ids Forlorn
Story of an Expedition to iearne's Coppermine RiVer
George M. Douglas From the painting by E. Wyly Grier, R.C.A.
By
s~*i
(jreorgc M iglas
. James Douglas,
With ISO Photographs by th* Author, and Maps
G. P,
New York ndon
Ube *RnicfterbocKer press
Lands Forlorn
A Story of an Expedition to Hearne's Coppermine River
By
"*j
George M?x Douglas
With an Introduction by
James Douglas, LL.D.
With 18O Photographs by the Author, and Maps
G. P. Putnam's Sons
New York London
IRnicfeerbocfeer press 1914
r
la
DG
COPYRIGHT, 1914
BY GEORGE M. DOUGLAS
Ube •fcnfcfterbocfeer press, flew »otfc
INTRODUCTION
MY cousin, George Mellis Douglas, the leader of the expedition described in this narrative, is an engineer, and has had wide experience of small craft. After years of work in the arid South- west he was naturally seized with an uncontrollable thirst for water, and one day told me of his longing to explore some one of the rivers flowing into the Arctic Sea. Half in jest I undertook to "grubstake" him, if he would report on the copper-bearing rocks of Hearne's Coppermine River. He accepted the challenge. And this book is one of the results. It contains a narrative of travel in arctic Canada by three youths without native guides, who brought back scientific information of great interest and importance. Hearne's Coppermine River, flowing into the Arctic Ocean in Latitude 68° 49' N., and Longitude 115° 32' WM was chosen as offering an exceptionally interesting field for exploration, partly because the results might have a final commercial value.
In his introductory chapter the author describes how rumours and proofs of great copper deposits among the mountains in the far north prompted the earlier explorations of that inhospitable land. The Indian tales of the remote copper mines were as far from accurate as is many a mining report in the prospectus of a modern promoter. Instead of a moun- tain of copper Hearne found one lump of metal, which he picked up "among a jumble of rocks. " Copper may once have been more prodigally exposed, but for centuries the croppings had been searched for float metal by the Eskimos and by the Coppermine River Indians, who used it as an article
iv Introduction
of barter over the whole North-west. It was carried by them eastward* to the Hudson Bay and westward to the Pacific. The Eskimos are said still to prefer it for certain uses to iron.
Dr. Sandberg examined and mapped only the section of the Copper Range immediately west of the Coppermine River, but the party followed the same traps to the Dismal Lake and found them strewn on the shores of Great Bear Lake one hundred and fifty miles west of the Coppermine River. Simpson, Hanbury, and others picked up metallic copper on the beach of the islands in Bathurst Inlet. Thus these rocks, with a general north-east and south-west strike, have been traced for some three hundred miles, and if the same rocks really reappear in Victoria Land, where Stefansson describes the Eskimos as gathering copper, their cross-section must be vastly greater than the corresponding series on Lake Superior. The total area, therefore, within which copper ore may possibly be found, covers nearly ten thousand square miles.
Whether profitable ore occurs anywhere in this district can be deter- mined only by a thorough survey, followed, should favourable indications be found, by exploratory development on an extensive scale. Our three explorers confirmed Sir John Richardson's diagnosis of the identity of these copper-bearing rocks with the melaphyres and conglomerates of the Kee- weenaw series of Lake Superior. This was conclusively proved by Graton's petrological examination of the hundred samples of rocks brought out by our explorers. On analysis a large proportion of these rock samples con- tained traces of metallic copper — two of them were ores of profitable grade. What they did for the first time was to trace and map the succession of beds which compose this interesting — possibly commercially important — group of rocks. In this work they even preceded the Canadian Geological Survey.
The region may become one of the great copper producers of the world. It is now still inaccessible; but the eastermost exposure of these rocks, so far as known, is not more than five hundred miles distant from navigable water in Hudson Bay, over a possible railroad route. And a railroad from the south is already projected to within eight hundred miles of their most
Untrofcuction v
westerly exposure. As far back as 1845 Alexander Simpson anticipated that "It is possible that ere this century has passed, an organised system of internal communication such as that which traverses Northern Asia may place this valuable natural deposit within the reach of commerce." He was too sanguine. The climate is severe. But so is that of Lake Superior; and for about twenty-five years after the native copper mines of Michigan were first opened they were shut off from the east by ice from steam communication, for almost half the year.
As to fuel, lignite is plentiful within the arctic circle, and our explorers brought samples from a large bed of it which crops out on the shores of the Great Bear Lake. If copper ores therefore exist in large quantities, and are of a profitable grade, the unfavourable conditions are not sufficiently pro- hibitive to prevent their being exploited. And the race has happily not yet become so effeminate that men cannot be found willing to exchange the luxuries of civilisation for the novelties and adventures of work in the wilder- ness, when the inducement is added of winning from Nature the treasures she has hidden away in such inhospitable regions.
JAMES DOUGLAS.
CONTENTS
\ PAGE
I. — AN HISTORICAL SUMMARY . i
II. — BY Scow AND STEAMER 6
Down the Athabasca and Mackenzie Rivers.
III. — THE VOYAGE OF THE "JUPITER" 48
The Bear River and Great Bear Lake.
IV. — THE VOYAGE OF THE " POLARIS " ...... 90
Our First Journey to the Coppermine.
V. — THE TWILIGHT OF THE YEAR 138
VI. — A WINTER IN THE ARCTIC 151
VII. — SPRING JOURNEYS 170
VIII. — TOBOGGAN AND PACK .179
IX. — HOMEWARD BOUND 234
The Voyage of the Aldebaran,
X. — STEAMER AND Scow AGAIN 262
XI. — CONCLUSION 270
L'Envoi by " Clansman " (Bryce McMaster.) APPENDIX
GEOGNOSTICAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE COPPERMINE MOUNTAINS . 275
By John Richardson, M.D. 1822
GEOLOGICAL REPORT 277
By August Sandberg, Ph.D.
vii
ILLUSTRATIONS
GEORGE M. DOUGLAS ....... Frontispiece
(From the painting by E. Wyly Grier.)
PAGE
THE FIRST VOYAGE OF THE " ALDEBARAN " 10
THE ATHABASCA STAGE 1 1
ON THE ROAD TO ATHABASCA LANDING . . . . . .12
"EGGIE'S" 13
GOOD-BYE TO CIVILISATION .14
ON THE RIVER BELOW THE ATHABASCA LANDING 15
"BANNOCK ISLAND" 16
CALLING RIVER 17
PELICAN PORTAGE 18
GRAND RAPIDS .....'...... 19
THE LOWER END OF THE ISLAND AT GRAND RAPIDS .... 20
Scow LEAVING THE ISLAND 21
THE ATHABASCA BRIGADE 22
THE CASCADE RAPIDS 23
COOK Scow RUNNING THE CASCADE 24
AT THE CASCADE RAPIDS 25
ON BOARD THE Scow 26
THE DESCENT OF THE ATHABASCA RIVER 27
FORT MCMURRAY 28
A TRADING STORE AT FORT MCMURRAY ...... 29
THE HUDSON BAY Co/s STEAMER " GRAHAME " 30
ix
Illustrations
PAGJ
THE HUDSON BAY Co.'s STORE AT FORT MCMURRAY . . . .31
IDLE DAYS .31
THE CLEARWATER RIVER . . . ' . . . . ;. . 32 THE "GRAHAME" TIED UP FOR THE NIGHT . . , . . .33 THE HUDSON BAY Co.'s BUILDINGS AT FORT CHIPEWYAN ... 34 THE ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSION AT FORT CHIPEWYAN . „ . . 35
COMING FROM THE NETS . , . .36
THE EASTERN PART OF FORT CHIPEWYAN . . . . * . 37
THE OUTSKIRTS OF FORT CHIPEWYAN . -^ . • . . . . 38
"BULL DOGS" ON CABIN WINDOW . , . . . , . 39 FORT SMITH . . . ...... . . .40
THE HUDSON BAY Co.'s STEAMER " MACKENZIE RIVER " AT FORT SMITH . 41 ON THE LOWER SLAVE RIVER . . . -. > , > ., . 42 FORT RESOLUTION . . . . . ... -43
FORT SIMPSON . . . . . . . v, . . .44
THE RADFORD EXPEDITION. THE "JUPITER" IN THE BACKGROUND . 45
TRAPPERS' SHACK ON THE SALT RIVER 46
THE FINISH OF THEIR LONG WINTER 47
THE BEACH AT FORT NORMAN . . " • * . . . . . 49
MAIN STREET, FORT NORMAN . . ..... . . 50
MACKENZIE RIVER AND THE BEAR ROCK FROM FORT NORMAN . .51 THE BEAR ROCK FROM OUR CAMP . . -. .... 52
THE "JUPITER" AT FORT NORMAN „ > . . . . .53
LION AND THE DOCTOR . . 54
OUR INDIAN CREW . . . . ..... . .55
WE MAKE A START . . . ^ -• •« .... 56
BANKS OF THE BEAR RIVER . . ... . • • -57
BEAR RIVER — THE FRANKLIN MOUNTAINS 58
A CAMP ON THE BEAR RIVER . ..... 59
Illustrations »
PAGE
MOUNT CHARLES .' 60
ICE FIELD BELOW THE RAPIDS 61
ICE CLIFFS AT THE RAPIDS 62
ALONG THE ICE CLIFFS 63
WE CAMP AT THE RAPIDS 64
TAKING A SPELL 65
THE "ALDEBARAN" AND THE "POLARIS" BEING TRACKED UP THE RAPIDS. 66
A DISHEARTENING PROSPECT 67
THE LAST STRETCH OF THE ICE CLIFFS 68
CUT BANKS ABOVE THE RAPIDS 69
ON THE UPPER BEAR RIVER .70
OUR FIRST VIEW OF GREAT BEAR LAKE . . . . . .71
ENTRANCE TO SIR JOHN FRANKLIN'S LITTLE LAKE 72
AT LITTLE LAKE .73
THE "JUPITER" UNDER FULL CANVAS 76
A WELCOME HARBOUR 79
REMAINS OF OLD FORT CONFIDENCE 84
WE ARRIVE AT THE DEASE RIVER 85
HODGSON'S SHACK 86
UNLOADING THE " JUPITER " 87
PREPARING FOR OUR JOURNEY TO THE COPPERMINE .... 88
THE "JUPITER'S" LAST HARBOUR 89
THE SITE OF OUR HOUSE 91
THE " POLARIS " AND HER CREW 92
THE CANON ........... 94
THE CANON — OLD MAN OF HOY TO RIGHT 95
OBSERVATION HILL 96
WADING 98
NOTMAN DYKE 99
Xll
Illustrations
PAGE
HANBURY'S KOPJE 100
CAMP AT HANBURY'S KOPJE 101
"PENURY, INERTNESS AND GRIMACE .... WERE THE LAND'S PORTION" . 105
ALONG THE DIVIDE 107
DISMAL LAKE . . . 108
CAMP AT THE NARROWS — DISMAL LAKE . .. r . . : . 1 1 1
ESKIMO KAYAK AND CACHE . . , i «- . . . 112
THE KENDALL RIVER — REMAINS OF SIMPSON'S "SPRING PROVISION STA- TION" . . . . . „- . . .115
CANON NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE KENDALL RIVER . . . .116
JUNCTION OF THE KENDALL RIVER WITH THE COPPERMINE . , .117 THE COPPERMINE RIVER .. . .-.,,'. . . .118
WE ARRIVE AT THE COPPERMINE MOUNTAINS » . » .119
CAMP AT THE COPPERMINE RIVER . .. ... . . - . .120
COPPERMINE MOUNTAINS — CHARACTERISTIC TERRACES . . ' . . 121 HEADWATERS OF STONEY CREEK — NORTH BRANCH . . . .122
COPPERMINE MOUNTAINS AND RIVER 123
THE ROAD HOME . .. 124
A VIEW DOWN THE COPPERMINE RIVER . .125
SANDY CREEK 129
SIMPSON'S POINT .. 130
HODGSON'S POINT AND ITS BUILDER ....... 134
AT THE END OF OUR VOYAGE .. 135
BEAR LAKERS BREAKING CAMP 141
SOME OF THE BEAR LAKE INDIANS. FRANC.OIS FAMILY TO RIGHT . 142
CAMP AT OLD FORT CONFIDENCE 144
THE FIRST JOURNEY WITH DOGS , . 145
THE SHACK BUILT BY FATHER ROUVIER AND HORNBY .... 146 HODGSON'S POINT AT THE BEGINNING OF WINTER 152
"(Illustrations »ii
PAGE
THE FIREPLACE ..... 4 ..... 153
THE KITCHEN 154
LION'S CORNER « . . 155
THE AUTHOR IN HIS CORNER . . 161
OUR XMAS PARTY. LEFT TO RIGHT : LION, FATHER ROUVIER, THE DOCTOR,
MYSELF 163
HODGSON'S POINT IN THE MIDDLE OF APRIL 164
LION ............ 165
FATHER ROUVIER 167
FATHER ROUVIER LEAVING HODGSON'S POINT . '. . . .168
LION AND THE DOCTOR START FOR LAKE ROUVIER 171
FRANC.OIS' TEPEE AT HODGSON'S POINT 172
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: "POTASH," "PUNCH," "GEOFF," "NIGGER" . 173 THE UNWILLING "POTASH" . . . . « . » .174
"JACK" . . 177
THE GRAND START 180
CROSSING WIND-SWEPT RIDGES . . . . . . . .181
TESHIERPI CAMP 183
THE ROCK SLIDE IN SPRING 186
FIRST SPRING CAMP AT THE COPPERMINE MOUNTAINS . . . .187
THE COPPERMINE RIVER IN EARLY MAY 188
THE " GOOD HOPE " 190
HORNBY'S TRIUMPH . . . . . . . * . . 191
WARBLES IN THE SKIN OF A CARIBOU. EARLY MAY t . . .192
HORNBY AND " PUNCH " 193
BURNT CAMP 196
SANDSTONE CLIFFS ON THE LOWER COPPERMINE RIVER . . t .197
THE " MUSK Ox RAPIDS" 198
CHARACTERISTIC SANDSTONE FORMATION, LOWER COPPERMINE RIVER . 199
Ullustrationa
PAGE
A BASALT DYKE. SIR JOHN FRANKLIN'S " SANDSTONE RAPIDS " . . 200
TAILING DUMP CAMP .......... 201
THE BLOODY FALLS . . . . . . . . . . 202
THE BLOODY FALLS — A CLOSER VIEW ....... 203
THE LOWER PART OF THE BLOODY FALLS ...... 204
ESKIMOS CROSSING ON THE JAMMED ICE AT BLOODY FALLS . . . 205
VIEW TOWARDS CAPE HEARNE ........ 207
ON CORONATION GULF . . ....... 208
ESKIMOS NEAR THE COAST ...... . . .210
A SUMMER CAMP .......... 211
CAMP COMFORT . . ......... 213
BOULDER BED CAMP IN JUNE ...... . . 214
GLACIER COVE . . . . . . . . . . . 216
FERRYING OUR STUFF TO THE ICE . . . . . . .217
CROSSING THE SECOND DISMAL LAKE ....... 218
TESHIERPI CAMP AGAIN . . . . . . . . .219
ESKIMOS AT TESHIERPI CAMP ........ 220
ESKIMO HUNTING PTARMIGAN . . . . . . . .221
LOOKING PLEASANT .......... 222
HARRY AND THE ESKIMOS .... ..... 223
KAYAK FRAME AND DOUBLE-BLADED PADDLE ..... 224
OUR VISITORS ....... . . . . 225
AND A BACK VIEW OF THEM ........ 226
VIEW ON THE DEASE RIVER ........ 229
LIMESTONE WALLS OF CANYONS ........ 230
GOOD-BYE ............ 232
WE BEGIN OUR JOURNEY ACROSS THE GREAT BEAR LAKE . . . 233
DETENTION POINT .......... 236
CAMP AT DETENTION POINT ........ 237
Uliustrations
PAGE
THE MIDNIGHT SUN 238
SAND HILLS CAMP AND THE LITTLE LAKE 241
AN INDIAN GRAVE 242
WAITING 245
BEAR RIVER NEAR BEAR LAKE 251
INDIANS TRACKING UP-STREAM 252
THE FATHERS ON THEIR JOURNEY UP THE BEAR RIVER .... 253
MOUNT CHARLES — FROM THE EAST ....... 254
OUR CAMP AT FORT NORMAN IN JULY, 1912 255
FAMILY BIRCH BARK CANOE 256
ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSION 257
INDIAN CAMP AT FORT NORMAN 258
THE SKIN BOAT 259
THE HUDSON BAY Co.'s PARTY AND THEIR PASSENGERS .... 264
FORT McKAY ........... 265
THE "PRIMROSE" 266
A LONG HARD STRUGGLE 267
SLOW BUT SURE 268
Lands Forlorn
AN HISTORICAL SUMMARY
EARLY in the eighteenth century it was reported by the Indians, who came to trade at the recently established Hudson Bay Co.'s post on the Churchill River, that great deposits of copper existed near the banks of a large river to the north.
At that time nothing was known of the northern coast of the continent, and a north-west passage was considered quite a feasible undertaking. The first attempts at exploration were made by sea, and they were prompted by the hope of discovering such a passage and of finding mineral wealth at the same time.
Such expeditions were those of Knight in 1719; of Middleton in 1741; and of Moor and Smith in 1746. ,
Knight and his crew perished to the last man, passing completely out of knowledge for nearly fifty years, when traces of the party were at last found on Marble Island, and a pathetic account of their tragic end was gleaned from the neighbouring Eskimos.
The voyages of Middleton and of Moor and Smith resulted only in a slightly more definite knowledge of the west coast of Hudson Bay. Wager Inlet was found to be a landlocked bay and not, as was hoped, a possible
2 Xante jforlorn
passage to the west. They also discovered Repulse Bay and Frozen Strait.
The chief result of these voyages was to demonstrate the difficulties of a north-west passage. The next attempt to reach the reputed copper mines, by the Hudson Bay Co. in 1769, was made overland.
Samuel Hearne was chosen to be in command of the expedition, if the word " command" may be used to express his complete dependence on a party of irresponsible Chipewyans. Indeed the organisation of this ex- pedition shows a curious ignorance on the part of the Hudson Bay Co. of the real character of the Indians and an extravagant estimation of their influence over them.
Hearne' s guides led him and his two white companions a couple of hundred miles out of the barrens, robbed them of everything they had, and then left them to find their way back to the post as best they could.
Undeterred by these hardships Hearne made a second start a few months later. He took no white men on this occasion but only two of the company's Indian servants. As before he was dependent on a party of Chipewyans.
The thoroughly unreliable character of his guides probably would have doomed this attempt to failure also even if Hearne had not been obliged to return a second time, having had the misfortune to break his quadrant, an essential part of his outfit.
He could replace this at the fort only with an old and cumbersome instrument that had lain there for thirty years. Small blame to him that his subsequent observations were inaccurate.
On December 7, 1770, he made a third start under the guidance of a Chipewyan chief named Mattonabee. He was alone on this occasion and completely dependent on the whims of a party of Indians. The friend- ship of their principal man saved him from actual molestation, but he had no more influence with his guides than one of their own women.
The movement of the party was governed by their success in hunting. That they reached the Coppermine River at all was due to the decision of
Hn Historical Summary 3
Hearne's Chipewyans, who had been joined by a number of Copper Indians, to have an "Eskimo Hunt," evidently a popular form of amusement with the Northern Indians at that time.
Alexander Simpson, writing in 1845, says of these pleasant pastimes: "An Eskimo Hunt has always been a favourite diversion among the Border Indians. A decrepit Indian who acted as cook at a station where I resided often told me of the pleasure he enjoyed when an active youth in going on these expeditions."
Hearne's party was augmented till it numbered several hundred. They journeyed north and west to a lake afterwards called, by Franklin, Run Lake. The Indians left their families here; the final war-party con- sisted of sixty men. Travelling light and making long marches they struck the Coppermine River about thirty miles from the sea and followed it down to the last rapid.
It was by now the middle of July. A party of Eskimos was camped here fishing for salmon, as these people do to this day. The Indians waited for a chance when the Eskimos were quiet in their tents and then, in spite of Hearne's protestations, fell on them and slaughtered them all to the number of more than twenty. In memory of this massacre Hearne named the rapids the Bloody Falls.
