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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
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<title>The Pioneers; a Tale of the Western Wilderness</title>
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<h1>The Pioneers; a Tale of the Western Wilderness</h1>
<h4>by</h4>
<h1>R.M. Ballantyne</h1>
<hr align="center" width="50%">
<ul>
<li><a href="#1_0_2">CHAPTER ONE. SHOWS HOW IT BEGAN.</a></li>
<li><a href="#1_0_3">CHAPTER TWO. TERRIBLE DISCOVERIES AND ALTERED
PLANS.</a></li>
<li><a href="#1_0_4">CHAPTER THREE. INTRODUCES THE KING OF
PIONEERS.</a></li>
<li><a href="#1_0_5">CHAPTER FOUR. VICISSITUDES OF THE VOYAGE
—INDIANS MET WITH, ETC.</a></li>
<li><a href="#1_0_6">CHAPTER FIVE. DESCRIBES A LITERAL WILD-GOOSE CHASE
AND OTHER MATTERS.</a></li>
<li><a href="#1_0_7">CHAPTER SIX. INDIANS MET WITH, AND THE MOUTH OF THE
GREAT RIVER REACHED.</a></li>
<li><a href="#1_0_8">CHAPTER SEVEN. A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY TO THE FAR WEST
PLANNED AND BEGUN.</a></li>
<li><a href="#1_0_9">CHAPTER EIGHT. DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS FACED AND
OVERCOME.</a></li>
<li><a href="#1_0_10">CHAPTER NINE. DEEPER AND DEEPER INTO THE UNKNOWN
WILDERNESS.</a></li>
<li><a href="#1_0_11">CHAPTER TEN. THE LAST.</a></li>
<li><a href="#1_0_12">CHAPTER ELEVEN. EXTRACT OF LETTER REFERRED TO ON
PAGE 85.</a></li>
</ul>
<hr align="center" width="50%">
<h3><a name="1_0_2">CHAPTER ONE. SHOWS HOW IT BEGAN.</a></h3>
<p>“The world is round,” said somebody in ancient times to
somebody else.</p>
<p>“Not at all; it is flat —flat as a pancake,” replied
somebody else to somebody; “and if you were to travel far enough
you might get to the end of it and tumble over the edge, if so
disposed.”</p>
<p>Ever since the commencement of this early geographical controversy,
men have been labouring with more or less energy and success to ascertain
the form and character of the earth; a grand, glorious labour it has
been; resulting in blessings innumerable to mankind — blessings
both spiritual and temporal.</p>
<p>We have heard some people object to geographical discovery, especially
in the inclement parts of the earth, on the ground that it could be of no
use, and involved great risk to life and limb. “Of no use!”
Who can tell what discoveries shall be useful and what useless?
“The works of God are great, sought out of all those that have
pleasure therein,” saith the Scripture. There is no reference here
to usefulness, but the searching out of God's works, without limitation,
is authorised; and those who “take pleasure therein,” will be
content to leave the result of their labours in the hands of Him who sent
them forth. As to “risk,” —why, a carpenter cannot
ascend to the top of a house to put the rafters thereon without risk; a
chemist cannot investigate the properties of certain fumes without risk;
you cannot even eat your dinner without risk. Only this are we sure of
—that, if man had never undertaken labour except when such was
OBVIOUSLY useful and devoid of risk, the world would still be in the
darkness of the Middle Ages.</p>
<p>Reuben Guff held these sentiments, or something like them; and Reuben
was a man who had seen a great deal of life in his day, although at the
time we introduce him to public notice he had not lived more than
six-and-thirty summers. He was a bronzed, stalwart Canadian. His father
had been Scotch, his mother of French extraction; and Reuben possessed
the dogged resolution of the Scot with the vivacity of the Frenchman. In
regard to his tastes and occupation we shall let him speak for
himself.</p>
<p>Sitting under a pine-tree, in the wild wilderness that lies to the
north of Canada with the drumstick of a goose in one hand and a
scalping-knife in the other; with a log-fire in front of him, and his
son, a stripling of sixteen, by his side, he delivered himself of the
following sentiments:—</p>
<p>“I tell 'ee what it is, Lawrence,” (the lad was named
after the great river on the banks of which he had been reared), “I
was born to be a pioneer. Ever since I was the height of a three-fut rule
I've had a skunner at the settlements and a love for the wilderness that
I couldn't overcome nohow. Moreover, I wouldn't overcome it if I could,
for it's my opinion that He who made us knows what He wants us to do, an'
has given us sitch feelin's and inclinations as will lead us to do it, if
we don't run mad after NOTIONS of our own, as the folk in the settlements
are raither apt to do.”</p>
<p>Here some of the “notions” referred to appeared to tickle
the fancy of the backwoodsman, for he paused to indulge in a quiet
chuckle which wrinkled up all the lines of good-humour and fun in his
rough countenance. After applying himself for a few seconds with much
energy to the drumstick, —he resumed his discourse in a slow,
deliberate style of speech which was peculiar to him:—</p>
<p>“Yes, Lawrence, my lad, I've made it my business ever since I
was fifteen to explore this here wilderness, livin' by my gun and guidin'
the fur-traders on their v'yages, or consorting with the Injins, as you
know very well; and, now that we've come to the big lake it is needful to
tell 'ee that I'm still bent on followin' out my callin'. I'm goin' away
to the nor'ard to explore, and you'll have to make up your mind to-night
whether YOU will be my steersman or whether I'm to lay that dooty on
Swiftarrow. I needn't say which I'd like best.”</p>
<p>The hunter finished the drumstick at this point, threw the bone into
the fire, lighted his pipe, and awaited his son's answer in silence.</p>
<p>But the son appeared to be in no hurry to reply; for, after giving his
father a glance and nod, which were meant to say, “I hear and I'll
consider, but I'm too much engaged just now to speak,” he continued
his occupation of devouring venison steaks, the sauce to which was
evidently hunger.</p>
<p>Having finished his supper and lighted his pipe he became more
communicative.</p>
<p>“Father,” he said, “you have always advised me to
think well before speaking.”</p>
<p>“I have, lad; it's the natur' of our forefathers an' a very good
natur' too. I'd be sorry to see it go out of the family.”</p>
