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Les diagrammes suivants illustrant la mAthode. rata o lalure. lA □ 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 S 6 "J^ APPLETONS' JOURNAL. A VOYAGE WITH THE VOYAGEURS. tive frame, enough of the aboriginal to impart supple- ness, and sufficient of the white to add a certain so- lidity of frame lacking in the savage. His features, too, were regular to a fault ; complexion nut-brown, eyes black, and long black hair hanging down in a straight mass over his shoulders. He wore a tas- seled cap, and was also en capoU; but of line blue cloth ornamented with' two rows of silver-gilt but- tons ; variegated sash and moccasins, of course. As a rule, the voyai^iiirs arc of French extrac- tion, descendants of the trappers and traders of the old fur-companies, though by long intermarrLigc the blood of four nationalities mingles in their veins. Their grandfathers have been French -Canadians, their gnindmothers Crow squaws ; English, and Cree, and Ojibway, have contributed to their descent on the mother's side. This mixture has produced, in most instances, a genial, good-humored, and hand- some fellow ; although, as a class, with some clever- nc.% and cheerfulness, their faces generally betray a certain moodiness of temper, and lack the fiank and honest respectability stamped upon countenances more purely Anglo-Saxon. Swarthy in '.omplexion, with dark hair and eyes, their features are generally good and aquiline in character ; and, although some- times coarse, are invariably well-proportioned. Phys- ically, they are a fme race ; tall, straight, and well- proportioned, lightly formed but strong, and ex- tremely active and enduring. Of more supple build, as a rule, than the Indian, they combine his endur- ance and readiness of resource with the greater mus- cular strength and perseverance of the white man. In dispisition they are a merry, light-hearted race, recklessly generous, hospitable, and extrava- gant. When idle, they spend much of their time in singing, dancing, and gossiping from house to house, getting drunk upon the slightest occasion ; and, when the voyagcur drinks, he does it, as he says, comme il faut — that is, until he obtains the desired happiness of complete intoxication. Vanity is his besetting sin, and he will deprive himself and his family of the common necessaries of life to become the envied possessor of any gewgaw that may hap- pen to attract his fancy. Intensely superstitious, and a firm believer in dreams, omens, and warnings, he is an apt disciple of the Romish faith. Com- pletely under the influence of his priest, in most re- spects, and observing the outward forms of his relig- ion with great regularity, he is yet grossly immoral, often dishonest, and generally untrustworthy. No sense of duty seems to actuate his daily life ; for, though the word devoir is often on the lips of this semi-Frenchman, the principle of dnmr is not so strong in his heart as are the impulses of passion and caprice. But little aptitude for continuous la- bor, moreover, belongs to his constitution. No man will labor more cheerfully and gallantly at the severe toil pertinent to his calling ; but these efforts are of short duration, and, wht.k they are ended, his chief INFINITELY picturesque was the starting of the boat-brigade for the Mission of the White Dog and beyond. Far down on the sandy beach, below the eyrie upon which was perched a Hudson's Bay Company's post — a veritable mediaeval castle trans- planted to the bluffs of the Northwest — lay the eight boats composing it. Just then they were in holid.iy apparel, and decorated for departure : small red flags ; streaming ribbons, gaudy ensigns, and the spreading antlers of moose and elk, appeared every- where above the square packages of freight. Con- gregated upon the beach, attired in their bravest apparel, and accompanied by wives and sweethearts, who had come to wish them a final ban voyage, were the seventy or more half-i 'eed and Indian voyageurs who constituted their crews. The crowd ran the gamut of color from the deep copper of the aboriginal to the pure white of the Caucasian. Many of the women were clearly of unmingled Indian blood. Tall and angular, long masses of straight black hair fell on their backs ; blue-and-white cotton gowns, shapeless, stayless, un- crinolined, displayed the flatness of their unproject- ing figures. Some wore a gaudy handkerchief on the head ; the married also bound one across the bosom. The half-castes were of better form, many of them being quite handsome. Smaller in figure, they were at once better rounded, and more lithe and willowy. Theirs was the rich, dark beauty of the Creole type. It was not, however, their comeliness of feature that impressed the traveler ; it was their grace — that sup- ple shapeliness, that sveltesse, for which the English tongue has no word. A comely half-breed woman's