Part 16
This was the first time we had seen any of the musk-oxen since we left the Factory. It has been observed that we saw a great number of them in my first unsuccessful attempt, before I had got an hundred miles from the Factory; and indeed I once perceived the tracks of two of those animals within nine miles of Prince of Wales's Fort. Great numbers of them also were met with in my second journey to the North: several of which my companions killed, particularly on the seventeenth of July one thousand seven hundred and seventy. They are also found at times in considerable numbers near the sea-coast of Hudson's Bay, {136} all the way from Knapp's Bay to Wager Water, but are most plentiful within the Arctic Circle. In those high latitudes I have frequently seen many herds of them in the course of a day's walk, and some of those herds did not contain less than eighty or an hundred head. 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 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 bellow even at ravens, and other large birds, which chanced to light near them. They delight in the most stony and mountainous parts of the barren ground, and 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 great ease and agility, and are nearly as sure-footed as a goat: like it too, they will feed on any thing; though they seem fondest of grass, yet in Winter, when that article 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. They take the bull in August, and bring forth their young the latter end of May, or beginning of June; and they never have more than one at a time.
[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
{137} The musk-ox, when full grown, is as large as the generality, or at least as the middling size, of English black cattle;[AJ] but their legs, though large, 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 full as long, which makes the animal have a most formidable appearance. It is of the hair from this part that the Esquimaux make their musketto {138} wigs, and not from the tail, as is asserted by Mr. Ellis;[AK] their tails, and the hair which is on them, being too short for that purpose. In Winter they are provided with a thick fine wool, or furr, 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 as the Summer advances, this furr 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. The season is so short in those 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.
The flesh of the musk-ox noways resembles that of the Western buffalo, but is more like that of the moose or elk; and 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 strong of musk, as to render it very disagreeable: even the knife that cuts the flesh of an old bull will smell so strong of musk, that nothing but scouring the blade quite bright can remove it, and the handle will retain the scent for a long time. Though no part of a bull is free from this smell, yet the parts of generation, in particular the _urethra_, are by far the most strongly impregnated. The {139} urine itself must contain the scent in a very great degree; for the sheaths of the bull's _penis_ are corroded with a brown gummy substance, which is nearly as high-scented with musk as that said to be produced by the civet cat; and after having been kept for several years, seems not to lose any of its quality.
[Sidenote: 8th.]
[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
On the eighth, the weather was fine and moderate, though not without some showers of rain. Early in the morning we set out, and walked eighteen miles to the Northward. The Indians killed some deer; so we put up by the side of a small creek, that afforded a few willows, with which we made a fire for the first time since our leaving Congecathawhachaga; consequently it was here that we cooked our first meal for a whole week. This, as may naturally be supposed, was well relished by all parties, the Indians as well as myself. And as the Sun had, in the course of the day, dried our clothing, in spite of the small showers of rain, we felt ourselves more comfortable than we had done since we left the women. The place where we lay that night, is not far from Grizzled Bear Hill; which takes its name from the numbers of those animals that are frequently known to resort thither for the purpose of bringing forth their young in a cave that is found there. The wonderful description which the Copper Indians gave of this place exciting the curiosity of several of my companions as well as myself, we went to view it; but on our arrival at it {140} found little worth remarking about it, being no more than a high lump of earth, of a loamy quality, of which kind there are several others in the same neighbourhood, all standing in the middle of a large marsh, which makes them resemble so many islands in a lake. The sides of these hills are quite perpendicular; and the height of Grizzled Bear Hill, which is the largest, is about twenty feet above the level ground that surrounds it. Their summits are covered with a thick sod of moss and long grass, which in some places projects over the edge; and as the sides are constantly mouldering away, and washing down with every shower of rain during the short Summer, they must in time be levelled with the marsh in which they are situated. At present those islands, as I call them, are excellent places of retreat for the birds which migrate there to breed; as they can bring forth their young in perfect safety from every beast except the Quiquehatch,[68] which, from the sharpness of its claws and the amazing strength of its legs, is capable of ascending the most difficult precipices.