<p>“Well, then; I've thought my best about goin' with 'ee on this
trip,” returned the youth, “an' I've resolved to go on one
condition —that Swiftarrow goes with us.”</p>
<p>“Why so, my son? we don't need him.”</p>
<p>“Perhaps not, but I like him; for he has taught me all that I
know of woodcraft, and I'm certain that if you and I both leave him he'll
be sure to return to the new settlement at the south end of Ontario, and
you know what the end of that would be.”</p>
<p>“Death by drinkin',” replied Reuben Guff shaking his head
slowly, while he watched the upward flight of a ring of white smoke that
had just issued from his lips.</p>
<p>“Well, I won't leave him to THAT,” continued the youth,
with sudden energy of manner and look, “as long as my name is
Lawrence. You know that nothin' would please me more than goin' to
explore the wilderness with you, father; but if Swiftarrow is to be left
behind, there shall be no pioneering for me. Besides, three are better
than two on such a trip, and the Injin will be sure to keep the pot full,
no matter what sort o' country we may have to pass through, for he's a
dead shot wi' the gun as well as wi' the bow.”</p>
<p>“I daresay you're right, lad,” replied Reuben, in a tone
of one who muses. “There's room in the canoe for three, and it's
not unlikely that the Injin would go south to the settlement, for he is a
lonely man since his poor mother died. I do believe that it was nothin'
but his extraor'nar' love for that old 'ooman that kep' him from goin' to
the dogs. Leastwise it was that kep' him from goin' to the settlement,
which is much the same thing, for Swiftarrow can't resist fire-water.
Yes, lad, you're right —so we'll take him with us. As you say,
three are better than two on such a v'yage.”</p>
<p>Some weeks after the foregoing conversation the pioneers arrived at
the northern end of that great inland sea, Lake Superior, which, being
upwards of four hundred miles long, and one hundred and seventy-five
miles broad, presents many of the features of Ocean itself. This end of
the lake was, at the time we write of, and still is, an absolute
wilderness, inhabited only by scattered tribes of Indians, and almost
untouched by the hand of the white man, save at one spot, where the
fur-traders had planted an isolated establishment. At this point in the
wild woods the representatives of the fur-traders of Canada were wont to
congregate for the settlement of their affairs in the spring of every
year, and from this point also trading-parties were despatched in canoes
into the still more remote parts of the great northern wilderness, whence
they returned with rich cargoes of furs received from the “red
men” in exchange for powder and shot, guns, hatchets, knives,
cloth, twine, fish-hooks, and such articles as were suited to the tastes
and wants of a primitive and wandering people.</p>
<p>Here Reuben Guff and his son found Swiftarrow, as they had expected,
and proposed to him that he should accompany them on their voyage north,
—a proposal which he accepted with pleasure, —for the
strong-boned Indian had an adventurous spirit as well as a healthy
frame.</p>
<p>Swiftarrow was a brave and powerful Indian, and was esteemed one of
the best hunters of his tribe; but no one seeing him in camp in a
quiescent state would have thought him to be possessed of much energy,
for he was slow and deliberate in his movements, and withal had a lazy
look about his eyes. But the sight of a bear or moose-deer had the effect
of waking him up in a way that caused his dark eyes to flash and his
large frame to move with cat-like activity.</p>
<p>When Reuben Guff discovered him on the shore of Lake Superior, he was
seated at the door of his skin lodge, anointing his hair, which was long
and black, with bear's grease —the “genuine article,”
without even the admixture of a drop of scent! —so pure, in fact,
that the Indian basted his steaks and anointed his hair with grease from
the same box.</p>
<p>“Hallo! Swiftarrow,” exclaimed Reuben, as he sauntered up
to the savage, with his gun on his shoulder, “ye seem to be
beautifyin' yerself to-day —not goin' to get married,
eh?”</p>
<p>Swiftarrow, whose long hair hung over his face like a glossy curtain,
tossed aside his locks and gazed earnestly at the hunter. A slight smile
and a pleasant gleam lighted up his dark countenance as he wiped his
greasy right hand on his legging and extended it, exclaiming,
“watchee!” by which he meant, what cheer?</p>
<p>“What cheer? what cheer?” replied Reuben, with a broad but
quiet grin, as he shook his friend's hand heartily.</p>
<p>Each man understood the other's language perfectly; but each appeared
to prefer to talk in his own tongue; for while Reuben addressed the red
man in English, Swiftarrow replied in Indian. This had been an understood
arrangement between them ever since the time when, as lads, they had
first met and formed a close friendship, on the shores of Lake Huron.</p>
<p>“Is my brother's trail to be through the woods or on the waters?
Does he go hunting or trading?” inquired the Indian, after the
first salutations were over.</p>
<p>“Well, I may say that I'm neither goin' a-huntin' or tradin'
—here, fill yer pipe wi' baccy from my pouch; it's better than
yours, I'll be bound. In a manner, too, I'm goin' both to hunt an' trade
in a small way; but my main business on this trip is to be
diskivery.”</p>
<p>The Indian uttered a sound, which meant that he did not
understand.</p>
<p>“I'm goin' to sarch out new lands,” explained Reuben,
“away to the far north. I've heard it said by Injins that have
wandered to the nor'ard that they've met in with red-skins, who said that
there is a big river flowin' out o' a great lake in the direction o' the
north pole, an' that it runs into the sea there. They may be tellin'
truth, or they may be tellin' lies; I dun know; anyhow, I'm koorious to
know somethin' about it, so I'm goin' north to see for myself, and I've
comed to ask if Swiftarrow will go with me.”</p>
<p>The hunter paused, but the Indian remained silently smoking his long
stone-headed pipe, or calumet, with a countenance so grave and
expressionless, that no idea of his sentiments could be gathered from it.
