| Show AN EXCITING experience nerve and skill of the canadian voya beur the fur hunter running a rapid is one of the most exciting experiences of a boutmans boat mans life yet the risks habitually taken by t alio I 1 to canadian voyageurs voya geurs accustomed thorn them to face death in ia this way without hesitation when descending an unknown stream an ominous roar would suddenly announce tiie nue danger from below from which retreat was impossible then coolness and action quick is as thought alone co could uld guide the boat through the foam ing waters when r rocks OC 13 1 3 on every hand threatened destruction there was excitement enough in shooting a rapid when tile the adventure was made deliberately if the pass were a dangerous one tile boats were commonly lightened of part or all their load then as the current began to quicken the bowman and the steersman would rise from their seats and quickly seizing their short paddles brace their knees against the gunwale of bow arid and stem stein to steady themselves and tile the boat immersing the blades of their paddles deep in the water so that tile the ed edges cut i along 0 g w with ith I 1 little resistance they awaited the moment of action while tile the oarsmen oarsman redoubled the force of their strokes that i the boat might k lave have an impetus of its own swifter than the current thus the frail bark plunged downward into the seething waters with the merry boat song of the canadian voyageur voyage ur ming mingling lill 0 with the voice of the waters while hiss his indian companion was silent and stern stein as death into the midst of tile the fierce currents r wl whirled irlea hero here by an eddy and thrown with willi a crash against a bowlder boulder there ili the boat was as steered from side to side out of tile the way or ol the 0 obstructing rocks by the united daring action of the bowman and steersman until at length if wreck was escaped they emerged into the quiet waters below upon the skill and nerve of bowman arid and steer steersman sinan the safety of life and cargo depended and their pay was often two or three times as much as that of the oars men who merely propelled the craft it was wa s the custom of the merry boatmen as they lustily plied their paddles to strike into a canadian barcarole and at length the indian so far forgot his taciturnity as to take up the custom of singing which enabled him to keep keel better time and to paddle more steadily it became the hie settled custom among among 0 the natives of british columbia for the steersman to lead the song hong and for the crew to join in the chorus only when the streams wore were frozen over the boats of course were laid aside and then the fur hunters would bring in their packs on oil snowshoes or with sledges drawn by dogs the dogs sled was usually about nh TA taa a ong and sixteen sixteen inches inched lif in w I 1 made of thin oak or birch boards turned up in front and lashed together with leer deer thongs from 2 00 to pounds on oil one of these i could be drawn by four dogs twenty ali five or thirty five miles a day the doyag voy voyagers agurs urs loved to decorate any part of their dress with plumes and many colored colore ribbons with the ends floating gaulf in the breeze leggins were frequently worn and when the cold was intense tro efto or three suits would be put on at ornamental moccasins covered their icet et biffle brilliant cotton handkerchiefs were tied sailor fashion around their I 1 swarthy neju necks and from the scarlet belt was suspended knife and tobacco pouch some me wore coarse cloth caps while others wound around their long black hair a colored handkerchief in the shape of a turban occasionally black beaver bearer hats were seen among 0 tile the more foppish and bonnets bound w wit iab gold and silver tinsel thisel cords almost hidden under feathers and tassels cassels tas sels for food the alie fur hunter took iv hat lie could get and as a rule his chief dependence was his rifle meat was his chief food and was eaten frebla or dried sometimes for months and even years lie ile tasted neither bread salt nor vege vegetables tabler fish flesh or fowl ford was all liis his larder contained and lieras lie was well contented to have it f full till even of his sole sustenance A voyageurs voya geurs rations varied vat aed in the several parts of the fur hunting region thus in new caledonia a dried salmon or eight rabbits might be gihei him for his days daye food at athabasca it would be eight pounds of moose meat on oil the man ten pounds of buffalo flesh while in tile alie far north his fare would be half fish and half reindeer pemmican was the he great staple preserved food and the fur trader learned liow how to prepare it from the indians the flesh commonly used was that of tile the buffalo elk deer or antelope and for long keeping it was prepared with fat spices and rais raisins his it was prepared by cutting lean flesh into thin slices which were cured by partly cooking cookin by exposing ing to sun or frost or by placing on a wooden grate over a blow fire when dried it was pounded between two stones until until pulverized and then it was placed in in a bag made of the ani dials nials hide after bein being mixed with about equal proportions of of the animals fat the bag was sewed up and after it had bad cooled and liardi hardened nied it was ready for storage or transportation A pound bag three feet long and ten indies inches square would comfortably sustain four men a month compiled from hubert howe bancroft Ban crofts Vs history of the northwest coast |