figure impresses one as a startling realization of the Greek ideal of grace — a statue by Phidias animated and garbed — a living Venus of flushed bronze. Beauty of feature with them is, perhaps, not a com- mon gift ; but, when one does find it, he straightway dreams of Titian, and Veronese, and Tintoretto. The voyageurs themselves, if Indian, were gen- erally young men, heavy-set, copper-colored, and highly ornamented ; their black hair greased and plaited into small braids, from which depended bright-colored ribbons and feathers. About their thick necks were broad bands of wampum, from which hung suspended over the throat huge silver medals. These medals were not the rewards of valuable service, however, but may be purchased at any company's store. Their capotes were open at the throat, and revealed broad, uncovered chests, corded with muscles. In place of the customary variegated sash, they wore broad leather belts, in which were slung their fire-bcigs, beaded and quilt- ed, and serving upon occasion as pocket -books. If the vayageur were half-breed, however, he was a little above the medium height, with lithe, ac- / \ ■1- 1/ • r 9jp>ffiee of a child of the prairie and stream, peeps out of the green. Happily, the novelty of a first voyage by boat-brigade was sufficient to engross the attention of the traveler, and attract his thoughts from the panorama offered by Nature to the vignette of no.-them boat-life embraced within the limits oc- cupied by the eight boats speeding their way down the centre of the broad stream. The comparatively limited season during which water transportation is available in the north, the nature of the cargoes to be transported, and the chan- nels through which they must pass, render the strict- ly summer months a season of .nuch bustle and ac- tivity. The loss of a few days in the departure of 248 APPLETONS' JOURNAL. boats destined for the interior may deprive some important district of the means of traffic for the en- suing year, and necessitate the holding over of im- mense blocks of goods, to the serious derangement of trade, and a lieavy curtailment of tlic annual prof- its. The matter of transportation, then, is one of vital imirartancc to the fur-company, and is conducted with a care and system devoted, perhaps, to no otiier branch of a trade in which a close attention to de- tails and routine arc distinguishing features. Though the actual duties of freighting occupy but about four months in the year, yet the preparation pertinent to its perfect performance engrosses to a great extent the remaining eight. The result is a system so per- fect that over the long courses traversed by the boat- brigades their arrival may be c.ilculated upon almost to the hour ; and the anxious tr.-.der may ascend his lookout-post with the certainty of seeing sweeping round the nearest point the well-laden boats, with swarthy crews bending low to their oars, and singing their weird <-/<(;/»c//x in time to the measured stroke. The frcighting-season begins about the first week in June, when the ice has disappeared from the riv- ers, and the spring supplies of merchandise destined for the interior have reached the depot forts. At that period the advance brigade of seven or eight boats leaves Fort Garry — now the principal point of forwarding in the service — followed a week after by yet another. This interval is allowed in order to prevent the meeting of the boats at any post, thereby creating undue bustle and confusion. These boats tend north and northwest toward Methy Port.ige and York Factory, there to meet other brigades from the remote arctic districts, to whom they deliver their cargoes, receiving in exchange the furs brought down from the interior posts — the proceeds of the year's trade. When this exchange is effected, each brigade retraces its course. The time occupied by the long- est trip — that of Methy Portage, the height of land from which the Wt-xters flow into Hudson's Bay and the Arctic Ocean — is about four months. Numerous shorter trips arc also made, and the whole country is alive during this season with advancing and return- ing boats. The peculiar nature of the transportation service of the company necessitates certain conditions in freight, boats and boatmen pertaining to it, not else- where to be found. The entire water-carriage of the country is performed by means of what are techni- cally called " inland boats," of three and a half tons' burden, and requiring nine men as crew. Of the shape of the ordinary whale-boat, they carry a small mast, unsfcpped at will, upon which, in crossing lakes, should the wind prove favorable, a square sail is set. A small platform or deck covers the stern of the vessel, upon which is seated the steersman, using at times the ordinary lever-rudder ; again a long sweep, with one stroke of which the direction of the craft is Mdically changed. The steersman is cap- tain