After a brief pause, Reuben continued—</p>
<p>“It won't be altogether a trip of diskivery neither, for I've
got some bales of goods with me, and as we go in a small birch canoe,
we'll travel light; but I hope to come back sunk to the gunwale with
furs, for the red-skins of the far north are like enough to have plenty
of pelts, and they won't ask much for them. As to grub, you and I could
manage to supply ourselves wi' lots o' that anywheres, and I've got
plenty of powder and lead. Moreover, my boy Lawrence is goin' with
me.”</p>
<p>During the foregoing remarks, the Indian's countenance betrayed no
sign of feeling until the name of Lawrence was mentioned, when a gleam of
satisfaction shot from his eyes. Removing the pipe from his lips, he
puffed a volume of smoke through his nostrils, and said:—</p>
<p>“Swiftarrow will go.”</p>
<p>Backwoodsmen seldom take long to mature their plans, and are generally
prompt to carry them into execution. Two days after the brief
conversation above narrated, the three friends pushed off in their little
birch-bark canoe and paddled up the stream which leads to the Kakabeka
Falls on the Kamenistaquoia River. Surmounting this obstacle by the
simple process of carrying the canoe and her lading past the falls by
land, and relaunching on the still water above, they continued their
voyage day by day, encamping under the trees by night, until they had
penetrated far and deep into the heart of the northern wilderness, and
had even passed beyond the most distant establishments of the adventurous
fur-traders.</p>
<p>The world of forest, swamp, lake, and river, that still, however, lay
between them and the land which they sought to reach, was very wide.
Weeks, and even months, would certainly elapse before they could hope to
approach it; one day, therefore, they buried their goods and stores in a
convenient place, intending to dig them up on their return, and meanwhile
turned aside into a country which promised to afford them a good supply
of fresh provisions for the voyage north.</p>
<p>Here an adventure befell them which brought their voyage of discovery,
at that time, to an abrupt close.</p>
<h3><a name="1_0_3">CHAPTER TWO. TERRIBLE DISCOVERIES AND ALTERED
PLANS.</a></h3>
<p>“Ho!” ejaculated Swiftarrow.</p>
<p>“Smoke!” exclaimed Reuben Guff.</p>
<p>Both men spoke at the same moment, —their discovery having been
simultaneous. At the same time Lawrence pointed with the blade of his
paddle to a thin line of smoke which rose above the tree-tops into the
blue sky, and was faithfully mirrored in the lake on which they
floated.</p>
<p>“Injins!” said Reuben, resting his steering paddle across
the canoe for a few seconds.</p>
<p>Swiftarrow assented with another “Ho,” and Lawrence moved
his gun into a handy position to be ready for an emergency; but there was
no other sign of man's presence than the wreath of smoke. All was
perfectly silent. The air too was quite still, and the surface of the
lake resembled a sheet of glass.</p>
<p>“Strange,” observed Reuben, “red-skins ain't usually
so shy. If they mean mischief they don't ever let smoke be seen, an' when
they don't mean mischief they generally show themselves. Come, push on,
lads; we'll go see what's i' the wind.”</p>
<p>“I'll show them the muzzle, father,” said Lawrence, laying
down his paddle and taking up his gun: “it may be well to let 'em
see that we have arms.”</p>
<p>“No need for that, boy. If they know anything at all, they know
that white men don't go about in the wilderness empty-handed. Put down
the piece, and use your paddle.”</p>
<p>Thus reproved, Lawrence flushed slightly, but obeyed the order and
resumed paddling.</p>
<p>In a few minutes they were on shore. Still all was silent as the
grave. Hauling the bow of the canoe on the beach to keep it fast, the
three men took their weapons, and, entering the woods in single file,
walked cautiously but swiftly in the direction of the smoke. They soon
reached the spot, and the scene which met their eyes was one which, while
it accounted for the silence that reigned around, filled their minds with
sadness and horror.</p>
<p>In an open space, where a number of trees had been cut down, stood
about a dozen skin tents or Indian lodges, some with the curtain-doors
closed, others open, exposing the interiors, on the floors of which the
dead bodies of Indian men, women, and children, lay in every attitude and
in all stages of decomposition. Outside of the tents other corpses lay
strewn on the ground, and most of these bore evidence of having been more
or less torn by wolves. The travellers knew at a glance that these
unfortunate people had fallen before that terrible disease, small-pox,
which had recently attacked and almost depopulated several districts of
the Indian country.</p>
<p>How the disease was introduced among the Indians at the time of which
we write, it is impossible to say and useless to conjecture. The fact of
its desolating effects is unquestionable. One who dwelt in the country at
the time writes: (See Sir Alexander Mackenzie's VOYAGES, p. 14.)
“The fatal infection spread around with a baneful rapidity which no
flight could escape, and with a fatal effect that nothing could resist.
