Crew of one canoe which had been sent under Mr.
Livingstone to open a trading communication with those who reside near
the mouth of the Mackenzie River; and he also mentioned that the same
tribe had driven away the canoes under Mr. Clark's direction, going to
them on a similar object, to which circumstance I have alluded in my
remarks at Isle a la Crosse.
This was unpleasant information but we were comforted by Mr. Stuart's
assurance that himself and his partners would use every endeavour to
remove their fears as well as to promote our views in every other way;
and he undertook as a necessary part of our equipment in the spring to
prepare the bark and other materials for constructing two canoes at this
post.
Mr. Stuart informed us that the residents at Fort Chipewyan, from the
recent sickness of their Indian hunters, had been reduced to subsist
entirely on the produce of their fishing-nets, which did not yield more
than a bare sufficiency for their support; and he kindly proposed to us
to remain with him until the spring but, as we were most desirous to gain
all the information we could as early as possible and Mr. Stuart assured
us that the addition of three persons would not be materially felt in
their large family at Chipewyan, we determined on proceeding thither and
fixed on the 22nd for our departure.
Pierre au Calumet receives its name from the place where the stone is
procured, of which many of the pipes used by the Canadians and Indians
are made. It is a clayey limestone, impregnated with various shells. The
house, which is built on the summit of a steep bank rising almost
perpendicular to the height of one hundred and eighty feet, commands an
extensive prospect along this fine river and over the plains which
stretch out several miles at the back of it, bounded by hills of
considerable height and apparently better furnished with wood than the
neighbourhood of the fort where the trees grow very scantily. There had
been an establishment belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company on the
opposite bank of the river but it was abandoned in December last, the
residents not being able to procure provision from their hunters having
been disabled by the epidemic sickness which has carried off one-third of
the Indians in these parts. They belong to the Northern Crees, a name
given them from their residing in the Athabasca department. There are now
but few families of these men who formerly by their numbers and predatory
habits spread terror among the natives of this part of the country.
There are springs of bituminous matter on several of the islands near
these houses; and the stones on the riverbank are much impregnated with
this useful substance. There is also another place remarkable for the
production of a sulphureous salt which is deposited on the surface of a
round-backed hill about half a mile from the beach and on the marshy
ground underneath it. We visited these places at a subsequent period of
the journey and descriptions of them will appear in Dr. Richardson's
Mineralogical Notices.
The latitude of the North-West Company's House is 57 degrees 24 minutes
06 seconds North, but this was the only observation we could obtain, the
atmosphere being cloudy. Mr. Stuart had an excellent thermometer which
indicated the lowest state of temperature to be 43 degrees below zero. He
told me 45 degrees was the lowest temperature he had ever witnessed at
the Athabasca or Great Slave Lake after many years' residence. On the
21st it rose above zero and at noon attained the height of 43 degrees;
the atmosphere was sultry, snow fell constantly, and there was quite an
appearance of a change in the season. On the 22nd we parted from our
hospitable friend and recommenced our journey, but under the expectation
of seeing him again in May, at which time the partners of the Company
usually assemble at Fort Chipewyan where we hoped the necessary
arrangements for our future proceedings would be completed. We encamped
at sunset at the end of fourteen miles, having walked the whole way along
the river which preserves nearly a true north course and is from four
hundred to six hundred yards broad. The banks are high and well clothed
with the liard, spruce, fir, alder, birch-tree and willows. Having come
nineteen miles and a half on the 23rd we encamped among pines of a great
height and girth.
Showers of snow fell until noon on the following day but we continued our
journey along the river whose banks and islands became gradually lower as
we advanced and less abundantly supplied with wood except willows. We
passed an old Canadian who was resting his wearied dogs during the heat
of the sun. He was carrying meat from some Indian lodges to Fort
Chipewyan, having a burden exceeding two hundred and fifty pounds on his
sledge which was dragged by two miserable dogs. He came up to our
encampment after dark. We were much amused by the altercation that took
place between him and our Canadian companions as to the qualifications of
their respective dogs. This however is such a general topic of
conversation among the voyagers in the encampment that we should not
probably have remarked it had not the old man frequently offered to bet
the whole of his wages that his two dogs, poor and lean as they were,
would drag their load to the Athabasca Lake in less time than any three
of theirs. Having expressed our surprise at his apparent temerity he
coolly said the men from the lower countries did not understand the
management of their dogs and that he depended on his superior skill in
driving, and we soon gathered from his remarks that the voyagers of the
Athabasca department consider themselves very superior to any other.
