Thomas Simpson

“ I have seldom seen anything more brilliant than the phosphoric gleaming of the waves when darkness closed in. The boats seemed to cleave a flood of molten silver; and the spray, dashed from their bows before the fresh breeze, fell back in glittering showers into the deep. It was a cold night; and, when we at last made the land, cliffs faced with everlasting ice obliged us to run on for a couple of leagues before we could take the shore with safety. This is indeed a bold coast. ”

“ At 2 o'clock the following morning we came in view of a branch of the great Rocky Mountain chain. The day was lovely, and I fed my eyes with gazing on scenery so novel and romantic, that forcibly recalled to mind my native highlands. At noon we passed within a few miles of the mountains, where they cause the river to change its course from west to north. Their summits were still streaked with snow, but on the face of the cliffs we distinctly perceived the stratification noticed by Sir John Franklin. ”

“ A light fog overhung the earth, which the rising sun soon dissipated, lighting up its fragments, as they rolled away, with bright and changeful hues. Our route traversed patches of brushwood, prairies abounding in small lakes, and two broad low ranges of hills, at the base of the last of which we encamped. Our course all day was west-north-west by the compass. Walking was laborious in the extreme, the snow being soft, the grass long, and the ground lumpy; so that, though we only advanced twenty-three miles, we were all tired enough in the evening. ”

“ It is little better than a series of rapids, many of them strong; but the expertness of our crews carried us triumphantly down. As we approached the main river, large banks of snow and ice overhung the stream; and, on our emerging from the steep rocky chasm through which it rushes into the Coppermine, our surprise may be imagined at beholding the ample channel of the latter—there dilated among islands—still covered with ice. ”

“ The moon, now near the full, shone coldly bright, and, as she sunk towards the west, threw long shadows on the snow, causing every bush and tree to assume strange and startling shapes. After proceeding fourteen miles, we were glad to halt in a thicket, for breakfast, soon after sunrise. Having completed this cheering operation, we with better heart gave our faces to the cold, which a westerly wind rendered doubly piercing. A fine pointer, though defended from the searching cold by a warm cloth coat and shoes to match, lay down and refused to stir till I drove him before me with the whip. ”

“ The interior country is chequered with little lakes; and green swamps interpose between the hills of naked granite. On the beetling rock that sheltered our little camp from the sea, and forms the most commanding station on this part of the coast, we erected a conical pile of ponderous stones, fourteen feet high; which, if it be not pulled down by the natives, may defy the rage of a thousand storms. ”

“ Every eye was directed across that inland sea, and great was our mortification when, with the glass, we discerned an unbroken line of ice embracing the land beyond Moose-deer Island. We advanced to the edge of that unwelcome barrier; but it was firm and immoveable, threatening us with a long detention. Turning within the islands, a portage, performed with the aid of canoes, brought our provisions and other property, in the course of the day, to Fort Resolution; the boats crossing the shallows light. ”

“ The games and sports of the people without the gates were generally at their height at midnight, when the coolness of the atmosphere incited to exertion. At every shout the echoes ran along the floating ice in the bay, passing from one fragment to another, and producing a succession of sounds, that became gradually softer and fainter, till they seemed to mingle with the horizon. ”

“ The day was dark and dismal in the extreme, a cutting north wind bearing on its wings a fog that hid every object at the distance of a hundred yards. We were, therefore, under the necessity of closely following the coast-line, which much increased the distance and fatigue. The land is very low, and intersected by innumerable salt creeks. In fording these we were constantly wet to the waist, and the water was dreadfully cold. We crossed a strong deep river, and a shallow inlet, half a mile broad, in our portable canoe, which transported us all at two trips. ”

“ We saw many tracks of reindeer, still pursued by the two hunters, who had very lately been successful, for we found the remains of a fire, beside which lay the head and antlers of a deer. After travelling about ten miles, and wading through many a salt creek, the waters of which were at the freezing temperature, the land, to our dismay, turned off to the eastward of south, and a boundless inlet lay before us. Almost at the same instant, to our inexpressible joy, we descried four Esquimaux tents, at no great distance, with figures running about. ”

“ This unhappy quarrel precluded the prosecution of a design, which we had formed, of taking two of the Loucheux with us to the coast as substitutes for Esquimaux interpreters; although the men who had been applied to by Mr. Bell were desirous of accompauying us at all risks. These people are distinguished from every other Indian tribe with which we are acquainted by the frankness and candour of their demeanour. Their bold countenances give expression to their filings, and a bloody intent with them lurks not under a smile. ”

“ The river banks were lined with straggling huts of the Loucheux, formed of green branches. The inhabitants of these primitive dwellings came off in numbers, in their canoes, to visit us, and loud were their vociferations as we came successively in sight of their little camps. The aged hobbled after us along the beach, the women whined and simpered after their most attractive fashion, and the children, "in puris naturalibus," crowded round our gaily painted boats to see the wonders they contained. ”

“ From Cape Halkett the coast resumes its westerly trending, and for fifteen miles presents to the eye nought but a succession of low banks of frozen mud. The substratum consists of a yellow clay, thinly covered with vegetable soil, which nourishes short grass and a variety of mosses. Many reindeer were seen as we coasted along. These swift-footed creatures came to the bank in small herds gazed at us for a moment, and then bounded out of sight. We could not spare time for the chase. The ice was very heavy all along this part of the coast, and but very recently detached from the beach. ”

