New plans--Our travellers join the fur-traders, and see manystrange things--A curious fight--A narrow escape, anda prisoner taken. Not long after the events related in the last chapter,our four friends--Dick, and Joe, and Henri,and Crusoe--agreed to become for a time members ofWalter Cameron's band of trappers. Joe joined becauseone of the objects which the traders had in view wassimilar to his own mission--namely, the promoting ofpeace among the various Indian tribes of the mountainsand plains to the west. Joe, therefore, thought it agood opportunity of travelling with a band of men whocould secure him a favourable hearing from the Indiantribes they might chance to meet with in the course oftheir wanderings. Besides, as the traders carried abouta large supply of goods with them, he could easily replenishhis own nearly exhausted pack by hunting wildanimals and exchanging their skins for such articles ashe might require.
Dick joined because it afforded him an opportunity ofseeing the wild, majestic scenery of the Rocky Mountains,and shooting the big-horned sheep which aboundedthere, and the grizzly "bars," as Joe named them, or"Caleb," as they were more frequently styled by Henriand the other men.
Henri joined because it was agreeable to the inclinationof his own rollicking, blundering, floundering, crashingdisposition, and because he would have joined anythingthat had been joined by the other two.
Crusoe's reason for joining was single, simple, easy tobe expressed, easy to be understood, and commendable.
He joined--because Dick did.
The very day after the party left the encampmentwhere Dick had shot the grizzly bear and the deer, hehad the satisfaction of bringing down a splendid specimenof the big-horned sheep. It came suddenly outfrom a gorge of the mountain, and stood upon the giddyedge of a tremendous precipice, at a distance of abouttwo hundred and fifty yards.
"You could not hit that," said a trapper to Henri,who was rather fond of jeering him about his shortsightedness.
"Non!" cried Henri, who didn't see the animal in theleast; "say you dat? ve shall see;" and he let fly with apromptitude that amazed his comrades, and with a resultthat drew from them peals of laughter.
"Why, you have missed the mountain!""Oh, non! dat am eempossoble."It was true, nevertheless, for his ball had been arrestedin its flight by the stem of a tree not twenty yards beforehim.
While the shot was yet ringing, and before the laughabove referred to had pealed forth, Dick Varley fired,and the animal, springing wildly into the air, fell downthe precipice, and was almost dashed to pieces at theirfeet.
This Rocky Mountain or big-horned sheep was a particularlylarge and fine one, but being a patriarch of theflock was not well suited for food. It was considerablylarger in size than the domestic sheep, and might bedescribed as somewhat resembling a deer in the bodyand a ram in the head. Its horns were the chief pointof interest to Dick; and, truly, they were astounding!
Their enormous size was out of all proportion to theanimal's body, and they curved backwards and downwards,and then curled up again in a sharp point. Thesecreatures frequent the inaccessible heights of the RockyMountains, and are difficult to approach. They have agreat fondness for salt, and pay regular visits to thenumerous caverns of these mountains, which are encrustedwith a saline substance.
Walter Cameron now changed his intention of proceedingto the eastward, as he found the country not sofull of beaver at that particular spot as he had anticipated.
He therefore turned towards the west, penetratedinto the interior of the mountains, and took aconsiderable sweep through the lovely valleys on theirwestern slopes.
The expedition which this enterprising fur-trader wasconducting was one of the first that ever penetratedthese wild regions in search of furs. The ground overwhich they travelled was quite new to them, and havingno guide they just moved about at haphazard, encampingon the margin of every stream or river on whichsigns of the presence of beaver were discovered, andsetting their traps.
Beaver skins at this time were worth 25s. a-piece inthe markets of civilized lands, and in the Snake country,through which our friends were travelling, thousands ofthem were to be had from the Indians for trinkets andbaubles that were scarce worth a farthing. A beaverskin could be procured from the Indians for a brassfinger-ring or a penny looking-glass. Horses were alsoso numerous that one could be procured for an axe or aknife.
Let not the reader, however, hastily conclude that thetraders cheated the Indians in this traffic, though theprofits were so enormous. The ring or the axe was indeeda trifle to the trader, but the beaver skin and thehorse were equally trifles to the savage, who could procureas many of them as he chose with very littletrouble, while the ring and the axe were in his estimationof priceless value. Besides, be it remembered, tocarry that ring and that axe to the far-distant haunts ofthe Red-man cost the trader weeks and months of constanttoil, trouble, anxiety, and, alas! too frequently costhim his life! The state of trade is considerably modifiedin these regions at the present day. It is not morejustly conducted, for, in respect of the value of goodsgiven for furs, it was justly conducted then, but timeand circumstances have tended more to equalize the relativevalues of articles of trade.
The snow which had prematurely fallen had passedaway, and the trappers now found themselves wanderingabout in a country so beautiful and a season so delightful,that it would have seemed to them a perfect paradise,but for the savage tribes who hovered about them,and kept them ever on the qui vive.
