Part 2

The numeral _payshik_, or one, is frequently used to express the articles _a_ and _the_; and _woke_ is the general word for the plural number, though not always used.

Mr. Carver’s Vocabulary will, in many instances, be found to differ from the Chippeway;[14] but when it is considered that though he calls it the Chippeway Vocabulary, in p. 414 of his work, he says “The Chippeway, or Algonkin,” which {x} evidently proves that he believes them the same language:—but with regard to the usefulness of the tongue, there is a perfect corroboration of sentiment; for he remarks that the Chippeway tongue appears to be the most prevailing of all the Indian languages.

It may not be amiss to observe, that the Chippeway tongue, as spoken by the servants of the Hudson’s Bay Company, is somewhat different, though not essentially so, and is called by them the _Home-Guard_ Language.

With regard to the Iroquois, or Mohawk tongue, which is peculiar to the Five and Six Nation Indians, it is not necessary in the fur-trade beyond Michillimakinac; and if it were, there are not wanting printed authorities sufficient to instruct:—this consideration has induced me to give only the numerals, and a few words in the language.

I have not any thing further to add, but a sincere wish that my labours may prove useful to the world; and that whatever defects may be found in the following work, the Public will look on them with candour; and will recollect that they are perusing, not the pages of a professed _Tourist_, but such observations as a commercial man flatters himself may be found acceptable to the merchant and the philosopher.

[Illustration: _SKETCH of the_ WESTERN COUNTRIES of CANADA 1791]

VOYAGES AND TRAVELS

Having engaged myself, at an early period of life, to go to North America, in the quality of an articled clerk, I left Gravesend on the 10th of April, 1768, on board the “Canada,” captain Smith, bound to Quebec and Montreal. We had a pleasant voyage, till we reached the coast of America, when the weather proving unfavourable, we were obliged to put into Newfoundland, where we stayed fourteen days. Nothing remarkable occurred here, except that a party went on shore to hunt, and one of them, Mr. Jordan, who was a passenger, bound to Montreal, finding himself much fatigued, remained in the woods; the rest returned on board in the evening, anxiously expecting their companion; but after four days painful solicitude, not being able to obtain any intelligence of him, we gave up all hopes of seeing him again; and as the snow was deep on the ground, and the wild animals numerous, we supposed him to be either frozen to death, or devoured by the beasts. Just as the captain proposed setting sail, an Indian came on board, to whom we endeavoured to communicate our distress. On this occasion, he seemed to understand us, and made signs of his intention to go in search of him; and being furnished with some rum by way of encouragement, he got into his canoe and paddled {2} ashore. The captain, with great humanity, deferred prosecuting the voyage for some time: but the Indian not returning, we left Newfoundland, and after a tedious passage of near eleven weeks, arrived at Quebec, the capital of Canada.

When the Spaniards (who first discovered this northern clime) sailed past Cape Rosiers at the entrance of the River St. Laurence, the mountains, now called the Mountains of Nôtre Dame, were covered with snow. Such a prospect, in the summer season, gave them a very unfavourable opinion of the country, and they were deterred from going up the river, supposing the land to be too barren to recompence their labours at present, or afford any future advantages; and the same impressions induced them to call it Capo di Nada, or Cape Nothing, by which name it is described in their charts, and from whence, by corruption of language, it has derived its present name of Canada.[15]

The River St. Laurence takes its rise from Lake Nipissin, northeast of Lake Superior, about the distance of 2000 miles from Quebec.[16] The breadth of it is 90 miles at the entrance, and it is navigable near 500 miles from the sea.

The Isle of Orleans, which is but a small distance from the city, is a beautiful spot of ground, about 20 miles in length, and six in breadth. The fertility of the soil makes it a useful and valuable garden, insomuch that it supplies the capital with vegetables and grain in great abundance. The opposite village of Beauport also charms the eye, and very much heightens the scene, which is rich, romantic, and magnificent.

{3} The Fall of Montmorenci particularly attracted my notice, as it is perhaps the most pleasing natural cascade in the world; and though its height and width are not to be compared in point of awful grandeur with the stupendous cataract of Niagara, it is sufficiently wonderful to shew the power of the great Architect of the Universe; and its effects are more pleasing than the latter; for while it produces wonder and pleasure in the highest degree, it does not strike the beholder with such tremendous ideas.

As our ship was bound to Montreal, as well as Quebec, and I was under the captain’s care and direction, he did not allow me to go on shore at the latter place; but in a few days, to my great joy, we arrived safe at Montreal, the place of our last destination.

