Away in the Wilderness

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER EIGHT.

  RUNNING THE FALLS--WILD SCENES AND MEN.

  Next day the travellers reached one of those magnificent lakes of whichthere are so many in the wild woods of North America, and which are solike to the great ocean itself, that it is scarcely possible to believethem to be bodies of fresh water until they are tasted.

  The largest of these inland seas is the famous Lake Superior, which isso enormous in size that ships can sail on its broad bosom for severaldays _out_ _of_ _sight_ of land. It is upwards of three hundred mileslong, and about one hundred and fifty broad. A good idea of its sizemay be formed from the fact, that it is large enough to contain thewhole of Scotland, and deep enough to cover her highest hills!

  The lake on which the canoe was now launched, although not so large asSuperior, was, nevertheless, a respectable body of water, on which thesun was shining as if on a shield of bright silver. There were numbersof small islets scattered over its surface; some thickly wooded to thewater's edge, others little better than bare rocks. Crossing this lakethey came to the mouth of a pretty large stream and began to ascend it.The first thing they saw on rounding a bend in the stream was an Indiantent, and in front of this tent was an Indian baby, hanging from thebranch of a tree.

  Let not the reader be horrified. The child was not hanging by the neck,but by the handle of its cradle, which its mother had placed there, tokeep her little one out of the way of the dogs. The Indian cradle is avery simple contrivance. A young mother came out of the tent with herchild just as the canoe arrived, and began to pack it in its cradle.Jasper stopped for a few minutes to converse with one of the Indians, sothat the artist had a good opportunity of witnessing the wholeoperation.

  The cradle was simply a piece of flat board, with a bit of scarlet clothfastened down each side of it. First of all, the mother laid the poorinfant, which was quite naked, sprawling on the ground. A dirty-lookingdog took advantage of this to sneak forward and smell at it, whereuponthe mother seized a heavy piece of wood, and hit the dog such a rap overthe nose as sent it away howling. Then she spread a thick layer of softmoss on the wooden board. Above this she laid a very neat, smallblanket, about two feet in length. Upon this she placed the baby, whichobjected at first to go to bed, squalled a good deal, and kicked alittle. The mother therefore took it up, turned it over, gave it one ortwo hearty slaps, and laid it down again.

  This seemed to quiet it, for it afterwards lay straight out, andperfectly still, with its coal-black eyes staring out of its fat brownface, as if it were astonished at receiving such rough treatment. Themother next spread a little moss over the child, and above that sheplaced another small blanket, which she folded and tucked in verycomfortably, keeping the little one's arms close to its sides, andpacking it all up, from neck to heels, so tightly that it looked morelike the making up of a parcel than the wrapping up of a child. Thisdone, she drew the scarlet cloth over it from each side of the cradle,and laced it down the front. When all was done, the infant looked likean Egyptian mummy, nothing but the head being visible.

  The mother then leaned the cradle against the stem of a tree, andimmediately one of the dogs ran against it, and knocked it over.Luckily, there was a wooden bar attached to the cradle, in front of thechild's face, which bar is placed there on purpose to guard againstinjury from such accidents, so that the bar came first to the ground,and thus prevented the flattening of the child's nose, which, to saytruth, was flat enough already!

  Instead of scolding herself for her own carelessness, the Indian motherscolded the dog, and then hung the child on the branch of a tree, tokeep it from further mischief.

  The next turn in the river revealed a large waterfall, up which it wasimpossible to paddle, so they prepared to make a portage. Beforearriving at the foot of it, however, Jasper landed Heywood, to enablehim to make a sketch, and then the two men shoved off, and proceeded tothe foot of the fall.

  They were lying there in an eddy, considering where was the best spot toland, when a loud shout drew their attention towards the rushing water.Immediately after, a boat was seen to hover for a moment on the brink ofthe waterfall. This fall, although about ten or fifteen feet high, hadsuch a large body of water rushing over it, that the river, instead offalling straight down, gushed over in a steep incline. Down thisincline the boat now darted with the speed of lightning. It was full ofmen, two of whom stood erect, the one in the bow, the other in thestern, to control the movements of the boat.

  For a few seconds there was deep silence. The men held their breath asthe boat leaped along with the boiling flood. There was a curling whitewave at the foot of the fall. The boat cut through this like a knife,drenching her crew with spray. Next moment she swept round into theeddy where the canoe was floating, and the men gave vent to a loud cheerof satisfaction at having run the fall in safety.

  But this was not the end of that exciting scene. Scarcely had theygained the land, when another boat appeared on the crest of the fall.Again a shout was given and a dash made. For one moment there was astruggle with the raging flood, and then a loud cheer as the second boatswept into the eddy in safety. Then a third and a fourth boat wentthrough the same operation, and before the end of a quarter of an hour,six boats ran the fall. The bay at the foot of it, which had been soquiet and solitary when Jasper and his friends arrived, became the sceneof the wildest confusion and noise, as the men ran about with tremendousactivity, making preparations to spend the night there.

