Part 14

I have likewise seen an Esquimaux boat. The outside of it consists entirely of skins, the hair of which has been taken off; and the sides of the skins on which they were inserted are turned outwards, and feel as smooth as vellum. The boat was near fourteen feet long, but very narrow, and very sharp pointed at the extremities. In the inside of the boat, they place two or three thin boards, which give a kind of form to the boat. It is quite covered with skins at the top, excepting, near one end, a hole big enough for a single person to sit and row in, and keep his thighs and legs under the deck. The figure of the hole resembles a semi-circle, the base or diameter of which is turned towards the larger end of the boat. The hole is surrounded with wood, on which a soft folded skin is fastened, with straps at its upper end. When the Esquimaux makes use of his boat, he puts his legs and thighs under the deck, sits down at the bottom of the boat, draws the skin before mentioned round his body, and fastens it well with the straps; the waves may then beat over his boat with considerable violence, and not a single drop comes into it; the cloaths of the Esquimaux keep the wet from him. He has an oar in his hand, which has a paddle at each end; it serves him for rowing with, and keeping the boat in equilibrium during a storm. The paddles of the oar are very narrow. The boat will contain but a single person. Esquimaux have often been found safe in their boats many miles from land, in violent storms, where ships found it difficult to save themselves. Their boats float on the waves like bladders, and they row them with incredible velocity. I am told, they have boats of different shapes. They have likewise larger boats of wood, covered with leather in which several people may sit, and in which their women commonly go to sea.

Bows and arrows, javelins and harpoons, are their arms. With the last they kill whales, and other large marine animals. The points of their arrows and harpoons are sometimes made of iron, sometimes of bone, and sometimes of the teeth of the walruss. Their quivers are made of seals skins. The needles with which they sow their cloaths are likewise made of iron or of bone. All their iron they get by some means or other from the Europeans.

They sometimes go on board the European ships in order to exchange some of their goods for knives and other iron. But it is not adviseable for Europeans to go on shore, unless they be numerous; for the Esquimaux are false and treacherous, and cannot suffer strangers amongst them. If they find themselves too weak, they run away at the approach of strangers; but if they think they are an over-match for them, they kill all that come in their way, without leaving a single one alive. The Europeans, therefore, do not venture to let a greater number of Esquimaux come on board their ships than they can easily master. If they are ship-wrecked on the Esquimaux coasts, they may as well be drowned in the sea as come safe to the shore: this many Europeans have experienced. The European boats and ships which the Esquimaux get into their power, are immediately cut in pieces and robbed of all their nails and other iron, which they work into knives, needles, arrow-heads, &c. They make use of fire for no other purposes but working of iron, and preparing the skins of animals. Their meat is eaten all raw. When they come on board an European ship, and are offered some of the sailors meat, they never will taste of it till they have seen some Europeans eat it. Though nothing pleased other savage nations so much as brandy, yet many Frenchmen have assured me, that they never could prevail on the Esquimaux to take a dram of it. Their mistrust of other nations the cause of it; for they undoubtedly imagine, that they are going to poison them, or do them some hurt; and I am not certain, whether they do not judge right. They have no ear-rings, and do not paint the face like the American Indians. For many centuries past, they have had dogs, whose ears are erected, and never hang down. They make use of them for hunting, and instead of horses in winter, for drawing their goods on the ice. They themselves sometimes ride in sledges drawn by dogs. They have no other domestic animal. There are, indeed, plenty of reindeer in their country; but it is not known, that either the Esquimaux, or any of the Indians in America, have ever tamed them. The French in Canada, who are in a manner the neighbours of the Esquimaux, have taken a deal of pains to carry on some kind of trade with them, and to endeavour to engage them to a more friendly intercourse with other nations. For that purpose, they took some Esquimaux children, taught them to read, and educated them in the best manner possible. The intention of the French was, to send these children to the Esquimaux again, that they might inform them of the kind treatment the French had given them, and thereby incline them to conceive a better opinion of the French. But unhappily all the children died of the small-pox, and the scheme was dropt. Many persons in Canada doubted, whether the scheme would have succeeded, though the children had been kept alive. For they say, there was formerly an Esquimaux taken by the French, and brought to Canada, where he staid a good while, and was treated with great civility. He learnt French pretty well, and seemed to relish the French way of living very well. When he was sent back to his countrymen, he was not able to make the least impression on them, in favour of the French; but was killed by his nearest relations, as half a Frenchman and foreigner. This inhuman proceeding of the Esquimaux against all strangers, is the reason why none of the Indians of North America ever give quarter to the Esquimaux if they meet with them, but kill them on the spot; though they frequently pardon their other enemies, and incorporate the prisoners into their nation.