The Indians had now accomplished the purpose of their journey and their only concern was to get back to their families as soon as possible. On their return journey Hearne examined what the Indians told him was the copper mine. He describes it as being about thirty miles from the mouth of the river and "an entire jumble of rocks and gravel." Only a small lump of copper rewarded his search. He was greatly disappointed ; in his complete ignorance of the subject he seems to have expected that the copper really would be lying around in lumps like a heap of rocks as the Indians had reported.
Four hours was all the time he spent prosecuting the main object of his journey ; with his band of Indians impatient to get home it was probably the most he could do.
4 %ant>0 jforlorn
After another year of roaming with the Indians Hearne finally arrived safely at Fort Churchill. He had made a journey that still remains one of the most remarkable on record. He was the first man to reach the shores of the Arctic Ocean and he discovered Great Slave Lake.
Hearne' s unfavourable account of the copper mines and their un- doubted inaccessibility killed all interest in them for a long time to come. The next account we have of these copper deposits was given by Captain Franklin and Dr. J. Richardson on their return from Franklin's overland journey to the Arctic, in 1819-20-21-22.
The main object of this journey was geographical research, but the reputed copper deposits were not overlooked, and Franklin was instructed " on his arrival at or near the mouth of the Coppermine River to make every enquiry as to the situation of the spot whence native copper had been brought down by the Indians to the Hudson Bay Co.'s establishment and to visit and explore the place in question."
Geographical discovery was paramount to Franklin, and the zeal of the whole party was directed to that end. They devoted only one day to an examination of the Coppermine Mountains and even that short investi- gation was made chiefly because they happened to kill some musk oxen in the vicinity which necessitated a delay in any case to dry the meat.
With such scant time at their disposal their investigations were of course very superficial, but so keen an observer as Dr. Richardson made good use of the time, and his description of the mountains is excellent in its accuracy (see Appendix A).
This is the first and hitherto the latest description of those great copper deposits. The difficulties of development and transport were considered so insuperable that the whole question was dismissed as being quite impracticable for any mercantile speculation.
The Coppermine River was used as a route by several explorers during the next thirty years, but nothing was added to our knowledge of the copper deposits till 1838 when Thomas Simpson called attention to the great abundance and extent of the copper deposits on the islands in Bathurst Inlet.
Hn Ibistorical Summary 5
After Dr. Rae's journey to Wollaston Land in 1851 the country was unvisited till 1902 when David Hanbury ascended the Coppermine River. With two white men and some Eskimos he had made the extraordinary journey from Chesterfield Inlet to the Arctic coast, along the coast to the Coppermine River, returning to civilisation by the Great Bear Lake and the Mackenzie River. For daring and for extent this journey is almost unparalleled in the whole history of Arctic exploration.
Hanbury found copper float on the banks of the Coppermine River, but like Thomas Simpson his attention was chiefly attracted by the abund- ance of copper he found on the islands in Bathurst Inlet. He leaves the question of their commercial value to be decided by expert opinion.
II
BY SCOW AND STEAMER. DOWN THE ATHABASCA AND MACKENZIE RIVERS
THE object of the present unostentatious expedition was to make a preliminary investigation of the Coppermine Mountains; to deter- mine whether there was any analogy between these deposits and those of the Lake Superior district, and to decide whether the prospect was sufficiently promising to warrant investigation on a further and more comprehensive scale.
We considered that the success of this expedition would be best ensured by keeping the party as small and as efficient as possible. Three of us were indispensable; provided we could have got the right kind of man, we would have preferred four in the party. But the qualifications required in a fourth member were somewhat exacting, and the time at our disposal for choosing was short. We left civilisation decided to carry the work through with three men only. As will be shown, a fourth member did in fact join us eventually and at a time when his assistance was most opportune and valuable.
Our party consisted of :
August Sandberg,Ph.D., of Sweden; chemist, metallurgist, and geologist. His travels in the remoter parts of Mexico had made him well acquainted with pack animals and life on the trail. He lacked training as a canoeist, but two canoeists were enough in the party and three might have been too many. His wide knowledge, his energy, his modesty, and his conspicuous unselfishness contributed greatly to the success and pleasure of the whole expedition.
6
Down tbe Htbaba0ca ant) flfeacfeensie IRivera 7
Lionel Dale Douglas, Lieut. R.N.R., a Canadian, sailor by profession, and with all the resourcefulness and ability to make the best of things by which sea-going men are justly distinguished. He was well versed in the handling of small craft, a canoeist of exceptional skill, an indefatigable hunter and sure shot with a rifle under all conditions.
George Mellis Douglas, a Canadian by birth, parentage, and early training; an engineer by profession, and by chance more than by any special qualification the leader of the present expedition.
We had decided that the best route to the Coppermine Mountains would be via the Athabasca and Mackenzie rivers, the Bear River, and Great Bear Lake, and thence by the Dease River and the small lakes on the divide to the Coppermine River. This was the route followed by the earlier explorers on their journeys to the shores of the Arctic : by Simp- son in 1838-39; by Sir John Richardson homeward bound from his explora- tion of the coast between the Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers in 1827, and again twenty years later by the same explorer when he was returning from his search for Franklin.
Fort Norman, at the junction of the Bear River with the Mac- kenzie River, was to be our real starting point on our own responsibility. We had made provision to have our freight taken and to travel as passengers ourselves by the Hudson Bay Co.'s transports to that point.
Our plans for ascending the Dease River and crossing to the Copper- mine River by way of the Dismal Lakes and Kendall River by canoe had been carefully thought out before we started, but they were quite indefinite regarding the crossing of Great Bear Lake and as to where we should pass the winter. We anticipated that the best plan would be to get a boat large enough to carry our entire equipment; to track it up the Bear River to Great Bear Lake, and to establish our own winter quarters on the Dease River. But this depended on several uncertain contingencies — on finding a suitable boat on our journey down the river; on being able to have it towed to Fort Norman by the Hudson Bay Co.'s steamer, and, finally,
8 Xanfcs jforlorn
on finding an Indian crew at Fort Norman to help us track it up the Bear River.
Fortunately we were able to effect these combinations; had it been otherwise we would have made the journey by canoe all the way from Fort Norman, returned to that place in the autumn to spend the winter, and made an early start by dog sledge the following spring.
In one respect our little expedition differed from any other that has been made overland to the Central Arctic coast of North America. We had decided to be absolutely independent of native help, excepting only such aid as would be necessary to track our boats up the Bear River to Great Bear Lake. We had determined to be our own guides, hunters, and packers, and successfully carried out our purpose.
The Indians of the Mackenzie River valley have earned a most unen- viable character for thorough unreliability and inefficiency. All travellers who have accomplished anything agree in describing them as worthless, shiftless, careless, unreliable, and generally contemptible.
Protracted residence in the country and a fuller experience of the Indians may disclose good points in their character, and mitigating reasons for the bad ones, but protracted residence in that country also lowers stand- ards of reliability and efficiency and warps accuracy of judgment. There- fore it happens that the opinion of the man who has been longest in the country and who should know the Indians best must be received with especial reserve and caution.
It was advisable to go fully supplied with food for the total time we expected to be in the country, although we knew that the vicinity of the Dease River is fairly well supplied with caribou, and ptarmigan, and that fish abound in Great Bear Lake. The Indians have proved that one can live off the country, but it keeps them busy hunting and fishing from one year's end to another, ever following the movements of the game. They do not always succeed in living very sumptuously, and sometimes even not at all. For though the population of Great Bear Lake country does not exceed more than one person per five hundred square miles at a most
Down tbe Htbabasca anb flDacfeensie IRivers 9
sanguine estimate, even this scanty population is occasionally reduced to starvation.
We might have kept ourselves alive, but this would have taken all our time ; and the movements of the game would not take us into that part of the country we wanted most to see. We expected anyway to eke out our supplies and knew that at times we would have to depend to a certain extent on successful hunting.
The calculations of supplies and their weights, the necessity for careful choice of equipment, and proving every detail of it, the worries caused by various delays, and most of all by one's own carelessness and forgetfulness— these things have been described so often by explorers that they may well be omitted here. Our equipment was perfect of its kind and proved so satisfactory in every respect that the actual experience of the trip showed scarcely anything that could be altered for the better, though we erred in taking an unnecessarily large quantity of certain supplies. We took nothing in the way of toboggans, show-shoes, or fur clothing, as we had been told by many acquainted with the Hudson Bay Co.'s posts on the Slave and Mackenzie rivers that those things could be got better in the country. This is quite wrong, such things can be had much better in civilisation. It was one of many instances to show how unreliable the advice may be of men who have been a long time in that country, and their commonly curious failure to appreciate the importance of time. We might, no doubt, have got together a good equipment for winter work if we had lived for a year at one of the posts before starting out and hired Indians to make snow- shoes, toboggans, and to bring in dressed moose and caribou skins for mocca- sins and fur clothing, etc. By ransacking every post on our journey from the Athabasca to Fort Norman, we did in fact get together a sort of equip- ment for winter, picking up an old toboggan here, some snow-shoes there, a capote and some moccasins at this post, some dressed caribou and moose hides at that. For although these things are the commonest necessities of life in that country, they are seldom obtainable when wanted offhand ; the Indians make them only when they are actually required. After fuller
10
jforlorn
experience and a more thorough realisation of the desperately hand-to- mouth way everything is done and provided for in the north, we had reason to consider ourselves lucky in getting together even this poor collection of essentials for our winter life.
Of our journey down the Athabasca and Mackenzie rivers I can give
The First Voyage of the A Idebaran
only a bare outline. To do it justice the subject would require a book to itself. It has already been described, and excellently well. r
We arrived at Edmonton on May n, 1911. According to advices received from the Hudson Bay Co. the northern brigade of scows, by which
1 Among many other good accounts of a journey down these rivers Agnes Dean Cameron's The New Norlh gives an excellent idea of the country.
Down tbe Htbabasca anfc flftacfcensie IRivers n
we were to travel, was due to leave Athabasca Landing the first week in June. Part of our equipment, including our two canoes Polaris and Procyon, and the more important part of our food supplies, had already been forwarded; our clothing, bedding, tents, arms, instru- ments, and ammunition we had with us; and the bulk of our food sup-
The Athabasca Stage
plies, hardware, etc., we intended to get at Edmonton. We were doing this in a leisurely way when, on May iyth, we were surprised by a telegram from the Hudson Bay Co.'s manager, who had just made a trip to Athabasca Landing, informing us that the brigade had already left, but that we might still overtake them by canoe at Grand Rapids, 150 miles down the river. Our canoes had gone with the scows, but the manager had kindly arranged that a large canoe should be ready for us
12
Xanfcs forlorn
at the Landing, expecting us to come by the next stage, arriving there on May 24th.
This spurred us to quick action. We had already added another
.:. -,
ZZr- -
On the Road to Athabasca Landing
large canoe to our fleet, and on May iQth, we loaded all our stuff on two waggons, putting our latest addition, the Aldebaran, on top of one of the loads, and saw them start, fervently hoping that we might not see them again till we got to Athabasca Landing.
On May 23d, we ourselves left by stage; this was not a single vehicle,
Down tbe Htbaba0ca anfc (IDacfcensie IRivers 13
but a regular convoy of waggons, and we numbered about twenty-five passengers all told.
Our own little party had been joined by Robert Service, who was mak- ing a journey to the North with the Hudson Bay Co.'s transport, and who,
"Eggie's"
like ourselves, had been surprised by the unexpectedly early departure of the brigade.
From Edmonton to Athabasca Landing is a distance of about one hundred miles, and the stage makes the journey in two days. On this occasion the roads were in fairly good shape, but plenty of evidence existed to show what they might be in bad weather. The first thirty miles of the journey is not an interesting country to travel through ; it is a level, rich soil, with poplars and willows as the only trees. The country then becomes
14 lanbs Jforlorn
undulating with forests of spruce and jack pine, and some very pretty lakes. The land is being rapidly cleared and settled. At some of the settlers' homes we stopped for meals, and spent the night comfortably enough at a prosperous-looking farmhouse, delightfully situated. The next day's
Good-bye to Civilisation
journey took us over hilly country with worse roads. We passed a number of freighters stuck in mud-holes and one unfortunately rash automobile buried in black slime till it looked like some kind of a boat. We never knew in what plight we might overtake our own outfit, so were more ready in our sympathy than we might otherwise have been, but we finally rattled down the long hill into the Landing to find everything had arrived and all in good shape.
Athabasca Landing is a pretty little town situated at the top of a
Down tbe Htbabasca anfc flDacfcensie 1Rh>er0 15
big horseshoe bend made by the Athabasca River, an emblem of luck par- ticularly appropriate to this place, fortunate beyond most in its situation and prospects.
We were met by the Hudson Bay Co.'s agent at the Landing. He
On the River below the Athabasca Landing
entertained us hospitably and relieved our minds regarding our freight by assuring us that he could have it forwarded by a brigade of scows taking in supplies for the Roman Catholic Missions and about to start under the charge of Captain Schott, a famous riverman. These were due to arrive at Fort Smith before the Hudson Bay Co.'s steamer left that point.
A large canoe was ready for us and an Indian to act as guide, at least such was the thoughtful intention of the Hudson Bay Co., until we overtook the brigade.
i6
%ant>6 jforlorn
Next day we spent a frantically busy time. Our outfit had to be assembled and the most indispensable things selected to make as big a load as possible for two canoes. It meant a lot of worrying work, unpacking, repacking, and general readjustment of our stuff, but at last the jobs were
'Bannock Island'1
satisfactorily done and the two canoes loaded with about one thousand pounds weight in each. The balance we left ready to follow us with Schott's Brigade, trusting it would overtake us at Fort Smith.
The last letters were hurriedly written, and at 6.30 P.M., May 25th, we started on our long journey.
It had been a stormy day with high wind and frequent showers; a week of work and worry had culminated in our anxious efforts to-day. Now it came out a lovely placid evening, it was a blessed relief to shove
Down tbe Htbabasca anb HDacfcensie IRivers 17
out on that smooth swiftly flowing river and to leave all worries behind. It was no use to worry about anything now, all we had to do was to meet circumstances cheerfully and make the best of them.
Already we were far enough north to have long days and light nights.
Calling River
We kept on till nine that night, when we landed and made the first camp of the trip at an ideal spot in a thick grove of spruce. Nor did any of us suffer from the sleeplessness that the first night under the open sky sometimes brings. Then followed two days of perfect weather and perfect conditions for canoeing; a steady, swift current that made paddling unnecessary except for the pleasure of it, an ever- varying scenery of lofty forest-covered banks, the dark spruce alternating with the bright green of aspen, cottonwood, and birch in the first flush of early summer.
18 Xante forlorn
Our guide was a half-breed Cree; he didn't see any fun in paddling. He was worse than useless in camp and no good as a guide even if a guide's services had been necessary.
On the evening of the second day we arrived at the Pelican Portage;
Pelican Portage
a trader's store and a few log shacks built by Indians stand on a high bank overlooking the river. A couple of miles below this are the Pelican Rapids; our guide suddenly got nervous and said it would be necessary to get some one to pilot us down these.
While he was looking for some one at the houses, we investigated an old oil well, near the river, that had been drilled by the Canadian Govern- ment fifteen years ago. At 800 feet they struck gas, which blew their rigging out ; this gas has been escaping and burning ever since. The casing
2>cwm tbe Htbabasca anb flDacfeensie IRivers 19
had been reduced to a 2.^/2 " nipple, the gas was under such pressure that it shot
up six or eight feet before igniting, and threw up a flame twenty-five or thirty
feet high, burning with a roar that could be heard a couple of miles away.
Our ' ' guide ' ' couldn't find a man, so we decided to be our own pilots. Lion
Grand Rapids
and I led the way with the Aldebaran, but the rapids proved only very swift water and easy enough at this high stage of the river ; we made camp below them that night . From this point to Grand Rapids the river is very swift , the banks become higher and more abrupt, rising several hundred feet, usually in three or four well-defined wooded terraces divided by bluffs of sandstone and shale. We reached Grand Rapids early in the afternoon of the third day ; our average speed from Athabasca Landing had been about nine miles per hour, which gives some idea of the swiftness of the stream.
20
Xante forlorn
The Hudson Bay Co.'s brigade were still there camped on the island; the officers welcomed us as though we were long expected friends rather than more possibilities of trouble in the shape of passengers.
At Grand Rapids the river is divided by an island into two channels
The Lower End of the Island at Grand Rapids
nearly half a mile long, and in that distance the river makes a drop of about forty feet. The west branch is the main channel and the water rushes down that side in a terrific swirl. The scows land their loads at the head of the island and are run or lowered empty down the easier eastern channel and then hauled in to the lower end of the island to receive their cargoes again, which are carried over the island on a primitive wooden tramway.
The scows are built of i" spruce, they are about 55 ft. long by 12 ft. beam and 3 ft. deep. They carry a load of about seven tons and are
Down tbe Htbabasca anb fIDacfeensie "Rivers
21
manned by a crew of five or six men. A large steering sweep, nearly as
long as the scow itself, is their most characteristic feature. I measured one
sweep forty-seven feet long and saw others that may have been even longer.
The brigade consisted of some twenty-two or twenty-four scows and
Scow Leaving the Island
a cook scow. There were about a dozen passengers including ourselves. Among them were two men sent by the Canadian Government to establish an experimental farm at Fort Simpson, who were taking their wives and families with them.
Only a few more scows remained to be run down the rapids; and a couple of days after our arrival we began the next stage of our journey.
From Grand Rapids to Fort McMurray is a distance of ninety miles, the river is very swift with nine or ten larger rapids. The scows can run all
The Athabasca Brigade
Down tbe Htbabasca anb fIDacfcensie IRivers 23
these but two, at which they have to be lightened and most of their cargo portaged.
It was a mode of travelling delightfully novel and interesting; a leis- urely progress with frequent stops for meals or for adverse winds. A
The Cascade Rapids
very slight head wind was sufficient excuse to stop, in fact anything or nothing at all would bring the whole fleet to tie up along the bank for a "spell."
Nominally the brigade was under the charge of a captain, but its movements were in fact regulated by the whims of the Indian pilots, and we went ahead or stopped — mostly stopped — according to their inclina- tion. Our voyage from Grand Rapids to McMurray took a week; this means that we were actually under way about two hours per day ; it was a
24 Xante forlorn
series of resting spells with short interludes of progress. But no one worried, to-morrow was as good as to-day, the weather was fine and bright, the scenery beautiful, and grub plentiful. The Indian crew had four, sometimes five, meals a day; the Hudson Bay officers and the passengers had three.
Cook Scow Running the Cascade
These meals were all at different hours, so the crew of the cook scow worked hardest of the whole outfit.
Moose and bears were seen occasionally as we drifted down the river; there were usually at least two or three rifles on each scow and the ensuing fusillade would do credit to a small battle. The apparent object of every Indian who had a rifle was to empty the magazine as quickly as possible, the range or even the visibility of the game had nothing to do with his shooting; if he only heard it crashing through the woods he would fire at
2>own tbe Htbabasca anfc flfcacfcensie IRtvers 25
the noise. The Indian may be a good hunter when he is alone, but when a bunch of them are together any game is fairly secure against damage.
We usually stopped for the night about 5.30 P.M. When there was
At the Cascade Rapids
any choice the Indians showed a lack of discrimination in choosing good camping places that was quite in character with their haphazard methods. From long custom one place was as good as another to them; when they felt like camping they camped, a better place three hundred yards farther on was nothing to their inclination.
Our scow journey was altogether thoroughly enjoyable ; it was almost a matter of regret when we finally reached Fort McMurray. This was our first experience of a fur trading post, though it was then making its
26 Xanfcs forlorn
last appearance in that character and probably will soon be completely swamped by civilisation.
It is the centre of an area thought by many to be rich in oil, though the vast extent and depth of the famous Athabasca "tar sands" may be merely the remains of a once great oil field now uplifted and drained.
On Board the Scow
The Hudson Bay Co.'s steamer Grahame, by which we were to make the next stage of our journey, was awaiting us and we took up our quarters on board at once. The Grahame is the usual type of the shallow draught stern wheeler common on western rivers. She was a comfortable home, and nothing could be more pleasant than the truly hospitable and courteous way in which we were welcomed on board.
