Part 11
Several days elapsed, and St. Ange not returning, Janvier was again questioned, who told them as before, and appealed to Dufresne for the truth of his assertions, which he was obliged to confirm.
Mr. Fulton not being perfectly satisfied, examined them apart; from Janvier he could not get any information, but Dufresne hesitated, and at last said he had sworn not to reveal—but that St. Ange would never return.—Mr. Fulton endeavoured to convince him that the breach of an oath, so imposed, was no crime; and in the end he convinced the Canadian that it was so far from being obligatory in the sight of God, that it would be a sin of the most heinous nature in him to conceal the truth; artfully adding, as an additional argument to induce him to reveal the transaction, that if he had no doubt he was himself perfectly innocent, he could not have any honest motive for secrecy, and that he had no occasion to dread the resentment of Janvier, as he would engage to {124} protect him from all hazard by the discovery. Thus persuaded and encouraged, Dufresne disclosed the whole affair, but requested Mr. Fulton’s secrecy, which he promised until the conversation should be renewed, when it was agreed that he should relate every particular in Janvier’s presence. Janvier was repeatedly urged by the rest of the men to give them some information respecting the absence of St. Ange, but he remained obstinately silent: some of them went so far as to accuse him in pretty plain terms of knowing too much about him, but he treated their insinuations with indifference.
Mr. Fulton having disposed of all his goods, prepared to leave his wintering ground, and every thing being properly arranged they departed. The first night after their departure Mr. Fulton loaded a brace of pistols, and having previously acquainted his men with the discovery Dufresne had made, and the punishment he intended for the villain, came out of his tent and stood by the fire round which the Canadians were seated. The conversation about St. Ange being purposely renewed, Mr. Fulton remarked it was cruel to leave him in the woods with the Indians, and blamed Janvier particularly, as he was the foreman of the party, and therefore the more responsible. Janvier nettled at the repetition of the subject, (for guilt is soon angry) replied that St. Ange was able to take care of himself, and that he had not any controul over him. Dufresne was then censured; upon which, agreeably to the plan settled with Mr. Fulton, he divulged the whole transaction, and gave a full account of every particular of Janvier’s conduct. Janvier attempted to take instant revenge for the aspersion, as he called it, and denied the charge with the most hardened effrontery and solemn asseverations. Mr. Fulton then thought it a proper time {125} to interfere; and to cover him if possible with confusion, asked him “which was the best part of a man?” Janvier replied, with ready insolence, that those who had eaten human flesh could easily tell: but being repeatedly urged, and at length thrown off his guard, he replied in great wrath, the feet. The party encouraged by this confession, pressed the charge, till at last he confessed the facts he was accused of, and declared that in a similar situation he would kill his brother.
Mr. Fulton could no longer suppress his resentment, and going up to Janvier, told him he was an abandoned villain, first for killing a harmless Indian who had generously relieved his wants, and afterwards eating him like a cannibal; that not content with these atrocious acts, he had encreased his guilt by another deliberate murder on a defenceless man, his companion, his fellow-labourer, and friend; that he was a disgrace to human nature, and ought not to be suffered to live a moment longer; and without allowing him time to reply, shot him through the head. The men were ordered to bury him, and in the morning Mr. Fulton continued his journey to _Michillimakinac_, where on his arrival he surrendered himself to the commanding officer, who on a close examination of the men, honourably acquitted him; but recommended him not to venture again into those parts, where the Indian was killed, lest the Savages should hear of the transaction, and resent the death of one of their tribe, whereby the innocent might suffer for the acts of the guilty.[80]
In the month of February I had a visit from a trader, dressed in a smoked leather shirt; who was accompanied by three Indians, and had been absent five days from Fort Albany.[81] He said he was induced to come {126} from a motive of curiosity to see me, not having heard of any person wintering so far inland before, except the servants belonging to the Hudson’s Bay Company. At that time I had very little provisions, and eight men to maintain, besides Mr. Joseph La Forme’s Canadians; our chief food was _tripe de roche_; on his arrival the kettle was on the fire with the leaves: he asked what food I had; I ordered some to be taken out of the pot, and put into a bark dish, which he tasted, but could not swallow. I informed him that it had been a principal part of our diet for many days, and in the best of times we had nothing but wild animal food, and seldom any flour, as the quantity of Indian corn we were able to bring along with us from Pays Plat was not sufficient to last the winter. When I had given him a description of my mode of living, which he confessed was very different from the comforts he enjoyed, I took him into my store, and shewed him the packs of beaver I had collected: this increased his surprise, as he could not conceive how it was possible to transport a sufficient quantity of goods to barter for the value I seemed to be in possession of. He asked me to return with him, and promised to supply me with provisions; but I told him I was engaged in an employ, and had supported the same disagreeable situation the preceding winter at Lac la Mort; and as I could not expect to pass my life among the Indians with so much ease as in England, my duty obliged me to remain till the season was over, when I should return and endeavour to make myself some amends for the hardships I had endured, by giving a good account of the merchandise intrusted to my care, and receiving a reward for my labours. In the morning he took his leave, wishing me the speedy arrival of some Indians who might be able to relieve me from such pressing necessity by supplying me with plenty of more nourishing and palatable food.
