Our establishment was dignified with the name of Fort Hope, and was
situated in 66° 32' 16" N.; longitude (by a number of sets of lunar
distances with objects on both sides of the moon) 86° 55' 51" W. The
variation of the compass on 30th August was 62° 50' 30" W.; mean dip of
the needle, and the mean twice of a hundred vertical vibrations in the
line of declination 226".
A sort of room was formed at one end by putting up a partition of
oilcloth. In this, besides its serving as my quarters, all our pemmican
and some of the other stores were stowed away.
From the 5th to the 13th I was up at North Pole and Christie Lakes in
the boat with three men, our object being to look out for fishing
stations, and also to purchase dogs from the Esquimaux. The wind being
from the north, we did not reach the Esquimaux encampment till the 10th.
They had shifted their tents from the narrows to a small point about
eight miles up Christie Lake, where the deer were more numerous, among
which they seemed to have made great havoc, to judge by the abundance of
skins and venison lying in all directions. Our friends were delighted to
see us, and had improved much in appearance, the only poor animals about
them being their dogs, which appeared to get no more to eat than was
barely sufficient to keep them in life. I looked out four of the best,
being all I wanted at present, for which I promised a dagger each,
intending to take them with us on our return. During our stay here a
band of deer came to the edge of the lake, and after feeding a short
time took the water. Three of the natives slipped noiselessly into their
kayaks, and lay waiting, until the deer were far enough out in the
water, to intercept them, but just as they were on the eve of starting
the wind changed a little, and the deer smelling their enemy wheeled
about, and were soon in safety on the beach from which they had started.
Many large flocks of Hutchins and snow geese had been seen for the last
few days passing to the southward. The blue-winged goose of Edwards is
by some ornithologists considered as the young of the last named bird in
one of its stages towards maturity, but this opinion I believe to be
erroneous, for the following reasons.
During a ten years' residence at Moose Factory, on the shores of
Hudson's Bay, I had many opportunities, every spring and autumn, of
observing both the snow and the blue-winged goose in their passage to
and from their breeding places, the marshes near Moose being favourite
feeding ground.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account