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Bowls' T H E P E A C E R I V E R 95
my old friend, Chief- factor Clarke, of Prince Albert, her
brother having charge of the trading store. The post is a
substantial one, and the store large, well stocked, and evidently
the headquarters of an extensive trade. At such
posts, which have generally a fringe of settlement, the Company's
officers and their families, though, of course, cut off
from the outer world, lead, i f somewhat monotonous, by no
means irksome lives. Books, music, cards and dances serve
to while away spare time, and an occasional wedding, lasting,
as it generally does, for several days, stirs the little
community to its core. But sport, i n a region abounding
with game of all kinds, is the great time- killer, giving the
longed- for excitement, and contributing as well to the daily
b i l l of fare the very choicest of human food. Such a life is
indeed to be envied rather than commiserated, and we met
w i t h few, i f any, who cared to leave it. But such posts are
the " plums " of the service, and are few and far between.
At many of the solitary outposts l i f e has a very different
colour.*
*" At an outpost," says Mr. Bleasdell Cameron, " where a clerk
is alone with his Indian servant, the life is wearisome to a degree,
and privation not infrequently adds to the hardship of it. Supplies
may run short, and in any case he is expected to stock himself with
fish, taken in nets from the lake, near which his post is situated,
for his table and his dogs, as well as to augment his larder by the
expert and diligent use of his gun. Rare instances have occurred
where, through accident, supplies had not reached the far- out posts
for which they were intended, and the men had literally died of
starvation. Out of a York boat's crew, which was taking up the
annual supplies for a post far up among the Rocky Mountains, on a
branch of the Mackenzie River, two or three men were drowned, and
the ice beginning to take, the boat was obliged to put hack to the
district headquarters. The three men at the outpost were left for
some weeks without the supplies, and when, after winter had set
in, and it became possible to reach them with dog trains, and provisions
were at length sent them, two were found dead in the post,
while the third man was living by himself in a small hut some distance
from the fort buildings. The explanation he gave was that he
had removed to where there was a chance of keeping himself alive
by snaring rabbits, which were more plentiful than at the post. But
a suggestion of cannibalism surrounded the affair, for only the bones
of his companions were found, and they were in the open chimney-place.
Nothing was done, however, and I myself saw the survivor
many times in after years."
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| Title | Page 108 |
| OCR | Bowls' T H E P E A C E R I V E R 95 my old friend, Chief- factor Clarke, of Prince Albert, her brother having charge of the trading store. The post is a substantial one, and the store large, well stocked, and evidently the headquarters of an extensive trade. At such posts, which have generally a fringe of settlement, the Company's officers and their families, though, of course, cut off from the outer world, lead, i f somewhat monotonous, by no means irksome lives. Books, music, cards and dances serve to while away spare time, and an occasional wedding, lasting, as it generally does, for several days, stirs the little community to its core. But sport, i n a region abounding with game of all kinds, is the great time- killer, giving the longed- for excitement, and contributing as well to the daily b i l l of fare the very choicest of human food. Such a life is indeed to be envied rather than commiserated, and we met w i t h few, i f any, who cared to leave it. But such posts are the " plums " of the service, and are few and far between. At many of the solitary outposts l i f e has a very different colour.* *" At an outpost," says Mr. Bleasdell Cameron, " where a clerk is alone with his Indian servant, the life is wearisome to a degree, and privation not infrequently adds to the hardship of it. Supplies may run short, and in any case he is expected to stock himself with fish, taken in nets from the lake, near which his post is situated, for his table and his dogs, as well as to augment his larder by the expert and diligent use of his gun. Rare instances have occurred where, through accident, supplies had not reached the far- out posts for which they were intended, and the men had literally died of starvation. Out of a York boat's crew, which was taking up the annual supplies for a post far up among the Rocky Mountains, on a branch of the Mackenzie River, two or three men were drowned, and the ice beginning to take, the boat was obliged to put hack to the district headquarters. The three men at the outpost were left for some weeks without the supplies, and when, after winter had set in, and it became possible to reach them with dog trains, and provisions were at length sent them, two were found dead in the post, while the third man was living by himself in a small hut some distance from the fort buildings. The explanation he gave was that he had removed to where there was a chance of keeping himself alive by snaring rabbits, which were more plentiful than at the post. But a suggestion of cannibalism surrounded the affair, for only the bones of his companions were found, and they were in the open chimney-place. Nothing was done, however, and I myself saw the survivor many times in after years." |
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