CHAPTER XXVI.
LIFE IN A LOG-HUT.
The log-hut was finished on the 1st of September, and not a day toosoon; for on that very day the winter set in with full severity. A heavyfall of snow came down in the night; and next morning, when ourvoyageurs looked abroad, the ground was covered to the depth of a foot,or more; and the ice upon the lake was also white. Walking through thegreat wreaths now became very difficult; and the next thing to be donewas the making of "snow-shoes."
Snow-shoes are an invention of the Indians; and, in the winter of theArctic regions of America, are an article almost as indispensable asclothing itself. Without them, travelling afoot would be impossible. Inthese countries, as already stated, the snow often covers the ground tothe depth of many feet; and remains without any considerable diminutionfor six, and, in some years, eight or nine months. At times, it isfrozen hard enough on the surface to bear a man without the snow-shoes;but oftener on account of thaws and fresh falls, it becomes quite soft,and at such times travelling over it is both difficult and dangerous. Toavoid both the difficulty and the danger, the Indians make use of thisvery singular sort of foot-wear--called "snow-shoes" by the English, and"raquets" by the Canadian voyageurs.
They are used by all the Indian tribes of the Hudson's Bay territory;and were it not for them these people would be confined to one place formonths together, and could not follow the deer or other game. As almostall savages are improvident, and none more so than the North AmericanIndians, were they prevented for a season from going out to hunt, wholetribes would starve. Indeed, many individuals of them perish with hungeras it is; and the life of all these Indians is nothing more than onecontinued struggle for food enough to sustain them. In summer they areoften in the midst of plenty; slaughtering deer and buffalo by hundreds,taking out only the tongues, and recklessly leaving the flesh to thewolves! In winter the very same Indians may be seen without a pound ofmeat in their encampment--the lives of themselves and their familiesdepending upon the success of a single day's hunt!
But let us return to the snow-shoes. Let us see what they are, and learnhow they are made.
Any boy who has snared sparrows in snow-time, has, no doubt, done so bytying his snares upon a hoop netted across with twine or other smallcord. Now, if he will conceive his hoop bent into an oblongshape--something like what the figure of a boat turned on its mouthwould make in snow--and if he will also fancy the netting to consist ofthongs of twisted deer-hide woven somewhat closely together, he will geta very good idea of an Indian snow-shoe. It is usually from three tofour feet long, by about a foot wide at the middle part, from which ittapers gently to a point, both at the heel and toe.
The frame, as I have said, is like the hoop of a boy's bird-snare. It ismade of light, tough wood, and, of course, carefully bent and polishedwith the knife. The slender branches of the "scrub-pine" are esteemedexcellent for this purpose, as their wood is light, flexible and toughin its fibres. This is also a favourite tree, where it grows, to maketent-poles, canoe-timbers, and other implements required by the Indians;and these people use so much of it for their arrows, that it hasreceived from the Canadian voyageurs the name of _bois de fleche_(arrow-wood).
Well, then, the frame of the snow-shoes being bent to its proper shape,two transverse bars are placed across near the middle, and severalinches from each other. They are for the foot to rest upon, as well asto give strength to the whole structure. These being made fast, thenetting is woven on, and extends over the whole frame, with theexception of a little space in front of the bars where the ball of thefoot is to rest. This space is left free of netting, in order to allowplay to the toes while walking. The mesh-work is made of thongs usuallycut from the parchment-skin of a deer, and twisted. Sometimes twistedintestines are used, and the netting exactly resembles that seen in"racquets" for ball play.
The snow-shoe, when finished, is simply fastened upon the foot by meansof straps or thongs; and a pair of them thus placed, will present asurface to the snow of nearly six square feet--more, if required, bymaking them larger. But this is enough to sustain the heaviest man uponthe softest snow, and an Indian thus "shod" will skim over the surfacelike a skater.
The shoes used by all tribes of Indians are not alike in shape. Thereare fashions and fancies in this respect. Some are made--as among theChippewa Indians--with one side of the frame nearly straight; and these,of course, will not do for either foot, but are "rights and lefts."Generally, however, the shape is such that the snow-shoe will fit eitherfoot.
The snow-shoes having now become a necessary thing, our young voyageursset about making a complete set for the whole party--that is, no lessthan four pairs. Norman was the "shoemaker," and Norman knew how. Hecould splice the frames, and work in the netting, equal to an Indiansquaw. Of course all the others assisted him. Lucien cut the moose-skininto fine regular strips; Basil waded off through the snow, and procuredthe frames from the wood of the scrub-pine trees where he hadencountered the porcupine; and then he and Francois trimmed them withtheir knives, and sweated them in the hot ashes until they became dry,and ready for the hands of the "shoemaker."
This work occupied them several days, and then each had a pair of shoesfitted to his size and weight.
The next consideration was, to lay in a stock of meat. The moose hadfurnished them with enough for present use, but that would not lastlong, as there was no bread nor anything else to eat with it. Persons intheir situation require a great deal of meat to sustain them, much morethan those who live in great cities, who eat a variety of substances,and drink many kinds of drinks. The healthy voyageur is rarely without akeen appetite; and meat by itself is a food that speedily digests, andmakes way for a fresh meal; so that the ration usually allowed to the_employes_ of the fur companies would appear large enough to supply thetable of several families. For instance, in some parts of the Hudson'sBay territory, the voyageur is allowed eight pounds of buffalo-meat _perdiem_! And yet it is all eaten by him, and sometimes deemed barelysufficient.