For the use of those, who are fond of comparing the languages of several nations, I have here inserted a few Esquimaux words, communicated to me by the Jesuit Saint Pie. One, kombuc; two, tigal; three, ké; four, missilagat; water, sillalokto; rain, killaluck; heaven, taktuck, or nabugakshe; the sun, shikonak, or sakaknuk; the moon, takock; an egg, manneguk; the boat, kagack; the oar, pacotick; the knife, shavié; a dog, mekké, or timilok; the bow, petiksick; an arrow, katso; the head, niakock; the ear, tchiu; the eye, killik, or shik; the hair, nutshad; a tooth, ukak; the foot, itikat. Some think that they are nearly the same nation with the Greenlanders, of Skralingers; and pretend that there is a great affinity in the language [102].

Plumb-trees of different sorts, brought over from France, succeed very well here. The present year they did not begin to flower till this month. Some of them looked very well; and I am told the winter does not hurt them.

September the 11th. The marquis de la Galissonniere is one of the three noblemen, who, above all others, have gained high esteem with the French admiralty in the last war. They are the marquisses de la Galissonniere, de la Jonquiere, and de l’Etendure. The first of these was now above fifty years of age, of a low stature, and somewhat hump-backed, but of a very agreeable look. He had been here for some time as governor-general; and was going back to France one day this month. I have already mentioned something concerning this nobleman; but when I think of his many great qualities, I can never give him a sufficient encomium. He has a surprizing knowledge in all branches of science, and especially in natural history; in which he is so well versed, that when he began to speak with me about it, I imagined I saw our great Linnæus under a new form. When he spoke of the use of natural history, of the method of learning, and employing it to raise the state of a country, I was astonished to see him take his reasons from politics, as well as natural philosophy, mathematics, and other sciences. I own, that my conversation with this nobleman was very instructive to me; and I always drew a deal of useful knowledge from it. He told me several ways of employing natural history to the purposes of politics, and to make a country powerful, in order to depress its envious neighbours. Never has natural history had a greater promoter in this country; and it is very doubtful whether it will ever have his equal here. As soon as he got the place of governor-general, he began to take those measures for getting information in natural history, which I have mentioned before. When he saw people, who had for some time been in a settled place of the country, especially in the more remote parts, or had travelled in those parts, he always questioned them about the trees, plants, earths, stones, ores, animals, &c. of the place. He likewise enquired what use the inhabitants made of these things; in what state their husbandry was; what lakes, rivers, and passages there are; and a number of other particulars. Those who seemed to have clearer notions than the rest, were obliged to give him circumstantial descriptions of what they had seen. He himself wrote down all the accounts he received; and by this great application, so uncommon among persons of his rank, he soon acquired a knowledge of the most distant parts of America. The priests, commandants of forts, and of several distant places, are often surprized by his questions, and wonder at his knowledge, when they come to Quebec to pay their visits to him; for he often tells them that near such a mountain, or on such a shore, &c. where they often went a hunting, there are some particular plants, trees, earths, ores, &c. for he had got a knowledge of those things before. From hence it happened, that some of the inhabitants believed he had a preternatural knowledge of things, as he was able to mention all the curiosities of places, sometimes near two hundred Swedish miles from Quebec, though he never was there himself. Never was there a better statesman than he; and nobody can take better measures, and choose more proper means for improving a country, and encreasing its welfare. Canada was hardly acquainted with the treasure it possessed in the person of this nobleman, when it lost him again; the king wanted his services at home, and could not leave him so far off. He was going to France with a collection of natural curiosities; and a quantity of young trees and plants, in boxes full of earth.

