From the 12th to the 16th we had fine and, for the season, warm weather; and the deer, which had not been seen since the 26th of October, reappeared in the neighbourhood of the house, to the surprise of the Indians who attributed their return to the barren grounds to the unusual mildness of the season. On this occasion, by melting some of our pewter cups, we managed to furnish five balls to each of the hunters, but they were all expended unsuccessfully, except by Akaitcho who killed two deer.
By the middle of the month Winter River was firmly frozen over except the small rapid at its commencement which remained open all the winter. The ice on the lake was now nearly two feet thick. After the 16th we had a succession of cold, snowy, and windy weather. We had become anxious to hear of the arrival of Mr. Back and his party at Fort Providence. The Indians, who had calculated the period at which a messenger ought to have returned from thence to be already passed, became impatient when it had elapsed and, with their usual love of evil augury, tormented us by their melancholy forebodings. At one time they conjectured that the whole party had fallen through the ice; at another that they had been waylaid and cut off by the Dog-Ribs. In vain did we urge the improbability of the former accident, or the peaceable character of the Dog-Ribs, so little in conformity with the latter. “The ice at this season was deceitful,” they said “and the Dog-Ribs, though unwarlike, were treacherous.” These assertions, so often repeated, had some effect upon the spirits of our Canadian voyagers who seldom weigh any opinion they adopt, but we persisted in treating their fears as chimerical for, had we seemed to listen to them for a moment, it is more than probable that the whole of our Indians would have gone to Fort Providence in search of supplies, and we should have found it extremely difficult to have recovered them.
The matter was put to rest by the appearance of Belanger on the morning of the 23rd and the Indians, now running into the opposite extreme, were disposed to give us more credit for our judgment than we deserved. They had had a tedious and fatiguing journey to Fort Providence and for some days were destitute of provisions.
Belanger arrived alone; he had walked constantly for the last six-and-thirty hours, leaving his Indian companions encamped at the last woods, they being unwilling to accompany him across the barren grounds during the storm that had prevailed for several days and blew with unusual violence on the morning of his arrival. His locks were matted with snow and he was encrusted with ice from head to foot so that we scarcely recognised him when he burst in upon us. We welcomed him with the usual shake of the hand but were unable to give him the glass of rum which every voyager receives on his arrival at a trading post.
As soon as his packet was thawed we eagerly opened it to obtain our English letters. The latest were dated on the preceding April. They came by way of Canada and were brought up in September to Slave Lake by North-West Company’s canoes.
We were not so fortunate with regard to our stores; of ten pieces, or bales of 90 pounds weight, which had been sent from York Factory by Governor Williams five of the most essential had been left at the Grand Rapid on the Saskatchewan, owing, as far as we could judge from the accounts that reached us, to the misconduct of the officer to whom they were entrusted and who was ordered to convey them to Cumberland House. Being overtaken by some of the North-West Company’s canoes he had insisted on their taking half of his charge as it was intended for the service of Government. The North-West gentlemen objected that their canoes had already got a cargo in and that they had been requested to convey our stores from Cumberland House only, where they had a canoe waiting for the purpose. The Hudson’s Bay officer upon this deposited our ammunition and tobacco upon the beach and departed without any regard to the serious consequences that might result to us from the want of them. The Indians, who assembled at the opening of the packet and sat in silence watching our countenances, were necessarily made acquainted with the non-arrival of our stores and bore the intelligence with unexpected tranquillity. We took care however in our communications with them to dwell upon the more agreeable parts of our intelligence, and they seemed to receive particular pleasure on being informed of the arrival of two Esquimaux interpreters at Slave Lake, on their way to join the party. The circumstance not only quieted their fears of opposition from the Esquimaux on our descent to the sea next season, but also afforded a substantial proof of our influence in being able to bring two people of that nation from such a distance.
Akaitcho, who is a man of great penetration and shrewdness, duly appreciated these circumstances; indeed he has often surprised us by his correct judgment of the character of individuals amongst the traders of our own party, although his knowledge of their opinions was in most instances obtained through the imperfect medium of interpretation. He was an attentive observer however of every action, and steadily compared their conduct with their pretensions.
By the newspapers we learned the demise of our revered and lamented sovereign George III and the proclamation of George IV. We concealed this intelligence from the Indians lest the death of their Great Father might lead them to suppose that we should be unable to fulfil our promises to them.
The Indians who had left Fort Providence with Belanger arrived the day after him and, amongst other intelligence, informed Akaitcho of some reports they had heard to our disadvantage. They stated that Mr. Weeks, the gentleman in charge of Fort Providence, had told them that, so far from our being what we represented ourselves to be, the officers of a great King, we were merely a set of dependent wretches whose only aim was to obtain subsistence for a season in the plentiful country of the Copper Indians, that out of charity we had been supplied with a portion of goods by the trading Companies, but that there was not the smallest probability of our being able to reward the Indians when their term of service was completed. Akaitcho, with great good sense, instantly came to have the matter explained, stating at the same time that he could not credit it. I then pointed out to him that Mr. Wentzel, with whom they had long been accustomed to trade, had pledged the credit of his Company for the stipulated rewards to the party that accompanied us, and that the trading debts due by Akaitcho and his party had already been remitted, which was of itself a sufficient proof of our influence with the North-West Company. I also reminded Akaitcho that our having caused the Esquimaux to be brought up at a great expense was evidence of our future intentions, and informed him that I should write to Mr. Smith, the senior trader in the department, on the subject when I had no doubt that a satisfactory explanation would be given. The Indians retired from the conference apparently satisfied, but this business was in the end productive of much inconvenience to us, and proved very detrimental to the progress of the Expedition. In conjunction also with other intelligence conveyed in Mr. Back’s letters respecting the disposition of the traders towards us, particularly a statement of Mr. Weeks that he had been desired not to assist us with supplies from his post, it was productive of much present uneasiness to me.
On the 28th St. Germain the interpreter set out with eight Canadian voyagers and four Indian hunters to bring up our stores from Fort Providence. I wrote by him to Mr. Smith at Moose-Deer Island and Mr. Keith at Chipewyan, both of the North-West Company, urging them in the strongest manner to comply with the requisition for stores which Mr. Back would present. I also informed Mr. Simpson, principal agent in the Athabasca for the Hudson’s Bay Company who had proffered every assistance in his power, that we should gladly avail ourselves of the kind intentions expressed in a letter which I had received from him.