It destroyed with its pestilential breath whole families and tribes; and
the horrid scene presented, to those who had the melancholy opportunity
of beholding it, a combination of the dead, the dying, and such as, to
avoid the fate of their friends around them, prepared to disappoint the
plague of its prey by terminating their own existence. To aggravate the
picture, if aggravation were possible, the carcases were dragged forth
from the huts by the wolves, or were mangled within them by the dogs,
which thus sought to satisfy their hunger with the putrid remains of
their masters. It was not uncommon at this time for the father of a
family, whom the infection had not reached, to call his household around
him, represent the terrible sufferings and fate that awaited them, which
he believed was owing to the influence of an evil spirit who desired to
extirpate the race, and incited them to baffle death with all its horrors
by at once killing themselves —at the same time offering to perform
the deed of mercy with his own hand if their hearts should fail
them.”</p>
<p>That some of the dead before our pioneers had acted in this way was
evident, for while most of the corpses bore marks of having been smitten
with the disease, others were there which showed nothing to account for
death save a knife wound over the region of the heart.</p>
<p>It was a sad and sickening sight, and drew forth one or two low-toned
sorrowful remarks from Reuben, as he moved slowly towards the tent from
which smoke still issued.</p>
<p>The three men paused before it because a sound came from within, and
they felt reluctant to disturb the awful silence. The pause, however, was
but momentary. Reuben lifted the covering and opened it wide. A small
fire still burned on the hearth in the centre of the lodge; around it lay
the bodies of dead men, women, and children. Only one figure, that of an
old woman, remained in a half-reclining position, but she was motionless,
and they thought her dead also. This, however, was not the case. The
flood of light which streamed in on her appeared to rouse her, for she
raised her grey head, and, gazing anxiously at the figures which darkened
the entrance of the lodge, asked in a tremulous voice: “Is that
you, my son?”</p>
<p>“No, mother, but it is a friend,” said Swiftarrow, who
understood her language.</p>
<p>“A friend,” repeated the old woman, shaking her head
slowly, “I don't want a friend. The Master of Life is my friend. My
people said that an evil spirit was slaying them; but I know better. It
was the Great Spirit who came to us. We have been very wicked. We needed
punishment. But why has He spared me? I was the worst of them
all.”</p>
<p>There was something terrible in the tone and manner in which this was
uttered, as if the breast of the speaker were torn with conflicting
feelings.</p>
<p>“She must have met wi' the missionaries some time or
other,” whispered Reuben.</p>
<p>“Is the old woman the only one of all the tribe left
alive?” asked Swiftarrow.</p>
<p>“Ay, the only one —no, not the ONLY one; my son is yet
alive. He went to set a bear-trap not VERY long since; but he should have
come back before now. He will be back soon.”</p>
<p>The deep sigh which followed proved that the poor old woman was hoping
against hope.</p>
<p>“How long is't since he left you, mother?” asked Lawrence
eagerly.</p>
<p>“Two suns have risen and set since he left, and he had not far
to go.”</p>
<p>“Father, I'll go seek for this man,” said Lawrence;
“something may have befallen him.”</p>
<p>Reuben made no objection, and the youth set off immediately in a
direction which was pointed out by the old woman.</p>
<p>After he was gone his father and the Indian shifted one of the
cleanest looking of the empty tents to a considerable distance from the
spot where the terrible work of death had been done, and removing the old
woman from the neighbourhood of the pestilential atmosphere, placed her
therein, kindled a fire and cooked her a little food, of which she
evidently stood much in need.</p>
<p>Meanwhile Lawrence sped through the pathless forest with the light
step of a strong youth and the precision of a practised hunter. About
four miles from the Indian camp he came upon the track of a bear, the
footprints of which proved that it was an unusually large one. He
followed it up closely, and was led by it to a spot where some trees had
been cut down, and not far from which he saw what appeared to him to be
the remains of a trap. Almost at the same moment of his making this
discovery he heard a growl, and saw the bear itself —a monster of
the brown species, which differs from the ordinary black bear of America
in being more carnivorous and much larger, as well as more savage and
bold. No sooner did it see the youth than it rushed upon him with great
fury. A piece of broken line was drawn tight round its neck, and another
piece round its fore-leg, while four arrows stuck in its shoulder and
side, showing plainly that it had broken loose from a snare and had been
attacked by man. But Lawrence had no time to think on these things. He
had barely time to throw forward and cock his gun when the bear was upon
him. It rose on its hind-legs, and in doing so towered high above the
youth, who, whatever his feelings might have been, looked undismayed.
With an unflinching eye he took aim at the monster's heart, and shot it
dead. So close was it to him that he singed the hair on its breast and
had to leap to one side to avoid being struck as it fell.</p>
<p>Reloading quickly, the young hunter advanced towards the trap, where
his worst fears were realised, for near to it he found the body of an
Indian torn limb from limb, and mostly eaten, except the head, which
remained entire. It was evident that the poor man, having set several
snares for bears, had gone to visit them, and found this brown bear
caught by the head and leg. He seemed to have tried to kill it with
arrows, but must have been afraid to go near enough to use his weapons
with effect, and the enraged animal, having broken the snare, flew upon
him and tore him to pieces.</p>
<p>Brown bears of this kind are very powerful. One traveller in these
regions saw the footprints of a large one, which, having seized a
moose-deer in a river, dragged it for a quarter of a mile along the sandy
banks, and afterwards devoured it all except part of the hind-quarters;
and the moose which had been treated in this unceremonious way, judging
from the size and hardness of the bones, must have been upwards of a year
old, when it would weigh as much as an ox of the same age.</p>
<p>Collecting the scattered remnants of the unfortunate Indian, who was
no other than the old woman's son, Lawrence covered them over with leaves
and sticks. He then skinned the bear and cut off its claws, which he
carried away as trophies, along with one or two choice steaks cut from
the creature's flank. He also collected the weapons and part of the dress
of the Indian, with which he returned to the camp.</p>
<p>“Heyday! Lawrence, what have you got there, lad?” said
Reuben, as his son came up and threw the bundle on the ground.</p>
<p>“A brown bear, father.”</p>
<p>“Well done!” exclaimed Reuben, with a look of pride, for
although his son had shot many a black bear in the forest, he had never
before stood face to face with such a monster as that whose skin and
claws now lay at his feet.</p>
<p>“It would have been well, father,” said Lawrence gravely,
“if the man who first saw this had owned a gun. His arrows were no
better than needles in such a hide. See here!”</p>
<p>He drew from his breast the bloody portions of dress which had
belonged to the slaughtered Indian.</p>
<p>“The son of the old woman has gone to the happy
hunting-grounds,” said Swiftarrow, referring to the heaven of the
Indian, as he lifted and examined the dress.</p>
<p>“Ay, ay,” said Reuben sadly, “'tis the chances of
the wilderness. You'd better tell the poor old creetur', Swiftarrow; you
understand her ways and lingo better than me.”</p>
<p>Silently the Indian went to the old woman, and laid the bloody
garments before her. At first she did not understand what had happened.