Montreal, formerly called Ville Marie, has nothing remarkable in it at present; it was formerly famous for a great fair, which lasted near three months, and was resorted to by the Indians, who came from the distance of many hundreds of miles, to barter their peltry for English goods. It will give pleasure to the reader to be informed, that we received here the agreeable intelligence that Mr. Jordan was found in the woods, two days after our departure from Newfoundland, though with the loss of his feet, occasioned by the severity of the weather: he went afterwards in a vessel to Trois Riviéres, where he settled in an iron foundry.

Trois Riviéres,[17] is so called from the junction of three currents which empty themselves into the River St. Laurence. About a league from the town there is an iron foundry, which was erected by private {4} persons in the year 1737, and afterwards ceded to the King. At first cannon and mortars were cast there, but it is now principally used in the manufacture of stoves and kettles. The ore is taken at a small distance from the works. A river runs down from the foundry into the River St. Laurence, which enables the proprietors to send their manufactures round the country in boats upon very moderate terms.

This town, which is half way between Quebec and Montreal, had formerly a very considerable trade in peltry, and was the second mart in Canada; but in process of time the inhabitants of Montreal contrived to draw almost all the fur-trade to themselves; and though the residents in Trois Riviéres live by their commerce with the savages, and the manufacturing of birch canoes, yet the town has lost that rank and consequence which it formerly maintained; nevertheless, the advantage of the iron foundry makes them some amends, and they live, upon the whole, as happy as any people in Canada. The inhabitants of Trois Riviéres were formerly very much incommoded with fleas, which swarmed in great quantities, and which, Baron de Lahontan humorously observes, occasioned an inconvenient quickness in conversation.

On my arrival at Montreal, I was placed under the care of a very respectable merchant to learn the Indian trade, which is the chief support of the town. I soon acquired the names of every article of commerce in the Iroquois and French languages, and being at once prepossessed in favour of the savages, improved daily in their tongue, to the satisfaction of my employer, who approving my assiduity, and wishing me to be completely qualified in the Mohawk language to enable me to traffic with the Indians in his absence, sent me to a village called {5} Cahnuaga, or Cocknawaga, situated about nine miles from Montreal, on the south side of the River St. Laurence,[18] where I lived with a chief whose name was _Assenegethter_, until I was sufficiently instructed in the language, and then returned to my master’s store, to improve myself in French, which is not only universally spoken in Canada, but is absolutely necessary in the commercial intercourse with the natives, and without which it would be impossible to enjoy the society of the most respectable families, who are in general ignorant of the English language.

{6} _A Description of the Village and Inhabitants of_ CAHNUAGA, _or_ COCKNAWAGA, _who some years since separated from the_ MOHAWKS.

The Savages of this nation, who are called the praying Indians, from the circumstance of their chiefs wearing crucifixes, and going through the streets of Montreal with their beads, begging alms, separated long since from the Mohawk and River Indians, and for a considerable time after their separation, carried on an illicit trade between Albany and Montreal. The village contains about two hundred houses, which, though they are chiefly built of stone, have a mean and dirty appearance. The inhabitants amount to about eight hundred, and (what is contrary to the general observation on the population of the Indians) are continually increasing. It is considered as the most respectable of all the Indian villages, and the people are in a great degree civilized and industrious. They sow corn, and do not depend like other nations solely upon hunting for support; but at the same time, they are not fond of laborious work, conceiving it only suited to those who are less free, and retaining so much of their primeval valour and independence as to annex the idea of slavery to every domestic employment. Their hunting grounds are within the United States, at a considerable distance from the village, round Fort George, Ticonderoga, and Crown Point, where they kill beaver and deer, but not in such great abundance at present as they did formerly, the country being better inhabited, and the wild animals, from the present state of population, being obliged to seek a more distant {7} and secure retreat. The skins they obtain are generally brought down to Montreal, and either sold for money, or bartered for goods. It is not improbable, that in a few years there will not be many good hunters among them, as they are extravagantly fond of dress, and that too of the most expensive kind. Their fondness for this luxury, which the profits arising from the lands they let out to the Canadians enables them to indulge, contributes to make them more idle; and in proportion as their vanity increases, ease and indolence are the more eagerly courted and gratified, insomuch that hunting is in danger of being totally abandoned. Their religion is Catholic, and they have a French priest, or, as the Chippeway Indians term it, “_The Master of Life’s Man_,” who instructs them, and performs divine service in the Iroquois tongue. Their devotion impressed my mind too powerfully to suffer it to pass unnoticed, and induces me to observe that great praise is due to their pastors, who by unwearied assiduity, and their own exemplary lives and conversation, have converted a savage race of beings from Heathenism to Christianity, and by uniformity of conduct, continue to preserve both their religion and themselves in the esteem of their converts: An example worthy of imitation, and amounting to an incontrovertible proof that nature, in her most degenerate state, may be reclaimed by those who are sincere in their endeavours, gentle in their manners, and consistent in the general tenor of their behaviour. And it is to be expected, and certainly most ardently to be wished, that the savage temper among them may in time be more effectually subdued, their natural impetuosity softened and restrained, and their minds weaned from their unhappy attachment to the use of strong liquors; their indulgence in which is frequently attended with the most melancholy and fatal consequences.