Fort McMurray is beautifully situated on a level point of land between the Athabasca and Clearwater rivers. It consists merely of a few log houses, a small store run by the Hudson Bay Co., and another by a Miss Gordon.
Down tbe Htbabasca ant> flftacfeensie IRlvers 27
A crowd of Indians were camped on the point awaiting the arrival of the transports and the treaty-paying party. Here we made our first acquaint- ance with the dogs of the North; big, suspicious, hungry- looking brutes, with characteristically large strong feet. It was the idle time of the year
The Descent of the Athabasca River
for them, but they were none the happier on that account. They suffered from the heat, from flies, and above all from hunger; their food had been cut down to just about enough to keep them alive. Every teepee had three or four dogs stretched out in the coolest place or prowling around looking for something to chew, or else the chance of a fight. But everything chew- able was hung out of their reach on tripods made of saplings, fights were much easier than food for them to find, and apparently what they enjoyed next best.
28
Xante jforlorn
In some respects the next stage of our journey may have been more comfortable than the voyage on the scows; certainly it was far less novel and picturesque. To exchange a bed of boughs in the open for a small and usually stuffy cabin was of doubtful benefit, but this was offset by the com-
Fort McMurray
fortable saloon for meals, instead of the cramped table on the cook scow, where you sat on a sack of pork with the grease oozing through it, and thought yourself lucky if you could find room for your feet in a half empty sugar barrel under the table. I do not mention these small incidents of scow travel to illustrate its picturesqueness, but their novelty at least is undeniable !
We left Fort McMurray again a few days after our arrival. Below that post the river is still fairly swift, flowing through an alluvial plain with
Down tbe Htbabasca anb HDacfcensie IRivers
29
heavy forests of spruce, birch, poplar, and cottonwood. As the river approaches Lake Athabasca the shores become lower and the woods change in character until they are mere forests of willow covering low swampy ground. The nights were scarcely light enough as yet to permit travelling
A Trading Store at Fort McMurray
all the time; we usually tied up about 10 P.M. and started again at two in the morning.
The chief event of the voyage was our arrival and few days' stay at Fort Chipewyan. This was really our first acquaintance with a Hudson Bay Co.'s post, Fort McMurray scarcely counted. Fort Chipewyan is among the oldest and still one of the most important of all the fur trading posts in the North. It is also one of the most striking in appearance and situation; the Hudson Bay Co.'s buildings are dignified and harmonious;
30 Xante jforlorn
they occupy a rocky point at the eastern extremity of the settlement. At the western end is the large Roman Catholic Mission. Between them a row of houses faces the lake. All the buildings are made of squared timber and all are whitewashed. With its background of forest-
The Hudson Bay Co.'s steamer Grahame
covered rounded and rocky hills the post makes a picturesque and pleasing appearance.
It is indeed a lovely spot in summer with the spruce-covered rocky islands in front and the great expanse of lake to the east, wonderfully beautiful in its constantly changing aspect. For at this time of the year the air is considerably warmer than the water; there is great refraction and all kinds of wonderful mirages; every minute makes some new and curious change in the appearance of the lake, and the distant
Down tbe Htbabasca anfc flDacfcensie IRivers 31
The Hudson Bay Co.'s Store at Fort McMurray
Idle Days
32 lanbs jforlorn
shore lines take all manner of appearances, or sometimes disappear entirely.
Fort Chipewyan was founded by the North-west Trading Co. in the latter part of the eighteenth century ; it is of historical interest as the base
The Clearwater River
and starting point of most of the famous explorers in the early part of the nineteenth century. It was an important post before Fort Dearborn was founded, and probably appeared very much the same to Sir John Franklin in 1820 as it does to us; equally little change has taken place in the general life and character of the Indians; the descriptions given by Frank- lin, Richardson, and Back apply to-day. Time has dealt gently indeed with it, the islands are as inviting, the lake lovely as ever in its constant changes, and the skies show the same ineffable serenity, while Fort Dear-
The Grahame Tied up for the Night
33
34 Xante jforlorn
born has changed in name and nature. Who shall say the change is for the better?
We left Fort Chipewyan on June I3th. The scenery on the Rocher and Slave rivers from Athabasca Lake to Smith's Landing is in some re-
The Hudson Bay Co.'s Buildings at Fort Chipewyan
spects the most beautiful of all that long voyage; rocky shores alternate with alluvial banks, and there are many picturesque islands.
Our arrival at Smith's Landing, the northern limit of the Grahame's voyage, seemed a matter of most complete unconcern to the inhabitants of that pretty little village. We had been there some time before any one showed enough interest to come to the steamer, even the very dogs treated us with a chilling indifference.
From this point to Fort Smith, a distance of sixteen miles, the river
Down tbe Htbabaeca anfc fl&acfcensie IRivers 35
is a succession of rapids; we estimated a drop of about 125 ft. in that distance. Some of these rapids are of a very formidable description; at the Cassette Rapids the river is about three-quarters of a mile wide and the rapids are a most impressive sight.
The Roman Catholic Mission at Fort Chipewyan
We spent several days at Smith's Landing, and saw the balance of our supplies, which we had left at Athabasca Landing, arrive safely by the Roman Catholic Mission steamer.
Most of the freight is taken over by waggon, some of it is run down in scows, which make portages at the worst places. We saw all our stuff, including our canoes, despatched by waggon, then walked across ourselves; the road is a pretty one through dense woods of small timber and for the most part over level sandy ground, though there are some bad marshy
Coming from the Nets
2)own tbe Htbabasca anfc flDacfcensie IRivere 37
stretches. For mosquitoes and flies Fort Smith is probably the worst place in all the world; a fine view of the river is about its only other claim to distinction. The road is practically level from Smith's Landing to Fort Smith, but while the Landing is at the water's edge, the Fort is about 130
The Eastern Part of Fort Chipewyan
ft. above it, built on a level sandy plain which ends abruptly in a steep bank. The constant erosion of the river continually undermines this sandy bank and causes tremendous land slides; in some places acres of the plain have slid away and by its subsidence whole forests of trees will be reduced to strange and unnatural angles.
The Hudson Bay Co.'s steamer Mackenzie River was tied up at the river bank and we were welcomed on board by the genial Captain C. S. Mills. This steamer was our home for the next three weeks, a comfortable
38 Xanbe jforlorn
well-appointed boat and her captain a truly courteous and obliging host, whose versatility and great experience of the North made him an uncom- monly interesting companion. The Mackenzie River had been built to Captain Mills' design and under his superintendence, a difficult task in a
The Outskirts of Fort Chipewyan
place so inaccessible to labour and supplies as Fort Smith. Especially does her builder deserve great credit for the design ; which has to meet such different conditions as the vast inland sea of Great Slave Lake, requiring stability and free board; and the swift, in some places shallow, Mackenzie River, making light draught a necessity.
A fortnight after our arrival at Fort Smith we were ready to proceed, the cargo had all been transferred, our own stuff was at last all together, and on June 28th we made a start.
Down tbe Htfoabasca anb fIDacfcensie IRivets 39
The nights were now so light that we could run without reference to the time. Only stars of the first magnitude had been visible lately and
"Butt Dogs" on Cabin Window
then only at midnight. Even to these we now bade farewell; it was next autumn before we saw them again.
The lower Slave is not an interesting river, it flows through a densely forested alluvial plain, the banks are sandy and gradually get lower as the Great Slave Lake is approached.
We reached Fort Providence the second day ; this is a small village of log houses built on the flat shore of a bay in the lake. It is not
40 Xante jforlorn
a pretty place even in summer, and in winter it must be unspeakably bleak.
Fort Resolution is another post well-known as the base of exploring expeditions. It was of particular interest to ourselves as the place where we succeeded in getting most of our equipment for the winter, including
Fort Smith
some rather fine snow-shoes. We had a delightful trip across Great Slave Lake, with fine weather all the time. Especially was the clear blue water a most pleasant change after the muddy rivers we had been descending.
The post of Hay River, situated near the mouth of the river of that name, was our next port of call; we arrived there at 2 A.M. and spent a couple of hours only. It is interesting chiefly on account of the Protestant Mission, a mission whose methods and organisation deserve the highest praise.
Down tbe Htbabasca anfc flftacfcensie IRivers 41
At noon on July 1st, we entered the Mackenzie River, -a noble river indeed. Most of the great rivers of the world flow through low lying country, for instance the Amazon, the River Plate, and the Mississippi. The St. Lawrence is an exception, but the Mackenzie is a far more notable one; the scenery below Fort Simpson is in-
The Hudson Bay Co.'s Steamer Mackenzie River at Fort Smith
comparably grand, a mighty river flowing among mighty mountains.
Fort Simpson was our principal port of call on the Mackenzie River, though it is of far less importance now than some years ago when it was the chief post and headquarters of the Hudson Bay Co. for the Mackenzie River district. There is a general air of listlessness, decay, and departed greatness about the place.
The post is situated on a very fertile island at the junction of the Liard with the Mackenzie River. The farming outfit was landed at this point to begin their experimental work. Such results as they may obtain will be
42 Xanfcs tforlorn
of value only as far as that small alluvial island is concerned. It would be entirely misleading to apply them to the surrounding country, which is quite different in character, and even a few miles away from the river, in climate also.
On the Lower Slave River *
Part of the farm outfit had been loaded on a York boat and was towed from Fort Smith by the steamer. We decided to buy this York boat and Captain Mills consented to tow it the rest of the way to Fort Norman for us. It was thus that the "Jupiter" as we called her came into our possession; we had looked on her as a possibility ever since we first saw her hauled up on the beach at Fort Smith. She was simply a big open boat over 50 ft. long and 12 ft. beam amidships, 3^/2 ft' deep, very straight in her lines. Such primitive rigging as we wanted we were
Down tbe Htbabasca anb flDacfcensie IRivere
43
able to get here; we made a sail out of an old scow tarpaulin 18 ft. by 22 ft. We also bought the floor of an old house that had been pulled down and two small windows; these were very valuable to us later on. The picture shows the Jupiter loaded up with the farm outfit. The canoe in the foreground is the Radford Expedition starting on their
Fort Resolution
trip which had such a fatal ending. The man in the bow is Radford and Street is in the stern.
Our pleasant voyage came to an end only too quickly. Fort Wrigley was the last port before arriving at our own destination; this is merely a few small log shacks and a diminutive chapel.
On our arrival at this place we learned some rather gruesome news. Two white men had brought in a small outfit and had built a shack on the Salt River, a point about a hundred miles below Fort Wrigley where they had spent the winter trapping. An Indian passing the place about a month previous had found them both dead in their shack. Every-
44
Xante jforlorn
thing had been left strictly undisturbed until the arrival of the North-west Mounted Police Inspector on the steamer, so that a proper investigation could be made.
We left Fort Wrigley in the forenoon and arrived at the Salt River that same evening. The trappers had chosen a very pretty spot for their
Fort Simpson
shack, with a fine view up the Salt River and across the Mackenzie. It was the usual small log cabin about 12 ft. by 14 ft. The men lay dead in their bunks, one with his head a shapeless mass, blown out of all resemblance to anything human by a soft point bullet from a high power rifle. On a small table beside the bunks lay a dirty note-book and a bottle containing a little carbolic acid.
The stench was insufferable, worse than any other form of decompos- ing animal matter, and blended with it was the peculiarly acrid smell of old smoke from spruce fires. One could remain in that loathsome atmosphere
2>own tbe Htbabasca anb fIDacfcensie IRivers
45
only a few minutes at a time; the bodies were in a state of decom- position so advanced that it was necessary to break the bunks down and carry them out as they lay. Close to the house on that pleasant point we buried them both in one grave, dug as deep as the frozen ground permitted.
The Radford Expedition. The Jupiter in the Background
In the note-book we were able to make out the following message written on different pages and evidently at different times.
"Cruel treatment drove me to kill Peat. Everything is wrong he never paid one sent ship everything out pay George Walker $10. ... I have been sick a long time I am not Crasey, but sutnly goded to death he thot i had more money than i had and has been trying to find it.
"I tried to get him to go after medison but Cod not he wanted me to die first so good by."
46
Xante jforlorn
"I have just killed the man that was killing me so good by and may god bless you all I am ofle weak bin down since the last of March so thare hant no but Death for me."
He had shot the other man and then probably ended his own life by a dose of carbolic acid.
Trappers' Shack on the Salt River
Behind the shack, farther up on the hillside, was a small log store- house; there were a few sacks of flour inside and a fine collection of furs that had been accumulated by these men on their winter's trapping. We took them, and the rifles, and such evidence as there was and held an enquiry at once as we proceeded down stream.
It was late by the time this was finished, and after that the purser and I had another and more complicated job getting our accounts straightened out.
Twilight was giving way to bright day by the time we had finished,
Down tbe Htbabasca ant) fIDackensie IRivers
47
the lofty Bear Rock below Fort Norman was already visible, clear and pure in the morning sun. But the night had been a harassing one, and we would need all the energy possible this day ; close as we were to our journey's end we turned in to take what sleep we could.
The Finish of their Long Winter
Ill
THE VOYAGE OF THE " JUPITER" — THE BEAR RIVER AND GREAT BEAR
LAKE
SELDOM in my life have I heard a sound so unwelcome as the fore- boding scream of the whistle that jarred me out of the first beginning of a heavy sleep. We had arrived at Fort Norman; it was 2.30 A.M., that hour when one's courage is at the lowest ebb. The Hudson Bay Co. with their kindly help could do no more for us ; the time had come for us to shoulder our own responsibilities, and to bid our kind hosts and pleasant travelling companions farewell.
The steamer stopped at Fort Norman for only a few hours, our stuff was dumped out on the beach, the canoes landed, the Jupiter cast loose, and the Mackenzie River stood out in the stream again and was soon lost to sight on her long voyage still farther north.
We were on an exposed shore, the first job was to get the Jupiter in a fit state to put our stuff aboard. Since leaving Fort Resolution she had been the home of a team of dogs and was in a condition indescribably filthy ; it took several hours' hard work scrubbing, swabbing, and baling to get her reasonably clean and then we loaded all our stuff on board. It was after- noon before we finished; we had been toiling all day in a hot sun, not even taking time for lunch; tormented by flies, and almost overpowered by the smell of our new home. For though I said reasonably clean, that was merely to the eye; the smell didn't evaporate for hours. The last twenty- four hours had been a succession of bad smells. At last we got everything
48
ZTbe Bear IRiver anb (Breat Bear Xafce
49
loaded and tracked the Jupiter to a sheltered spot about half a mile up the Bear River; only then were we at liberty to make an acquaintance with Fort Norman.
The post is the usual small village of log shacks; a small store run by
The Beach at Fort Norman
the Hudson Bay Co. and another by the Northern Trading Co. There is a Roman Catholic Church and Mission, also a small Protestant Church. The latter was out of commission and shut up when we were there. The post is beautifully situated on a point between the Bear and Macken- zie rivers, and the outlook is very fine. In front is the great Mackenzie River, and far beyond it the distant Rocky Mountains ; to the north is the lofty Bear Rock with its variegated colours.
We made the acquaintance of Mr. Leon Gaudet, the Hudson Bay
5o Xattos jforlorn
Co.'s factor, and of Hornby and Melville, two Englishmen who had been several years on Great Bear Lake hunting and attempting to trade with the few Indians who live in that desolate country. They had spent the last winter near old Fort Confidence in Dease Bay, where they had built a
Main Street, Fort Norman
small house. Melville was on his way out to civilisation again, Hornby had decided to spend another year in the country. The preceding summer they had met the Eskimos from Coronation Gulf, the last remaining primi- tive people on the continent quite untouched by civilisation and still living in their primitive way. These Eskimos, who have lately been made famous by a sensational title, come inland in the summer from Coronation Gulf and the lands farther north to hunt caribou and get wood for sleighs, etc. Hornby and Melville had met them on the edge of the Barrens to
Bear IRiver anb Great Bear Xafce 51
the north-east of Great Bear Lake. The Roman Catholic Mission had decided to send one of their fathers to get in touch with these Eskimos and attempt their conversion. Father Rouvier, O.M.I., had been well chosen for this hazardous undertaking; and Hornby, who wanted to do
Mackenzie River and the Bear Rock from Fort Norman
some fur trading with them, had arranged to accompany him on his journey.
We learned also that Mr. J. Hodgson, a retired Hudson Bay Co.'s factor and his family, had also spent the preceding winter on Dease River, trapping and hunting caribou. They were to leave Dease River as soon as the ice in the lake broke up, returning in a York boat left there by Hornby and Melville, and we thought it possible that we might meet them on their way home.
fforlorn
Our first concern was to get together an Indian crew to track our boat up the Bear River. Most of the Bear Lake Indians were at the post and would soon be going up the river again to their hunting grounds on the lake. By the aid of the Hudson Bay interpreter we negotiated with these
The Bear Rock from our Camp
people, but could not induce them to undertake the job. Besides a large number of birch canoes they had a small York boat that they had obtained from the Hudson Bay Co., and their own outfit probably required all hands. Even the offer of our York boat as soon as we got our stuff across the lake did not tempt them, "for that" they said "cannot be divided among us, only one man can own it." Another specific objection was the pants we wore; innocent Duxbak pants, but they saw an unfortunate likeness to the uniform canvas pants worn by the R. N. W. M. P., and they didn't want
Bear IRiver anfc (Sreat Bear Olafce
53
any of them in their country. For several days we treated, entreated, and negotiated with these people and under the disadvantage of having to carry it on through an interpreter, but there was nothing doing. Mean- time we had a fairly comfortable camp at the place where we had taken
The Jupiter at Fort Norman
the Jupiter. The water of the Bear River is brilliantly clear and was then at a temperature not far from the freezing point. Hornby and Melville were camped on the point between us and the post, a place that became familiar enough to ourselves more than a year later.
It was an irksome and exceedingly trying time; we were impatient to start on our voyage, but it looked for a while as though the Jupiter would get no farther than her present anchorage. We even began prepa- rations for making the journey by canoe, when by the exertion of consider-
54
%anbs jforlorn
able trouble and personal influence, and the offer of high wages, Mr. Gaudet succeeded in getting together a crew of local Indians for us.
Six men were all he could get ; including ourselves this made a short- handed crew to track a York boat up that swift river, but our load was
Lion and the Doctor
fortunately not a heavy one for the size of the boat ; we had 3^/2 tons of stuff all told, and the Jupiter drew about eighteen inches of water. Four or five inches of this was keel, and a confounded nuisance that keel was to us before we got to Bear Lake, and very little use after, except perhaps that it afforded extra strength to our ship on one occasion when it was badly needed.
Saturday, July 8th, was the day fixed for our start. We decided to leave the Procyon, one of our canoes, at Fort Norman, as it might be neces-
Bear IRiper anb (Breat Bear Oiafce 55
sary for us to leave the country by way of the Porcupine and Yukon Rivers. We saw her safely bestowed in the care of the Hudson Bay Co., said good- bye to our friends at the post, and returned to our ship to await the crew. By 3 P.M. they showed up in a big birch canoe that they brought to return
Our Indian Crew
to Fort Norman in when we got to Bear Lake. Their names, or at least the names by which we knew them, were Lixie Trindle, Clement, Samuel, David Wright, Horatio, and Francois. Lixie Trindle was the only one who knew a little English. He was the captain of the outfit till we got to Bear Lake, and although he had not been given a particularly good reputation we found him a reliable and a hard worker. Samuel was the humourist of the party ; he had a broad heavy face with a singularly fatuous expres- sion. We never knew what his jokes were about, probably they were at
56 lanfce jforlorn
our own expense. Francois was a small well-built man, very strong, very quiet, and a hard worker so long as he had an example. He had his wife, a little girl, and one dog with him, and he wanted to cross Great Bear Lake, with us, and to work for us a couple of months, which was convenient
We Make a Start
enough. His wife could talk a little French and was afterwards the only medium by which we could communicate with the Indians. The rest of the Indians were quiet, hard-working men, and though we were short handed we certainly made up for it in the quality of our crew. The opinion we had formed of the Northern Indians, generally, was certainly improved by our small personal experience with these men. But they were no doubt better than the average Indians; moreover the character of the work, a short severe effort with the end in plain view a few days ahead suited
Ebe Bear 1Rh>er anfc (Breat Bear Olafee
57
them better than a long trial with its end indefinite, and requiring persist- ence and steadiness of purpose.