Suddenly the truth flashed upon her, and she looked quickly up into the
grave countenance of the Indian, but death and sorrow appeared to have
already done their worst on her, for she neither spoke nor wept for some
time. She took up the shreds of cloth and turned them over tenderly; but
neither sign nor groan escaped her. Evidently she had been already so
stunned by the horrors which had surrounded her for some time, that this
additional blow did not tell —at least, not at first —but
Reuben observed, while trying to comfort her some time afterwards, that a
few tears were coursing slowly down her withered cheeks.</p>
<p>That night, round the camp-fire, the pioneers held earnest counsel,
and resolved, sadly but firmly, that their projected journey must be
given up for that season.</p>
<p>“It's a hard thing to do,” said Reuben, as he lay at full
length before the fire after supper, “to give up our plans after
comin' so far; but it ain't possible to carry that old 'ooman along with
us an' it's not to be thought of to leave her behind to starve, so
there's nothin' for it but to go back an' take her wi' us to the
settlements. I would feel like a murderer if I was to leave one o' God's
creeturs to perish in the wilderness. What think you,
Lawrence?”</p>
<p>“I think you are right, father,” replied the youth, with a
deep sigh.</p>
<p>“An' what says Swiftarrow?”</p>
<p>“Go back,” was the Indian's prompt and laconic answer.</p>
<p>“Well, then, we're all agreed, so we'll turn back on our trail
to-morrow; but I shall try again next year if I'm above ground. I once
know'd a Yankee who had what he called a motto, an' it was this, `Never
give in, 'xcept w'en yer wrong.' I think I'll take to that motto. It
seems to me a good 'un.”</p>
<p>In proof, we presume, of his sincerity, Reuben Guff rolled himself in
his blanket, stretched his feet towards the fire, pillowed his head on a
bundle of moss, and at once GAVE IN to the seductive influences of sleep;
an example which was so irresistible that his companions followed it
without delay.</p>
<h3><a name="1_0_4">CHAPTER THREE. INTRODUCES THE KING OF
PIONEERS.</a></h3>
<p>Discarding space and ignoring time, we seize you by the hand, reader,
and bound away with you still deeper into the northern wilderness, away
into that remote region which, at the time we write of, was the ULTIMA
THULE of the fur-traders of Canada, —beyond which lay the great
unknown world, stretching to the pole. Here, amid the grand scenery of
the Rocky Mountains, lies the Athabasca Lake, also styled the Lake of the
Hills. We prefer the latter name, as being more romantic.</p>
<p>This is no pretty pond such as we in England are wont to visit and
delight in during our summer holidays. It is a great sheet of water; a
grand fresh-water sea, 200 miles long and 15 miles broad —a fitting
gem for the bosom of the mighty region on which it glitters.</p>
<p>A year has fled since the period of our last chapter, and here, in a
birch-bark canoe on the waters of the Lake of the Hills, we find our
pioneers —Reuben Guff, his son Lawrence, and his Indian friend
Swiftarrow. There is also a young Indian woman in the canoe —
Swiftarrow's wife.</p>
<p>The kind-hearted red man adopted the old woman who had been rescued on
their previous trip, but, not finding her a good substitute for his own
mother, he bethought him of adding a young squaw to his establishment.
While he meditated on this step, the old woman died. About the same time
Reuben Guff made proposals to him to join him on a second “v'yage
of diskivery.” The Indian agreed; got married off-hand, and took
his bride along with him. We now find them all four at the Lake of the
Hills.</p>
<p>It may be as well to observe, in passing, that Indian brides are
usually more robust than those of civilised communities. They are quite
competent to follow their lords on the most arduous canoe voyages, and,
besides being able to wield the paddle with great dexterity, are
exceedingly useful in managing what may be styled the domestic matters of
the camp. They also keep up a constant supply of the Indian's
indispensable foot-gear —moccasins —which are so slender in
their nature that a pair may be completely worn-out in a single day of
hard hunting.</p>
<p>The brown bride, therefore, was not a hindrance to the party, but a
useful member of it, as well as a pleasant companion. True, her
companionship consisted chiefly in answering “yes” and
“no” when spoken to, and in smiling pleasantly at all times;
but this was sufficient to satisfy the moderate demands of her male
friends upon her intellectual resources.</p>
<p>“Fort Chipewyan at LAST,” said Reuben, resting his paddle
across the canoe and looking earnestly towards the horizon; “I hope
we ain't too late after all our pushin' on. It would be hard to find that
Monsieur Mackenzie had started.”</p>
<p>“Too much ice in the lake,” said Swiftarrow. “He has
not gone yet.”</p>
<p>“I'm not so sure o' that,” observed Lawrence. “If
reports be true, Monsieur Mackenzie is not the man to wait until the ice
is all off the lakes and nothin' but plain sailin' lies before
him.”</p>
<p>“That's true, lad,” replied Reuben, resuming his paddle.