  Some hauled might and main at the boats; some carried up the provisions,frying-pans, and kettles; others cut down dry trees with their axes, andcut them up into logs from five to six feet long, and as thick as aman's thigh. These were intended for six great fires, each boat's crewrequiring a fire to themselves.

  While this was going on, the principal guides and steersmen crowdedround our three travellers, and plied them with questions; for it was sounusual to meet with strangers in that far-off wilderness, that a chancemeeting of this kind was regarded as quite an important event.

  "You're bound for York Fort, no doubt," said Jasper, addressing a tallhandsome man of between forty and fifty, who was the principal guide.

  "Ay, that's the end of our journey. You see we're taking our furs downto the coast. Have you come from York Fort, friend!"

  "No, I've come all the way from Canada," said Jasper, who thereupon gavethem a short account of his voyage.

  "Well, Jasper, you'll spend the night with us, won't you?" said theguide.

  "That will I, right gladly."

  "Come, then, I see the fires are beginning to burn. We may as well havea pipe and a chat while supper is getting ready."

  The night was now closing in, and the scene in the forest, when thecamp-fires began to blaze, was one of the most stirring and romanticsights that could be witnessed in that land. The men of the brigadewere some of them French-Canadians, some natives of the Orkney Islands,who had been hired and sent out there by the Hudson's Bay Company,others were half-breeds, and a few were pure Indians. They were alldressed in what is called _voyageur_ costume-coats or capotes of blue orgrey cloth, with hoods to come over their heads at night, and fastenedround their waists with scarlet worsted belts; corduroy or greytrousers, gartered outside at the knees, moccasins, and caps. But mostof them threw off their coats, and appeared in blue and red stripedcotton shirts, which were open at the throat, exposing their broad,sun-burned, hairy chests. There was variety, too, in the caps--some hadScotch bonnets, others red nightcaps, a few had tall hats, ornamentedwith gold and silver cords and tassels, and a good many wore no coveringat all except their own thickly-matted hair. Their faces were burned toevery shade of red, brown, and black, from constant exposure, and theywere strong as lions, wild as zebras, and frolicksome as kittens.

  It was no wonder, then, that Heywood got into an extraordinary state ofexcitement and delight as he beheld these wild, fine-looking men smokingtheir pipes and cooking their suppers, sitting, lying, and standing,talking and singing, and
laughing, with teeth glistening and eyesglittering in the red blaze of the fires--each of which fires was bigenough to have roasted a whole ox!

  The young artist certainly made good use of his opportunity. He wentabout from fire to fire, sketch-book in hand, sketching all thebest-looking men in every possible attitude, sometimes singly, andsometimes in groups of five or six. He then went to the farthest end ofthe encampment, and, in the light of the last fire, made a picture ofall the rest.

  The kettles were soon steaming. These hung from tripods erected overthe fires. Their contents were flour and pemmican, made into a thicksoup called Rubbiboo.

  As pemmican is a kind of food but little known in this country, I may aswell describe how it is made. In the first place, it consists ofbuffalo meat. The great plains, or prairies, of America, which are likehuge downs or commons hundreds of miles in extent, afford grasssufficient to support countless herds of deer, wild horses, and bisons.The bisons are called by the people there buffaloes. The buffalo issomewhat like an enormous ox, but its hind-quarters are smaller and itsfore-quarters much larger than those of the ox. Its hair is long andshaggy, particularly about the neck and shoulders, where it becomesalmost a mane. Its horns are thick and short, and its look is veryferocious, but it is in reality a timid creature, and will only turn toattack a man when it is hard pressed and cannot escape. Its flesh isfirst-rate for food, even better than beef, and there is a large hump onits shoulder, which is considered the best part of the animal.

  Such is the bison, or buffalo, from which pemmican is made.

  When a man wishes to make a bag of pemmican, he first of all kills thebuffalo--not an easy thing to do by any means, for the buffalo runswell. Having killed him, he skins him and cuts up the meat--also adifficult thing to do, especially if one is not used to that sort ofwork. Then he cuts the meat into thin layers, and hangs it up to dry.Dried meat will keep for a long time. It is packed up in bales and sentabout that country to be used as food. The next thing to be done is tomake a bag of the raw hide of the buffalo. This is done with a glover'sneedle, the raw sinews of the animal being used instead of thread. Thebag is usually about three feet long, and eighteen inches broad, and thehair is left on the outside of it. A huge pot is now put on the fire,and the fat of the buffalo is melted down. Then the dried meat ispounded between two stones, until it is torn and broken up into shreds,after which it is put into the bag, the melted fat is poured over it,and the whole is well mixed. The last operation is to sew up the mouthof the bag and leave it to cool, after which the pemmican is ready foruse.