of the vessel, the eight men under him being ranged as "middle-men," or rowers. A number of these boats constitute a brigtide, over which a guide, skilled m the intricacies of current and coast, is placed, and who may be regarded as the commodore of the fleet. Mis duty is to guide the brigade through dangerous waters, to support the authority of the steersmen, and to transact tiie business of the brigade at the stations touched en nmlt\ The posi- I tion is an important one when properly filled, and is gcpcrally held by the same person until advancing years necessitate its relincjuishment. III. RAriDLY we sped down the waters of the turbid stream, and monotonously echoed the loud "ough !" of the rioyagetirs as they rose from their seats with each stroke of the oar, only to sink back again with a sudden jar as the broad blades left the water. Stately swans looking thoughtfully into the stream, tall cranes standing motionless on one leg, and liocks of every hue disappearing behind the foliage screen- ing the mouth of some creek or coolie, were the only living things to be seen. The landscape was monot- onously splendid, and the hours passed in unvarying succession. Ten minutes in every hour were al- lowed the hardy voyageurs for rest ; the long oars were lifted from the flood, from every fire-b-ig came pipes and tobacco, and the bark of the gray willow, mingled in cqu.il proportion with the Indian weed, lent its fragrance to the morning air. After such pleasant interlude the paddles were plied with re- newed vigor, and soon the woods disappeared ; and the banks, which gradually sank to a lower level, be- came covered with the long, reedy grass marking the delta of the stream. Farther on, even the sem- blance of vegetation afforded by the reeds ceased abruptly, leaving naught but a sandy bar submerged at high tide, and the waters of an immense lake extending northward out of sight — a lake which stretched away into unseen places, and on whose waters a fervid June sun was playing strange freaks of mirage and inverted shore-land. Upon the sand-bar at the outlet of the main chan- nel our boats were run along-shore, and preparations ensued for the mid-day meal. Generally speaking, while voyaging, it is only allowable to put ashore for breakfast, a cold dinner being taken in the boats ; but, as no voyageur could be expected to labor in his holiday-apparel, a halt was necessary before setting out upon the lake. The low beach yielded ample store of driftwood, the relics of many a northern gale, and of this a fire was lighted, and the dinner- apparatus arranged in the stern-sheets of the boat. The functions of the chef, limited to the preparation of pemmican in some palatable way, were simple enough. For trip-men pemmican is the unalterable bill-of-fare. It is the favorite food of the half-breed and Indian voyageurs, and is nearly altogether com- posed of buffalo-meat. The fresh meat is first cut into thin slices, then dried over a fir*^ or in the sun, after which it is beaten into a thick, flaky substance. In this state it is placed in a bag, manufactured from the raw-hide of the animal, and the pulpy mass sol- dered down by melted fat poured over it, the propor- tions of fat and pounded meat being about equal. The best pemmican usually has sugar and service- \i i A VOYAGE WITH THE VOYAGEURS. 249 I » M i or- al. berries added to it, and in this state n considered very deliciouii. I'emmican tastes like noming else in the world, but is very satisfying and nutritive. It may be pre- pared in many w:iys, and, to the unaccustomed trav- eler, it is a matter of difficulty to decide which meth- od is the least objectionable. There is ruMfioo, and richot, and pemmican plain, and peinmican raw, the former being the method most in vogue with the trip-men. A'ltiri/ioo consists solely of pemmican and flour boiled into a sort of thick soup. Though not a delicate di>h, it is, nevertheless, very nutritious, and the voyiif^i-Hi-s are extremely fond of it. Kichot, however, a cnm])osiiion of the same materials, but fried instc.i made until a favorable camping-spot is reached, when the boats arc again beached, and breakfast prepared. Then succeeds a renewed ply- ing of the oars, or, if the wind prove favorable, the sails are set and the little fleet glides smoothly on 1 its way. When the wind is fair and the weather 1 fine, boats make very long traverses, keeping so far ' out that, about the middle of the run, neither the point from which they started nor the one toward which they arc steering is visible. In calm weather, : however, when the oars arc used, it is usual to keep closer in-shore and make shorter traverses. The pur- suit of game and wild-fuwl, daily indulged in, tends to vary the monotony of the voyage. Occasionally the brecding-pi.icos of the latter are found, in which event the crews l.iy in a slock of eggs and young birds sufficient for the trip. Again, returning boats are encountered, and a short season devoted to the exchange of news and compliments. The wind springing up, the guide ordered all sail .set, and stood far out into the middle of the lake. The boats of the b.