“I wonder,” he murmured to himself, as he gazed wistfully
towards the unknown north, “I wonder if the big river is really
there, an' if it DO jine the sea?”</p>
<p>That same question was put to himself that same evening —though
not for the first time —by one of the inhabitants of Fort
Chipewyan. The fort was a mere group of two or three log-huts. In the
largest of these huts sat a man whose strongly-marked handsome
countenance gave evidence of a bold enterprising spirit and a resolute
will. He pored over a map for some time, carefully tracing a few
pencil-lines into the blank spaces on the paper, and then murmured, in
words which were almost identical with those of Reuben Guff, “I
wonder if it joins the Polar Sea?”</p>
<p>This man was the true pioneer, or, rather, the king of pioneers, to
whom Guff gave place without a murmur, for Reuben was a modest man; and
the moment he heard that one of the gentlemen of the Canadian fur-trading
company had taken up his favourite hobby, and meant to work out the
problem, he resolved, as he said, “to play second fiddle,”
all the more that the man who thus unwittingly supplanted him was a
mountaineer of the Scottish Highlands.</p>
<p>“It's of no manner of use, you see,” he said to
Swiftarrow, when conversing on the subject, “for me to go off on a
v'yage o' diskivery w'en a gentleman like Monsieur Mackenzie, with a good
edication an' scienteefic knowledge and the wealth of a fur company at
his back, is goin' to take it in hand. No; the right thing for Reuben
Guff to do in the circumstances is to jine him an' play second fiddle
—or third, if need be.”</p>
<p>Alexander Mackenzie —while seated in the lowly hut of that
solitary outpost poring over his map, trying to penetrate mentally into
those mysterious and unknown lands which lay just beyond him —saw,
in imagination, a great river winding its course among majestic mountains
towards the shores of the ice-laden polar seas. He also saw the lofty
peaks and snow-clad ridges of that mighty range which forms the back-bone
of the American continent, and —again in imagination — passed
beyond it and penetrated the vast wilderness to the Pacific, thus adding
new lands to the British Crown, and opening up new sources of wealth to
the fur company of which he was one of the most energetic members. He saw
all this in imagination, we say, but he did NOT, at that time, see his
name attached to one of the largest American rivers, classed with the
names of the most noted discoverers of the world, and himself knighted.
Still less, if possible, did he see, even in his wildest flights of
fancy, that the book of travels which he was destined to write, would be
translated into French by the order of Napoleon I., for the express
purpose of being studied by Marshal Bernadotte, with the view of enabling
that warrior to devise a roundabout and unlooked-for attack on Canada
—in rear, as it were — from the region of the northern
wilderness —a fact which is well worthy of record! (See Appendix
for an interesting letter on the subject.)</p>
<p>None of these things loomed on the mind of the modest though romantic
and enterprising man, for at that time he was only at the beginning of
his career of discovery.</p>
<p>It may not be out of place here to say a word or two as to the early
career of the hero whose footsteps we are about to follow.</p>
<p>He was a Highlander, to begin with; and possessed all the fire and
determination peculiar to that race. At an early period of life he was
led to engage in commercial enterprises in the country north-west of Lake
Superior, joined the North-West Fur Company of Canada in 1784, and went
into the Indian country the following spring. It is not necessary to say
more than that Alexander Mackenzie proved himself to be a first-rate
fur-trader at a time when the fur-trade was carried on under great
difficulties and amid severe privations. For many years he was in charge
of Fort Chipewyan, the remote establishment to which we have just
conducted our reader. Seven years before his coming on the scene, the
Lake of the Hills had not been visited by white men, and was known only
through Indian report. When Mackenzie became ruler of the district, all
beyond the lake was TERRA INCOGNITA. His spirit was one which thirsted to
explore the unknown. He was eminently fitted both to hold an advanced
post and to invade new regions, being robust in constitution, powerful in
frame, inquisitive in mind, and enterprising in spirit. Frequently had he
arrived at Fort Chipewyan with ninety or a hundred men without any
provision for their sustenance for the winter save their fishing-nets and
guns. He was therefore accustomed to live from hand to mouth, and to
depend on his own exertions and resources in a country where the winter
is upwards of eight months long and the severity of the climate
extreme.</p>
<p>It was in June 1789 that he made preparations to start on his first
voyage of discovery.</p>
<p>Rising from the table at which he had been studying his projected
route, Mackenzie turned, with the air of a man who has made up his mind,
and said to a clerk who was smoking beside the fireplace—</p>
<p>“Le Roux, if we cannot prevail on these Indians to accompany us,
I have determined to start without them. Has the small canoe been
gummed?”</p>
<p>“It has,” answered Le Roux, “but I would advise
delay for a day or two. If we give them time, the Indians may change
their minds; besides, the ice has not yet sufficiently cleared
away.”</p>
<p>Mackenzie paced the room impatiently, and his eyes flashed for one
moment with impatience. They were deep blue eyes that could beam with
melting tenderness or sparkle with suppressed passion —it is but
just to add that passion in his case was usually suppressed, for he was a
lover of peace, as most truly great and powerful men usually are:</p>
<p>“Let us see now,” he said, sitting down in front of Le
Roux, “how our resources stand. In my canoe there will be the four
Canadians and the German. Then there's our Indian friend, English Chief
and his two wives, who will embark in the second-sized canoe. The two
young Indians whom we want to accompany us with their wives must make up
their minds to-night, else I will start without them. Your own canoe with
goods for trade and provisions, will not be fully loaded; I shall
therefore place in it the provisions that we can't carry, and when we
come to the place where you are to stop and trade, and where I shall bid
you farewell, we shall doubtless have eaten our lading down sufficiently
to take the whole on board. See, by the way, that the goods and trinkets
to be given in presents as we go along are not placed in the wrong
canoe.”</p>
<p>“They are already laid with the other goods, and also the nets
and ammunition by themselves,” said Le Roux, rising and laying down
his pipe.</p>
<p>At that moment Reuben Guff entered with his friends. The surprise of
Mackenzie was great on beholding them, but greater still was his delight
when he learned their errand. The young Indians were forthwith told that
their services would not now be required, and our friends —
including Swiftarrow's wife, Darkeye —were at once added to the
