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Page 13
CHAPTER VI.
TRIP TO FORT COULONGE--MR. GODIN--NATIVES.
A large canoe arrived from Montreal about the latter end of June, by
which I received orders to proceed to Fort Coulonge, situated about
eighty miles higher up the Ottawa, to relieve the person then in
charge of that post. I accordingly embarked in the same canoe,
accompanied by my young friend Mr. MacDougal, who joined me last
autumn, and who kindly volunteered to proceed along with me to my
destination. This canoe was under the charge of people hired for the
trip, and directed by the bowsman, or guide. I soon discovered that I
was considered merely as a piece of live lumber on board. My companion
and myself were reduced to the necessity of cooking our own victuals,
or of going without them. We pitched our tent as best we could, and
packed it up in the morning without the slightest offer of assistance
from the crew.
No incident worthy of notice occurred until we reached the Grand
Calumet Portage, the longest on the Ottawa River. The crew slept at
the further end of the portage, whither the canoe and part of the
cargo had been carried during the day, and we pitched our tent there
also in the usual awkward manner. The weather was very fine in the
evening, but soon after night-fall a tremendous storm burst upon us:
our tent was blown about our ears in an instant. We endeavoured to
compose ourselves to rest underneath, but found it impracticable. We
then attempted to pitch it anew, but our strength and ingenuity were
not sufficient for the purpose. We tried afterwards to find shelter
under the canoe (the rain pouring in torrents), but the crew were
already in possession, and so closely packed, that not an inch was
unoccupied. Thus baffled on every hand, we passed the night completely
exposed to the "pelting of the pitiless storm," learning a lesson of
practical philosophy which I have not yet forgotten.
We arrived at Fort Coulonge early the next day, when a portly old
gentleman, bearing a paunch that might have done credit to an
Edinburgh baillie, came puffing down to the landing-place to receive
us. We soon discovered that Mr. Godin was only "nominally" in charge
of the establishment, for that his daughter, a stout, masculine-looking
wench, full thirty summers blown, possessed what little authority was
required for the management of affairs.
We arrived on Wednesday. The father proposed setting out for Montreal
on Friday; the daughter objected the ill luck of the day: it was
finally determined that they should embark on Thursday, however late.
The necessary preparations were immediately commenced under her
ladyship's superintendence, and being completed late in the evening,
they embarked, leaving me perfectly alone. The contracts with the men
had just expired, which I proposed to renew, but the answer from one
and all was, "I shall follow my bourgeois." This was the result of the
old gentleman's arrangements (having been ordered off contrary to his
wishes), and which might have been anticipated by those who appointed
me to the situation; but it would have been derogatory to the exalted
rank of their highnesses to bestow any consideration on such trivial
matters as related to the comfort or convenience of a paltry
apprentice! Their neglect, however, might have been attended on this
occasion with serious consequences to the Company's interests, as I
had never seen any of the Indians of that quarter before, and knew
very little of their mode of trading. It was a fortunate circumstance
for myself that I understood the language sufficiently well to
converse with the natives, otherwise my situation would have been
disagreeable in the extreme. I remained alone until the latter end of
July, when I was joined by an English lad, whom I induced by the
promise of high wages to leave his former employers (lumbermen) and
share my solitude.
The history of my predecessor being rather singular, a few words here
regarding him may perhaps not be considered out of place. He commenced
his career as a hired servant, or Voyageur, as they are termed in the
country, and was thirty years of age before he knew a letter of the
alphabet. Being a man possessed of strong natural parts, and great
bodily strength withal, he soon distinguished himself as an under
trader of uncommon tact,--his prowess as a pugilist also gave him a
very decided advantage in the field of competition. Endowed with such
qualifications, his services were duly appreciated by the traders, and
he knew full well how to turn them to his own advantage. He served all
parties alike; that is, he served each in turn, and cheated and
deceived them all.
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