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Page 58
The birds of this country are the same as in Canada. I observed no
strange variety, except a species of curlieu that frequents the plains
of Fort Alexandria in the summer. Immense flocks of cranes are seen in
autumn and spring, flying high in the air; in autumn directing their
flight towards the south, and in spring towards the north.
Some of the Lakes abound in fish; the principal varieties are trout,
carp, white fish, and pike. Stuart's Lake yields a small fish termed
by the Canadians "poisson inconnu;" it seems as if it were partly
white fish and partly carp, the head resembling the former; it is full
of small bones, and the flesh soft and unsavoury. The sturgeon has
been already mentioned, but they are unfortunately too rare; seldom
more than five or six are captured in a season; they weigh from one
hundred to five hundred pounds. A beautiful small fish of the size of
the anchovy, and shaped like a salmon, is found in a river that falls
into Stuart's Lake; it is said they pass the winter in the lake, and
ascend their favourite stream in the month of June, where they deposit
their spawn. They have the silvery scales of the larger salmon, and
are exceedingly rich; but the natives preserve them almost exclusively
for their own use. There are four varieties of salmon, distinguished
from each other by the peculiar form of the head; the largest species
seems to be the same we have in the rivers of Britain, and weighs from
ten to twenty pounds; the others do not exceed half that weight.
New Caledonia is inhabited by the Takelly or Carrier nation, and by a
few families of Tsekanies on the north-eastern extremity of the
district. The Takellies are divided into as many tribes as there are
posts--viz. eight, who formerly were as hostile to each other as if
they had been of different nations. The presence of the whites,
however, has had the beneficial effect of checking their cut-throat
propensities, although individual murders still occasionally occur
among them.
Before the introduction of fire-arms, the _honourable_ practice of
duelling prevailed among them, though in a fashion peculiar to
themselves. One arrow only was discharged, by the party demanding
satisfaction, at his opponent, who, by dint of skipping about and
dodging from side to side, generally contrived to escape it; fatal
duels, therefore, seldom if ever occurred; and the parties, having
thus given and received satisfaction, retired from the field
reconciled.[1] They appear more prone to sudden bursts of passion than
most Indians I have seen, and quarrel often and abuse each other in
the most scurrilous terms. With the Sauteux, Crees, and other tribes
on the east side of the mountains, few words are uttered before the
blow, often a fatal one, is given; whereas, with the Takellies, it is
often many words and few blows. In the quarrels which take place among
them, the ladies are generally the _causa belli_--a cause which would
soon lead to the depopulation of the country, were all husbands to
avenge their wrongs by shedding the blood of the guilty.
[1] I would recommend this mode of conducting "affairs of
honour" to _honourable_ gentlemen using the hair-trigger, as
an improvement. Though practised by savages, it must be
allowed to be somewhat less barbarous than ten paces'
distance, and standing still! If the exhibition should appear
somewhat ludicrous, both parties would have the additional
"satisfaction" that their morning _exercise_ had given a
keener zest to their breakfast. It would be a sort of Pyrrhic
dance.
Their chiefs have still considerable authority; but much of the homage
they claimed and received in former times is now transferred to the
white chiefs, or traders, whom they all esteem the greatest men in the
universe. "After the Man of heaven," said old Guaw to Mr. Dease, "you
are next in dignity." Owing to the superstitious notions of the
people, the chiefs are still feared on account of the magical powers
ascribed to them; it is firmly believed they can, at will, inflict
diseases, cause misfortunes of every kind, and even death itself; and
so strong is this impression, that they will not even pass in a
direction where the shadow of a chief, or "man of medicine," might
fall on them, "lest," say they, "he should bear us some ill-will and
afflict us with some disease."
These conjurors, nevertheless, are the greatest bunglers at their
trade of any in the Indian territory; they practise none of the clever
tricks of the Sauteux sorcerers, and are perfectly ignorant of the
medicinal virtues of herbs and plants, with which the Sauteux and
other Indians often perform astonishing cures. The Takellies
administer no medicine to the sick; a variety of ridiculous
gesticulations, together with singing, blowing, and _beating_ on the
_patient_, are the means they adopt to effect their end; and they, not
seldom, effectually cure the patient of "all the ills of life."
Whether they effect a cure or not, they are sure to be well
recompensed for their expenditure of wind, an article of which they
are not sparing: they, in fact, exert themselves so much that the
perspiration pours from every pore. The only real remedy they use, in
common with other Indians, is the vapour-bath, or sweating-house. The
house, as it is termed, which is constructed by bending twigs of
willow, and fixing both ends in the ground, when finished, presents
the appearance of a bee-hive, and is carefully covered to prevent the
escape of the vapour; red-hot stones are then placed inside, and water
poured upon them, and the patient remains in the midst of the steam
thus generated as long as he can bear it, then rushing out, plunges
into the cold stream. This is said to be a sovereign remedy for
rheumatism, and the natives have recourse to it in all cases of severe
pain: I myself witnessed its efficacy in a case of paralysis.
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