The Young Voyageurs: Boy Hunters in the North Page 13

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

  THE CHAIN OF LAKES.

  Our young voyageurs now prepared to resume their journey. While Normanwas engaged in building his canoe, with his assistant, Francois, theothers had not been idle. Basil was, of course, the hunter of theparty; and, in addition to the small game, such as hares, geese, andgrouse, he had killed three caribou, of the large variety known as"woodland caribou." These are a species of the reindeer (_Cervustarandus_), of which I have more to say hereafter. Lucien had attendedto the drying of their flesh; and there was enough of it still left, asour voyageurs believed, to supply their wants until they should reachCumberland House, where they would, of course, procure a fresh stock ofprovisions. The skins of the caribou had also been scraped and dressedby Lucien--who understood the process well--and these, with the skin ofthe antelope, were sufficient to make a pair of hunting-shirts for Basiland Norman, who, it will be remembered, had lost theirs by cutting themup.

  Next morning the canoe was launched upon the river--below the rapids--and the dried meat, with their other matters, snugly stowed in thestern. Then the young voyageurs got in, and, seating themselves intheir places, seized hold of the paddles. The next moment the canoeshot out into the stream; and a triumphant cheer from the crew announcedthat they had recommenced their journey. They found to their delightthat the little vessel behaved admirably,--shooting through the waterlike an arrow, and leaking not water enough, as Francois expressed it,"to drown a mosquito." They had all taken their seats in the orderwhich had been agreed upon for the day. Norman was "bowsman," and, ofcourse, sate in the bow. This, among the regular Canadian voyageurs, isesteemed the post of honour, and the bowsman is usually styled "Captain"by the rest of the crew. It is also the post that requires the greatestamount of skill on the part of its occupant, particularly where thereare rapids or shoals to be avoided. The post of "steersman" is also oneof honour and importance; and both steersman and bowsman receive higherwages than the other voyageurs, who pass under the name of "middlemen."The steersman sits in the stern, and that place was now occupied byLucien, who had proved himself an excellent steersman. Basil andFrancois were, of course, the "middlemen," and plied the paddles. Thiswas the arrangement made for the day; but although on other days theprogramme was to be changed, so as to relieve Basil and Francois, on alloccasions when there were rapids or other difficulties to be encounteredthey were to return to this order. Norman, of course, understood canoenavigation better than his Southern cousins; and therefore, by universalassent, he was acknowledged "the Captain," and Francois always addressedhim as such. Lucien's claim to the post of second honour was admittedto be just, as he had proved himself capable of filling it to thesatisfaction of all. Marengo had no post, but lay quietly upon thebuffalo skin between Lucien's legs, and listened to the conversationwithout joining in it, or in any way interfering in the working of thevessel.

  In a few hours our voyageurs had passed through the low marshy countrythat lies around the mouth of the Red River, and the white expanse ofthe great Lake Winnipeg opened before them, stretching northward farbeyond the range of their vision. Norman knew the lake, having crossedit before, but its aspect somewhat disappointed the Southern travellers.Instead of a vast dark lake which they had expected to see, they lookedupon a whitish muddy sheet, that presented but few attractive points tothe eye, either in the hue of its water or the scenery of its shores.These, so far as they could see them, were low, and apparently marshy;and this is, in fact, the character of the southern shores of Winnipeg.On its east and north, however, the country is of a different character.There the geological formation is what is termed _primitive_. Therocks consist of granite, sienite, gneiss, etcetera; and, as is alwaysthe case where such rocks are found, the country is hilly and rugged.On the western shores a _secondary_ formation exists. This is_stratified limestone_,--the same as that which forms the bed of many ofthe great prairies of America; and, indeed, the Lake Winnipeg liesbetween this secondary formation and the primitive, which bounds it onthe east. Along its western shores extends the flat limestone country,partly wooded and partly prairie land, running from that point forhundreds of miles up to the very foot of the Rocky Mountains, where theprimitive rocks again make their appearance in the rugged peaks of thatstupendous chain. Lake Winnipeg is nearly three hundred miles inlength, but it is very narrow--being in its widest reach not over fiftymiles, and in many places only fifteen miles from shore to shore. Ittrends nearly due north and south, leaning a little north-west andsouth-east, and receives many large rivers, as the Red, theSaskatchewan, and the Winnipeg. The waters of these are again carriedout of it by other rivers that run from the lake, and empty into theHudson's Bay. There is a belief among the hunters and voyageurs thatthis lake has its tides like the ocean. Such, however, is not the case.There is at times a rise and overflow of its waters, but it is notperiodical, and is supposed to be occasioned by strong winds forcing thewaters towards a particular shore.