-igade proving very un- equal s.Tilors, from difi'ercnce in build and unetpial lading, the white sails soon lost all semblance of line, and straggled over the placid waters of the lake, each upon its own lack. Nor did they meet again until we entered the mouth of the Winnipeg River, shortly after mid-day, and prepared to force its twenty-seven portages, the first of which began but eight miles above tnc company's fort, at its delta. The Winnipeg River, with twice the volume of water the Rhine pours forth, descends three hun- dred and sixty feet in a distance of one hundred and sixty miles. This descent is not efTectcd by a con- tinuous decline, but by a series of terraces at irregu- lar distances from each other, thus forming innu- merable lakes and wide-expanding reaches, bound together by rapids and perpendicular falls of vary- ing altitudes. It was over this broken pathway of rock and stream, of terrace and lagoon, that the course of the boat-brignde now lay. To describe the forcing of one barrici' is only to iterate that of the one preceding or following it. Passing through lonely lakes and island-studded bays, there sounds ahead the rush and roar of fall- ing water ;* and, rounding some pine-clad island or projecting blulT, a tumbling mass of foam and spray, studded with rocks and bordered with dark-green shores, bars the way. Above the falls nothing can be seen ; below, the waters boil in angry surge for a moment, then leap away in maddened flight, threat- ening to toss the well-laden boats like corks upon their sweeping surface. Hut against this boiling, rushing flood comes the craft and skill of the in- trepid voyageurs. They advance upon the fall as if it were an equally subtle enemy with themselves ; they steal upon it before it is aware. The immense volume of water after its wild leap lingers a moment in the huge caldron at the foot of the fall ; then, escaping from the circling eddies and whirlpools, sweeps away in rushing flood into the calmer waters below. But this mighty rush in mid-stream produces a counter-current along- shore, which, taking an opposite turn, sweepi back nearly, if not quite, to the foot of the fall. Into t!\is back-current the stealthy voyagt-urs steer their well-laden boat On one side the rocky bank towers overhead, slender pine and fir trees finding preca- rious foothold in its crevices ; on the other, ofttimes but a yard from the advancing boat, sweeps the mad rush of the central current. Up the back-current goes the boat, driven cautiously by its oarsmen, un- til, just in advance of its bow, appears the whirlpool in which it ends, at the foot of the fall. To enter that revolving mass of waters is to be wrecked in a twinkling ; to turn into the broad current of the mid-stream is, apparently, to be swept away in a moment of time. What next ? I'or a moment there is no paddling, the bows- man and steersman alone keeping the boat in posi- lion as she rapidly drifts into the whirlpool. Among the crew not a word is spoken ; but every man is at his utmost tension, and awaiting the instant which shall call every nerve, muscle, and intelligence. Into play. Now the supreme moment has come ; for on one side begins the mighty rush of the mid-current, and on the other circle and twist the green, hollowing curv-es of the angry whirlpool, revolving round its axis of air with a mighty strength that would over- turn and suck down the stanch wliale-boat in the twinkling of an eye. Just as the prow touches the angry curves, a quick shout is given by the bowsinan, and the boat shoots full into the centre of the rush- ing stream, driven by the united efforts of the crew, supplemeuted by extra oarsmen from the other boats. The men work for their very lives, and the boat breasts across the stream full in the very face of the fall. The waters foam and dash around her ; the mad waves leap over the gunwale ; the voyageurs shout as they dash their oars like lightning into the flood ; and the traveler holds his breath amid this war of man against Nature, But the struggle seems useless. Man can effect naught against such a tor- rent ; the boat is close iigainst the rocks, and is driven down despite the rapid strokes of the oars- men. For an instant she pauses, as if gathering strength for her mad flight down the mid-current. The dead strength of the rushing flood seems to have prevailed, when lo ! the whole thing is done. A dexterous twist of the oars, and the boat floats sud- denly beneath a little rocky isle in mid-stream, at the foot of the fall. The portage handing is over this rock, while a few yards out on either side the mighty flood sweeps on its headlong course. A voyagcur leaps out on the