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Page 24
I volunteered myself to go after them with an outfit; but no; it would
be dividing our forces, thereby allowing an advantage to our more
formidable opponents; besides, we had not much to apprehend from the
Iroquois with their trifling means. "_Tr�s bien_," I said to myself,
and set off on my return forthwith. I of course lost no time in
executing the orders I had received. My bourgeois had his opinion of
the matter, and I had mine; I knew that the Iroquois, when left to
themselves, would make their own prices for their goods, and thus,
even with the small outfit they had, fleece the Indians of the
principal part of their furs.
Among the Indians whom I had supplied, was an individual whose
advances amounted to a heavy sum. I felt extremely anxious about him,
and resolved to pay him a visit as soon as travelling was practicable;
meantime, Swanston, who had been in pursuit of the Iroquois, returned
from his disagreeable voyage on the 28th November, having learned
nothing more than we already knew.
I set off the next day, ostensibly on a visit to Mr. S., but really
with the intention of starting from his post on my intended
"derouine,"[1] arrived at Fort Coulonge among the drift ice, and on the
1st December started, accompanied by the interpreter Primeau and
another man, all of us with heavy burdens on our backs. This proved
the most toilsome trip I had yet undertaken; the smaller lakes only
were passable on the ice, and the rivers were nearly all open. The
difficulties we thus encountered necessarily retarded our progress,
and occupied so much more time than we had calculated upon, that our
provisions were nearly consumed by the time we reached the first
Indian camp, where we expected to procure a guide to conduct us to the
party we were in search of. We succeeded in hiring a young man, but we
only obtained a small supply of flour, the Indians having no other
kind of provision to spare.
[1] "Derouine,"--a trading visit to the Indians.
Three days travelling brought us to the borders of the Indian's lands,
where we soon discovered one of his early winter encampments; had we
been a few days sooner we could have easily traced him from this spot,
but the snow, which had recently fallen to a great depth, had nearly
obliterated the marks he had left behind him.[1] My interpreter,
accustomed to "tracking," followed the _scent_ for two days; our
guide, discontented with the short allowance, gave no assistance, till
coming to an extensive "brul�,"[2] he was completely _at fault_, as no
marks of any kind could be discovered.
[1] When Indians remove in winter, in passing on rivers and
lakes, they stick, at intervals, in the snow, branches of
balsam, inclining in the direction they may have gone. In the
woods, small saplings are cut or broken down; if there is no
underwood, an occasional "blaze" serves as a sign-post to the
experienced woodsman.
[2] "Brul�," a part of the forest consumed by fire.
Our situation was now extremely critical; we were reduced to one
solitary meal of flour and water per diem, and but a few handfuls of
this poor fare remained; to return by the way we came was out of the
question, to proceed to the post was in truth our only alternative,
and none of us was sufficiently acquainted with that part of the
country to be sure of finding it; while the Indian, positively
refusing to keep us company any longer, turned back, and left us to
get out of our difficulties as we best could.
The interpreter proposed that another attempt should be made to find
the Indian's encampment, and volunteered to go alone; this proved the
poor fellow's zeal, but he returned to our encampment next morning
unsuccessful; we therefore resolved to go back, and, finding our way
without much difficulty for a couple of days, we reached the upper end
of a long portage leading to the Ottawa River, where we encamped late
in the evening, and supped on the _hope_ of getting to the post next
forenoon.
We started early in the morning, the Canadian leading, and about noon
fell on fresh snow-shoe tracks--the tracks, we supposed, of some of
our people who had come to seek us; and feeling assured that our
sufferings would terminate with the day, we pursued our route with
renovated vigour and speed; when lo! our encampment of the preceding
night came in view, the excitement of our minds having prevented us
from discerning our mistake, as we might have done, sooner. The sun
was still high, but the circumstance of the encampment being already
prepared, induced us to put up there again for the night. It was a sad
disappointment, and I felt it as such, though I affected a gaiety that
was far from my heart; while with downcast looks and heavy hearts my
poor fellows betook themselves to rest at a very early hour.
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