“ The fish now began to come forth from the depths of the lake, and resort to the mouths of streams, where nets and lines were employed by ourselves and the natives for our daily subsistence. The unwonted fine weather seemed to animate all. Our men and the natives played at ball, and other out-of-door games. In the evening Mr. Dease's violin was oftener heard than during the long dreary winter, and to its enlivening strains the Indian youths danced and capered in the hall. With renovated hopes and thankful hearts we prepared to try our fortune a third time on the Polar Sea. ”

“ It will be tedious and dispiriting to us, to see day after day and week after week pass in a constant and ineffectual struggle with the same cold obdurate foe.
I saw three or four deer on a narrow point, some distance from our encampment; but, on my cutting them off from the land, they took to the ice, and soon galloped out of reach. The moon was visible to-night, but it was a passing glimpse, and she soon vanished amidst fog and storm. The following day was marked by nothing but fog and rain, with a gale from the north-west. ”

“ There the miserable remnants of humanity lay on the ground, in the seal-skin dresses worn while alive. A few were covered with an old sledge or some pieces of wood, but far the greater number were entirely exposed to the voracity of dogs and wild animals. The bodies here lay with the heads turned north-east, towards the extremity of the point; and many of them appeared so fresh, that my followers caught the alarm that the cholera or some other dire disease was raging among the Esquimaux. ”

“ We, however, advanced with spirit, all hands being in eager expectation respecting the great northern land, which seemed interminable. Along its distant shore the beams of the declining sun were reflected from a broad channel of open water; while, on the coast we were tracing, the ice still lay immoveable, and extended many miles to seaward. As we drew near in the evening an elevated cape, land appeared all round, and our worst fears seemed confirmed. ”

“ Large flocks of white and brown ducks flew past us; many floes were covered with the noisy "cacawees;" while on the plains between the British chain of mountains and Beaufort Bay browsed numerous herds of reindeer. Farther on stood a camp of Esquimaux, who, after shouting to us, pushed off in their kayaks; but the fast sailing of our boats, and our disinclination to sacrifice the favourable wind, prevented any communication with them. The weather was cold and dark, and heavy masses of clouds were hurrying rapidly towards the west. ”

“ Governor Simpson has long endeavoured, by arguments and rewards, to excite an exportation to England of hides, tallow, flax, hemp, and wool for the benefit of the settlers, but with little success. The bulky nature of such exports, a long and dangerous navigation to Hudson's Bay, but, above all, the roving and indolent habits of the half-breed race, who form the mass of the population, and love the chase of the buffalo better than the drudgery of agriculture or regular industry, seem to preclude the probability of this colony rising to commercial importance. ”

“ At length, between 10 and 11 a.m., we reached Green Lake, where we stopped to breakfast, with enviable appetites. This lake is narrow, and its reaches assume various bearings, like those of a large river; its length is about seventeen miles. Finding the ice level, and not much encumbered with snow, we trotted briskly over it, and reached the little post at its extremity about sunset. Here we found some Crees, who, having been unsuccessful in hunting, were living for a time on the produce of the abundant fishery made by the people of the place at the commencement of the winter season. ”

“ No people so soon get tired of any particular diet as Indians; and their longings for change, even amidst the best cheer, are often truly ridiculous. The flexibility of their stomachs is no less surprising. At one time they will gorge themselves with food, and are then prepared to go without any for several days, if necessary. Enter their tents; sit there, if you can, for a whole day, and not for an instant will you find the fire unoccupied by persons of all ages cooking. When not hunting or travelling, they are, in fact, always eating. ”

“ We saw no reindeer; the depth of snow, which averaged not less than three feet, hard packed in the plains, preventing them from frequenting this region, of which the shaggy musk-bull and white wolf appeared to maintain exclusive possession. The Dismal Lakes, as I knew from their trending, give rise to that northern branch of the stream noticed by me on the evening of the 2nd; and we encamped at the very spot which I then marked as the most proper for forwarding our provisions and baggage to, over the snow, though my new companions, instead of a river, could perceive only "a cairn of stones." ”

“ On one occasion, when we were benighted in the plains near Quill Lake, we took up our quarters in a willow-bush, evacuated the moment before by an old bull and his followers, whose lair served us for an encampment. There are few sounds more melancholy than the nightly howling of the troops of wolves that attend the motions of the buffalo. The mind is oppressed, as it were, with a feeling of intense loneliness. The only Indians we met on this part of our route were a small party of Plain Crees, and two or three Saulteaux. ”

“ The ice became heavier as we advanced, obliging us to keep within the Lion and Reliance reefs ; and at 1 p. m. it entirely arrested our progress in Foggy Island Bay. We had scarcely landed, and secured the boats, when a violent north-east gale commenced, overspreading the sky with lurid clouds, and tossing the icy masses like foam upon the waves. The atmosphere cleared in the evening, but it continued to blow with great fury. An immense herd of reindeer had recently passed, and we saw fresh foot-prints of the natives in pursuit. ”