The first thing our crew did was to start a fire, put on the kettle, and settle down to a good square meal and a smoke. Then the grand start was
Banks of the Bear River
made at last ; we shoved across the river to the north shore and were soon under way in harness.
Lixie took the big steering sweep ; this was his job all the way up the river. At this part of it four men on the tracking line were enough, and we took "spells" on the boat. Lion and I were among the idlers at first and the Doctor was on the line.
It was a dull cloudy day but pleasant enough sitting in the boat watch- ing the shore slip past and feeling that we had got fairly started on our
58 Xante jforlorn
voyage. The great rise of water and the breaking up of the ice in spring keep the banks clear of trees. For the first forty miles the shores of the river are generally pleasant grass-covered slopes, at that season profuse in all kinds of flowers; roses, violets, fireweed, wild onions, and all in bloom at
Bear River — The Franklin Mountains
the same time. Behind and above was the unbroken spruce forest, much denser and the trees much taller than I expected to find them here. Altogether it is a most beautiful river with its brilliantly clear water, its charming banks, and the fine views of mountains in the background ; Bear Rock was then behind us to the west, and the Franklin Mountains to the east ahead of us.
The river is very swift and generally shallow; except near the mouth where the river bottom is limestone, and at the head of the rapids, we saw no rocks in place ; it is all gravel, or gravel and boulders.
Bear IRiver anfc (Breat Bear Xafce 59
The gravel bars and shallow places soon began to give us trouble; the Jupiter was frequently ashore, and when this happened it was the duty of the crew "resting" aboard to jump into the water and heave her off, no pleasant job in that icy stream. Lion and I were pretty lucky in this
A Camp on the Bear River
respect, it didn't happen very often to us, but from early experience we were handy with a pole and one of us was always on the lookout in the bow.
The Doctor was the first victim, his spell of resting happened to come at a bad stretch of the river and he spent it for the most part up to his waist in water and his back under the boat struggling to shove her off gravel bars or boulders. I wondered at his apparent hardihood and indifference to the
6o
%anb0 forlorn
cold, but soon found the explanation of it. A small stream called the Willow River flows into the Bear River about ten miles above its mouth. We had noticed this yellow coloured water along the north side, well denned from the clear water of the Bear River, but I did not suppose there was more
Mount Charles
than 20° Fahr. difference temperature between them! But this condition lasted only for the first evening.
At one stretch it was a hard job to get the boat up at all; I began to wonder how long our crew would stand the strain, but I did an injustice to their perseverance. To add to our troubles and discomfort it came on to rain just before we made our first camp below the Willow River; a sloppy camp it was, we were soaked through, from both above and below, but thanks to the abundance of dead dry spruce one always finds in these north-
Bear 1Riv>er anfc (Breat Bear Xafce 61
ern woods, we soon had a big fire blazing and a good supper of bannock, bacon, and tea. We put up one of our canoe tents that night, it was a tight fit for three of us; the Indians made shift with their mosquito bars and a tarpaulin. It rained heavily during the night.
Ice Field below the Rapids
Next day things looked more cheerful, the weather cleared up, the conditions for tracking were better, and we made good progress on our way up the river. It usually took about an hour and a half to get breakfast and break camp in the morning. We were under way at 7.30 A.M. that day and kept at it till II P.M., stopping three times for meals and taking turns on the tracking line as before. The banks were of the same pleasant character; we walked among grass and flowers all day; the mountains ahead gradually got higher and more distinct,
Ice Cliffs at the Rapids 62
Gbe Bear IRiver ant> (Breat Bear Xafce 63
while behind us the Bear Rock ever diminished and became more and more ethereal.
The surroundings were lovely but the work was hard; a slavish task, hauling in harness like a very mule. During one of my "spells" aboard,
Along the Ice Cliffs
I noticed a dead caribou floating near the shore; it had escaped the notice of the Indians and my own attention had been called to it by the smell. Very thoughtlessly I pointed it out to Lixie; he stopped the boat instantly, and the Indians held a grave council over that stinking carcass, testing strips of meat and doubtful for a while whether they would take it along or not. Finally, to our unmitigated relief, they decided not to!
The mountains ahead of us were a spur of the Rockies called the Frank-
We Camp at the Rapids
Bear IRiver ant) (Breat Bear Xafce
lin Mountains; the Bear River cuts right through them, and the rapids are at this point. We camped about ten miles below the mountains to-night feeling that we had done a good day's work.
Next day the navigation was more difficult ; the river is full of islands
Taking a Spell
and shallow bars, the current was swifter, and all of us were needed on the line, so there were no resting spells for any one.
By four in the afternoon we came to a great field of ice on the south side of the river just below the mountains. We could walk over the top of this and track the boat along the edge, but at the rapids themselves the ice was piled up in great masses all along the shore, forming a rugged, unbroken wall for several miles. The prospect looked bad enough; it was impossible to track the boat from the top of those ice cliffs, and a decidedly risky
66 OLanbs fforlorn
proceeding to walk along the bottom of them ; but we had no choice in the matter, this was the only way we could get on, so we got out our heaviest tracking line and made the attempt.
Sometimes there was a little beach, enough to give us a good foothold,
The Aldebaran and the Polaris being Tracked up the Rapids
at other times we had to struggle along up to our thighs in that swift icy water with a whirl of rapids on one side and a sheer wall of ice on the other, often with precariously balanced overhanging masses of ice above our heads. We were too busy desperately hauling on the line to think what the consequences might be if any of these threatening pieces gave way while we were below.
We camped that night right alongside the ice in a small cove, a mere depression in the line of the cliffs, but it gave a certain amount of protection
Bear IRiver anfc (Sreat Bear Xafce
to the Jupiter, and the wall was sufficiently broken so that we could cut steps in the ice and reach the top of the cliffs.
The Indians passed the night ashore, the rest of us slept on the Jupiter; the ice gave us a good protection against the mosquitoes at any rate.
A Disheartening Prospect.
We had turned in feeling fairly confident, but when we came to start again next morning, we found that our troubles were only beginning. We had made scarcely a hundred yards from our camping place, and that only by half an hour's hard work, when the water became so swift that we could make absolutely no further progress in spite of all our efforts. We decided to lighten the Jupiter and track some of the stuff beyond the rapids by canoe, so loaded up the Aldebaran with about noo Ibs. and the Polaris with 600. This was all the load they could safely hold in that rough water.
68
jforlorn
Five of the Indians took them up the river, one steering in each canoe, one tracking the Polaris and two the Aldebaran. I watched them start with much misgiving and anxiety; this day of waiting was the worst of all our voyage on the Jupiter. The prospect ahead was very discouraging, and
The Last Stretch of the Ice Cliffs
the idleness gave us plenty of time to realise. the difficulties and dangers. A stretch of unbroken ice wall nearly a mile long still remained to be passed; beyond the ice, and as far as we could see, were high cut banks, equally forbidding and formidable. The bright breezy day and clear blue sky seemed only an additional aggravation ; worst of all was the constant roar of the rapids. At four in the afternoon the Indians returned; they had taken the canoes safely about four miles up the river, but reported the tracking to be very bad. We had a good feed all around, the inevitable
Bear IRiver an& (Breat Bear Xafce 69
premiere pas of the North, and then got into harness once more for a supreme effort.
Lightened by nearly a ton of weight (for the canoes as well as the car- goes they had taken had been on board) the Jupiter came along easier and
Cut Banks above the Rapids
without extreme effort, and we got her up a part of the rapid that had been quite impossible before. But we had a hard struggle before we finally passed the ice. Then came cut banks with difficult footing; presently, and worst of all, several hundred yards of loose sliding rock. The con- tinual erosion of the river made this particularly dangerous ; the water is deep and swift right to the shore; we had to be most careful of our steps not to bring down an avalanche of rock that might sweep us all into the stream. The Indians were particularly nervous at this point, and once a
70 Xante Jforiorn
small slide did take place that pretty nearly demoralised them. But we got up safely at last and made camp that night at the place to which the Indians had taken the canoes, devoutly thankful that all had gone so well and feeling that we had got over one of the worst parts of the journey.
On the Upper Bear River
The next day broke fair and tranquil, the whole aspect of the river had changed, and we had pleasant grassy banks again and good going. It was inexpressibly grateful after the strain of the last two days ; we thought tracking almost a positive pleasure that fine bright morning as we swung along among the thick grass and flowers with a lively recollection of our late experiences among ice and rock slides. But this feeling of elation soon wore off under the incessant toil.
On the afternoon of the third day after leaving the rapids, we sighted
Gbe Bear IRiver ant) (Breat Bear Xafce 71
Great Bear Lake ; never did open water look more welcome to us than that calm expanse, wonderfully blue, serenely peaceful. Head winds might come, storms or shoals, but here at least there would be no more of that incessant slavish hauling.
Our First View of Great Bear Lake
The upper stretches of the river had been so swift as to require the whole crew on the line all the time ; the last two days in particular had been very fatiguing. The unusually hard work and hasty indifferent meals were telling on us all, and although they had worked beyond our expecta- tions, we were getting decidedly tired of the Indian crew and looked forward to the better organised way of doing things that we could introduce as soon as we got on the lake.
At last we got to a point where the tracking line could be coiled away. We got up the mast and sail in a makeshift manner and stood across the
72 Xante Jforlorn
end of the bay to Sir John Franklin's "Little Lake" where we knew that we would find a good harbour to refit the Jupiter for her voyage across the lake. It was on the shore of this lake that Sir John Franklin established his winter quarters on his expedition to explore the Arctic coast in 1825-26-
Entrance to Sir John Franklin's Little Lake
27 ; the place was named Fort Franklin. Fort Norman, that post so often moved, was also located here for several years. It was built on the low southern point at the entrance to Little Lake. The houses shown in the picture, now inhabited by the Indian, Johnny Sanderson, are probably remains of the post.
It was a fine, sunny afternoon, and we had a light fair wind, a pleasure indeed after our late toils to sit at our ease and feel the boat slipping along quietly through that clear water. It clouded up from the north, and we
Bear IRiver anb (Breat Bear lake
73
were suddenly struck by a head squall that obliged us to lower our sail and take refuge under a low rocky point, but the wind soon died away to a calm and we made Little Lake under oars. This is a pretty sheet of water about a mile long and more or less half a mile in width ; it is really the wide expansion of a small river and is connected to Bear Lake by a short, deep,
At Little Lake
and narrow channel. A number of Indians, the families of those Bear Lakers we had seen at Fort Norman, were camped near here, and at a little settlement of log shacks about a mile farther along the lake shore; their nets were set off the mouth of this river and in the short channel to Little Lake; some of the women soon came along to our camp in their small birch-bark canoes. We tied up right alongside the shore and made camp just below the site of Franklin's old house, though of this there are no remains but a pile of rocks that had once been a chimney. It was a good harbour and a good place to refit, but in all other respects a poor
74 Uanfcs tforlorn
camping ground. The only trees around were small larch and spruce; firewood was scarce and mosquitoes were plentiful.
The Indians decided to start back to Fort Norman that same night, so I wrote the last letters that would reach civilisation for more than a year, wondering at the time whether they would be received with due appreciation and judged with due leniency. I was completely tired out, the mosquitoes were in clouds, and the Indians impatient to start; alto- gether those letters were written under very trying circumstances.
With Lixie acting as interpreter we made a final arrangement with Francois, who agreed to work for us for a couple of months.
x It was one in the morning when the Indians finally started back to Fort Norman in the big birch canoe we had brought along with us. I was just getting ready for a big sleep when I noticed the water was gaining so much in the Jupiter that some of our stuff was in danger of getting spoiled. I had to turn to and bale her out at once and pile some of the cargo ashore and the rest out of the way of the water; it was 3 A.M. and the sun well above the horizon before I got to bed.
We had always agreed that our first day at Great Bear Lake should be a day of rest ; it proved instead a day of considerable activity. I woke up at six, anxious about the Jupiter, and found her leaking so badly that I called Francois out and we unloaded most of the remaining stuff before breakfast. While we were having this we saw the York boat of the Bear Lake Indians crossing the lake. This explained the anxiety of our Indians to return and some of their zeal in working so hard on the way up the river. "Unknown to ourselves it had been a kind of a race ; with their smaller boat and bigger crew the Bear Lakers had been boasting that they would beat us to the lake, and our crew evidently wanted to exult in their victory to the utmost by passing the others on their way back to Fort Norman.
We put in a busy day; we unloaded all the cargo and caulked the various leaks, then restowed everything in the best shape for our voyage. Lion changed the sail ; we turned our former mast into a yard and sacrificed our big steering sweep, making a mast of it; we used a rudder when sailing.
Gbe Bear IRiver anb <5reat Bear Xafee 75
Lion's experience with square rigged wind-jammers was valuable indeed on this occasion. By six that evening we were ready to start, but the light fair wind died away so we decided to wait.
Lion and I paddled up to the little Indian settlement and saw Father Rouvier and Hornby, who had come up the river with the Indians. They were all going on to Dease River, the Indians to hunt caribou, while the father and Hornby intended to get to the Dismal Lakes if possible and establish quarters for the winter there. We got back to our ship early and that night I had one of the best sleeps that had ever fallen to my lot.
Next day, Sunday, July i6th, was a lovely bright day with a fresh fair wind. We made an early start, poling the Jupiter out through the channel, then we hoisted our sail and stood across to the settlement, where Francois and his wife wanted to go ashore. We hove to waiting for them, impatient at the delay and the fine fair wind we were wasting ; at last they came off in the Aldebaran with another little girl and another dog! While waiting for Frangois, Hornby came out in a boat to see us ; we said good- bye to him again, hoping to meet next time on the Dismal Lakes.
We had things properly organised on board now. The Jupiter, as I have said, was about 55 ft. long by 12 ft. beam, like a big open skiff. The mast was stepped amidships with fore and back stays and shrouds, the single sail we carried was 18 ft. high by 22 ft. wide, we steered with a long tiller from a small deck aft ; we had a good spirit compass and this was set in chocks on the after-deck. The cargo was distributed so as to leave one clear space just forward of the mast, another just aft, and a third below the stern deck. The Francois family had the forward space all to themselves. The Polaris was stowed on board upside down and this made a good roof for their sleeping quarters; we towed the Aldebaran. The space aft of the mast we used for our own sleeping quarters ; it was big enough to hold two camp cots set thwartships. We had only these two cots, but as Lion and I were never asleep at the same time one was enough for us, and the Doctor had the other. The small space aft was our kitchen ; we had two Juwel oil lamps, on which all our cooking was done. Lion and I kept watch-and-
76
Xante jforlorn
watch proper deep-sea fashion. Frangois was crew, and stood by to help, but the only time his services were required was when we came to or left shore, which wasn't often. The Doctor was cook; we had meals at the change of the watches: breakfast at eight, dinner at noon, tea at six. We lived for the most part on hominy, hard-tack, erbswurst, salt pork; with
The Jupiter under Full Canvas
chocolate and tea to drink; a diet that did not seem to inspire the Francois family with much enthusiasm, though they liked the erbswurst well enough. They called it "beans" which wasn't a bad guess.
Lion finished out the first watch, and when I relieved him at noon our favourable breeze had nearly died away and we were drifting slowly along the shore with scarcely more than steerage way. This part of the lake shore is well wooded, almost to the water's edge; the shores are low gravel hills. The weather turned dull and threatening, the wind sprang up from the N.N.E. and we fell off from our course a good deal. We had never been unduly op-
Gbe Bear 1Rh>er an& (Breat Bear Xafce 77
timistic in our expectations of the Jupiter's sailing qualities, but she made even more leeway than we expected. I don't think we ever made better than within seven and a half points of the wind.
It turned cold and more and more unpleasant, and the wind freshened considerably. I took the 6-8 dog watch; at the end of that time we were far out in the lake, much to the consternation of the Francois family, who evidently thought our methods of navigation quite wrong. For the Indians simply poke along the shore ; if they have a wind dead aft they sail, if it is calm they row, and if a head wind they tie up till it changes, and tie up for the night in any event. This method of navigation is all right when there is a crew of eight or ten men, but with our desperately short-handed vessel we wanted to keep clear of the land ; it was nothing but possible danger to us ; we hadn't even an anchor. So although we were getting rather badly off our course we had really no choice but to stand on as we were.
The continual daylight was of the greatest advantage to us now; with- out that our voyage would have taken much longer.
It was cold, raw, and threatening when Lion took the tiller at eight ; the dark clouds over the now distant spruce forests looked gloomy enough and matters got worse as the night came on. I tried to sleep my watch below but I was chilled through and it took a long time to get warm ; the sea got up and the old Jupiter began to labour heavily. At midnight I turned out to relieve Lion; we had been blown far off our course and the high hills on the south side of the lake were visible. Close to the north of us was a low, rocky island; no islands are shown here on any map of the lake and it is quite possible that we were the first to see this one, particularly when the stick-to- the-shore methods of navigation in the north are considered. But it was rather curious to come across such an island so unexpectedly in the weird midnight dusk of a wild night; especially to Lion, accustomed as he was to working with accurate charts.
The weather got thicker and the land was soon hidden by mist. The sea ran higher and higher, the old Jupiter wallowed along through it, her timbers groaning and her sides swelling in and out like an accordion as the
78 Xanbs Jbrlorn
strain was thrown on and off the weather shrouds. I expected some- thing to carry away any moment. Lion, who had turned in but who was sleeping no more than I had done, said afterwards that he expected the whole side of the boat to give way. What Frangois thought we never knew, probably his fears of a sudden end were partly compensated for by the feeling that his ideas were now shown to be right; and that our methods, carried out in spite of his protests, had been proved quite crazy.
About 2 A.M. I sighted two more smaller islands to the north of us. The mist cleared off a little and I could see the high Great Bear mountains again, and out in the lake, some eight or ten miles ahead, a long line of spruce trees. I thought this was another island close to the mainland, and as we could just about fetch it on our present course I hoped to find shelter under its lee. By 4 A.M. we were close to its southern point ; it proved to be a long hook-shaped point enclosing a bay several miles long and about a mile and a half wide, a most welcome harbour to us at the time when we most needed it. In fact we had struck the only place on this coast that was safe from a north wind.
It was delightful to pass into the quiet water behind the point ; the wind moderated and it turned out a lovely day. We stood across this bay, the shore was lined with dense spruce forest coming down to a sandy beach ; these were the biggest spruce trees we had seen since leaving the Slave River. Behind the dark spruce forest rose the high Great Bear hills with large areas of brilliant green; they were too far away to determine exactly what trees or bushes these were, but they looked very cheerful in contrast to the sombre spruce.
The water was so shallow we could not get within two hundred yards of the shore; it was a sandy bottom with rocks here and there. We landed in the Aldebaran and got a couple of big stones with which to anchor the Jupiter, then we all went ashore and had a comfortable breakfast on that beautiful beach with the big spruce trees above us and the placid bay in front, a pleasant change indeed after the last twelve hours. Especially
She Bear IRiver anfc (Breat Bear Olafee
79
did the Francois family seem to appreciate solid ground again, but they never were demonstrative under any circumstances.
We took things easy to-day ; the wind died down, and by evening it was quite calm; so, after another comfortable meal ashore, we embarked again
A Welcome Harbour
and with much labour rowed the Jupiter across the bay and anchored off the point ready for the first fair wind. We could work only two sweeps ; it took us more than an hour to make that mile and a half. I was on watch 8-12 and spent most of the time ashore on the point, hoping to get some duck. There were large numbers of small gulls ; they highly resented our presence and kept swooping and screaming around the boat. Lion tried fishing on his watch, but didn't get anything.
The next day was dull and rainy; we all had our breakfast ashore,
80 Xanbs forlorn
then the wind sprang up from the south-west, so we stood out in the lake again heading for Gros Cap. This day and the succeeding, July i8th and I Qth, were dull, cold, and rainy, often with very heavy showers. The winds were light and variable, and though we made some progress it was by a very erratic course. About half-way across the lake we ran into a field of ice and had to make a detour to the west to avoid it. We went so far west, in fact, as to see the two islands again that we had sighted on the night of the 1 6th. We got to the north of this ice and shaped our course for the cape again. Early in the morning of July iQth we passed some reef just showing above water; we were then off the entrance of Richardson Bay and some fifteen or eighteen miles from it. There was more ice here also. We felt the cold a great deal during these two days, though the ther- mometer was four to eight degrees above the freezing point with very little variation; but it rained so much and so often that everything was more or less damp. Meal hours were the only bright spots in the day, and a good bowl full of steaming hot erbswurst the summit of happiness. We had brought a small amount of good brandy and rum "for emergency"; the brandy didn't seem to help us much, but the rum, an excellently good Jamaica rum put up by the Hudson Bay Company, certainly warmed the blood in our veins. This is one of the few times in my experience that I ever felt any direct and positive good from the use of alcoholic stimu- lants. Personally my bias is against them as such, and as a matter of fact we never had another real occasion for their use all the time we were in the North. But so much has been written against them, often indiscrimi- nating nonsense, that it is a pity to miss an opportunity of recording the undoubted good they did on this occasion.
