Remarkable piece of superstition observed by the women at particular periods—Their art in making it an excuse for a temporary separation from their husbands on any little quarrel—Reckoned very unclean on those occasions—The Northern Indians frequently, for the want of firing, are obliged to eat their meat raw—Some through necessity obliged to boil it in vessels made of the rind of the birch-tree—A remarkable dish among those people—The young animals always cut out of their dams, eaten, and accounted a great delicacy—The parts of generation of all animals eat by the men and boys—Manner of passing their time, and method of killing deer in Summer with bows and arrows—Their tents, dogs, sledges, &c.—Snow-shoes—Their partiality to domestic vermin—Utmost extent of the Northern Indian country—Face of the country—Species of fish—A peculiar kind of moss useful for the support of man—Northern Indian method of catching fish, either with hooks or nets—Ceremony observed when two parties of those people meet—Diversions in common use—A singular disorder which attacks some of those people—Their superstition with respect to the death of their friends—Ceremony observed on those occasions—Their ideas of the first inhabitants of the world—No form of religion among them—Remarks on that circumstance—The extreme misery to which old age is exposed—Their opinion of the Aurora Borealis, &c.—Some account of Matonabbee, and his services to his country, as well as to the Hudson's Bay Company
{xviii} CHAP. X.
An Account of the principal Quadrupeds found in the Northern Parts of Hudson's Bay: The Buffalo, Moose, Musk-ox, Deer, and Beaver—A capital Mistake cleared up respecting the We-was-kish.
Animals with Canine Teeth: The Wolf—Foxes of various colours—Lynx, or Wild Cat—Polar, or White Bear—Black Bear—Brown Bear—Wolverene—Otter—Jackash—Wejack—Skunk—Pine Martin—Ermine, or Stote.
Animals with cutting Teeth: The Musk Beaver—Porcupine—Varying Hare—American Hare—Common Squirrel—Ground Squirrel—Mice of various kinds—and the Castor Beaver.
The Pinnated Quadrupeds with finlike Feet, found in Hudson's Bay, are but three in number, viz.: The Walrus, or Sea-Horse—Seal—and Sea-Unicorn.
The Species of Fish found in the Salt Water of Hudson's Bay are also few in number: being the Black Whale—White Whale—Salmon—and Kepling.
Shell-fish, and empty Shells of several kinds, found on the Sea Coast near Churchill River.
Frogs of various sizes and colours; also a great variety of Grubbs, and other Insects, always found in a frozen state during Winter, but when exposed to the heat of a slow fire, are soon re-animated.
An account of some of the principal Birds found in the Northern Parts of Hudson's Bay; as well those that only migrate there in Summer, as those that are known to brave the coldest Winters: Eagles of various kinds—Hawks of various sizes and plumage—White or Snowy Owl—Grey or mottled Owl—Cob-a-dee-cooch—Raven—Cinerious Crow—Wood Pecker—Ruffed Grouse—Pheasant—Wood Partridge—Willow Partridge—Rock Partridge—Pigeon—Red-breasted Thrush—Grosbeak—Snow Bunting—White-crowned Bunting—Lapland Finch, two sorts—Lark—Titmouse—Swallow—Martin—Hopping Crane—Brown Crane—Bitron—Carlow, two sorts—Jack Snipe—Red Godwart—Plover—Black Gullemet—Northern Diver—Black-throated Diver—Red-throated Diver—White Gull—Grey Gull—Black-head—Pelican—Goosander—Swans of two species—Common {xix} Grey Goose—Canada Goose—White or Snow Goose—Blue Goose—Horned Wavy—Laughing Goose—Barren Goose—Brent Goose—Dunter Goose—Bean Goose.
The species of Water-Fowl usually called Duck, that resort to those Parts annually, are in great variety; but those that are most esteemed are, the Mallard Duck—Long-tailed Duck—Wigeon, and Teal.
Of the Vegetable Productions as far North as Churchill River, particularly the most useful; such as the Berry-bearing Bushes, &c.: Gooseberry—Cranberry—Heathberry—Dewater-berry—Black Currans—Juniper-berry—Partridge-berry—Strawberry—Eye-berry—Blue-berry—and a small species of Hips.
Burridge—Coltsfoot—Sorrel—Dandelion.
Wish-a-capucca—Jackashey-puck—Moss of various sorts—Grass of several kinds—and Vetches.
The Trees found so far North near the Sea, consist only of Pines—Juniper—Small Poplar—Bush-willows—and Creeping Birch