[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
On the side of the hill that I went to survey, there is a large cave which penetrates a considerable way into the rock, and may probably have been the work of the bears, as we could discover visible marks that some of those beasts had been there that Spring. This, though deemed very curious by some of my companions, did not appear so to me, as it neither engaged my attention, nor raised my {141} surprise, half so much as the sight of the many hills and dry ridges on the East side of the marsh, which are turned over like ploughed land by those animals, in searching for ground-squirrels,[69] and perhaps mice, which constitute a favourite part of their food. It is surprising to see the extent of their researches in quest of those animals, and still more to view the enormous stones rolled out of their beds by the bears on those occasions. At first I thought these long and deep furrows had been effected by lightning; but the natives assured me they never knew anything of the kind happen in those parts, and that it was entirely the work of the bears seeking for their prey.
[Sidenote: 9th.]
[Sidenote: 10th.]
[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
On the ninth, the weather was moderate and cloudy, with some flying showers of rain. We set out early in the morning, and walked about forty miles to the North and North by East. In our way we saw plenty of deer and musk-oxen: several of the former the Indians killed, but a smart shower of rain coming on just as we were going to put up, made the moss so wet as to render it impracticable to light a fire. The next day proving fine and clear, we set out in the morning, and walked twenty miles to the North by West and North North West; but about noon the weather became so hot and sultry as to render walking very disagreeable; we therefore put up on the top of a high hill, and as the moss was then dry, lighted a fire, and should have made a comfortable meal, and been otherwise tolerably happy, had it not been {142} for the muskettoes, which were uncommonly numerous, and their stings almost insufferable. The same day Matonabbee sent several Indians a-head, with orders to proceed to the Copper-mine River as fast as possible, and acquaint any Indians they might meet, of our approach. By those Indians I also sent some small presents, as the surest means to induce any strangers they found, to come to our assistance.
[Sidenote: 11th.]
The eleventh was hot and sultry, like the preceding day. In the morning we walked ten or eleven miles to the North West, and then met a Northern Indian Leader, called Oule-eye, and his family, who were, in company with several Copper Indians, killing deer with bows and arrows and spears, as they crossed a little river, by the side of which we put up, as did also the above-mentioned Indians.[AL] That afternoon I smoked my calumet of peace with these strangers, and found them a quite different set of people, at least in principle, from those I had seen at Congecathawhachaga: for though they had great plenty of provisions, they neither offered me nor my companions a mouthful, and would, if they had been permitted, have taken the last garment from off my back, and robbed me of every article I possessed. Even my Northern companions could not help taking notice of such unaccountable behaviour. Nothing but their poverty {143} protected them from being plundered by those of my crew; and had any of their women been worth notice, they would most assuredly have been pressed into our service.
[Sidenote: 12th.]
[Sidenote: 13th.]
[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
The twelfth was so exceedingly hot and sultry, that we did not move; but early in the morning of the thirteenth, after my companions had taken what dry provisions they chose from our unsociable strangers, we set out, and walked about fifteen or sixteen miles to the North and North by East, in expectation of arriving at the Copper-mine River that day; but when we had reached the top of a long chain of hills, between which we were told the river ran, we found it to be no more than a branch of it which empties itself into the main river about forty miles from its influx into the sea. At that time all the Copper Indians were dispatched different ways, so that there was not one in company, who knew the shortest cut to the main river. Seeing some woods to the Westward, and judging that the current of the rivulet ran that way, we concluded that the main river lay in that direction, and was not very remote from our present situation. We therefore directed our course by the side of it, when the Indians met with several very fine buck deer, which they destroyed; and as that part we now traversed afforded plenty of good fire-wood, we put up, and cooked the most comfortable meal to which we had sat down for some months. As such favourable opportunities of indulging the appetite happen but seldom, it is a general {144} rule with the Indians, which we did not neglect, to exert every art in dressing our food which the most refined skill in Indian cookery has been able to invent, and which consists chiefly in boiling, broiling, and roasting: but of all the dishes cooked by those people, a _beeatee_, as it is called in their language, is certainly the most delicious, at least for a change, that can be prepared from a deer only, without any other ingredient. It is a kind of haggis, made with the blood, a good quantity of fat shred small, some of the tenderest of the flesh, together with the heart and lungs cut, or more commonly torn into small shivers; all which is put into the stomach, and roasted, by being suspended before the fire by a string. Care must be taken that it does not get too much heat at first, as the bag would thereby be liable to be burnt, and the contents be let out. When it is sufficiently done, it will emit steam, in the same manner as a fowl or a joint of meat; which 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.