It was not till the morning of July 2Oth that we made Gros Cap under a light fair wind. As we passed a point we saw a York boat moored to the beach and knew this could only be the Hodgson outfit on their way back to Fort Norman. We landed at their camp and had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Hodgson, a fine-looking old man, a well-known old-timer in the North. They had left the Dease River some three weeks previously and had made
Bear IRiver anb (Breat Bear Xafce 81
their way slowly along the south shore of Dease Bay which they reported to be now free from ice. A fair wind was being wasted so we could not spend much time with them. Before we left Mr. Hodgson kindly gave us per- mission to use the shack he had built at Dease River, if we wished.
We said good-bye to them and continued our voyage, but we had gone only a few miles when the wind dropped, then changed to the north bringing up dense fog. We had to stand back to the land again; fortunately the wind was no more than a gentle breeze and we felt our way back carefully through the fog, coming to anchor behind a slight point that gave us a certain amount of protection. We had no idea how far we really were from the point on which the Hodgson party were camped.
The Doctor and I started out in the Aldebaran to follow the shore farther to the north and see if there was any better harbour near; we were quite unprotected from any east to north-east wind, and for anchors we had only rocks. It was quite interesting and mysterious to follow an unknown coast line through a dense fog, but it soon trended so much to the west that we gave up hope of finding any harbour in this direction. We landed and climbed a bare gravelly hill. It was pleasant to get ashore again, every- thing was strange and interesting. We had suddenly found ourselves in quite a foreign country ; for the shrubs and plants were completely different from those on the south side of the lake either in species or in character. The spruce trees were very stunted and scattered, there were none near the lake at all. There were lots of flowers, all strange to us, some of them gave quite a heavy smell of clover to the air, bringing up vivid recollections of a country very different from this.
While we were poking around on shore the fog lifted long enough to enable us to see over the lake for a few miles to the north and west of us ; it was covered with ice as far as we could see in that short distance ; no open water was visible at all. We did not investigate to find whether this was fixed ice or floes, and at the time we were doubtful which it was. From later experience we know they must have been floes. There was no use looking for a harbour in this direction so we went back to the canoe ; and while re-
82 Xanbs jforlorn
turning to our ship the fog came down thicker than ever and we nearly rammed the Jupiter before we saw her.
We tried south and found the land trended to the west in that direction also. Then the fog lifted and we could see that we were near the point of a wide shallow bay, evidently five or six miles at least from the place where we had seen the Hodgson outfit. We returned to the Jupiter and decided to stay where we were anchored and await the pleasure of the wind.
We landed and put in the time hunting ptarmigan, our first meeting with these birds which proved such good friends to us later on. The fog hung around the lake, but it was nearly always clear and bright ashore ; the open hilly country with a few scattered spruces looked very inviting after the monotony of thick unbroken forests.
We made camp ashore that night, Lion and myself keeping our watches as usual, but with the unusual comfort of a cheerful fire.
Next day, July 2ist, was still foggy and the wind still very light, but it had come around from the south. This was all in our favour, so we made a start and stood across the lake on a course for Cape McDonnell, the nearest point on the other side. We made slight headway till afternoon when a steady breeze sprang up from the south-east and then we made good progress. We left most of our troubles behind us at Gros Cap ; thereafter the voyage was nothing but a pleasure trip.
The first land we saw was the high mountains far inland on the north shore of the lake. This was at 10 o'clock that night ; the sun was then near- ing the horizon, and with beautiful effects it slowly dipped behind them. Cape McDonnell was abeam at n P.M., but we had made so much leeway that we were now far to the north of it. This is low-lying land and we could barely make it out. Next morning we were still on the same tack with the Narrakazzae Islands ahead of us. But our leeway was so great that we passed clear to the north of them.
It was a perfect pleasure to be on board the Jupiter that day, the weather was lovely beyond description, and we had the interest of land visible in all directions ahead. We kept on slowly all day, doing the best
Bear IRiver ant) (Sreat Bear Xafce 83
we could with the Jupiter close hauled ; by five in the afternoon we brought up at a low peninsula on the north shore of Dease Bay, about thirty miles from the Dease River.
We could do no more till we had favourable winds ; it was annoying to be hung up almost in sight of our port, and time so precious, but patience was our only resource. We had a snug little harbour, a comfortable camp ashore, and plenty to interest us in the novel character of our surroundings.
It was the afternoon of the next day, July 23d, before a favourable breeze came ; we started again but only to be driven back by a sudden change of wind. Lion and I were standing our watches all the time and we made another start on July 24th, at 3 A.M. Lion got the ship under way single- handed. I came on watch at 4 A.M. that morning ; we were then running before a gentle west wind and what we took to be Big Island was some fifteen miles ahead of us. Everything looked promising for a clear run, when the wind suddenly changed to south-east and a dense fog came up. All I could do was to keep the Jupiter as close hauled as possible, though we were fast being driven into some kind of a bay. I expected to find ourselves ashore any minute, as this part of the lake is full of islands, shoals, and points. Luckily for us the wind was only a gentle one, and after an hour of anxiety it suddenly changed again to the south-west and soon increased to a good fresh breeze. I could now only make a wild guess where Big Island lay, but I made the best guess I could on the compass and headed for that. The wind freshened and the Jupiter showed a capacity for speed quite unsuspected.
The fog was soon blown away; at 8 A.M. we could see Big Island about six miles away. My guess had been a good one, and we were heading direct for the north channel between Big Island and the shore. Behind us we could see, when the fog lifted, a long point that we must have just missed by I don't know how slight a margin.
The wind still freshened and the Jupiter fairly boomed along in front of it; certainly she could travel when she got the right conditions. At a point to the west of the site of old Fort Confidence we saw a camp of
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Indians ; they were in the wildest state of excitement at our appearance and ran along the shore shouting and waving their arms, but we never stopped to talk to them and the fastest runner was soon left far behind.
On we went past old Fort Confidence, now only a bare grassy space sur- rounded by spruce, with four chimneys alone left standing. Farther on we
Remains of Old Fort Confidence
saw a small log shack which we knew must be Hornby and Melville's house ; it looked like a diminutive chalet among the rocks and spruce. We sped across the beautiful bay behind Big Island with its rocky spruce-covered shores and rock islets ; the nearer we got to the end of our journey the faster the Jupiter went ; we entered the Dease River flying, regardless of possible sand-bars or shoals. On and on up the river we went in triumph; in spite of banks and bends the wind held fair and strong ; the Jupiter never stopped in her wild career till she ran hard and fast aground on a gravel bar in mid-stream, just below the first rapid.
Bear IRiver ant> (Sreat Bear Xafce
Our voyage was over; whatever hard thoughts of the Jupiter we may have had at times, they were all forgotten now in her brilliant performance at the finish. Indeed we had good reason to be thankful, our voyage had taken eight days, but absolutely dependent as we were on fair winds it
We Arrive at the Dease River
might well have taken a month. We had had a pretty rough experience at first with stormy weather ; with ice, rain, and fog. In stormy weather we had found a good harbour when most needed, the other incidents were at worst mere discomforts The latter part of the voyage had been delightful in every way; the triumphant finish made amends for all the trials of the past.
We were aground a few hundred yards below the first rapid. Lion and I paddled the rest of the way and landed just below them. The river here makes a horseshoe bend enclosing a long level point thickly covered with
86
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spruce trees. On this point Hodgson had built his house. It was a rude, poorly built log shack about iS it. long by 16 ft. wide, so poor a thing that we decided at once to build another ; and after getting the Doctor and looking over some possible sites on both sides of the river, we finally decided
Hodgson's Shack
to build farther out on the point, about a hundred yards from Hodgson's house.
It was a charmingly situated spot, the river curved around the point, with a high sandy cut bank on the opposite side which gave us good protec- tion from the north. We were delighted to find the spruce so much bigger and better adapted for house building than we had ever hoped in our most optimistic moments. "Hodgson's Point" we christened the place; its only drawback arose from its very good qualities; we were so snugly sheltered that we had no view.
Bear IRiver anb (Breat Bear Xafce
Our first business was to get the Jupiter unloaded ; when we got back to her she was already afloat, the strong south-west wind had backed up the water in the river ; so we brought her alongside, just below the rapid. Hodg- son's house was only a couple of hundred yards from here; we began to
Unloading the Jupiter
unload at once, packing the stuff to the shack, which we intended to use as a storehouse, and very useful it proved.
The Indians we had passed appeared on the scene just as we had finished dinner ; a grand tea-drinking and smoking party took place at once with the Francois family ; we wondered what kind of an account they gave the others of their voyage across the lake. These Indians were rather a pleasant- looking set ; we tried to get them to come next day and help us with the Jupiter, which we intended to haul up ashore.
By five that afternoon the Jupiter was empty and everything stowed
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safely away in the shack. We put up two of the tents ; Lion and the Doctor took one and the Francois family the other; I slept beneath a brush shelter left by the Hodgsons, a sleep that lasted from nine that night till 10 A.M. next day !
Our plans for the season had been carefully prepared and we began
Preparing for our Journey to the Coppermine
at once to carry them out. Lion was to remain here and build our winter quarters while the Doctor and I were to make a preliminary journey to the Coppermine. The next three days were busy ones for all : Lion first took charge of the job of hauling out the Jupiter; I had to develop all the pictures we had taken to date, then the task of getting together our outfit and sup- plies for the journey the Doctor and I were to make up the Dease River and across the Barrens.
By the evening of July 2yth everything was ready for a start; we had a most carefully chosen outfit for our particular purpose and a supply of
Bear IRiver anfc (Breat Bear Xafce 89
provisions calculated to last fifty days. In the meantime Lion, with the assistance of the Indians, had hauled the Jupiter high and dry to her last harbour, a safe and pleasant resting place on a willow-covered bank of the river.
And there she is to this day, her purpose served and her work well done.
The Jupiter's Last Harbour
IV
THE VOYAGE OF THE "POLARIS — OUR FIRST JOURNEY TO THE COPPERMINE
NOW came the really serious part of the journey ; all our work hither- to had been of a preliminary character leading up to this main object. We intended to ascend the Dease River as far as possible, to cross the divide between its head-waters and the Dismal Lakes, and to descend by the Kendall River to the Coppermine.
Except a copy of a sketch map we obtained from the Canadian Geo- logical Survey, we had no maps, for no really accurate map of this part of the country has ever been made. The sketch map we had purported to be a paced survey of the country between Bear Lake and the Coppermine River. But there were such evident discrepancies between this map and the accounts of those explorers who have been over this country before us that we placed very little dependence on it.
Our chief guide was Hanbury's book. In July and August, 1902, he crossed from the Arctic coast to Bear Lake by way of the Coppermine and Kendall rivers, the Dismal Lakes and the Dease River. It was the most difficult part of all his extraordinary journey and he describes it in detail; we found his account most helpful, accurate, and reliable; only in one place is there a small omission, perfectly excusable.
But it must be remembered that Hanbury was coming down stream, and for him all roads led to Bear Lake, while ours was the more difficult task of ascending, with possible roads at the latter part branching out in all directions.
90
The Site of our House
92 Hanfcs forlorn
At 10 A.M. on Friday, July 28th, we started. The Polaris was loaded up ; we took the last photographs of each other at the beginning of our respective tasks, the last good-byes and good wishes exchanged, and we began our voyage.
The Dease River is a broad shallow stream, usually about 130 yards
The Polaris and her Crew
wide, though some of the rapids are only ten or fifteen yards across. When we started, the water in the river was at its very lowest; generally speaking it is not continuously swift but a series of shallow rapids, with the water running over gravel and small boulders; and quiet stretches intervening, where the water flowed deep and sluggish between high sandy banks, and where the paddles could be used to advantage.
We had to wade the canoe up the rapids ; the water was seldom so swift that it required both of us at that job and one could handle the boat much
©ur jfirst 3ourne£ to tbe Coppermine 93
better by himself. I usually waded the boat up, the Doctor stood by to help or lightened her by carrying some of the stuff.
It was all mercilessly hard work, harder really than even the tracking, but there was constant variety and intermissions of rest that we never knew on the tracking line. And we could always indulge in hopes in a way quite impossible when at the latter task ; we could always hope that the next rapid might be the last, or at least so deep that it wouldn't be necessary to lighten the canoe; or that the next stretch of quiet water might last several miles. It is true these hopes were seldom justified, but enough good streaks came along with the bad to keep our spirits up.
Then we had good grub and good equipment, our camps were always comfortable, and we took trouble in preparing our meals. We had learned the necessity of taking good care of our bodies ; they were mere machines for the conversion of heat into energy and required the careful attention neces- sary for every high class machine.
Altogether this journey would have been one of sheer pleasure if it had not been for the shortness of the season which left us so little time in which to do so much work. We couldn't afford to follow byways inviting explora- tion, or to move at our convenience as regarded the weather; wet or dry rain or shine, we had to shove on.
This first day we had lunch about three miles above Hodgson's Point on a high sandy bank; there was an Indian grave there, the palisades looked quite fresh, and .we learned afterwards that it was the grave of Francois's father.
While at lunch we saw a flock of young geese gravely swimming down the river in a long line; they looked at our canoe awhile, then decided to turn back. We overtook them later on and murdered four of them with a little .22 pistol. But our needs were imperative, and those young geese gave us some of the most delicious stews I ever tasted. We struggled on all afternoon ; it was bright and warm, the river was a succession of shallow rapids with quiet stretches of deep water between, and we were well pleased with the progress we had made.
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We camped at the head of an island, at a place where it was in any case necessary to portage all our stuff. It was an ideal camping spot, and we sat down to our supper of stewed goose that night in a state of complete content. This was No. I Camp, a place that became well known to us later on.
The Canon
Next morning we made an early start, but things didn't come so easy as the day advanced. The river was very swift and very shallow, spread over a wide gravelly bed. We had to make constant portages of all our stuff, and in some places the river was so spread out and divided that there was scarcely enough water to float the empty canoe. At one shallow rapid I knocked a hole in her ; we had to stop at once and repair it ; I had brought some thin sheet brass for this purpose. We camped that night just above a limestone gorge through which the river cuts; the scenery is very picturesque, but
©ur jftot 3ourne£ to tbe Coppermine
95
somewhat depressing from its very ruggedness. We recognised at once a large pillar of rock standing in the river described by Simpson, whose men called it the "Old Man of Hoy." A hard day's work had brought us only four or five miles from our No. I Camp. This was not encouraging, and
The Canon— Old Man of Hoy to Right
there was a conspicuous lack of enthusiasm in our attitude towards the Dease River that night, till after we had eaten and been cheered by a good supper. I climbed to the top of a hill behind our camp hoping to see some caribou. I saw no game but the view at this part was rather fine. A range of bare hills lay to the north-east, one high peak detached from the others was not far from the river; this had been visible since leaving the Indian grave.
We had a long portage to make next morning, and then, after surmount- ing a series of rapids, we came to a fine quiet stretch of water.
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We decided to camp near the big hill and have a look over the country. According to our sketch map we were now only about fifteen miles from the Dismal Lakes. We didn't exactly believe this, but certainly the map had proved accurate enough as far as we had come, and we fervently hoped it might prove correct in other respects as well. It was in just these other
Observation Hill
parts that we needed guidance most and where the map failed to check up with Hanbury's and Simpson's accounts of the country.
We called this hill Observation Hill, but learned afterwards that the Indians call it Rabbitskin Mountain.
We got a magnificent view from the top; to the south-west the Dease River ran winding among spruce-covered hills, beyond lay Bear Lake; we could even see the Narrakazzae Islands and a high point on the north shore that had been a great landmark to us during the last two days of our voyage on the Jupiter. To the north the scenery was very different, a wilderness
©ur jfirst 3ourne\> to tbe Coppermine 97
of sandy plain and sparse stretches of spruce, countless lakes and green marshes; far to the north, blue in the distance, lay a range of low mountains. It was quite impossible to trace the Dease River in this confusion of small lakes, and evidently we were still a long way from the Dismal Lakes; we concluded unwillingly that they must lie beyond those distant mountains in the north-east.
We walked farther along this high range of hills ; it had been very warm on the river, but it was pleasantly cool here. The blue berries were ripe and grew in prodigious quantities on absurdly small bushes, little things not more than a couple of inches high, but loaded with big juicy berries. But the black flies were fierce, they assailed us in swarms ; it is harder to defend one- self against them than against mosquitoes. We went back to our camp in good spirits ; our disappointment at failing to see anything to indicate the proximity of the Dismal Lakes did not last long ; we had not really expected to, and it looked as though we would have better conditions on the river next day.
And so indeed it proved, we made a good early start, shoving off in a pouring rain which lasted most of the day. But we had good go- ing, with an uninterrupted ten-mile paddle for a start ; it was a perfect joy to make progress like this after our late incessant wading and portag- ing, and we didn't mind the rain so long as we had such good conditions for canoeing.
The river was really very pretty although somewhat monotonous. It curved between high banks of clay or sand, level on top and covered with a thick growth of small spruce trees and usually with thick willows coming close to the water's edge. It was deep and sluggish, with a scarcely percep- tible current.
All along the river animal life abounded. There were ptarmigan ashore and muskrats in the water ; the latter paid very little attention to us but went about their business quite undisturbed. Every few hundred yards we would pass a mother duck with a small fleet of little ones. The old birds would come fluttering right to the canoe in heroic efforts to distract our attention
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Jforlorn
from their young ones; it was quite pathetic to see how anxious they were to sacrifice themselves to give their flocks a chance to escape. But we never molested them though we shot some more young geese to-day.
The rain lasted all morning ; during the latter part of the morning and
Wading
all afternoon we were struggling against swift and shallow water. We camped that night at what had evidently been the camp of one of the early explorers, probably it was one of Simpson's camps. There was even a pile of firewood cut ready for use ; it was much weathered but still sound enough to make a good blaze. Little did the chopper of this wood think who would finally use it, or at what late date.
Our struggle against swift and shallow water continued next day ; it was a case of wading nearly all the time at this part of the river. We had some
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99
dark and gloomy looking hills ahead of us all day ; late in the afternoon we came to a place where the river made a sudden bend and we soon saw that it cut through a high rocky dyke that extends for many miles across the plain. It is a notable landmark, we called it "Notman Dyke." We had
Notman Dyke
to make a complete portage of our stuff for several hundred yards here and we camped at the end of the portage.
The day closed in dark and gloomy with a cold north wind. The view from the top of the dyke was inexpressibly wild and menacing ; rugged barren hills and dark stagnant swamps were around us, and a threatening wind- swept sky above. It was a relief to turn into our snug little tent and forget all our troubles in sleep.
We still had swift and shallow water all next morning ; then we came to a
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sandy plain through which the river wound in great loops. It was deep enough to use our paddles and we made fair progress, but so crooked was the river that sometimes after paddling a mile or more we would find that we had really gained only a few hundred yards. The river had shrunk very
Hanbury's Kopje
much in size now; we passed many small tributaries and one large one to-day.
At last after a hard day's work we were gladdened by the sight of a high sandy hill, its pectiliar flat top covered with a thick growth of small spruce. For the last two days we had been looking out for this; it was the "kopje- shaped hill" described by Hanbury, and it was near this hill that he had struck the main Dease River on his way from the Dismal Lake.
About a mile below it we passed a tiny stream coming in from the north- west; the Doctor hailed this at once as Hanbury's "Sandy Creek." I
©ur jfirst 3outne\> to tbe Coppermine 101
wasn't quite so sure about it ; the impression given by the book is that Sandy Creek comes in from the north-east, and this stream seemed too minute to answer Hanbury's description. We camped that night below "Hanbury's Kopje," as we called the hill, determined to investigate before we went any
Camp at Hanbury's Kopje
farther. It rained heavily all that night, our camp was right out on a flat sandy beach, but there was plenty of spruce for fire and bedding.