exploring party.</p>
<p>Next day the expedition set forth from Fort Chipewyan and swept over
the broad breast of the Lake of the Hills.</p>
<p>We will not trace their course over known ground. Suffice it to say
that their troubles began at once. Soon after leaving the lake they came
to a rapid part of the river which flows out of it, where they were
obliged to land and carry canoes and goods to the still water further
down, but here the ice was still unthawed on the banks, rendering the
process of reloading difficult. Soon after they came to a place called
the PORTAGE D'EMBARRAS, which is occasioned by driftwood filling up the
channel of the river. There they entered the Slave River, where there is
a portage or carrying-place named the Mountain, the landing at which is
very steep and close to the fall. Below this fall there is a mile of
dangerous rapids —and here they met with their first disaster.</p>
<p>Reuben and Swiftarrow having landed with part of the cargo of the
small canoe, had left it in charge of Darkeye, —so named because of
her large and lustrous eyes, which, however, were the only good points
about her, for she was ill-favoured and clumsy, though strong of frame
and a diligent worker. While she was moving from one point of rock to
another that appeared to her more convenient for landing, the canoe was
caught by an eddy and swept in a moment out into the strong current, down
which it sped with fearful velocity towards the falls. Darkeye was quite
collected and cool, but she happened to dip her paddle on the edge of a
sunk rock with such vigour that the canoe overturned. Upon the heights
above her husband saw the accident, and stood rooted for a moment in
helpless dismay to the spot. It chanced that Lawrence Guff was at the
time the only man near the unfortunate woman, who, although she swam like
an otter, could not gain the bank. Seeing this, the youth sprang towards
a jutting rock that almost overhung the fall, and entering the rushing
stream so deeply that he could barely retain his foothold, caught the
woman by the hair of the head as she was sweeping towards the edge of the
fall. The two swayed for a few seconds on the verge of destruction; then
Swiftarrow came bounding down the bank like a deer, and, catching
Lawrence by the hand, dragged them both out of danger; but before they
were fairly landed the canoe was carried over the falls, dashed to
pieces, and in a few seconds its shreds were tossed wildly on the surging
rapids far down the river.</p>
<p>This accident caused them little loss beyond the canoe, which was soon
replaced by another, purchased from a party of Indians, with whom they
fell in that same evening.</p>
<p>Passing through Slave River, they swept out on the bright waters of
Great Slave Lake. Over these they sped during several days. This lake is
one of the largest fresh-water oceans of the continent, about 250 miles
long and 50 broad.</p>
<p>And here the work of exploration fairly began. Great Slave Lake was at
that time imperfectly known from Indian report; and the river of which
they were in search flowed, it was supposed, out of its western
extremity. Here also M. Le Roux was to be left behind with a party of men
to prosecute the fur-trade.</p>
<h3><a name="1_0_5">CHAPTER FOUR. VICISSITUDES OF THE VOYAGE
—INDIANS MET WITH, ETC.</a></h3>
<p>We have passed over the first three weeks of the voyage rapidly, but
it must not be supposed that therefore it was all plain sailing. On the
contrary, the travellers were delayed by thunderstorms, and heavy rains,
and gales, and impeded by ice, which, even in the middle of June lay
thick on the waters in some parts. They were also tormented by hosts of
mosquitoes, and at times they found difficulty in procuring food
—despite the ability of our friends Reuben, Swiftarrow, and
Lawrence, who were constituted hunters to the expedition. At other times,
however, the supply of food was abundant and varied. On one occasion the
hunters brought in seven geese, a beaver, and four ducks, besides which a
large supply of excellent trout and other fish was obtained from the
nets; and on another occasion they procured two swans, ten beavers, and a
goose. But sometimes they returned empty-handed, or with a single bird or
so, while the nets produced nothing at all. Deer were also shot
occasionally, and they found immense numbers of wild cranberries,
strawberries, rasps, and other berries, besides small spring onions; so
that, upon the whole, they fared well, and days of abstinence were more
than compensated by days of superabundance.</p>
<p>One evening while they were coasting along this great lake, some
Indians were discovered on the shore, and the travellers landed to make
inquiries of them as to the nature of the country beyond. There were
three lodges belonging to the Red-knife Indians, who were so named
because their knifes were made of the copper found in that region. To the
leading man of these, English Chief, being interpreter, addressed
himself.</p>
<p>English Chief, we may remark in passing, was one of the followers of
the chief who conducted Hearne on his expedition to the Coppermine River;
since which event he had been a principal leader of his countrymen who
were in the habit of carrying furs to the English fur-traders at
Churchill, on Hudson's Bay, and was much attached to the interest of the
Hudson Bay Company, which, at that time, was in opposition to the
Canadian or Nor'-West Company. These circumstances procured him the title
of the English Chief. An able, active, but self-sufficient and somewhat
obstinate chief he was, and caused Mackenzie a good deal of anxiety and
much trouble to keep him with the party.</p>
<p>In answer to his queries, the principal man of the Red-knife Indians
said that there were many more of his tribe a short distance off, and
that he would send a man to fetch them. He also said that the explorers
should see no more of them at that time, because the Slave and Beaver
Indians, as well as others of the tribe, were about to depart, and would
not be in that region again till the time when the swans cast their
feathers.</p>
<p>“Ask him” said Mackenzie, “if he and his friends
have many furs to dispose of.”</p>
<p>To this the Indian replied by at once producing upwards of eight large
packs of good beaver and marten skins; and added the information that his
friends had plenty more.</p>
<p>“Now, then, Le Roux,” said Mackenzie, turning to his
clerk, “here you and I shall part. This seems a good spot and a
good opportunity for opening up the trade with these Indians. When the
rest of them arrive we shall have a palaver, and then you shall remain to
look after them, so, open up your packs, and get ready a few small
presents without delay.”</p>
<p>That day was spent in considerable bustle and excitement; the Indians
being overjoyed that the white traders had at last penetrated into their
country; and their joy being increased by the distribution of such
trifling, but much-prized, gifts as glass beads, knives, small
looking-glasses, etc. It rained in torrents all the time but this did not
damp their spirits; and as for their bodies —they were used to it!