[Sidenote: 1771. July.]
After regaling ourselves in the most plentiful manner, and taking a few hours rest, (for it was almost impossible to sleep for the muskettoes,) we once more set forward, directing our course to the North West by West; and after walking about nine or ten miles, arrived at that long wished-for spot, the Copper-mine River.[70]
FOOTNOTES:
[AC] See the Plate, where Fig. A represents the bottom of the canoe, Fig. B being the fore-part. Fig. C is the complete frame of one before it is covered with the bark of the birch-tree; it is represented on an artificial bank, which the natives raise to build it on. Fig. D is an end-view of a set of timbers, bent and lashed in their proper shape, and left to dry. Fig. E is the representation of a complete canoe. Fig. F represents one of their paddles. Fig. G a spear with which they kill deer; and Fig. H, their mode of carrying the canoe.
The following references are to the several parts of the canoe: Fig. C. 1. The stem. 2. The stern-post. 3. Two forked sticks supporting the stem and stern-post. 4. The gunwales. 5. Small rods placed between the timbers and birch-bark that covers them. 6. The timbers. 7. The keelson. 8. Large stones placed there to keep the bottom steady till the sides are sewed on.
[AD] The tobacco used in Hudson's Bay is the Brasil tobacco; which is twisted into the form of a rope, of near an inch diameter, and then wound into a large roll; from which it is taken by measures of length, for the natives.
[57] Thus, four days after leaving Clowey, travelling in a northerly direction, they passed out of the wooded region and reached the barren grounds, though it is evident that there had been open barren grounds to the east of them for most of the way. Their course probably lay along the height of land east of Artillery Lake. The northern edge of the forest and southern line of the barren grounds crosses this lake near the middle, the most northern woods on its eastern shore being in latitude 63° 4' N., while on its western side the woods extend north to latitude 63° 11' N.
Artillery Lake is thus described by J. W. Tyrrell, who visited it in May 1900:--
"Artillery Lake was reached by our outfit on the 26th of May, more than two weeks after it had been first visited by Fairchild and Acres, when exploring and 'brushing' the trail for our voyageurs. Then its ice had been as solid as in winter, showing no signs of disruption or decay, whereas now it was rapidly decomposing, forming what is known as candle-ice, and making much open water along the shores. It lies in a north-easterly and south-westerly direction, and is fifty-five miles in length, ... and the superficial area of the lake is about one hundred and ninety square miles. Its shores are bold and high, in some places about two hundred feet above the lake, and for the most part they present a bare, desolate appearance, especially on the easterly shore where few trees of any kind can be seen.
"Such small groves as were found are shown on the map, but on the westerly side, about ten miles from the south end, the shore is quite well timbered with small spruce, and they continue northerly, although thinly scattered, for a distance of twenty miles, eight miles farther north than the last grove on the east shore. There the woods cease entirely." (Report on an Exploratory Survey between Great Slave Lake and Hudson Bay. By J. W. Tyrrell. Ann. Report, Dept. of the Interior, Ottawa, 1901. App. 26, Part III., pp. 17-18.)