{8} _Of the_ INDIANS _of the Five and Six Nations_.

I shall now give a particular account of the Indians of the Five and Six Nations, and the reasons why they are so called, in order to enable the reader to form an idea of their consequence in a political point of view, as well as their importance on account of the fur-trade; because the vicinity of the American territories from Georgia to New England, gives the United States a great command and influence from their situation, and renders them more to be dreaded than even the French were in the zenith of their American power, when it was universally known they had such an interest among the savages, as induced them to call the French their fathers, and of which so much yet remains, as to prompt them to retain a predilection in favour of the traders of the Gallic race who are settled among them.

In 1603, when the French settled in Canada, part of the Five Nations resided on the island of Montreal, and were at war with the Adirondacks (who lived on the Uttawa, or grand river leading to Michillimakinac);[19] these, considered the Five Nations as very insignificant opponents, and incapable of serious revenge, and they were held in as much derision as the Delawares, who were usually called old women, or the Shawanees (who lived on the Wabach River), who were obliged to wear petticoats for a considerable time, in contempt of their want of courage, and as a badge of their pusillanimity and degradation. But as no people can bear the imputation of cowardice or effeminacy as a {9} national character, the chiefs determined to rouse their young men, and stimulate them to retrieve, or establish, a reputation; and inspiring them with heroic notions, led them to war against the Satanas, or Shaounons, whom they subdued with great ease. This success revived their drooping spirits, and forgetting how often they had been defeated by the Adirondacks, [they] commenced hostilities against them; and availing themselves of the mean opinion their enemies entertained of their valour, gained the victory in several actions: and at last carried on a successful war against them even in their own country, obliging their former conquerors to abandon their native land, and seek refuge on the spot where Quebec is now situated.

Soon after the French arrived and had settled at Quebec, they formed an alliance with the Adirondacks against the Five Nations. The first engagement proved decisive in favour of the Adirondacks, owing entirely to the use of fire arms having been introduced among them by their new allies, which the Indians of the Five Nations had never before seen. This alliance, and the consequent defeat was far from subduing or disheartening the Five Nations, but rather seemed to inspire them with additional ardour, and what they were deficient in military skill and suitable weapons, they supplied by stratagem and courage. Although the French gained several advantages over them in the course of more than fifteen years, they at length were glad to bring the contest to a conclusion, by making a peace with them.

This shews that the Savages of the Five Nations are not easily to be conquered, and proves the necessity of preserving them in our interest, {10} as long as we shall deem it expedient, from policy, to keep possession of Canada. This being admitted, it is certain that no method will more effectually conduce to that end, than retaining such barriers in our hands as will enable us to afford them protection, and supply them with arms and ammunition, and other necessaries, in time of danger.

The Indians who lie to the north of Philadelphia, between the provinces of Pennsylvania and the Lakes, consist of three distinct leagues, of which the Senekas, Mohawks, and Onondagoes, who are called the fathers, compose the first; the Oneidoes, Cayugas, Tuscororas, Conoys and Nanticokes, which are one tribe, compose the second, and these two leagues constitute what is called the Six Nations. The third league is formed of the Wanamis, Chihokockis, or Delawares, the Mawhiccons, Munseys, and Wapingers, to which may be added the Mingoes. The Cowetas, or Creek Indians, are also united in friendship with them.[20]

Mr. Colden says, the nations who are joined together by a league or confederacy, like the United Provinces of Holland, are known by the names of Mohawks, Oneydoes, Onondagoes, Cayugas, and Senekas; that each of these nations is again divided into three tribes or families, who are distinguished by the names of the Tortoise, Bear, and Wolf; and that the Tuscororas, after the war they had with the people of Carolina, fled to the Five Nations, and incorporated with them, so that in fact they now consist of six, although they still retain the name of the Five Nations.[21] This union is of such long duration as to leave little or no traces of its origin.

{11} Baron Lahontan observes, that the Iroquois are in reality but one nation, divided into five districts; and which he distinguishes in the following manner:—The Tsonontouans, the Goyogans, the Onontagues, the Oneyouts, and the Agnies, who were all settled about thirty leagues from each other, near the great Lake Frontenac, now called Ontario.

