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Page 7
The Catholic seminary and church, along with the gardens of the
establishment, almost divide the village into two equal parts; yet
this close proximity does not appear to encourage any friendly
intercourse between the two tribes. They in fact seldom pass their
respective limits, and, with few exceptions, cannot converse together,
the language of the one being unintelligible to the other.
The Company established a post here in the spring of 1819, and when I
arrived it was in charge of Mr. Fisher, then a senior clerk. He had
two other clerks under him, besides myself, a like number of
_attach�s_, two interpreters, two servants, and a horse to ride upon.
With such an establishment to rule over, need it be matter of surprise
that our _bourgeois_ was in his own estimation a magnate of the first
order? _N'importe_,--whatever might be his vanity, he possessed those
qualities which constitute a first-rate Indian trader, and he required
them to fill successfully his present situation. A number of petty
traders were settled in the village, who, whenever the Company entered
the lists against them, laid aside the feuds that subsisted among
themselves, and joined to oppose their united efforts against the
powerful rival that threatened to overwhelm them all. The spring fur
campaign was about to open when I made my _d�but_ at the post. The
natives being daily expected from the interior, all parties watched
their arrival night and day. This was not a very harassing duty to us,
as we relieved each other; but the situation of our superior was
exceedingly irksome and annoying. The moment an Indian canoe appeared
(the Indians always arrived at night), we were ordered to apprize him
of it; having done so, he was immediately at the landing-place, our
opponents being also there, attending to their own interests. Some of
the natives were supplied by the Company, others by the petty traders;
and according as it happened to be the customers of either that
arrived, the servants assisted in unloading the canoes, conveying the
baggage to their houses, and kindling a fire. Provisions were
furnished in abundance by both parties. While these preliminary
operations were being performed by the servants, the traders
surrounded the principal object of their solicitude--the hunter; first
one, then another, taking him aside to persuade him of the superior
claims each had on his love and gratitude. After being pestered in
this manner for some time, he, (the hunter,) eventually allowed
himself to be led away to the residence of one of the parties, where
he was treated to the best their establishment afforded; the natives,
however, retaining their furs, and visiting from house to house, until
satiated with the good cheer the traders had to give them, when they
at length gave them up, but not always to the party to whom they were
most indebted. They are generally great rogues; the sound of the
dollars, which the Company possessed in abundance, often brought the
furs that were due to the petty trader to the Company's stores; while
some of our customers were induced by the same argument to carry their
furs to our rivals.
For a period of six weeks or so, the natives continued to arrive;
sometimes in brigades, sometimes in single canoes; during the whole of
this period we were occupied in the manner now described, day and
night. So great was the pressure of business, that we had scarcely
time to partake of the necessary refreshment. When they had at length
all arrived, we enjoyed our night's rest, if indeed our continually
disturbed slumbers could be called rest:--what with the howling of two
or three hundred dogs, the tinkling of bells with which the horses the
Indians rode were ornamented, the bawling of the squaws when beaten by
their drunken husbands, and the yelling of the savages themselves when
in that beastly state, sleep was impossible,--the infernal sounds that
continually rent the air, produced such a _symphony_ as could be heard
nowhere else out of Pandemonium. No liquors were sold to the natives
at the village, but they procured as much as they required from the
opposite side of the lake. Some wretches of Canadians were always
ready, for a trifling consideration, to purchase it for them; thus the
law prohibiting the sale of liquor to the Indians was evaded. After
wallowing in intemperance for some time, they ultimately submitted to
the authority of the priests, confessed their sins, received
absolution, and became _good Christians_ for the remainder of the
season. If any indulged in the favourite vice--a few always did--they
were confined to their quarters by their families. After attending
mass on Sundays, they amused themselves playing at ball, or running
foot races; and it was only on such occasions they were seen to
associate with their neighbours the Iroquois. They took opposite sides
in the games; small stakes were allowed, merely to create an interest
in the issue of the contest. The chiefs of both tribes sat smoking
their pipes together, viewing the sports in silent gravity, and acting
as umpires in all cases of doubt between the parties. They, in fact,
led a glorious life during the three months they remained at the
village; that period was to them a continued carnival. The best fare
the country afforded--the best attire that money could procure--all
that sensuality, all that vanity could desire--their means permitted
them to enjoy. Their lands not having been hunted on during the war,
the beaver multiplied at an extraordinary rate, and now swarmed in
every direction. Every individual belonging to the tribe might then
have acquired an independent fortune. They arrived at the village,
their canoes laden with furs; but the characteristic improvidence of
their race blinded them to future consequences. Such was their
wasteful extravagance, that the money obtained by the sale of their
furs was dissipated ere half the summer season was over. The traders
supplied them afterwards with all requisites at a _moderate_ per
centage; and when they embarked in autumn for their hunting grounds,
they found themselves deeply involved in debt, a few only excepted.
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