[AE] I have observed, during my several journies in those parts, that all the way to the North of Seal River the edge of the wood is faced with old withered stumps, and trees which have been blown down by the wind. They are mostly of the sort which is called here Juniper, but were seldom of any considerable size. Those blasted trees are found in some parts to extend to the distance of twenty miles from the living woods, and detached patches of them are much farther off; which is a proof that the cold has been increasing in those parts for some ages. Indeed, some of the older Northern Indians have assured me, that they have heard their fathers and grandfathers say, they remembered the greatest part of those places where the trees are now blasted and dead, in a flourishing state; and that they were remarkable for abounding with deer. It is a well-known fact, that many deer are fond of frequenting those plains where the juniper trees abound near barren grounds, particularly in fine weather during the Winter; but in heavy gales of wind they either take shelter in the thick woods, or go out on the open plains. The Indians, who never want a reason for any thing, say, that the deer quit the thin straggling woods during the high winds, because the nodding of the trees, when at a considerable distance from each other, frightens them; but in the midst of a thick forest, the constant rustling of the branches lulls them into security, and renders them an easy prey to a skilful hunter.
[This appears to have been the last wood seen before reaching the Coppermine River.
The wood known as juniper on Hudson Bay is the American larch, _Larix laricina_ (Du Roi) which extends to the edge of the barren grounds.]
[AF] Probably the same with Partridge Lake in the Map.
[58] Between Clowey and Peshew or Cat Lake, the map shows that their course was across Partridge Lake. The exact position of this lake was made known by Mr. Warburton Pike and afterwards by James W. Tyrrell, who crossed from Great Slave Lake to Hudson Bay in 1900. It is a small lake on the river between Artillery and Clinton-Colden Lakes, and lies just a little north of the southern edge of the barren lands. The name given to it on the Cook map is Cossadgath and on the Mackenzie map Cassandgath Lake, which are evidently modifications of the Chipewyan word for Ptarmigan or "White Partridge." With regard to the limits of Hearne's course in an east and west direction, it is quite clear that he passed to the east of Great Slave Lake and to the west of the belt of timber on Hanbury River, so that he must have passed in the vicinity of this lake if he did not pass over it.
Peshew is the Cree word for Wild Cat or Lynx, and therefore Peshew Lake should be the Cat Lake of the map, and not Partridge Lake as stated in the note, which was evidently inserted by Dr. Douglas after the author's death. Peshew or Cat Lake has been identified by Sir George Back, and following him by Sir John Richardson, as Artillery Lake, but this identification is almost certainly wrong. The shores of the southern half of Artillery Lake are wooded, while the Cat Lake of Hearne was three days' journey at least north of the southern edge of the barren lands. I think, therefore, that the Peshew or Cat Lake of this map is the lake which was named by Sir George Back, Clinton-Colden Lake, and which is known by this name on our present maps. Besides, though this argument may have little weight, Hearne's map shows Partridge and Cat Lakes in approximately the same positions in latitude as Partridge Lake (Kasba) and Clinton-Colden Lake respectively. On the Cook and Mackenzie maps, Cat Lake is shown as Cheesadawd Lake, which is certainly the same word as Tchizè-ta, which Abbé Petitot says means Gîte-du-Lynx or Home-of-the-Wild-Cat Lake. Petitot, however, states that this is the name of the lake which is now known as Walmsley Lake. Rt. Rev. J. Lofthouse, Bishop of Keewatin, also informs me that the Chipewyan name for Wild Cat or Lynx Lake is Seeza-tua. Another complication is brought in by the Pennant map, which leaves Hearne's Cat Lake unnamed, and applies the name Peshew (Cat) Lake to the Lake known on Hearne's map as No-name Lake. This is much more nearly in the position of Walmsley Lake of the present maps. It is therefore difficult to avoid the conclusion that Hearne trusted to his memory for the names of these lakes, and that his memory failed him here. It is quite possible that after crossing Partridge Lake the Indians changed their course, for some reason or other, and turned west or south of west to Walmsley Lake, and that in the excitement of meeting Keelshies, just from Churchill with a two-quart keg of brandy, Hearne neglected to make note of the change in the course.
[59] Some of the women and children were thus left on the north side of Peshew, probably Clinton-Colden Lake, and in that case he is correct in saying that they were north of latitude 64°. At the town of Dawson, in the Yukon territory, which is in about the same latitude, there is sufficient light to work and travel at midnight between the 10th of May and the 1st of August.