  Lake Winnipeg is remarkable, as being in the very centre of the NorthAmerican continent, and may be called the centre of the _canoenavigation_. From this point it is possible to travel _by water_ toHudson's Bay on the north-east, to the Atlantic Ocean on the east, tothe Gulf of Mexico on the south, to the Pacific on the west, and to thePolar Sea on the north and north-west. Considering that some of thesedistances are upwards of three thousand miles, it will be perceived thatLake Winnipeg holds a singular position upon the continent. All theroutes mentioned can be made without any great "portage," and even achoice of route is often to be had upon those different lines ofcommunication.

  These were points of information communicated by Norman as the canoe waspaddled along the shore; for Norman, although troubling himself butlittle about the causes of things, possessed a good practical knowledgeof things as they actually were. He was tolerably well acquainted withthe routes, their portages, and distances. Some of them he hadtravelled over in company with his father, and of others he had heardthe accounts given by the voyageurs, traders, and trappers. Norman knewthat Lake Winnipeg was muddy,--he did not care to inquire the cause. Heknew that there was a hilly country on its eastern and a low level landon its western shores, but it never occurred to him to speculate on thisgeological difference. It was the naturalist Lucien who threw out somehints on this part of the subject, and further added his opinion, thatthe lake came to be there in consequence of the wearing away of therocks at the junction of the stratified with the primitive formation,thus creating an excavation in the surface, which in time became filledwith water and formed the lake. This cause he also assigned for theexistence of a remarkable "chain of lakes" that extends almost from theArctic Sea to the frontiers of Canada. The most noted of these areMartin, Great Slave, Athabasca, Wollaston, Deer, Lake Winnipeg, and theLake of the Woods. Lucien further informed his companions, that whereprimitive rocks form the surface of a country, that surface will befound to exhibit great diversity of aspect. There will be numerouslakes and swamps, rugged steep hills with deep valleys between, shortstreams with many falls and rapids. These are the characteristics of aprimitive surface. On the other hand, where secondary rocks prevail thesurface is usually a series of plains, often high, dry, and treeless, asis the case upon the great American prairies.

  Upon such topics did Lucien instruct his companions, as they paddledtheir canoe around the edge of the lake. They had turned the head oftheir little vessel westward--as it was their design to keep along thewestern border of the lake until they should reach the mouth of theSaskatchewan. They kept at a short distance from the shore, usuallysteering from point to point, and in this way making their route asdirect as possible. It would have been still more direct had theystruck out into the open lake, and kept up its middle; but this wouldhave been a dangerous course to pursue. There are often high winds uponLake Winnipeg, that spring up suddenly; and at such times the waves, ifnot mountains high, at least arrive at the height of houses. Among suchbillows the little craft would have been in d
anger of being swamped, andour voyageurs of going to the bottom. They, therefore, wisely resolvednot to risk such an accident, but to "hug the shore," though it madetheir voyage longer. Each night they would land at some convenientplace, kindle their fire, cook their supper, and dry their canoe for thenext day's journey.

  According to this arrangement, a little before sunset of the first daythey came to land and made their camp. The canoe was unloaded,carefully lifted out of the water, and then set bottom upward to dripand dry. A fire was kindled, some of the dry meat cooked, and all foursat down and began to eat, as only hungry travellers can.