Next day it was still raining, an incessant light rain. We tried the right, the main branch of the river, first; we could paddle a short distance above the kopje ; what a delight it was to paddle an unloaded canoe again ! We soon came to stony gravelly country, the river was full of rapids, so we took to the shore and walked over these undulating gravel hills for several miles more.
102 Xanbs Jforlorn
But the farther we went the more evident it became that this could not have been Hanbury's route; we returned to our camp and had lunch, then started to explore the other little creek. It was a mere rivulet flowing in a wide sandy channel, with a line of gravel hills on one side and the sandy plain to the south on the other. We landed a mile or so from the mouth and struck across to a high range of hills about four miles to the north.
We called this Granite Ridge ; it rose about five hundred feet above the river and commanded a very extensive view, but the weather was too thick to see anything that definitely indicated the location of the Dismal Lakes, so we returned to our canoe and paddled back to camp. We had not as- certained with any certainty that this little stream was Hanbury's route, but although it was so small it was navigable to a quite unsuspected degree and we decided to try it. So we went back to our camp on the sandy beach and made a good early start next day.
We found it was one thing taking an empty canoe up that little stream and another when the canoe was loaded with nearly five hundred pounds of stuff. It was desperately discouraging work, incessant hauling, unloading, packing, reloading, and hauling, and so on da capo. It took us most of the morning to reach the place where we had been with the empty canoe the day before. A short distance beyond this the stream branched, making our perplexity worse than ever.
We tried the left hand branch first ; a small sluggish stream, so narrow and with bends so sharp that it was almost a matter of difficulty to get our eighteen foot Polaris around some of them. And we were getting so far to the west that the whole business looked very doubtful ; at last we decided to make an attempt to reach the Dismal Lakes on foot and see where they actually lay. We made camp at the little forks on the creek, "Junction Camp" we called it, a charming spot and a snug camp it was.
Next day we made an early start in our heroic determination to reach the Dismal Lakes on foot. We struck across to Granite Ridge again in- tending to follow that along, but the weather came up thick and rainy, cold and raw, even a little snow fell; we could not see anything under these
©ur jfirst Journey to tbe Coppermine 103
circumstances, so we waited awhile under a high rocky ledge hoping it would clear off. While waiting there, cursing the country, cursing the weather, cursing Hanbury and his descriptions (who certainly didn't deserve it), a big bull caribou came trotting along right towards us. It never saw or suspected us ; we simply let it come to within easy range and then killed it. This was the first caribou we had seen, and we were surprised to find it so big. As a matter of fact it happened to be an unusually large one; we got only one other afterwards that ever approached it in size. The incident was a welcome diversion from the comminatory service we were holding and the caribou meat an even more welcome addition to our grub supply. We skinned it and cut it up, piled the meat on a high rock, and threw the hide over it.
Then the weather cleared up and we continued our journey along the crest of the ridge for several miles. At last we got right to the end of it and were confronted by a plain, in a depression of which lay a round, fairly large lake. Beyond this again was the range of mountains, still eight or ten miles away. We knew that the Dismal Lakes must lie beyond these somewhere, but there was certainly no prospect of walking there in one day !
From the end of the ridge we could plainly trace the course of the Dease River. It came out of a long lake to the east of us, and from here it looked like a promising route.
For we were now completely at loss to know where Hanbury had been, this at least seemed to offer some kind of a route and we decided to try it.
We went back to our caribou, then came a long hard walk back to camp, loaded with all the meat we could carry. We revelled in fresh meat that night; with the constant hard work and the wet cold climate, our appetites had grown enormous.
We returned to the main river next morning, and put in a long hard day ascending that. It got smaller and smaller as we went on, but in spite of constant packing and portaging we made fair progress, and evening found us among some steep gravel hills we had seen from Granite Ridge. This part of the country was unspeakably savage, ground up by old-time glaciers into
104 lant)0 tfotlorn
barren gravel moraine. We camped on the shore of a little round lake through which the river passed, at the foot of one of the most conspicuous of these gravel hills.
I had a regular disaster the next morning, a disastrous opening to what seemed to be a disastrous day. I had put my boots to dry in front of the fire and while we were having breakfast one of them rolled in unnoticed and was completely spoiled. This was a bad business for me as I had only the one pair; after that I was reduced to wearing the heavy cumber- some wader-shoes all the time. My feet were always soaking wet, and worse than this the wader-shoes were most clumsy and tiring to walk in.
Things got worse and worse with us to-day. By noon we had not made more than a mile from our camp in a straight line, so difficult had the river been. Then it spread out over a wide gravelly bed, merely a trickle showing here and there; further progress by water was quite impossible. We went ahead on foot to see what conditions were like; the river contracted again, but it was hopeless for navigation.
We were still about five miles from the lake; this part of the journey would require a complete portage of our stuff and would take several days at least to get to the lake. And even once on the lake we were still a long way from the Dismal Lakes. We had come much farther to the east than we had suspected when looking over this valley from the Granite Ridge. From a hill above the south end of Long Lake, as we then called it, we could see nothing but rugged hills to the north. The season was getting so late that we might despair of ever getting there this summer by a route so pal- pably difficult. We discussed the subject in all its bearings, finally deciding not to waste our time and strength by persevering in an enterprise so doubt- ful, but to turn back to the little creek we had already attempted once, to follow it up as far as we could, and to stake the whole success of our journey on finding a way to the Dismal Lakes by that route.
We camped early that day at the farthest point to which we had brought the canoe ; our camp was on a high gravel point overlooking the stony river bed, a waste of gravel a quarter of a mile wide with the water trickling over
<S>ur jfirst
to tbe Coppermine
105
it in small streams. The weather had been lowering with frequent showers all morning ; now it came on a savage storm with high winds and fine driving rain. We called this place "Camp Despair," and desperate indeed did our chances of success seem when we turned in that wild and stormy night.
"Penury, inertness and grimace were the land's portion"
Next morning broke fair and cold ; the rain had stopped and the wind had ceased, our wet tent was frozen stiff. We broke camp, packing our stuff a quarter of a mile down the river, saving thereby several portages, then began the weary job of retracing the journey we had made so confidently. But we made much better time going down stream, and the rains had swollen the river a little. We camped at Junction Camp again that evening.
For the second time we shoved our way slowly up the little sandy creek. About two miles above the point at which we had turned back before we
io6 SLanfcs jforlorn
came on some features that made us think that this, after all, might have been Hanbury's route.
And so indeed it proved ; a mile or so farther on we reached a place that answered exactly to Hanbury's description, and not only to Hanbury's but Simpson's as well. We had always supposed from reading their books that they had used different routes, now we could see it had been the same. Later on we had proof of this; we found the remains of camps with chopping of the same age and character as at some of the old camps we had seen on the lower river and had been able to attribute to Simpson; one of these camps was in a situation exactly as described by him. In fact, except on the lower part of the river where there were frequent signs of the Hornby and Hodgson parties, all the indications of any one having been there before were old and had been made by Simpson, Richardson, and Rae. We found no signs on our whole journey that could be attributed to Hanbury.
Then followed three days of constant effort. At one place we had to make a complete portage of all our stuff for more than two miles. But in all this hard work we had the encouragement of knowing that we were on the right road; we could work with a will, free from the doubts and perplexities of the past week, and worst of all, the haunting sense of possible failure.
The river got smaller and smaller; we passed from sandy plains to low rolling gravel hills, then to sandy hills again. The stream finally became a mere sluggish ditch, meandering with many turns through a narrow valley ; the hills had closed in on us almost before we knew it. It was evident that we had followed the creek to its very source ; before us lay an opening in the mountains that we thought might be the divide that Hanbury had crossed. At the nearest point to this we made camp ; it was noon of the third day after leaving Junction Camp.
We started out on foot to explore the country; the walking was good over gravelly hills that skirted a plain on which many small lakes were scattered ; after travelling a few miles we came to a ridge overlooking a long narrow valley, with a series of small lakes in it. This was Hanbury's route
©ur jfirst 3ournc^ to tbe Coppermine
107
beyond question, and at the end of this ridge we came in sight of a long tongue of water lying among the mountains. We had reached the Dismal Lakes at last.
While taking a rest before starting back to our camp, I was surprised
Along the Divide
to see a man walking around on the hills about a mile away from us. He disappeared just as I brought my glasses to bear on him, but the glimpse I got showed him to be an Eskimo. We could see some kind of a little camp on top of the hill and we headed for this, highly excited at the pros- pect of meeting these people whom we were so anxious to see. We made a cautious approach, fearing to frighten the man, and we were quite close to him before he noticed us. Whether it was merely the unexpectedness of it, or whether he had never seen any white men before I do not know, certainly
io8 Olanfcs jforlorn
he was very much frightened. We threw up our arms calling out "Teyma! Teyma!" about the only Eskimo word I knew. He did the same, his arms were fairly trembling with fright, and he kept repeating something over and over in a low moaning tone. However he was soon reassured and smiling.
Dismal Lake
He was a stoutly built man, about five feet four inches high. His hair hung straight and black behind, all the front part of it was cropped close to the skin. His face was open and intelligent, with rosy cheeks and a can- didly engaging smile. He was dressed in caribou skins and sealskin boots, his general appearance was quite as clean as our own and a pleasant con- trast to the dirty, sulky Indians we were used to. He had some spears, and a bow and arrows in a sealskin case lying on the ground ; supported by four cross sticks was some kind of a roll of skin. We tried to talk to him asking
©ur jfir0t 3ournep to tbe Coppermine 109
if that was Teshierpi Lake. He nodded his head and repeated "Teshi- arping, Teshi-arping. " I gave him a small piece of milk chocolate I had in my pocket; he put it in his mouth in a doubtful way. Presently an ex- pression of intense delight passed over . his wide face ; it was very funny to watch.
We tried to explain by signs that we would like him to come back to our camp and help us to portage our stuff. He followed us willingly enough for awhile ; whether our pace was too fast for him or whether he was afraid to trust himself with us so completely I do not know, but he lagged farther and farther behind; finally we saw him make a bee-line back to his camp; he picked up the roll of skin, gathered up his bow and spears, and disappeared toward the lake.
We were not altogether sorry that he turned back; we had no fresh meat left and were doubtful how he would have liked the only food we could have given him. It was late when we got back to camp that evening; the nights were now beginning to get dark and I saw some of the brighter stars to-night for the first time since leaving Fort Smith.
It took two days to make the portage; the distance was six and a half miles, but we were helped out by the small lakes, which made up perhaps one-quarter the whole distance. We moved all our stuff along in short trips of about five hundred yards ; it took three loads each and one trip with both of us to carry the canoe, so that we had to cover the ground seven times. But the walking was good and the little lakes gave us most welcome rests.
It was a joyful evening when we finally got all our stuff to a pleasant little camping spot at the extreme end of Dismal Lake. We celebrated the occasion that night by an extra good feed, with coffee and desiccated rasp- berries as a special treat. We had brought a few tins of coffee for great occasions; the desiccated raspberries were, alas! a great disappointment. But their juice was fine; we mixed it with a little brandy of which we had one bottle "for emergency" and it made a drink that we thought was per- fectly delicious. We called this "Teshierpi Toddy,'; it figured at festive
no Xante jforlorn
occasions later on, and it was the only use we ever had for our desiccated raspberries. It was a wild and stormy night, but we were in good spirits; our little camp was snugness itself ; we had accomplished the most difficult part of our journey, and we hoped for an easy road the rest of the way. Moreover, in spite of the time lost around Hanbury's Kopje, we were still only two days behind the estimate I had made more than six months ago when planning the expedition.
We took things easy the next morning ; it was seven before we got up, our usual hour was five. It was still dull and threatening, but the wind had greatly moderated. It was a joy to load up the canoe and to put on. her canvas covers, sure that we would have no occasion for the everlasting handling of stuff that had hitherto been necessary.
It was this part of the lakes that Simpson saw when he gave them their name ; there never was a name better deserved so far as the western extrem- ity is concerned, though it is unmerited as regards the rest of them. Any- thing more unspeakably dismal than the western end I never saw; the lake is shut in by high bare rocky hills ; those to the north still had huge drifts of snow in places, probably these drifts never disappear. The hills on the southern side are sharp broken rocks unmitigated by any softening influence of plant life. Five or six miles from its western end the lake narrows to half a mile or so in width, a sombre sheet of water between threatening hills. Beyond these narrows the character of the lake changes; instead of the bare rocky hills there are gently rounded slopes covered with grass and heaths, wholly pleasant in aspect.
We paddled along the south shore of the lake ; by noon it began to rain heavily and kept it up all day and all night. We got to the first narrows at 6 P.M. ; we must have paddled at least twenty-seven miles to-day. A sandy bar stretches across the lake here; it was so shallow that we had to wade. The south shore is a series of small sandy cliffs, the north shore consists of low willow-covered stretches, and there is a low sandy island also covered with willows. I walked along the shore; it was strewn with the bones of caribou; bones of all ages scattered like driftwood along the beach. These narrows
©ur jfiret Journey to tbe Coppermine m
are a favourite crossing-place for the caribou; vast numbers must have perished here at various times. We entered what appeared to be a river, a narrow passage between steep gravel hills with a quite perceptible current. Along the hills we saw lines of stones set up on end, each one crowned with
Camp at the Narrows — Dismal Lake
a tuft of grass ; this was the work of the Eskimos in their systematic warfare against the caribou.
We camped on a level mossy spot at the foot of one of these gravel hills; it was pouring rain, fire was out of the question, we had nothing but moss and heaths to make it of. We just put up our tent and turned in, thankful that we had plenty of hardtack and even yet some milk chocolate.
It was a lovely morning next day, clear and bright ; everything looked fair and fresh in the unaccustomed sunlight. With a great deal of trouble we got together enough dry willow twigs to make some tea and boil a pot of
112
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erbswurst. We thought of Hanbury's remarks on the ease of making a fire at all times on the barrens, and wished we could have had him there that morning to show us.
Not till after breakfast, when I climbed the hill behind our camp to
Eskimo Kayak and Cache
have a look around, did we discover that there was some kind of an Eskimo camp not far from us. A kayak was carefully put away on some little stone trestles and loaded down with rocks to keep the wind from blowing it about, and various other small belongings, fur clothing, etc., lay around.
It was at this point that Hanbury met Eskimos on his journey through the Dismal Lakes, and evidently it is a favourite camping place with them, for there were traces of many old camps in every direction : small fireplaces, scraps of bone, and refuse of various kinds and of all ages.
0ur jfiret Journey to tbe Coppermine 113
But there was no sign of any one, and there was nothing about the camp to indicate how long it had been deserted. We feared that the Eskimo we had seen at the end of the lake had given the alarm, and that they had left this part of the country. We placed a few needles and files around the camp, I put a piece of milk chocolate under the kayak so that they could identify their visitors, and then we continued our journey.
The middle one of the three lakes making up the Dismal Lakes is much shut in by mountains. .Those on the north side rise abruptly in terraces to nearly a thousand feet above the lake. On the south side is a high rounded hill; it rises eight hundred feet and seen from the north and east it is quite regular in shape ; we called it Teshierpi Mountain ; it is a notable landmark. Though so much shut in by hills the middle lake is not gloomy, Teshierpi Mountain showed slopes of green coming right to the water's edge, even the sharp cliffs of the mountains on the north side were interspersed with cheerful grassy terraces. The second lake ends in a shallow sand-bar stretching right across the lake, then comes a tangle of small sandy willow- covered islands. There is a difference of elevation quite perceptible; the lakes are connected by a short river flowing through a sandy channel. Quite a large stream comes in from the south at these narrows ; we did not discover it till on our way back when we called it the Teshierpi River.
The last of the Dismal Lakes is the smallest and most beautiful of all, a delightful sheet of water about three miles long and a mile or less wide, with gently rising grassy shores and surrounded by mountains at just that distance at which they are most charming, close enough to give an impres- sion of intimacy and protection, and far enough away to be free from any feeling of imprisonment. Like the other two lakes there is a shallow sandy bar extending right across its eastern end ; a small river comes in from the south-west ; Richardson mentions this stream.
We entered the Kendall River ; it is considerably larger than I expected to find it. No doubt it had been swollen by the continual rains, although the water was brilliantly clear. We found small spruce again at the extreme end of the third lake and the Kendall River flows between banks covered
U4 Xante jForlorn
with sparsely wooded small spruce. We camped that night about a mile below the lake expecting that a few hours' run next day would take us right to the Coppermine Mountains.
Our food supply was beginning to worry me ; our consumption had been far in excess of what we had figured on. The caribou we had shot had helped us out, but we had been able to take only a small amount of the meat and that had soon spoiled in the continual wet and constant handling. We had got young geese, ptarmigan, and ducks from time to time along the river, but we couldn't afford the time for systematic hunting. The only fish we had obtained so far had been a few Arctic trout that we had shot in the shallow rapids of the upper river. We had tried trolling when passing through the Dismal Lakes, but here again we could not afford the time and had thrown our bait into the water only when we were passing some of the long gravel points, as Hanbury says this is the best place to catch the lake trout. A year later when crossing Great Bear Lake and fishing for our daily food we found that we could always catch plenty of lake trout trolling in the small bays.
To-night we got out our net for the first time ; however simple it seems in the abstract I soon found that to set a net properly requires, like any of the skilled trades, a high degree of manual skill; and besides this, an ex- traordinary command of one's temper. But I finally got that net set, after a fashion, and we hoped for some of those fabulous hauls of fish that we had heard of.
I turned out very early next morning ; my first care was to examine the net and I found we had caught one white fish of about three pounds weight. And that wretched fish had tangled up the net worse than ever ; by the time I got the fish extricated and the net ashore it looked like a stringy bunch of cotton waste.
I crossed the river in the canoe, throwing out a trolling bait as I did so and catching a fine lake trout of about five pounds.
A short distance above our camp, on the opposite shore of the river, I came on the remains of a quite extensive camp; this can be identified
©ur ifirst 3ourne£ to tbe Coppermine 115
without any doubt as the remains of the provision station established by Simpson in the spring of the year 1838. The place seemed gloomy enough to me that early rainy morning thinking about our food supply and the unknown dangers of the Kendall River. The picture was taken under more
The Kendall River — Remains of Simpson's "Spring Provision Station"
favourable circumstances on our return voyage, when that stretch of the river and the mountains in the background looked lovely indeed.
We broke our camp in a pouring rain, and, making everything extra snug aboard the Polaris, we started our run down the Kendall River.
The river is much like the lower Dease River in character, but every- thing is on a larger scale, except the spruce trees along the shores, which are shorter and more stunted. About four miles from the lake we landed and climbed a high limestone hill not far from the river. Hanbury mentions this
n6
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hill and the view obtained from the summit of the most easterly Dismal Lake.
To-day the country looked most forlorn and melancholy, with the more
distant mountains hidden in mist and over everything the incessant rain.
The unexpected length of the river surprised us. Hanbury supposed
Canon near the Mouth of the Kendall River
it could be run in a couple of hours ; evidently we had a much higher stage of water than he had, and we ran quickly with delays at only one or two of the rapids.
We ran all morning; lunch time came and we had a feed of dry hard- tack sitting on the muddy bank of the river in the pouring rain wondering when we would get to the end of our run.
All afternoon we continued the descent ; the constant strain of steering down the boulder-strewn rapids began to tell on me, the farther we went the
<S>ur jfirst 3ournep to the Coppermine 117
worse they got. I can well remember my dismay later on in the afternoon, at a time when we certainly expected to have left the Kendall River far behind us, to find ourselves at the head of a long, dangerous rapid full of big boulders. It was a regular hill, and we went down that place like a toboggan slide.
Junction of the Kendall River with the Coppermine
At 5 P.M. we came to a small canyon through limestone cliffs and we knew that we were near the Coppermine River at last.
At the top of the canyon we landed to look ahead, the water was swift and at one place there was an ugly "set" against the jagged, perpendicular wall, but I thought that I could avoid this, and we started out. There is a swift rapid at the head of the can- yon; at the bottom of this rapid we struck a big boulder and knocked a great hole in our canoe. The jar and momentary stoppage swung
n8
Xanfcs jforlorn
me off my course and we got carried into the worst part of the "set." Fortunately I had been able to get the canoe bow ahead again before we got there; we skimmed past that rocky wall with scarcely an inch of clearance; the Doctor did valiant work shoving off and we
The Coppermine River
came through the canyon in triumph, running the canoe ashore on the beach below just before she sunk.