The black lime-slate has been repeatedly mentioned during the course of my journey. I will here give a more minute detail of it. The mountain on which Quebec is built, and the hills along the river St. Lawrence, consist of it for some miles together, on both sides of Quebec. About a yard from the surface, this stone is quite compact, and without any cracks; so that one cannot perceive that it is a slate, its particles being imperceptible. It lies in strata, which vary from three or four inches, to twenty thick, and upwards. In the mountains on which Quebec is built, the strata do not ly horizontal, but dipping, so as to be nearly perpendicular; the upper ends pointing north-west, and the lower ones south-east. From hence it is, that the corners of these strata always strike out at the surface into the streets, and cut the shoes in pieces. I have likewise seen some strata, inclining to the northward, but nearly perpendicular as the former. Horizontal strata, or nearly such, have occurred to me too. The strata are divided by narrow cracks, which are commonly filled with fibrous white gypsum, which can sometimes be got loose with a knife, if the layer or stratum of slate above it is broken in pieces; and in that case it has the appearance of a thin white leaf. The larger cracks are almost filled up with transparent quartz crystals, of different sizes. One part of the mountain contains vast quantities of these crystals, from which the corner of the mountain which lies to the S. S. E. of the palace, has got the name of Pointe de Diamante, or Diamond Point. The small cracks which divide the stone, go generally at right angles; the distances between them are not always equal. The outside of the stratum, or that which is turned towards the other stratum, is frequently covered with a fine, black, shining membrane, which looks like a kind of a pyrous horn-stone. In it there is sometimes a yellow pyrites, always lying in small grains. I never found petrefactions or impressions, or other kinds of stone in it, besides those I have just mentioned. The whole mountain on which Quebec is situated, consists entirely of lime-slate from top to bottom. When this stone is broken, or scraped with a knife, it gives a strong smell like the stink-stone. That part of the mountain which is exposed to the open air, crumbles into small pieces, had lost their black colour, and got a pale red one in its stead. Almost all the public and private buildings at Quebec consist of this lime-slate; and likewise the walls round the town, and round the monasteries and gardens, it is easily broken, and cut to the size wanted. But it has the property of splitting into thin shivers, parallel to the surface of the stratum from whence they are taken, after lying during one or more years in the air, and exposed to the sun. However, this quality does no damage to the walls in which they are placed; for the stones being laid on purpose into such a position that the cracks always run horizontally, the upper stones press so much upon the lower ones, that they can only get cracks outwardly, and shiver only on the outside, without going further inwards. The shivers always grow thinner, as the houses grow older.

In order to give my readers some idea of the climate of Quebec, and of the different changes of heat and cold, at the several seasons of the year, I will here insert some particulars extracted from the meteorological observations, of the royal physician, Mr. Gaulthier: he gave me a copy of those which he had made from October 1744, to the end of September 1746. The thermometrical observations I will omit, because I do not think them accurate; for as Mr. Gaulthier made use of de la Hire’s thermometer, the degrees of cold cannot be exactly determined, the quicksilver being depressed into the globe at the bottom, as soon as the cold begins to be considerable. The observations are made throughout the year, between seven and eight in the morning, and two and three in the afternoon. He has seldom made any observations in the afternoon. His thermometer was likewise inaccurate, by being placed in a bad situation.

The year 1745.

January. The 29th of this month the river St. Lawrence was covered over with ice, near Quebec. In the observations of other years, it is observed, that the river is sometimes covered with ice in the beginning of January, or the end of December.

February. Nothing remarkable happend during the course of this month.

March. They say this has been the mildest winter they ever felt; even the eldest persons could not remember one so mild. The snow was only two feet deep, and the ice in the river, opposite Quebec, had the same thickness. On the twenty-first there was a thunder-storm, which fell upon a soldier, and hurt him very much. On the 19th and 20th, they began to make incisions into the sugar-maple, and to prepare sugar from its juice.

April. During this month they continued to extract the juice of the sugar-maple, for making sugar. On the 7th the gardeners began to make hot-beds. On the 20th the ice in the river broke loose near Quebec, and went down; which rarely happens so soon; for the river St. Lawrence is sometimes covered with ice opposite Quebec, on the 10th of May. On the 22d, and 23d, there fell a quantity of snow. On the 25th they began to sow near St. Joachim. The same day they saw some swallows. The 29th they sowed corn all over the country. Ever since the 23d the river had been clear at Quebec.

May. The third of this month the cold was so great in the morning, that Celsius’s, or the Swedish thermometer, was four degrees below the freezing point; however, it did not hurt the corn. On the 16th all the summer-corn was sown. On the 5th the Sanguinaria, Narcissus, and violet, began to blow. The 17th the wild cherry-trees, rasberry-bushes, apple-trees, and lime-trees, began to expand their leaves. The strawberries were in flower about that time. The 29th the wild cherry-trees were in blossom. On the 26th part of the French apple-trees, cherry-trees, and plum-trees, opened their flowers.

