A Journey to the Northern Ocean by Samuel Hearne

Author:Samuel Hearne [Hearne, Samuel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-926971-07-0
Publisher: Touchwood Editions
Published: 2011-02-16T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

January 9th, 1772 to June 29th, 1772

Transactions and Remarks from our Arrival on the South Side of the Athapuscow Lake, till our Arrival at Prince of Wales’s Fort on Churchill River.

Cross the Athapuscow Lake.–Description of it and its productions, as far as could be discovered in Winter, when the snow was on the ground.–Fish found in the lake.–Description of the buffalo;–of the moose or elk, and the method of dressing their skins.–Find a woman alone that had not seen a human face for more than seven months.–Her account how she came to be in that situation; and her curious method of procuring a livelihood.–Many of my Indians wrestled for her.–Arrive at the great Athapuscow River.–Walk along the side of the River for several days, and then strike off to the Eastward.–Difficulty in getting through the woods in many places.–Meet with some strange Northern Indians on their return from the Fort.–Meet more strangers, whom my companions plundered, and from whom they took one of their young women.–Curious manner of life which those strangers lead, and the reason they gave for roving so far from their usual residence.–Leave the fine level country of the Athapuscows, and arrive at the Stony Hills of the Northern Indian Country.–Meet some strange Northern Indians, one of whom carried a letter for me to Prince of Wales’s Fort, in March one thousand seven hundred and seventy-one, and now gave me an answer to it, dated twentieth of June following.–Indians begin preparing wood-work and birch-rind for canoes.–The equinoctial gale very severe.–Indian method of running the moose deer down by speed of foot.–Arrival at Theelayaza River.–See some strangers.–The brutality of my companions.–A tremendous gale and snow-drift.–Meet with more strangers;–remarks on it.–Leave all the elderly people and children, and proceed directly to the Fort.–Stop to build canoes, and then advance.–Several of the Indians die through hunger, and many others are obliged to decline the journey for want of ammunition.–A violent storm and inundation, that forced us to the top of a high hill, where we suffered great distress for more than two days.–Kill several deer.–The Indian method of preserving the flesh without the assistance of salt.–See several Indians that were going to Knapp’s Bay.–Game of all kinds remarkably plentiful.–Arrive at the Factory.

1772 January — After expending some days in hunting beaver, we proceeded to cross the Athapuscow Lake; but as we had lost much time in hunting deer and beaver, which were very plentiful on some of the islands, it was the ninth of January before we arrived on the South side.

This lake, from the best information which I could get from the natives, is about one hundred and twenty leagues long from East to West, and twenty wide from North to South. The point where we crossed it is said to be the narrowest. It is full of islands; most of which are clothed with fine tall poplars, birch, and pines, and are well stocked with Indian deer. On some of the large islands we also found several

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.