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F O R T C H I P E W Y A N TO F O R T M ' M U R R A Y 117
On the 25th of J u l y they passed through the channel
of the Scaffold to Great Slave Lake, and, landing at Moose
Deer Island, found thereon the rival forts, of course, w i t h in
s t r i k i ng distance of each other, and i n charge, as usual, of
r i v a l Scotsmen. At Great Slave Lake I must part company
with Franklin's Journal, since our own negotiations
only extended to its south shores. But who that has read
i t can ever forget the awful return journey of the party
f r om the A r c t i c coast, through the Barren Lands, to their
own winter quarters, which they so aptly named Fort Resolution?
I n the tales of human suffering from hunger there
are few more terrible than this. A l l the gruesome features
of prolonged starvation were present; the murder of M r .
Hood and two of the voyageurs by the Iroquois; his bringi
n g to the camp a portion of human flesh, which he declared
to be that of a wolf; his death at the Doctor's hands; the
dog- like diet of old skins, bones, leather pants, moccasins,
tripe de roche; the death of Peltier and Semandre from
want, and the final relief of the party by Akaitcho's Indians,
and their admirable conduct. And a l l those horrors experienced
over five hundred miles beyond Fort Chipewyan,
itself thousands of miles beyond civilization! Did the
noble F r a n k l i n ' s last sufferings exceed even these ? Perhaps;
but they are unrecorded.
To return to our muttons. Some marked changes had
taken place, and for the better, i n Chipewyan characteristics
since Franklin's day; not surprising, indeed, after
eighty years of contact with educated, or reputable, white
men; for miscreants, l i k e the old American frontiersmen,
were not known i n the country, and i f they had been,
would soon have been run out. There was now no paint
or " strouds" to be seen, and the blanket was confined to
the bed. In fact, the Indians and half- breeds of Athabasca
Lake did not seem to differ i n any way from those
of the Middle and Upper Peace River, save that the former
were all hunters and fishermen, pure and simple, there
being l i t t le or no agriculture. It was impossible to study
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| Title | Page 133 |
| OCR | F O R T C H I P E W Y A N TO F O R T M ' M U R R A Y 117 On the 25th of J u l y they passed through the channel of the Scaffold to Great Slave Lake, and, landing at Moose Deer Island, found thereon the rival forts, of course, w i t h in s t r i k i ng distance of each other, and i n charge, as usual, of r i v a l Scotsmen. At Great Slave Lake I must part company with Franklin's Journal, since our own negotiations only extended to its south shores. But who that has read i t can ever forget the awful return journey of the party f r om the A r c t i c coast, through the Barren Lands, to their own winter quarters, which they so aptly named Fort Resolution? I n the tales of human suffering from hunger there are few more terrible than this. A l l the gruesome features of prolonged starvation were present; the murder of M r . Hood and two of the voyageurs by the Iroquois; his bringi n g to the camp a portion of human flesh, which he declared to be that of a wolf; his death at the Doctor's hands; the dog- like diet of old skins, bones, leather pants, moccasins, tripe de roche; the death of Peltier and Semandre from want, and the final relief of the party by Akaitcho's Indians, and their admirable conduct. And a l l those horrors experienced over five hundred miles beyond Fort Chipewyan, itself thousands of miles beyond civilization! Did the noble F r a n k l i n ' s last sufferings exceed even these ? Perhaps; but they are unrecorded. To return to our muttons. Some marked changes had taken place, and for the better, i n Chipewyan characteristics since Franklin's day; not surprising, indeed, after eighty years of contact with educated, or reputable, white men; for miscreants, l i k e the old American frontiersmen, were not known i n the country, and i f they had been, would soon have been run out. There was now no paint or " strouds" to be seen, and the blanket was confined to the bed. In fact, the Indians and half- breeds of Athabasca Lake did not seem to differ i n any way from those of the Middle and Upper Peace River, save that the former were all hunters and fishermen, pure and simple, there being l i t t le or no agriculture. It was impossible to study |
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