{127} This civility from one of the Hudson’s Bay Company’s servants leads me to make some few observations in vindication of that respectable body, whose character has been so severely, and I think so unjustly, censured.
Mr. Joseph Robson, one of the company’s servants, who resided in their factory six years as surveyor and supervisor of the buildings, in a work published by him some years since,[82] animadverts in very strong terms on the mode in which the governors of forts exert what he calls their uncontroulable authority, and asserts that their extreme tyranny is a perpetual source of personal disgust. He also says, that “the overplus trade is big with iniquity, and no less inconsistent with the company’s true interest, than it is injurious to the natives, who by means of it are become more and more alienated, and are either discouraged from hunting at all, or induced to carry all their furs to the French.” It may be necessary here to observe, that the overplus trade arises from the peltry which the company’s servants obtain in barter with the natives beyond the ratio stipulated by the company, and which belongs to themselves.
This is a heavy charge, and, if true, a very proper cause of complaint; but it should seem there is not sufficient ground for the accusation, for Mr. Robson afterwards says that this overplus trade is of little advantage to them, for “that part of it, they always add to the company’s stock, for the sake of enhancing the merit of their services, and apply the remainder to their own use, which is often expended in bribes to skreen their faults, and continue them in their command.” What a strange degree of folly, as well as of guilt! that the governors are so {128} weak and so wicked as to commit enormities only to make a temporary advantage, and are obliged to distribute the wages of iniquity in order to skreen themselves from its consequences among the company, and their confederates in vice; whereas by a contrary conduct they would be equally rich, more respected, and also feel an inward satisfaction of mind from the consciousness of having discharged their trust with integrity; ideas too absurd to be admitted. With regard to the company, it cannot be supposed they are ignorant of this “overplus trade,” or the means by which their servants obtain the advantages arising from it; if they are not, and no impartial person will suppose they are, they not only allow but approve of the conduct of their governors, from a conviction of its being beneficial to the interests of the company; a proper reward for the labours of their servants, or from some other motive, which because it is adopted by men so respectable, and so much above reproach, must be allowed to be wise and prudent.
In the next place, I believe it will be very difficult to prove that the conduct of the governors has “alienated the natives from the company’s interest, and discouraged them from hunting.” The former is at present by no means clear, as I am credibly informed the New Northwest Company,[83] whose trade extends to the boundaries of the settlements of the Hudson’s Bay Company, find very little encouragement from the Indians; if therefore the natives were disgusted, they would embrace the first opportunity of shewing their dislike, by carrying their peltry to the new traders; nothing can be more natural than to expect that this would be the consequence; but as they have not done so, the inference is fair that they are not disgusted.
{129} Another observation is, “that the cruel and oppressive behaviour of the governors and captains towards the inferior servants, not only deters useful people from engaging in the company’s service (a circumstance they should attend to for their own interest), but furnishes one pretext for the bad character that is given of the company.”
Though in the particular department in which I have been many years engaged as an Indian interpreter and trader, I have had few opportunities of a personal and intimate acquaintance with many of the company’s servants (having been in a commerce in direct opposition to their interest), yet I can speak with confidence in regard to some of them whom I have conversed with; that in every point of view I believe them to be useful servants, and well skilled in the language of the natives.—So far in answer to the assertion “that useful people are deterred from entering into the service.” And by way of refuting the charge of “cruelty and oppression,” I need only add, what none I think will deny, that they have been so well satisfied with the conduct of their superiors, that many of them have continued in the service more than twenty years.
I believe, upon the whole, it will appear that the conduct of the governors at home and abroad, is perfectly consistent with the true interests of the company, and that any other mode of behaviour would tend to anarchy and confusion; and I must declare for my own part that I never heard of that personal disgust which Mr. Robson so much complains of, but have rather found an anxious solicitude to be employed in their service.