A single deer, therefore, or even a buffalo, lasts a party of voyageursfor a very short time, since they have no other substance, such as breador vegetables, to help it out. It was necessary, then, that ourtravellers should use all their diligence in laying up a stock of driedmeat, before the winter became too cold for them to hunt. There wasanother consideration--their clothing. They all had clothing sufficientfor such weather as they had yet experienced; but that would never dofor the winter of the Great Slave Lake, and they knew it. Many deer mustbe killed, and many hides dressed, before they could make a full set ofclothing for all, as well as a set of deer-skin blankets, which would bemuch needed.
As soon as the snow-shoes were finished, therefore, Basil and Normanwent out each day upon long hunting expeditions, from which they rarelyreturned before nightfall. Sometimes they brought with them a deer, ofthe caribou or reindeer species, and the "woodland" variety, which werein plenty at this place. They only carried to camp the best parts withthe skin, as the flesh of the woodland caribou is not much esteemed. Itis larger than the other kind--the "Barren Ground caribou," weighingabout one hundred and fifty pounds; but both its venison and hide are ofinferior quality to those of the latter species. Sometimes our hunterskilled smaller game; and on several occasions they returned withouthaving emptied their guns at all.
But there was one day that made up for several--one grand day when theywere extremely successful, and on which they killed a whole herd ofmoose, consisting of five individuals--the old bull, a spike buck--thatis, a young buck, whose horns had not yet got antlers upon them--thecow, and two calves. These they had tracked and followed for a longdistance, and had succeeded, at length, in running them into a valleywhere the snow was exceedingly deep, and where the moose becameentangled. There had been a shower of rain the day before that hadmelted the surface of the snow; and this had again frozen into an icycrust, upon which the deer lacerated their ankles at every plunge,leaving a track of blood behind them as they ran.
Under these c
ircumstances they were easily trailed, and Basil andNorman, skimming along upon their snow-shoes, soon came up with them,and shot first one and then another, until the whole herd were stretchedin the valley. They then butchered them, and hung the hides and quartersupon high branches, so as to secure them from wolves and wolverenes.When the job was finished, the whole place looked like a greatslaughter-yard! Next day a rude sledge was constructed; and thevoyageurs, returning in full force, transported the meat to camp. Hugefires were kindled outside the hut, and several days were spent incutting up and drying the flesh. Had our travellers been certain thatthe frost would have continued all winter, this would not have beennecessary--since the meat was already frozen as hard as a brick.
But they knew that a sudden thaw would spoil it; and, as there wasplenty of good firewood on the spot, they were not going to run the riskof losing it in that way.
They had now enough provision to last them for months; and huntingbecame no longer necessary, except to obtain fresh meat--which was, ofcourse, preferable to the dry stock. Hunting, also, gave them exerciseand amusement--both of which were necessary to their health; for toremain idle and inactive in a situation such as that in which they wereplaced is the worst possible plan, and is sure to engender both sicknessand _ennui_. Indeed, the last grew upon them, notwithstanding all thepains they took to prevent it. There were days on which the cold was soextreme, that they could not put their noses out of the door without thedanger of having them frost-bitten--although each had now a completesuit of deer-skin clothing, made by Lucien, the "tailor" of the party.
Upon such days they were fain to remain shut up in their hut; and,seated around their huge log-fire, they passed the time in cleaningtheir guns, mending their nets, stitching their clothes, and such-likeemployments. These days were far from being their dullest; for, whatwith the varied and scientific knowledge of Lucien, which he tookpleasure in imparting to his companions--what with the practicalexperience of Norman amid scenes of Arctic life, and the many "voyageurtales" he could tell--what with Francois merry jokes and _bon mots_--andwhat with Basil's _talent for listening_--not the least importantelement in a good _conversazione_,--our _quartette_ of young voyageursfound their indoor days anything but dull.
This was all well enough for a while. For a month or two they bore theirodd kind of life cheerfully enough; but the prospect of nearly sixmonths more of it began to appal them, when they reflected upon it; andthey soon found themselves longing for a change. Hunting adventures,that at other times would have interested them, now occurred withoutcreating any excitement; and the whole routine of their employmentsseemed monotonous. Nearly all of them were boys of an active characterof mind; and most of them were old enough to reason about the value oftime. Their idea of such a long isolation from civilized life, and,above all, the being debarred from following any useful pursuit, beganto impress some of them forcibly. Others, as Francois, could not becontented for a very great stretch of time with any sort of life; sothat all of them began to sigh for a change.
One day, while conversing upon this theme, a bold proposal was made byBasil. It was, that they should "strike camp," and continue theirjourney. This proposal took the others by surprise, but they were alljust in the frame of mind to entertain and discuss it; and a longconsultation was held upon the point. Francois chimed in with theproposal at once; while Lucien, more cautious, did not exactly oppose,but rather offered the reasons that were against it, and pointed out theperils of the undertaking. Norman, of course, was appealed to--all ofthem looking to him as one whose advice, upon that question at least,was more valuable than their own.
Norman admitted the dangers pointed out by Lucien, but believed thatthey might overcome them by a proper caution. On the whole, Normanapproved of the plan, and it was at length adopted. Perhaps Norman'shabitual prudence was to some extent influenced on this occasion by thevery natural desire he had of returning to what he considered his home.He had now been absent nearly two years, and was desirous of once moreseeing his father and his old companions at the Fort.
There was another feeling that influenced nearly all of them: that was_ambition_. They knew that to make such a journey would be something ofa feat, and they wished to have the credit of performing it. To mindslike that of Basil, even the danger had something attractive in it. Itwas resolved then to break up the encampment, and continue theirjourney.