We found ourselves on a level grassy point between the Coppermine and Kendall rivers; we made camp at once and had a good supper off the lake trout I had caught in the morning. The rain cleared off later and we even had a lovely streak of sunlight on the opposite shore of the Coppermine.
That river is spread over a wide gravelly bed here with low gravel islands and bars ; a large river in reality at this point it seems even larger.
©ur Jfiret 3ournep to tbe Coppermine
119
The water was clear, of a pale greenish colour, but not the perfect clearness of the waters we had been accustomed to of late.
It took me all the next morning to repair the Polaris; she had suffered severely on her voyage down the Kendall, and the last blow had been a
We Arrive at the Coppermine Mountains
cruel one. But she was a beautifully built boat, made of specially selected wood and by men who took a keen personal interest in their work. Good reason had we to be thankful for the trouble and care that her builders had taken with this boat, and by noon the Polaris was all right and tight again.
While I was working on the canoe the Doctor had the more difficult job of unravelling the net; by the time the boat was repaired the net was ready and we set it in an eddy at the juncture of the rivers, making a good job of it this time. It was there for nearly twenty-four hours,
I2O
Jforlorn
but we caught nothing. We spent the rest of the day hunting and prospecting.
On the morning of August I7th we started again; it was a lovely bright day and the conditions for canoeing on this part of the Coppermine River
Camp at the Coppermine River
were delightful indeed after our late experiences of rapids and rocks. We ran swiftly and smoothly past some high limestone cliffs along the river ; we had walked over these the afternoon before. After passing them the river flows through a pleasant open valley with pretty little groves of small spruce scattered along the shores. Leaving the valley and passing among some high gravel hills, the river then cuts through the Coppermine Mountains, making a big sweep to the east as it does so. We camped on the west shore, right at this bend of the river, not far from a small creek marked on Frank-
©ur Jfiret Journey to tbe Coppermine 121
lin's map; the point at which we had beforehand decided to commence operations.
Our first job was to make a good camp ; then we started out, the Doctor to make his first acquaintance with the copper- bearing rocks, I myself to
Coppermine Mountains — Characteristic Terraces
try and get a caribou, though I was beginning to despair of seeing any, as we had come through the best caribou country and had seen only one. The food supply was running short and causing us some real concern. But luck was with us to-day; at only a couple of miles from camp I saw a big bull caribou wandering along a level grassy depression among the mountains. I made a cautious approach and fired at about three hundred yards, not daring to risk frightening it by going closer. It reared up just like a startled horse and began to run around in a circle ; I fired a couple of
122 Xante jforlorn
times without apparent effect, and began to be afraid it would start off in a straight line instead of keeping in a circle, when to my great relief my fourth shot brought it down. Poor brute, the first shot had just taken out one eye and the next two had grazed it in different places. The
Headwaters of Stoney Creek — North Branch
shortness of our food supply didn't leave me with much sympathy for the caribou at the time. It was a large bull, about the same size as the first one we got, but fatter and heavier. These first two were the biggest caribou we ever killed.
I returned to camp with all the meat I could pack; it was a joyful greeting and a good supper I could give the Doctor when he came back later on in the evening. He too had been fortunate among the rocks; our first day on the Coppermine was in every way a most pleasant one.
<S>ur ifirst 3ournep to tbe Coppermine
123
The next week was spent among those mountains making preliminary explorations in various directions. The results on the whole were very encouraging, and a full and proper description by Dr. Sandberg will be found in the Appendix.
Coppermine Mountains and River
The mountains are basalt, rising with terraced sides about 1000-1200 feet above the river. It is an interesting and not a difficult country to explore, the walking is nearly always good, and the terraces give one a choice of easy routes.
There is a fair quantity of spruce, but only in the immediate vicinity of the river; in some sheltered places it grows much larger than one might expect so far north. We saw some trees as large as seventeen inches in diameter two feet from the ground. But none of these attained more than
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twenty -five or thirty feet in height, the average height of the spruce along the bank would scarcely exceed twenty feet, and they are all of a twisted and rugged character.
We had a few fine days while we were at the Coppermine Mountains,
The Road Home
but the weather was usually wet and cold. We would have liked to have continued our journey to the sea; the descent would have been easy enough, but the return would have taken more time than we could afford. And it was necessary to turn homewards now ; the short northern summer was over and there were many signs that winter would soon be on us.
Our stay at the Coppermine had really been a very pleasant one, the comparative rest and good living did us a lot of good, and we were both get- ting stronger and stouter every day.
A View down the Coppermine River
125
126 %anfcs jforlorn
We moved our camp to a point six miles up the river to a point on the opposite side and made some cursory explorations to the east. The mountains were lower, but as far as we went they were composed of the same series of basalts and traps.
The last days we spent on the river were delightful, we had lovely weather ; bright days, ineffably serene, the land lying bathed in strong sun- light. We had sharp frost at night and usually we woke to find a fuzzy lining of frost on the inside of our tent.
The ascent of the Coppermine to the Kendall River was easy. Then came the long struggle up the Kendall River which took two days of toil and fatigue, but we were now more expert at wading and more inured to hard work. I was well satisfied that it took no longer and that we had got up a difficult stretch of our journey in safety. Hanbury's description of his feelings in safely accomplishing this part of his journey so well described my own that I shall borrow that intrepid traveller's words.
Like ourselves they had taken two days to ascend the river, but they evidently had a much lower stage of water and they had five men to their canoe so that they could use the tracking line at places, where we could not. When they had finally reached the Dismal Lake, Hanbury says: " We coiled and stowed away the tracking lines and resorted to paddles. It was indeed a relief to get out on the open and quiet water of a lake. The ascent of a dangerous river, or rather I should say a river where continued caution is absolutely necessary to prevent an accident, is apt to get on the nerves. Every day the attention is strained and every night you are obliged to camp close to the thunder and swish of the rough, heavy, and rapid water which you know you will have to tackle the following morning. Very old hands may not experience these feelings, and very young hands are ignorant of the real danger that awaits them in the event of the bad canoe accident. For my own part I have not yet got hardened to risks which from ample experience I know to be serious. "
It was the descent of a river that had got on my nerves, mostly, I think, on account of the difficulties I foresaw we would have on our return. But
<§>ur jfirst Journey to tbe Coppermine 127
when it came to the point these difficulties smoothed themselves out and we made the trip in less time and more pleasantly than I had dared to hope.
Since we had descended the river only some ten days had passed, yet in that short time a complete change had taken place in the appearance of its shores. On our journey down it had been the height of summer, the mosses on the hills, the willows on the banks, the sedges in the river all wore vivid shades of green. Now the whole colour scheme had changed, scarcely a green leaf was to be seen. The mosses were every conceivable shade of red, wonderfully brilliant ; the willows were a uniform bright yellow; the dwarf birches yellow also but paler and less brilliant ; the sedges growing along the shore in the water were all mauve and cerise. It was the most beautiful display of colour in flora conceivable.
We spent a few days on the north side of the middle Dismal Lake attempting to investigate the country to the north. "Glacier Cove" we called our camp ; it was right under a steep gravel hill, with hills to protect us on either side. A level space lay between us and the lake, a regular floor of fine hard gravel covered with a carpet of short thick moss, of all beautiful shades of red. It was a snug camp, and among the hills behind us there were lots of dead spruce for fire-wood. This is the only place where spruce occurs on the Dismal Lakes, except at the extreme eastern and western ends.
The weather came up thick and stormy ; the mountains were hidden in mist and it was impossible to carry out our plans. We did get to the top of the range on one occasion, but it came up a dense mist and we had to find our way back to camp by compass.
Then came severe gales from the north-west; lucky indeed we had so snugly sheltered a spot. For two days we were completely storm-bound, but we had plenty of fire-wood and plenty to eat, for we had shot another cari- bou coming up the Kendall River, just as we had come to the end of our fresh meat. Eating was our chief amusement during the time we spent at Glacier Cove; the amount of food we could put away was perfectly amazing. All the time of our stay at the Coppermine we had lived for the most part on
128 Xante forlorn
caribou, keeping our other provisions for the journey home; now we revelled in a varied and luxurious diet. We even put out our net again, but didn't catch anything in it, though we got some very nice lake trout trolling.
At last we gave up the idea of doing any more exploring this season. The weather was turning cold rapidly and we had to get over the divide before the lakes and rivers froze.
We made a very early start on the morning of September ist; we broke camp and were under way at 6 A.M. It was a mild, calm morning; the lower part of the mountains and the lake were clear, but there was a thick fog above ; the effect was very beautiful ; the reflections were simply wonderful.
We stopped at the second narrows where the Eskimo camps were, hoping to see something of the people. The camps and the kayak were still there, and it was evident that the Eskimos had been around since the time we passed; the things we had left had been taken, and we could see that the kayak had been moved since our last visit. It was very tantalising to find such traces of them but not to see the Eskimos themselves; however, we could not wait there on the chance of them showing up, so continued our voyage. We got two more caribou to-day, a cow and a large calf. Farther along the lake we saw another, a magnificent bull. He was on a small island and watched us come within a couple of hundred yards before he made any attempt to move. We did not try to get him ; already we had as much meat as we could carry.
The weather went through some sudden and violent changes to-day; from a lovely placid morning it turned to a stormy afternoon with strong north-west wind. The storm caught us at the western end of the lake; there was no protection unless we crossed to the other side. Landing was out of the question on that exposed rocky shore; we had no choice but to paddle along through it as best we could, but fortunately it lasted only a couple of hours, then turned to a quiet sullen evening. We made camp that night at our old place at the western extremity of the lake. It had been a long hard day for us and we were both of us thoroughly tired ; seldom were
<S>ur jfirat 3ournep to tbe Coppermine
129
our sleeping-bags more welcome or our tent more snug than to-night after the struggle against wind and waves we had just come through.
We slept till late next morning ; then came the heavy work of portaging. We had cold weather on the divide, with frosts and snow and with the lakes
Sandy Creek
already beginning to freeze. The portage took two and a half days ; we were camped twice on the divide. It was at one of these camps that we had the first real snow of the year, waking up to be surprised at the curious darkness of the tent and finding that this was due to a couple of inches of snow on it. At last we got back to Sandy Creek, and none too soon.
We made better time going down stream than we had coming up; there was more water in the river and our load was lighter. The Doctor usually took a pack and walked along the shore, while I took the canoe down. In
130
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spite of the lighter boat and the higher water there was still a lot of wading and hauling to be done, and wading was now getting to be a desperately cold job — not so much the wading itself as sitting wet in the canoe after. The two-mile portage seemed child's play to us now compared to what
Simpson's Point
it had been on our journey up when we were fatigued and anxious. Our camp on both occasions was at the upper end of this portage; it was among some small spruce trees on a low sandy hill close to the river. We called it Simpson's Point, as there were traces of him here; and of all our pleasant camps in that country, I recall this as one of the most pleasant.
Although it was a mere rise it commanded a fine view in every direction. It was the only clump of spruce for some distance around ; the country was undulating gravel plains covered with heaths and dwarf birch. It was a
©ur jfirst 3ourne^ to tbe Coppermine 131
fine hunting-place ; we saw many small bands of caribou on the surrounding plains, and we renewed our stock of fresh meat by killing a small bull.
After leaving the two-mile portage we saw lots of human footmarks on the sandy beaches of the river that had not been there on our journey up. We supposed at first that these had been made by Indians, knowing that the Bear Lakers had intended hunting caribou in this part of the country. At our old Junction Camp all kinds of havoc had been wrought ; trees had been chopped down and thrown across the river to make a kind of barricade. We could see from the character of the chopping that it must have been done by Eskimos, the trees had been worried through with some kind of a small and very blunt tool. I suppose that the barricade was a part of their deer-hunting devices.
We had left a cache here, some food in a waterproof canvas bag which I had hung on a cross-arm between two small trees. The bag was all right, but when I took it down I noticed that it was tied up differently from the way I had left it. When I opened the bag the first thing I pulled out was a small sealskin coat and a beautifully made pair of sealskin slippers! Be- sides these they had left a bunch of arrows with spruce shafts and copper- tipped bone heads and some trinkets carved out of ivory. We were puzzled to know what these things could be used for; it was not till next year that we found out. One of them was intended to shove through the nose of the marmots for convenience in carrying them; the other was a small handle with a loop of sinew attached for carrying the stomachs of caribou !
The only thing we missed from our camp was an empty lard pail; the things left by the Eskimos seemed liberal payment for that, but remembering a story of Amundsen's, I thought it possible that they might have discovered and appropriated the remains of the caribou that we had killed near this camp and the payment may have been intended to cover that as well.
Evidently they had been here until quite recently ; hoping that we might yet see something of them, we camped a little above the junction of Sandy Creek with the main branch of the Dease River, intending to stay over a day ;
132 lanOs jforlorn
I wanted also to make another trip to Granite Ridge to get some more bearings and connect up a compass traverse that I was making of our route.
We started out next morning; it was a hard, cold day, dull and cheerless, with several degrees of frost ; we thought ourselves lucky to be safely over the divide to-day.
There were signs of Eskimos all over the country now where there had been none at all on our journey up; in one place they had made quite an extensive camp on a hill, and the ground was covered with chips where they had been making sleigh runners.
We walked across that now familiar plain and climbed the Granite Ridge once more ; it was a keen pleasure to look over the valley of the Dease River and recall how doubtful we had been when we saw it last, how nearly we had come to grief by taking a wrong road, and how successful our jour- ney had finally been.
We saw some smoke far to the east of us near the river; we supposed it was Eskimos and even thought for awhile of making an attempt to walk there, but the distance was too great and evening was already closing in. We talked about going up stream next day to investigate, but that night we had more snow, and I don't think that even the certainty of meeting Eskimos would have induced us to wade up that shallow river again, hauling a canoe. It was a job we were heartily sick of, and in these low tempera- tures it was unpleasantly cold work. Moreover, we were anxious to get back to Hodgson's Point and see how Lion was getting on.
So we turned down stream next day; a bitterly cold day it was with a little snow on the ground, the small quiet bays of the river covered with ice, and big collars of ice around every little twig trailing in the water.
We made good time ; the river was high and we ran the same distance down stream to-day that had taken two days' hard work on the way up. But it was cold work; we still had to wade occasionally and it was a chilly job paddling in wet things in such weather.
Next day we made good progress and in the afternoon came to the long quiet stretch above Observation Hill ; it was changed indeed since we were
<§>ur Jfirst 3ournes to tbe Coppermine 133
here last. Summer had ended suddenly and completely, the willows were now leafless, and the sedges withered to a dark yellow.
Such animal life as we saw was mostly on the move ; the ducks had gone, the geese were going, every little while we would see and envy big flocks southward bound for another very different country that we too knew well. The ptarmigan, now nearly all white, were bunching up into big flocks and were very restless, making a kind of bluff that they would do the same as the geese if they wanted to. Only the muskrats carried on their business the same as ever, quite unconcerned by the general migration and the coming of winter; they were the true habitants of the country and the Dease River was good enough for them at all seasons.
We camped that night opposite Observation Hill and next morning climbed it again to connect up our traverse and look once more over the country that we were now more familiar with. We killed another caribou this morning close to our camp ; like the first one we got it did not see us and came running over the plain right towards us; we waited till it got within easy range, then shot it. We camped below the canyon that night ; there was quite a marked difference in the general advance of the season on the south side of this high ridge. At this camp we made a cache of nearly all the food we ha4 left.
The nights were now getting quite dark and I saw the aurora to-night for the first time; it was extended right across the sky at right angles to the magnetic meridian. It was in the form of a spiral like a loosely twisted rope ; there was no colour, it looked more like a slightly luminous cloud. A rapid movement was running through it from end to end, and I thought at first it was some kind of a cloud, some violent atmospheric disturbance, and for a few moments I was quite alarmed until I realised what it really was. The aurora became very familiar to us later, but I never saw it take this particular appearance again.
September 1 1 th was the last day of our journey and it was over a part of the river that was the most difficult to navigate. Twice we broke holes in the Polaris to-day and twice we had to stop and repair her. One of these
134 Xante forlorn
mishaps jg|pk place at the same rapid where we had knocked a hole in her when on our way up.
By noon we were at Indian Grave again; we stopped for lunch here, giving all our utensils an extra good cleaning and making everything on
Hodgson's Point and its Builder
board the Polaris as neat as we could ; following the time-honoured fashion of the sea to make port with everything shipshape.
At last we came to the reach of the river along Hodgson's Point. We looked anxiously for the new house which we did not see when we expected to; what struck us most was the bareness of Hodgson's Point compared to our recollections of what it had been in summer. We ran the last rapid above the point and then our house came into view looking exceedingly neat and trim. Certainly Lion had
<§>ur jfirst Journey to tbe Coppermine 135
made a fine job of it, and it was a contrast to the other ra^pd-looking shack.
We landed at a little wharf that Lion had fixed up right at the point ; the Aldebaran was carefully stowed away ashore. No one was around; we
At the End of our Voyage
went up to the house, and then Lion saw us through the window; he was busy papering the inside with the pages of some magazines he had got from Hornby.
It was a joyful home-coming; we could take full satisfaction in the suc- cess of our trip now we knew that things had gone well with him also.
Lion was looking thinner and much bearded ; he said both of us looked much sleeker and fatter than Wnen we left and I have no doubt we did; certainly we had done our best to become so during the last ten days !
136 Xanfcs iforlorn
If the outside of our house looked neat and tidy the inside gave us a positive shock of pleasure. Lion had taken infinite pains with his work ; the inside was snug, bright, and cheerful. I shall describe it later. His work had not been so exciting perhaps as our own, but just as important, and carried on, often under adverse circumstances, to the highly successful and creditable result we saw.
We had supper in the new house, Lion doing the honours. It was all very bewildering at first and especially strange to meet some one else and to hear another's voice. Then Lion's long beard had changed him so much in appearance that he looked to be scarcely the same person. The house seemed quite spacious after our little tent, and it was a consummate pleasure to take our meals again in such a civilised way, sitting on comfortable chairs at a real table and without any fear of upsetting things.
Altogether the evening was somewhat confusing ; we had so much to tell each other that it was some time before we got a fair idea of our respective adventures.
After seeing us off Lion had gone ahead with his house building. On July 29th, the day after we left, the Bear Lake Indians arrived in their York boat and Father Rouvier with them. So we had beaten them handsomely in crossing the lake as well as coming up the Bear River. Hornby was following by canoe with some other Indians and the Father was awaiting his arrival to proceed to the Dismal Lakes on his evangelising mission. The Bear Lakers went hunting for caribou on the edge of the barrens, and their success so got on Francois's mind that he forgot all about his agreement, and Lion had considerable difficulty keeping him at all until some of the heavier part of the work was done. Hornby arrived on August loth, and a couple of days after he and the Father made a start up the river. Francois left at the same time so Lion was now alone at his work.
About a week later Hornby and some of the Indians came back, and the Father and the rest followed in a couple of days. Hornby and the Father had got as far as Observation Hill and they had returned to get some more supplies. The Indians intended to hunt along the. southern shore of Dease
<§>ur jfiret 3ournep to tbe Coppermine 137
Bay; most of them were going to return to Fort Norman in their York boat, but the Francois and a few other families intended to remain in our vicinity all through the winter.
The Father and Hornby started up the river again on August 23d, and since that time Lion had been quite by himself, working at the house and hunting a little. He had got two caribou, and had dried some of the meat.
The season had been much warmer with him than with us; there is a very sudden change in climate when the high range of hills to the east of the lake is passed, a change that Simpson frequently remarks on and of which we had plenty of evidence later on.
THE TWILIGHT OF THE YEAR
I SPENT only a couple of days at Hodgson's Point, developing the photos we had taken on our trip. Then Lion and I started up the river again
in the Polaris to make the most we could of the season before the river froze; we hoped we might find some caribou around Observation Hill and get a supply of meat for winter. I found this trip much more pleasant than the first one. The water was deeper, the canoe was lighter, and I was in a better physical condition. Best of all there was none of the incessant drive that had then been necessary. We could take things easy now and move or camp as we pleased.