June. The 5th of this month all the trees had got leaves. The apple-trees were in full flower. Ripe straw-berries were to be had on the 22d. Here it is noted, that the weather was very fine for the growth of vegetables.

July. The corn began to shoot into ears on the 12th, and had ears every where on the 21st. (It is to be observed, that they sow nothing but summer-corn here.) Soon after the corn began to flower. Hay making began the 22d. All this month the weather was excellent.

August. On the 12th there were ripe pears and melons at Montreal. On the 20th the corn was ripe round Montreal, and the harvest was begun there. On the 22d the harvest began at Quebec. On the 30th, and 31st, there was a very small hoar-frost on the ground.

September. The harvest of all kinds of corn ended on the 24th, and 25th. Melons, water-melons, cucumbers, and fine plums, were very plentiful during the course of this month. Apples and pears were likewise ripe, which is not always the case. On the last days of this month they began to plough the land. The following is one of the observations of this month: “The old people in this country say, that the corn was formerly never ripe till the 15th, or 16th, of September, and sometimes on the 12th; but no sooner. They likewise assert, that it never was perfectly ripe. Bur since the woods have been sufficiently cleared, the beams of the sun have had more room to operate, and the corn ripens sooner than before [103].” It is further remarked, that the hot summers are always very fruitful in Canada, and that most of the corn has hardly ever arrived at perfect maturity.

October. During this month the fields were ploughed, and the weather was very fine all the time. There was a little frost for several nights, and on the 28th it snowed. Towards the end of this month the trees began to shed their leaves.

November. They continued to plough till the 10th of this month, when the trees had shed all their leaves. Till the 18th the cattle went out of doors, a few days excepted, when bad weather had kept them at home. On the 16th there was some thunder and lightning. There was not yet any ice in the river St. Lawrence on the 24th.

December. During this month it is observed, that the autumn has been much milder than usual. On the 1st a ship could still set sail for France; but on the 16th the river St. Lawrence was covered with ice on the sides, but open in the middle. In the river Charles the ice was thick enough for horses with heavy loads to pass over it. On the 26th the ice in the river St. Lawrence was washed away by a heavy rain; but on the 28th part of that river was again covered with ice.

The next observations shew, that the winter has likewise been one of the mildest. I now resume the account of my own journey.

This evening I left Quebec with a fair wind. The governor-general of Canada, the marquis de la Jonquiere, ordered one of the king’s boats, and seven men to bring me to Montreal. The middle of the boat was covered with blue cloth, under which we were secured from the rain. This journey I made at the expence of the French king. We went three French miles to-day.

September the 12th. We continued our journey during all this day.

The small kind of maize, which ripens in three months time, was ripe about this time, and the people drew it out of the ground, and hung it up to dry.

The weather about this time was like the beginning of our August, old stile. Therefore it seems, autumn commences a whole month later in Canada, than in the midst of Sweden.

Near each farm there is a kitchen-garden, in which onions are most abundant; because the French farmers eat their dinners of them with bread, on Fridays and Saturdays, or fasting days. However, I cannot say, the French are strict observers of fasting; for several of my rowers ate flesh to-day, though it was Friday. The common people in Canada may be smelled when one passes by them, on account of their frequent use of onions. Pumpions are likewise abundant in the farmer’s gardens. They dress them in several ways, but the most common is to cut them through the middle, and place the inside on the hearth, towards the fire, till it is quite roasted. The pulp is then cut out of the peel, and eaten; people above the vulgar put sugar to it. Carrots, sallad, French beans, cucumbers, and currant shrubs, are planted in every farmer’s little kitchen-garden.

Every farmer plants a quantity of tobacco near his house, in proportion to the size of his family. It is likewise very necessary that they should plant tobacco, because it is so universally smoaked by the common people. Boys of ten or twelve years of age, run about with the pipe in their mouths, as well as the old people. Persons above the vulgar, do not refuse to smoak a pipe now and then. In the northern parts of Canada, they generally smoak tobacco by itself; but further upwards, and about Montreal, they take the inner bark of the red Cornelian cherry [104], crush it, and mix it with the tobacco, to make it weaker. People of both sexes, and of all ranks, use snuff very much. Almost all the tobacco, which is consumed here, is the produce of the country, and some people prefer it even to Virginian tobacco: but those who pretend to be connoisseurs, reckon the last kind better than the other.