In the afternoon Mackenzie assembled the whole tribe, and made them the
following speech, which was translated by English Chief in a very pompous
manner, for that excellent red-skin was fully alive to the dignity of his
position.</p>
<p>“My friends,” began our explorer, “I am glad to meet
with you. The white man and the Indians are always glad to meet
—they can benefit each other mutually. Each has got what the other
requires. I have come for the purpose of opening up trade with you. It is
true that I myself will take my departure to-morrow, because I am in
search of new lands; but some of my people will remain on the spot, and
if you bring in a sufficient quantity of furs to make it answer, my men
will return to Fort Chipewyan for more goods, and will spend the winter
here. They will build a fort and continue to dwell among you as long as
you shall be found to deserve it.”</p>
<p>At this point the speaker paused, and the dark-skinned audience gave
vent to a loud “Ho!” which was equivalent to the British
“Hear, hear!”</p>
<p>“In regard to my own work,” continued Mackenzie, “I
intend to search for, and find the great river, which, it is said, flows
out of this lake, and follow its current to the sea —or, as you
call it, the great salt lake. Do my brothers know anything about this
river? If so, let them speak.”</p>
<p>Hereupon an old chief, with hair like small iron wire, and a skin like
shoe-leather, got up, and delivered himself as follows—</p>
<p>“We are glad to hear what our white brother says. It encourages
us to know that you will make a trading fort in our country, for we have
need of one. Hitherto we have had to travel far —very far
—with our furs; or if, to save trouble, we intrusted our furs to
the Chipewyans, they often pillaged us, or, at most, gave us very little
for the fruits of our toil. For a long time we have been so discouraged
that we had no motive to pursue the beaver, except to obtain a
sufficiency of food and clothing. Now if you come to us, we shall be
happy —wauch!”</p>
<p>The last word was equivalent to the expression —“There,
think o' that!” The old man paused as if to give his audience time
for reflection.</p>
<p>“As to the great river,” he continued sententiously,
“we know of its existence; but none of our tribe has ever followed
its course down to the great salt lake. We earnestly advise our brother
not to go there, for it is a dreadful river. It is said that there are
two impassable falls in its course; and it is so long that old age will
come upon you before the time of your return. You will also encounter
monsters of horrid shapes and awful strength on the land and in the water
— wauch!”</p>
<p>The old chief began to glare solemnly at this point, and the whole
tribe followed his example.</p>
<p>“It is said,” he continued, “that there are bears
which eat the trees as if they were grass; whose cubs, even at their
birth, are strong enough to kill the stoutest man. There are monsters in
the river so big that a canoe full of men would be but a mouthful to
them. There are so few animals or fish fit for food, that you will all
certainly be starved. And, besides all this, evil spirits dwell there,
whose chief delight lies in attacking, killing, roasting, and devouring
men —wauch!”</p>
<p>Here the Indian sat down with the decision of a man who has given
unanswerable arguments for the overturning of foolish plans;
nevertheless, Mackenzie's plans remained unaltered. Not so, however,
those of a young Indian, who had been engaged to guide the explorers to
the other end of the lake, in order to save them from the loss of time
which would be occasioned by the necessity of coasting round its numerous
bays. The imagination of this youth —Coppernose, as Lawrence Guff
facetiously styled him —was so wrought upon by the dreadful
description of the great river, that he manifested a strong desire to
draw back; but by the timely addition of a small kettle, an axe, a knife,
and a few beads to the gifts already bestowed on him, he was eventually
persuaded to venture.</p>
<p>Before departing, poor Coppernose took a ceremonious leave of his
family. He cut off a lock of his hair, and divided it into three parts.
One of these he fastened to the top of his wife's head, and blew on it
three times with the utmost violence, at the same time uttering certain
cabalistic words. The other two portions he fastened with the same
formalities to the heads of his two children.</p>
<p>Even at the last he hesitated, and was finally made to enter the canoe
more by force than by persuasion!</p>
<p>A few days later, and our pioneers were fairly embarked on the great
river, whose course to the mouth it was their object to explore.</p>
<p>The expedition was now somewhat reduced, owing to M. Le Roux having
been left behind. It consisted of three canoes —the large one with
Mackenzie and five men; a small one, with English Chief and his two
wives, and Coppernose; and another small one, containing Reuben, his son,
Swiftarrow, and Darkeye. Two of the Canadians were also attended by their
wives; so that the party numbered sixteen souls, five of whom were women.
They all kept company as much as possible, but English Chief was
frequently left behind by the large canoe; while Reuben and his friends,
being the hunters as we have said, were necessarily absent for
considerable periods in search of game.</p>
<p>One evening as they were descending a beautiful sweep of the river