{130} Mr. Carver, in his history of North America, observes, “that on the waters which fall into Lake Winnepeek, the neighbouring nations take a great many furs, some of them they carry to the Hudson’s Bay Company’s factories, situated at the entrance of the Bourbon River, but this they do with reluctance on several accounts; for some of the _Assinipoils_ and _Killistinoe_ Indians,[84] who usually traded with the company’s servants, told him that if they could be sure of a constant supply of goods from _Michillimakinac_, they would not trade any where else; that they shewed him some cloth, and other articles purchased at Hudson’s Bay, with which they were much dissatisfied, thinking they had been greatly imposed on in the barter.”
To this Mr. Carver adds, “that allowing their accounts true, he could not help joining in their opinion; but afterwards he admits that this dissatisfaction might probably proceed, in a great measure, from the intrigues of the Canadian traders; and that the method they took to withdraw the Indians from their attachment to the Hudson’s Bay Company, and to engage their good opinion in behalf of their new employers, was by depreciating, on all occasions, the company’s goods, and magnifying the advantages that would arise to them from trafficking entirely with the Canadian traders: in this they too well succeeded; and from this, doubtless, did the dissatisfaction which the _Assinipoils_ and _Killistinoes_ proceed.” But, says he, further, “another reason augmented it, the length of the journey to the Hudson’s Bay Factories, which they informed him took up three months during the summer heats to go and return, and from the smallness of their canoes they could not carry more than one third of the beaver they {131} killed, so that it is not to be wondered at that the Indians should wish to have traders come to reside among them.” As Mr. Carver did not travel in the interior parts as a trader, he could not have any interested commercial motives; on that account he is certainly entitled to credit as an impartial observer: the public will judge of his remarks, and how far they tend to censure, or approve, the conduct of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
I am induced to indulge this digression in consequence of a new publication on the present state of Hudson’s Bay by Mr. Umfreville.[85]
It has unfortunately happened that the company’s enemies have been frequently of their own household, persons in whom they placed confidence and to whom they entrusted the mysteries of their commerce. Differences will naturally arise, and doubtless have arisen between the governors and their servants, in which case no man is, or ought to be, obliged to stay in a service that is disagreeable to him; but then it is certainly sufficient to leave the employ, and highly improper to endeavour to prejudice the interest he once thought and felt it his duty to promote; and I am of opinion that not a single transaction, or circumstance, should be revealed that has not an immediate reference to the cause of the disagreement, or is necessary to support or vindicate a reputation. The present governors are men of great probity, and probably may not condescend to take notice of these heavy charges against them; but as the most exalted virtue may be injured by groundless assertions, I trust the public will not be displeased with any endeavours, however feeble, to vindicate the character of so respectable a body. As I do not intend to enter on the subject more fully, I shall only entreat the reader, if {132} he wishes further satisfaction on this head, to peruse the publication of Mr. Robson, who was one of the company’s servants, and who, Mr. Umfreville acknowledges to be a true and impartial writer. From his account the reader will judge of the propriety of Mr. Umfreville’s censures on the conduct of the governors of the Hudson’s Bay Company. A more copious examination of Mr. Umfreville’s publication would exceed the limits I have prescribed to myself; and I cannot but think that those who peruse it will readily perceive how much injustice he has done to the governors and the company.
{133} _Arrival of more Indians.—Rum gets short; adopt the usual Mode to encrease the Stock, which enables us to conclude our Traffic for the Season.—Take leave of the Indians, and proceed on our Journey homewards.—Account of an Indian Courtship.—Servile State of the Women after Marriage.—Observations on the Confidence which the Indians put in the Master of Life,—&c.—Arrive safe at Pays Plat._
Soon after the departure of the trader, a large band, consisting of about 100, came in; my stock of rum was very small, which was a misfortune, as rum is too important in treaties with the Indians to be easily dispensed with. On their arrival they wished to drink, but I continued to barter for all their furs before I gave them any rum: having finished the business, they grew clamorous, when I gave them as much rum as I could spare, upon receipt of which they embarked in tolerable good humour.