wet, slippery rock, and holds the boat in pLice while the others get out. The cool fellows laugh as they survey the torrent they have just defeated, then turn to carry the freight piece by piece up the rocky stairway, and deposit it upon the flat landing ten feet above. That accom- plished, the boat is dragged over, and relaunched upon the very lip of the fall. But slightly different was the ascent of many of the rapids encountered from time to time. Upon arriving at one, advantage was taken of the back- as* APPLETONS' JOURNAL. r water near the banks, to run up as far as the etUy would permit ; then the bowsman rose in his seat and craned his neck forward to take a look Ijeforc attempting the passage. Signaling the route he in- tended to pursue to the steersman, the boat was at once shot into the chaos of boiling waters that rushed swiftly by. At (ir.it it was swc|>t downward with the speed of an arrow, while the mad flood threatened to swamp it in a moment. To the trav- eler, unaccustomed to such perilous navigation, it seemed utter fully to attempt the ascent ; but a mo- i ment more revealed the plan, and brought the I stanch craft into a temporary harbor. Right in the middle of the central current a huge rock rose above the surface, while from its base a long eddy ran, like the gradually-lessening tail of a comet, for nearly a score of yards. It was just opposite this rock that the voyagcurs had entered the rapid, and for which they p.iddled with all their might. The current, sweeping them down, brought the boat just to the extreme point of the eddy by the time mid-stream was reached, and a few vigorous strokes of the oars floated it quietly in the lee of the rock. A minute's rest, and the bowsman selected another rock a few yards higher up, and a great deal tc one side. An- other rush was made, and the second haven reached. In this way, yard for yard, the boat-brigade ascended for miles, sometimes scarcely gaining a foot ; again, as a favoring bay or curve presented a long stretch of smooth water, advancing more rapidly. In rapids where the strength of the current for- bade the use of oars, progress was made by .neans of the tracking-line. Tracking, as it is called, is dreadfully harassing work. Half the crew go ashore, and drag the boat slowly along, while the other half go asleep. After an hour's walk, the others then take their turn, and so on alternately during the en- tire day. As the banks about the rapids were gen- erally high, and very precipitous, the voyagcttrs had to scramble along, now close to the water's edge, again high up the bank, on ledges where they could hardly And a footing, and where they resembled flies on a wall. The banks, too, com|insc(l of soft clay and mud, increased the labor of hauling ; but the light-hearted voyagcurs seemed to think nothing of it, and laughed and joked as they toiled along, play- ing tricks upon each other, and plunging occasionally up to the waist in mud and water, with a reckless carelessness all their own. So, day after day, the boat-brigade journeyed on : through island-studded bays, over long rcnches of limpid water whose placid surf.nte not a ripple stirred, over turbid floods thick with tlic ooze of muddy banks, breasting fierce rapids, cliniliing thun- dering waterfalls ; sometimes making a fair day's travel ; again, after a day of weary toil, Mvouacking almost within sight of last night's camp-lire. One day the traveler became aware of an undue excitement and bustle among the swarthy crews of the brigade. The pointed prows were turned shore- ward, and ran upon a pebbly beach, afliirding easy access to the limpid water, and facing the warm rays of the sun. The voyagcurs brought forth all the soiled clothing worn upon the journey, and a general scrubbing took pKicc. Soon the bushes in the vi- cinity, the branches of trees, and the flat rocks, bore plentiful burdens of gaudy apparel waving in the breeze to dry. Copious baths were next adminis- tered to their persons, capped by each ni;\n donning the bravest garments of his outfit. Kilil)ons were braided in their hair, flashy sashes encircled their waists, and moccasins of bewildering be.idwork in- cased their feet. Then, with a dash and wild chorus of boat-song, the oars were plied with quickly-meas- ured stroke. Soon the sharp point of a headland was turned, and the Mission of the White Dog ap- peared, perched upon the precipitous banks of the stream. It was the end of the traveler's voyage : a few huts, a company's trading-store, a few Indians, and an aroma of decaying flsh, which, amalgamating with the slight mist from the river, surrounded the traveler's head like an aureole. r iV \ THE M I NS T R E L-T RE E. MAJESTIC sovereign of his fadeless kind, Ilill-bcirn, hill-nurtured, lo I our minstrel-tree, Swept by the breere, or mightier winds from sea. Chants through the sunshine clear, the vapors blind I Forever, to all moo