  In this state a bag of pemmican will keep fresh and good for years.When the search was going on in the polar regions for the lost ships ofSir John Franklin, one of the parties hid some pemmican in the ground,intending to return and take it up. They returned home, however,another way. Five years later some travellers discovered this pemmican,and it was found, at that time, to be fit for food. Pemmican isextensively used throughout Rupert's Land, especially during summer, forat that season the brigades of boats start from hundreds of inlandtrading-posts to take the furs to the coast for shipment to England, andpemmican is found to be not only the best of food for these hard-workingmen, but exceedingly convenient to carry.

  Supper finished, the wild-looking fellows of this brigade took to theirpipes, and threw fresh logs on the fires, which roared, and crackled,and shot up their forked tongues of flame, as if they wished to devourthe forest. Then the song and the story went round, and men told ofterrible fights with the red-men of the prairies, and desperateencounters with grizzly bears in the Rocky Mountains, and narrow escapesamong the rapids and falls, until the night was half spent. Then, oneby one, each man wrapped himself in his blanket, stretched himself onthe ground with his feet towards the fire and his head pillowed on acoat or a heap of brush-wood, and went to sleep.

  Ere long they were all down, except one or two long-winded storytellers, who went on muttering to their pipes after their comrades wereasleep. Even these became tired at last of the sound of their ownvoices, and gradually every noise in the camp was hushed, except thecrackling of the fires as they sank by degrees and went out, leaving theplace in dead silence and total darkness.

  With the first peep of dawn the guide arose. In ten minutes after hisfirst shout the whole camp was astir. The men yawned a good deal atfirst and grumbled a little, and stretched themselves violently, andyawned again. But soon they shook off laziness and sprang to theirwork. Pots, pans, kettles, and pemmican bags were tossed into theboats, and in the course of half-an-hour they were ready to continue thevoyage.

  Jasper stood beside the guide looking on at the busy scene.

  "Heard you any news from the Saskatchewan of late," said he.

  "Not much," replied the guide; "there's little stirring there just now,except among the Indians, who have been killing and scalping each otheras usual. But, by the way, that reminds me there has been a sort of rowbetween the Indians and the Company's people at Fort Erie."

  "Fort Erie," said Jasper with a start.

  "Ay, that's the name o' the fort, if I remember right," returned theguide. "It seems that one o' the men there, I think they call himLaroche--but what makes you start, friend Jasper? Do you know anythingof this man."

  "Yes, he's a friend of mine. Go on, let me hear about it."

  "Well, there's not much to tell," resumed the guide. "This Laroche, itwould appear, has got into hot water. He has a daughter, a good lookin'wench I'm told, and, better than that, a well-behaved one. One o' theIndians had been impertinent to the girl, so old Laroche, who seems tobe a fiery fellow, up fist, hit him on the nose, and knocked the savageflat on his back. A tremendous howl was set up, and knives and hatchetswere flourished; but Mr Pemberton, who is in charge of Fort Erie, ranin and pacified them. The Indian that was floored vows he'll have thehair of old Laroche's head."

  This taking the hair off people's heads, or scalping, as it is called,is a common practice among the North American Indians. When a savagekills his enemy he runs his scalping knife round the dead man's head,seizes the hair with his left hand and tears the scalp off. Indeed thisdreadful cruelty is sometimes practised before death has occurred. Thescalp with its lock of hair is taken home by the victor, and hung up inhis tent as a trophy of war. The man who can show the greatest numberof scalps is considered the greatest warrior. The dresses of Indianwarriors are usually fringed with human scalp-locks.

  "That's a bad business," said Jasper, who was concerned to hear suchnews of his intended father-in-law. "Do ye know the name o' thisred-skinned rascal?"

  "I heard it mentioned," said the guide, "but I can't remember it at thismoment."

  "The boats are ready to start," said one of the steersmen, coming upjust then.

  "Very good, let the men embark. Now, Jasper, we must part. Give us ashake o' your hand. A pleasant trip to you."

  "The same to you, friend," said Jasper, returning the guide's squeeze.

  In another minute the boats were away.

  "Now, friends, we shall start," said Jasper, breaking the deep silencewhich followed the departure of the brigade.

  "Good," said Arrowhead.

  "I'm ready," said Heywood.

  The canoe was soon in the water, and the men in their places; but theystarted that morning without a song. Arrowhead was never inclined to benoisy, Heywood was sleepy, and Jasper was rendered anxious by what hehad heard of his friends at Fort Erie, so they paddled away in silence.