We made the trip to Observation Hill in two days' easy work and put up our tent at the same place where the Doctor and I had camped on our way down the river. But though we hunted far and wide for several days we saw no signs of caribou.
Then we broke camp and paddled up to the end of the quiet stretch intending to investigate the East River, as we then called it, but it turned cold and we had heavy snow. The river might freeze up any night, so we decided to turn back to Hodgson's Point. We had lunch that day under the lee of a high sand bank; it was snowing heavily, and while at lunch Lion thought he heard the report of a rifle.
We made our way back to Hodgson's Point slowly, camping twice on the way and hunting as we went, but we saw no caribou, which was a great dis- appointment ; the Doctor and I had seen so many on our journey from the
138
of tbe HJear 139
divide that I had been quite confident of laying up some meat for winter. It was distinctly humiliating to come out on a hunting trip and be reduced to living on the remains of the caribou that the Doctor and I had killed a week before; the weather had been cold enough to keep the carcass fresh.
We had a final look around from the top of Observation Hill. Winter was now coming on in real earnest ; it was a bright day but the snow on the hills was not thawing even in protected places in the sun; the plains were covered with snow and the small lakes frozen over. The distant mountains behind which lay the Dismal Lakes, mountains which the Doctor and I had looked at so earnestly on our first trip up this hill and which were now so familiar to us, were dazzling white.
We camped at Number One Camp on our leisurely journey home, and just before we got to Hodgson's Point we noticed some one walking along the shore, pack on back, and a couple of dogs loaded with packs following him.
It was Hornby ; he had walked in from where he and the Father had been, and the rifle shot that Lion thought he had heard was Hornby's in fact. We got back to Hodgson's Point none too soon; the river froze over next day; we had utilised the season of navigation to the very last.
Hornby made his camp near our house and had supper with us. That night we had the first one of many pleasant evenings in our snug and com- fortable little home, and Hornby told us of his and Father Rouvier's adventures.
It was the latter part of August before they made their way up the Dease River and though the water was higher by that time, they made very slow progress. Like ourselves they had only a hazy idea of the route to Dismal Lakes. They saw the traces of our camp on the sandy beach by Hanbury's Kopje and supposed without any question we had gone that way. They had a hard struggle to get to the lake, and by the time they got there the season was so far advanced they had to give up the idea of going on to the Dismal Lakes. Moreover, they met Eskimos in large numbers camped near the lake and hunting caribou in the country around, so they had
140 Xante jforlorn
nothing to gain by going any farther. We had noticed a small grove of spruce on the west side of the lake, the only trees for a long distance around. They decided to build a shack there and remain till the Eskimos returned to the sea. Hornby had come down to get his own shack ready for winter and to make arrangements with the Indians to catch fish for him. He had left the Father on quite friendly terms with the Eskimos and well fixed for food, as they had shot three caribou.
It was more than a month before we were settled down to the regular and systematic life that we afterwards led in winter quarters, but we got our house in better order at once and instituted regular duties. We divided these duties of the establishment into cooking, wood-chopping, and hunting, and took them in turn for a week at a time. On September 25th we started the new regime with myself as cook, Lion as wood-chopper, and the Doctor as hunter.
It was about this time that we saw most of the Bear Lake Indians ; they came in from the edges of the woods where they had been hunting caribou and set up their teepees on the shores of the bay behind Big Island. They spent the next month fishing for white fish with nets and catching them in considerable numbers. These were the main food supply of their dogs.
When Lion and I returned from our trip up the river we found these Indians camped around Hodgson's Point, but to our relief they stayed there only a few days. Among them was the Francois outfit, quite unabashed and perfectly innocent that they had done anything out of the way in leav- ing Lion by himself. Francois had killed thirty-two caribou in the course of the season and brought us in a good supply of dry and pounded meat in return for the rifle we had lent him.
The total Indian population around our end of the lake was then about twenty-five, men, women, and children ; and this was the most we ever saw assembled in one place. There was Francois and his family, and Francois's brother Modeste and his family. Then there was an Indian that we used to call "Squiny," an evil-looking customer, though I must say his looks were the only thing we ever had against him. He had rather a nice, meek, and
Cbe Svpiligbt of tbe l?ear
141
gentle wife, and several children. There was the Indian woman who worked for Hornby, and her family ; I think she was a widow, I never knew her name. She was a cheery, energetic woman, quite as effective a worker as any of the men and a whole lot more cheerful. She had a boy of about fourteen,
Bear Lakers Breaking Camp
Harry we called him, who was a nice lad. Last, but not least, was an old chap we called Jacob, his wife and two boys.
Next to Mrs. Francois, whom we all liked for her quiet ladylike ways, Jacob was the chief favourite and most welcome at our house. He never abused our hospitality ; he was always cheerful and nearly always amusing. He was the only one of the men who would condescend to smile and look happy.
These people used to come around our house a good deal at first, but found that we didn't want anything and that there was very little to be got out of us, so they soon went their own ways. The Francois family always
142
Xanfcs iTorlorn
considered they had some claim on us and any odd jobs we wanted done in the way of curing caribou skins, and so forth, was usually given to them, but some of our work went to Jacob too, who was really more reliable.
None of these people could talk English ; such spoken intercourse as we
Some of the Bear Lake Indians. Frangois Family to Right
had with them we carried on through Mrs. Francois, who could talk French. It usually took the Doctor's and my own combined knowledge of the lan- guage (little enough at that) to carry on a conversation. At first the Doctor used to tackle the job by himself, but Lion and I would laugh so much at his efforts, that he insisted on my taking part as well. It made a more efficient combination any way, for while the Doctor could understand much better what Mrs. Frangois was trying to say I knew more French words than he did. Lion kept out of it and so had the laugh all by himself, and indeed it was laughable enough.
Gbe Swiligbt of tbe Uear 143
With the others we had to fall back on signs and the very few Indian words that we picked up. In the matter of signs Jacob was the most fluent. He would come in and sit down quietly in a corner, and after we had given him a cup of tea he would start making all kinds of curious and compli- cated flourishes. Usually we gathered from them what he wanted, but one day he had me completely at a loss to know what it was all about. He looked unusually mournful, his gestures were wilder and weirder than ever before; at last he gave up the job before my hopeless stupidity and sadly left the house. It was sometime later before I knew what he wanted on this occasion. He had had a row with his wife, and wished me to go and smooth things out!
I should say here that we saw none of that harsh treatment of their women supposed to be the custom of the Northern Indians. Hard labour by every one is the stern rule of the North, even the children and young dogs must help out as well as they can when the family is on the march. But we never saw that the women had any undue share of the work, or that they were treated as mere beasts of burden. On the contrary the sexes seemed to be on the basis of perfect equality in everything that concerned their domestic life. '
What the Indians in turn thought of us I do not know, certainly we did things very differently from any white man they had seen before in that country, but what their real opinion was I have no idea.
The first two weeks in October were fairly mild, the season was milder with us than it had been with Simpson in 1838. The river, which had frozen across on our return, opened up enough to let us get down to the lake by canoe; so on October 2d, Lion and I made a trip to old Fort Confidence to have a look at those remains.
This place was built originally by Ritch of the Dease and Simpson expedition in 1837, and served as their quarters for two winters. It was reconstructed in 1848 and used by Sir John Richardson that winter when returning from his search for Sir John Franklin between the Mackenzie and Coppermine rivers ; and again the succeeding year by Dr. Rae.
144 Xante jforlorn
The buildings themselves were still standing in 1902 when Hanbury passed through Bear Lake but were destroyed by fire a few years later. Only their outline is now discernible and the four chimneys of the central building, standing like monoliths.
We spent a night there, pitching our tent right on the old site. It was
Camp at Old Fort Confidence
pleasant to get the extensive view of the lake again, the sun set wild and mournful that night, well befitting the season and the place. We returned to our own more cheerful quarters next day, calling on Hornby as we passed his house.
The weather soon turned cold, and by October 2Oth the river was frozen up, but very little snow had fallen as yet. As soon as the ice was strong enough to travel on Hornby intended to return to Lake Rouvier, as we now called the lake at which they had built their shack. Lion and I decided to go up with him ; we wanted to get some experience of winter travelling and
Ewiligbt of tbe !?ear 145
see how we would get on hauling our toboggans. These were the ordinary dog-sleds of the country, short and heavy, quite unsuited for that kind of work, but the only thing we had been able to get.
Hornby had two toboggans, three dogs to each and an Indian boy to help him. We hitched our own toboggans behind his, the ice on the river
t
The First Journey with Dogs
gave a splendid travelling surface, and though the lower rapids were open there was enough ice along the shore and snow on the ground to pass them without trouble. As we ascended the river we had constant evidence how much more severe the climate is to the north-east of Great Bear Lake.
The journey was a thoroughly pleasant one; we had fine weather, not too cold, the thermometer as yet going only to zero at night time. We made good time; it was a treat to pass at a swinging trot some of those places that had cost us so much time and labour when we made the ascent of the river by canoe. It took us only four days to make the trip in spite of having to follow all the windings of the river. The shallow head
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Xanbs forlorn
waters were frozen right to the bottom ; Sandy Creek was solid ice clear through.
Above Hanbury's Kopje we came on the track of an Eskimo sled and pushed on fully expecting to find the Eskimos at the lake.
We found Father Rouvier looking well and cheerful, but learned to
The Shack Built by Father Rouvier and Hornby
our disappointment that the Eskimos had all gone the day before, heading north for the sea coast again. We spent a day with the Father, making a short trip over the hills to the north of the lake, but the weather was too thick to see much of anything. That part of the country was bad enough in summer; in early winter with the sun only a short distance above the horizon and the air full of frozen mist the outlook was miserable indeed.
The Father intended to return to Great Bear Lake at once with the dogs and the Indian boy. Hornby had got the Eskimos to make him a big
Gwiligbt of tbe Pear 147
sledge and the Father loaded this up with both the toboggans and a lot of stuff that he and Hornby had got from the Eskimos.
Hornby's plans were to remain at Lake Rouvier and try some trapping, and the Father intended to return a little later and bring him back.
Lion and I decided we would haul our own toboggans back to Hodgson's Point and hunt as we went.
On October 3ist, we broke camp and made an early start; the weather had been turning colder rapidly. To-day was quite sharp, the thermometer had been —17° in the night. We had a pleasant breakfast with Hornby and the Father then started out across the lake.
We had about one hundred and twenty pounds on each toboggan. Our equipment was then by no means so well worked out as we had it by next spring. We were still using our Johnston's sleeping bags which we had lined with caribou skin ; these were bulky and heavy and we had an unnecessarily large food supply with us. But we made good time on the ice, the tobog- gans slid along down stream almost by themselves. We camped that night below Hanbury's Kopje again ; the Father with his big sledge and six dogs overtook us just as we got there.
He continued his journey down stream next day, while Lion and I went west to Simpson's Point hoping to see some caribou on those plains.
That place of pleasant recollections was very different now to what it had been when the Doctor and I camped there last. The hills and plains were covered with snow ; there was a bitterly cold wind blowing and the air was full of rime. Of caribou there were no signs whatever, the whole aspect of things was so utterly bleak and miserable that we decided to make our way farther down the river. We moved our camp about five miles down stream that afternoon, and made an early start again next morning.
The days were very short now and it was necessary to camp about four in the afternoon. But one can always break camp in the dark, so we had to turn out very early to get in a fair day's work. We usually turned out at 4 A.M. or shortly after; an unhappy proceeding it was to turn out of our nice
148 %ant>6 iforlorn
warm sleeping bags into a pitch darkness or at best unsympathising stars. It took about a couple of hours to get breakfast and break camp.
We made good headway till noon ; then it began to snow. This freshly fallen snow made the hauling very heavy and our foothold on the ice more difficult than ever.
Things got worse and worse with us ; we had to rest every few hundred yards, then every hundred, finally it would take a severe effort to move those toboggans fifty yards or less between rests. At last we could positively get no farther; we put up our tent on the top of a high bank of the river where there were a few spruce trees.
The wind rose strong from the north-west increasing to a regular gale, the temperature dropped suddenly till it reached —4°. There was wood enough, but in that strong wind the fire did us no good; we got tea as well as we could and turned into our sleeping-bags hoping the tent would hold, and for better times next day.
In spite of the gale the tent held all right and better times came ; next day was perfectly lovely, bright, cold, and clear; we hauled those toboggans nearly twenty miles and camped that afternoon on the shore opposite the East River, near the same place where we had had lunch and heard Hornby's shot more than a month before.
We had intended to make another attempt to follow up this river and we did ascend it for a few miles, but evidently it ran through so much the same kind of country as the main branch of the Dease River that we gave it up as lacking in interest. It was on this little stream that Stefannson had made his winter quarters the preceding year ; we saw no trace of them, but possibly they were farther up the river than we went.
There were no signs of caribou anywhere, and we were heartily sick of this toboggan hauling as a form of amusement so decided to get back to Hodgson's Point as quick as we could.
We got to the canyon that afternoon at 4 P.M. ; this is about twelve miles by the river. The hauling had been fairly good and encouraged by a good tea we determined to try and make Hodgson's Point that same night. The
of tbe HJear 149
moon was old enough to give a fair light, but it began to snow and the going became so heavy that by the time we got to No. i Camp, some four miles below the canyon, we were completely done up. We had not enough energy left even to light a fire or pitch the tent. We spread it out on the snow, unrolled and crawled into our sleeping-bags, threw one flap of the tent over us, and fell asleep at once.
It was daylight before we woke up, a couple of inches of snow had fallen during the night, and we lay snug and warm under it, after one of the finest sleeps I ever had in my life.
The going was terribly heavy to-day ; Lion had hurt his knee falling on a boulder in the river the night before and I had strained some sinew in my instep. It took us till one that afternoon to get to Indian Grave, and al- though we had only about three miles farther to go we had to abandon the heavier of the two toboggans here.
Even with both of us hitched to the smaller and lighter one we found it hard enough in our condition and we were thoroughly glad to get home. It looked unusually spacious and comfortable that night; our two candles seemed to give a perfect flood of light and a good meal at a civilised table was especially delightful.
The Doctor was well and cheerful ; we heard that the Father had arrived only the day before. Notwithstanding the assistance of the dogs his trip had been almost as arduous as our own.
My week of cook had come around again, but it was a posi- tive pleasure to turn out and light the fire after our last ten days' ex- periences.
The Doctor volunteered to bring in the abandoned toboggan ; Lion and I agreed most cheerfully, and awaited developments. About 2 P.M. we heard him coming down the river, panting like a freight locomotive hitting a heavy grade, sweating like a horse, and smelling, as he said, like a sheep; he was wearing Stanfield's heavy wool underwear, and his description was a singularly apt one. After that experience the Doctor's opinion of toboggan hauling agreed perfectly with our own. I could express it truthfully only
150 Olanfcs jforiorn
by offending that convention which permits more latitude in private speech than in a written record.
The Father made the journey to Lake Rouvier a few days after this with the dogs and toboggan, and the Doctor went with him. They met Hornby at Hanbury's Kopje. He had got so tired of the trapping job that he had made himself a little sledge and was on his way back to Bear Lake when the others found him. I should add that after this Hornby's opinion of sleigh hauling was curiously like our own.
They all returned together; Father Rouvier and Hornby took up their quarters in Hornby's house and we settled into a regular and systematic life that lasted five months with scarcely a break.
VI
A WINTER IN THE ARCTIC
OUR house was about 14 ft. by 1 6 ft. ; it appeared low from the outside but the floor was some six inches below ground level, and there was plenty of head room. The low floor was a good point under the circumstances as the soil was gravelly and there was no possibility of water draining in from anywhere.
It was built of spruce logs, "chinked" with moss and caribou hair, of which there had been great quantities lying around where the Hodgsons' outfit and their Indians had been curing skins.
It was thoroughly well mudded inside and out, and the inside was papered with the leaves of illustrated magazines that Hornby had given us. The floor was made of wooden blocks stamped in on end and all the cracks filled up with fine sand.
The roof was made of small spruce poles, chinked with caribou hair, then a layer of dry sand. Above all was spread the waterproof canvas we had brought for possible canoe-building purposes.
The fireplace was across one corner of the house ; this most important feature was a regular triumph. Lion had departed from the usual custom of the country which makes the fireplace small and narrow, the logs to be burned standing on end; these fireplaces are an awful nuisance, besides being very inefficient. Lion's fireplace was a regular wide and deep one, with a big slab of quartzite for a mantelpiece. The chimney drew beauti- fully, smoke was quite unknown in our house.
151
152
Xante forlorn
We had two small windows that we had brought all the way from Fort Simpson; one of these looked towards the south, the other to the west. The door opened on the south side of the house at the corner diagonally opposite to the fireplace.
Lion had made a good table and we had four folding wooden chairs
Hodgson's Point at the Beginning of Winter
that we had got on the "Mackenzie River. " Along the wall near the fire- place was a row of shelves ; this was our kitchen. We kept the pots and pans on the lower shelves, the table utensils above them, and on top was a long shelf with a row of tin biscuit-boxes in which we kept various provi- sions: flour, sugar, rolled oats, beans, dried apples, etc. We had two cots; the original idea had been to make bunks, but instead of this Lion made a hammock for himself which he swung along the roof -beam. This was a good idea and gave us a maximum of effective room in the house.
a Winter in tbe arctic
153
Our meals were arranged on a schedule to give a minimum trouble to the cook, maximum daylight to the hunter and wood-chopper, and maximum comfort to all. We had breakfast at 9.30 A.M., dinner at 3.30 P.M., and a light supper at 8 P.M.
The Fireplace
For breakfast we had oatmeal porridge ; occasionally bacon and beans, but more often some kind of hash made of caribou or ptarmigan with desiccated potatoes, bannock, and tea.
Dinner consisted of soup; caribou steaks or stews, or roast ptarmigan, with desiccated potatoes ; bannock and stewed apples.
Supper was simply bannock and chocolate.
For our Sunday morning breakfasts we had coffee instead of tea and hominy instead of oatmeal. To the Doctor and myself the weekly coffee
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jforlorn
was a great treat, but Lion wasn't so enthusiastic about it; and I think that I was the only one who considered the hominy decidedly superior to the rolled oats. Sunday dinner was much the same as any other, but at supper that night we had maple syrup with our bannock.
The Kitchen
Our bannocks we baked in a reflector baker before the open fire and we actually got to like them better than the usual bread of civilisation as we found when we got back.
We all became quite expert as cooks, and the various soups, stews, and hashes we could make from caribou and ptarmigan with beans, desiccated potatoes and onions and erbswurst, would compare more than favourably with the productions of any highly paid chef. There was no reason indeed why they should not ; we had the best of materials and what we lacked in
H TOinter in tbe Hrctic 155
mere experience was more than compensated for by our ability to approach the subject quite untrammelled by tradition ; and I trust that our intelligence, at least, was of a higher order than that of the average professional cook. At first there was considerable difference in the results of our various
Lion's Corner
cooking, but later on the Doctor's and my own approximated so closely in character that it was sometimes hard to distinguish our bannocks apart, or some of the various forms of hashes we made. Lion's cooking had an in- dividuality all its own to the very last, especially his bannocks. I don't mean to say it was either better or worse than ours, but simply that it was different.
Lion certainly excelled in the matter of stews; the Doctor in hashes. I like to think that my own soups were distinguished for their peculiar excellency, but this is a daring supposition when those of both of the others
156 Xanfcs jforlorn
were so exceedingly good. Our meals were always leisurely, and certainly we always did them justice. We all read at meals ; our own stock of litera- ture was very limited, but Hornby had quite a collection, cheap reprints of mostly good novels, which we read and re-read I don't know how many times.
Among the few books we had brought with us was Michelet's History of France, which I had borrowed from the Hudson Bay Co.'s factor at Fort Simpson. This served me for "breakfast reading" all the winter. I read that book through several times to my passing interest, but to very little permanent benefit. The Doctor also read it most assiduously. It was in two volumes and he would read one while I pored over the other; then we would exchange and re-exchange them. Whether he knows less about the early history of France now than I do I would hesitate to conjecture. I don't think Lion ever tackled this book; had it been in three volumes he might have done so.
At dinner time, in a more relaxed frame of mind, I always read some of the lighter literature we had. When we had gone through Hornby's