In the month of April the last band came in, and I was extremely perplexed how to act, having a very small portion of rum, and no prospect of encreasing my stock; I was therefore obliged to dilute it so as to make it about one-fifth part weaker than usual, which made twenty gallons of very passable Indian rum. Having supplied them {134} with wearing apparel, &c. and received their peltry, I gave them a taste of the _scuttaywabo_, and just before my embarkation made the following speech:
“_Haguarmissey cockinnor an Nishinnorbay kee wabindan cawwickcar nin serpargussey nee zargetoone, keennerwind kaygo kee cushkendum webatch neennerwind tercushenan nepewar annacotchigon nin ojey petoone. Wa haguarmissey cockinnor meenwendesay bazam Ebeckcheck megoyyack debwoye neegee kaygo arwayyor matchee oathty, kee cannawendan cockinnor, mokoman, baskeyzegan goyer becka, kee minniquy kaygo arwayyor annascartissey woke, mornooch kee permartissyan cockinnor an Nishinnorbay nogome debwoye negee nepewar artawway winnin ojey zargetoone an Nishinnorbay, keshpin suggermarch wennewar metach nin ojey debarchemon kitchee ojemaw awassa woity kitchee wakaygan Michillimakinac metach kaygoshish ween ojey bockettywaun keennerwind._
“Now, my friends, take courage, I have always shewn you a good heart, and you all know I am full of pity for you, your wives, and children; therefore do not be uneasy, or think the time long I shall be absent from you. I hope the Master of Life will give me courage and strength to return to you, and bring you goods. Now, as you know I have no sugar on my lips, nor any spear at my tongue, and that my ears are not stopt, nor my heart bound up, I hope you will deliver up your knives, guns, and tomahawks, and have no bad heart before you begin to drink, so that on my return I may find you all well. I shall speak with {135} courage to the great English chief, at _Michillimakinac_, and he will open his heart to you.”
Having finished my speech, the weapons were collected and delivered to me. I then gave them a considerable quantity of rum, after which I returned their knives, &c. to convince them of the good opinion I entertained of them, and that I had no doubt but they would attend to the advice I had given them. I then got into my canoe, and waving my hand, was saluted by a discharge of 200 guns, which I returned by one volley, and pursued my journey in good spirits, heartily pleased at leaving my winter quarters.
We continued our voyage without meeting with any occurrence worth relating till we arrived at the Skunk’s River, where I had unfortunately shot off a chief’s ear, as I have before related. Here I met with the new married couple, and some of the same band to whom I was so much obliged in the preceding December for singing the love-songs; and being desirous of obtaining a perfect knowledge of their manners and customs, I made many inquiries, and among other knowledge gained information of the Chippeway form of courtship, which I presume will be acceptable to those who have as much curiosity as myself.[86]
INDIAN COURTSHIP
When an Indian wishes to take a wife, and sees one to his mind, he applies to the father of the girl, and asks his consent in the following words:
{136} “_Nocey, cunner kee darmissey kee darniss nee zargayyar kakaygo O waterwarwardoossin cawween peccan weettey gammat ottertassey memarjis mee mor._”
“Father, I love your daughter, will you give her to me, that the small roots of her heart may entangle with mine, so that the strongest wind that blows shall never separate them.”
If the father approves, an interview is appointed, for which the lover prepares by a perspiration; he then comes into her presence, sits down on the ground, and smokes his pipe: during the time of smoking, he keeps throwing small pieces of wood, of about an inch in length at her one by one to the number of one hundred. As many as she can catch in a bark bowl, so many presents her lover must make to her father, which he considers as payment for his daughter. The young warrior then gives a feast, to which he invites all the family—when the feast is done, they dance and sing their war songs.—The merriment being over, and mutual presents exchanged between the lover and her relations, the father covers them with a beaver robe, and gives them likewise a new gun and a birch canoe, with which the ceremony ends.
When the French became masters of Canada, the ceremony of marriage between the Savages was very fantastical.
When a lover wished his mistress to be informed of his affection, he procured an interview with her, which was always at night, and in {137} the presence of some of her friends; this was conducted in the following manner:
He entered the _wigwam_, the door of which was commonly a skin, and went up to the hearth on which some hot coals were burning; he then lighted a stick of wood, and approaching his mistress, pulled her _three_ times by the nose, to awaken her; this was done with decency, and being the custom, the squaw did not feel alarmed at the liberty. This ceremony, ridiculous as it may appear, was continued occasionally for _two_ months, both parties behaving during the time in all other respects, with the greatest circumspection.
The moment she becomes a wife, she loses her liberty, and is an obsequious slave to her husband, who never loses sight of his prerogative. Wherever he goes she must follow, and durst not venture to incense him by a refusal, knowing that if she neglects him, extreme punishment, if not death, ensues. The chief liberty he allows her is to dance and sing in his company, and is seldom known to take any more notice of her than of the most indifferent person: while she is obliged to perform the drudgery of life, which custom or insensibility enables her to do with the utmost cheerfulness.
A circumstance of this kind I recollect reading which happened at Beaver Creek, about twenty-five miles from Fort Pitt. An Indian woman observing some white men to carry fire-wood on their shoulders, took up her hatchet, and brought them in a short time a great burden on her back; and throwing it down by the fire, said, she not only pitied {138} them, but thought it was a great scandal to see men doing that which was properly the work of women.