The Mohawks, or Maquas, are the most warlike among the Five Nations, and consist of near seven hundred warriors. They are called by the French, Agnies, or Annies, and were originally settled on the French or grand River, leading to Michillimakinac, from whence they afterwards removed to the Mohawk River, near Schenectady, about sixteen miles from Albany, in the state of New York. Since the war in 1757 they have separated, and part of the nation is settled on the grand river, near Niagara, and the rest at the back of the bay of Quenty, or Kenty, about forty-eight miles above Cataraqui, the capital of the Loyalist settlements on the River St. Laurence.[22]

Cataraqui, or Fort Frontenac, is built near to the place where Lake Ontario discharges itself into the River St. Laurence. It was erected by Le Comte de Frontenac, governor general of Canada, to stop the incursions of the Iroquois, and divert the channel of the commerce in peltry, which that people carried on with the inhabitants of New York, and which they bartered for with the Savages by merchandize, at a cheaper rate than the French could supply them.

This fort was at first built of wood and turf, and surrounded with high pickets, but during the mission of Father Hennepin, it was faced {12} with stone, by the direction of the Sieur Cavelier de la Salle, and enlarged to a circuit of more than seven hundred yards. The bason in which it stands is capable of holding a number of vessels of considerable burthen. There is a small garrison at present, and a commanding officer, to examine all boats which pass either to the new settlements or the upper posts.[23]

The Oneidoes, or Oneyouts, the Onondagoes, Cayugas, Senekas, or Tsonontouans, and the Tuscororas, who live with the Oneidoes and Onondagoes, are settled about thirty leagues distant from each other, and none of them exceeding two hundred and fifty miles from the Mohawk River. All these nations express peace by the metaphor of a tree, whose top they say will reach the sun, and whose branches extend far abroad, not only that they may be seen at a great distance, but to afford them shelter and repose.

The Five Nations claim all the country south of the River St. Laurence to the Ohio, and down the Ohio to the Wabache, which lies to the westward of the state of Pennsylvania, near to the borders of Virginia; westerly, to the Lakes Ontario and Erie, and the River Miamis, and the eastern boundaries of Lake Champlain, and the United States.

The firmness of this league, the great extent of land it claims, the number of great warriors it produces, and the undaunted courage and skill which distinguish the members of it in their contests both with the Savages and European nations, all conspire to prove the good policy of an alliance with them; as it is an undoubted fact, that in case of a dispute with the Americans, the posts would make but a feeble resistance {13} without their exertions; and deprived of the forts, the fur-trade would soon be lost to this country.

I shall next consider the situation and utility of these barriers, in a commercial point of view, and endeavour to shew the propriety of keeping possession of the posts, notwithstanding by the treaty of peace with the United States, they were expressly stipulated to be given up; although it is not probable indeed that the Americans will be able to fulfil the treaty on their part, so as to entitle them to make a reasonable demand—I mean such a claim as government must absolutely admit.

The first post I shall notice is Oswegatche, on the River St. Laurence, about one hundred and fifty miles above Montreal, at the mouth of the Black River, where there are about an hundred Savages, who occasionally frequent it, and are called Oswegatche Indians, although they belong to the tribes of the Five Nations.[24] To this fort the inhabitants of New England may with ease transport goods, to supply the Mohawks, Cahnuagas, Connecedagas, St. Regis, and some straggling Messesawger Indians, who live near the Détroit,[25] at a smaller expence than they can possibly be obtained from the merchants at Quebec or Montreal, but particularly Rum, which is now become an essential requisite in every transaction with the Savages; for though they used formerly often to complain of the introduction of strong water by the traders (as appears by the language of their chiefs in council) to the prejudice of their young men, yet they have not now the resolution to refrain from the use of it;—on the contrary, it is become so familiar, and even necessary to them, that a drunken frolic is {14} looked upon as an indispensible requisite in a barter, and anticipated with extreme delight.

Carlton Island is higher up the river, and has greater conveniences annexed to it than Oswegatche, having an excellent harbour, with a strong fortification well garrisoned.[26] It affords excellent accommodation for shipping, and may be considered as the naval storehouse for supplying Niagara and the other posts. There are vessels of considerable bulk continually sailing from thence to Niagara, Oswego, &c.—There is also a commodore of the Lakes, whose residence is on the island.

Fort Oswego, on Lake Ontario, formerly called Lake Frontenac, is a good fortification, and capable of containing six hundred men. This post is particularly important, as it is the key to the United States, and commands the opening to the North, or Hudson’s River, protecting the trade with the Indians who live on the banks of the River St. Laurence, and the whole extent of the great sheet of water near which it stands, reckoned about eighty leagues in length, and in some places from twenty-five to thirty broad.[27]