They soon passed from the immediate embrace of stupendousheights and dark gorges to a land of slopingridges, which divided the country into a hundred luxuriantvales, composed part of woodland and part of prairie.
Through these, numerous rivers and streams flowed deviously,beautifying the landscape and enriching theland. There were also many lakes of all sizes, andthese swarmed with fish, while in some of them werefound the much-sought-after and highly-esteemed beaver.
Salt springs and hot springs of various temperaturesabounded here, and many of the latter were so hot thatmeat could be boiled in them. Salt existed in all directionsin abundance and of good quality. A sulphurousspring was also discovered, bubbling out from the baseof a perpendicular rock three hundred feet high, thewaters of which were dark-blue and tasted like gunpowder.
In short, the land presented every variety offeature calculated to charm the imagination and delightthe eye.
It was a mysterious land, too; for broad rivers burst inmany places from the earth, flowed on for a short space,and then disappeared as if by magic into the earth fromwhich they rose. Natural bridges spanned the torrentsin many places, and some of these were so correctlyformed that it was difficult to believe they had not beenbuilt by the hand of man. They often appeared opportunelyto our trappers, and saved them the trouble anddanger of fording rivers. Frequently the whole bandwould stop in silent wonder and awe as they listened tothe rushing of waters under their feet, as if anotherworld of streams, and rapids, and cataracts were flowingbelow the crust of earth on which they stood. Someconsiderable streams were likewise observed to gushfrom the faces of precipices, some twenty or thirty feetfrom their summits, while on the top no water was tobe seen.
Wild berries of all kinds were found in abundance,and wild vegetables, besides many nutritious roots.
Among other fish, splendid salmon were found in thelakes and rivers, and animal life swarmed on hill andin dale. Woods and valleys, plains and ravines, teemedwith it. On every plain the red-deer grazed in herdsby the banks of lake and stream. Wherever there wereclusters of poplar and elder trees and saplings, the beaverwas seen nibbling industriously with his sharp teeth,and committing as much havoc in the forest as if hehad been armed with the woodman's axe; others sportedin the eddies. Racoons sat in the tree-tops; the marten,the black fox, and the wolf prowled in the woods inquest of prey; mountain sheep and goats browsed onthe rocky ridges; and badgers peeped from their holes.
Here, too, the wild horse sprang snorting and dishevelledfrom his mountain retreats--with flourishingmane and tail, spanking step, and questioninggaze--and thundered away over the plains and valleys, whilethe rocks echoed back his shrill neigh. The huge,heavy, ungainly elk, or moose-deer, trotted away fromthe travellers with speed equal to that of the mustang:
elks seldom gallop; their best speed is attained at thetrot. Bears, too, black, and brown, and grizzly, roamedabout everywhere.
So numerous were all these creatures that on oneoccasion the hunters of the party brought in six wildhorses, three bears, four elks, and thirty red-deer; havingshot them all a short distance ahead of the main body,and almost without diverging from the line of march.
And this was a matter of everyday occurrence--as ithad need to be, considering the number of mouths thathad to be filled.
The feathered tribes were not less numerous. Chiefamong these were eagles and vultures of uncommon size,the wild goose, wild duck, and the majestic swan.
In the midst of such profusion the trappers spent ahappy time of it, when not molested by the savages, butthey frequently lost a horse or two in consequence ofthe expertness of these thievish fellows. They oftenwandered, however, for days at a time without seeingan Indian, and at such times they enjoyed to the fullthe luxuries with which a bountiful God had blessedthese romantic regions.
Dick Varley was almost wild with delight. It washis first excursion into the remote wilderness; he wasyoung, healthy, strong, and romantic; and it is a questionwhether his or his dog's heart, or that of the noblewild horse he bestrode, bounded most with joy at theglorious sights and sounds and influences by which theywere surrounded. It would have been perfection, had itnot been for the frequent annoyance and alarms causedby the Indians.
Alas! alas! that we who write and read about thosewondrous scenes should have to condemn our own speciesas the most degraded of all the works of the Creatorthere! Yet so it is. Man, exercising his reason andconscience in the path of love and duty which his Creatorpoints out, is God's noblest work; but man, left to thefreedom of his own fallen will, sinks morally lower thanthe beasts that perish. Well may every Christian wishand pray that the name and the gospel of the blessedJesus may be sent speedily to the dark places of theearth; for you may read of, and talk about, but youcannot conceive the fiendish wickedness and cruelty whichcauses tearless eyes to glare, and maddened hearts toburst, in the lands of the heathen.
While we are on this subject, let us add (and our youngreaders will come to know it if they are spared to seemany years) that civilization alone will never improvethe heart. Let history speak, and it will tell you thatdeeds of darkest hue have been perpetrated in so-calledcivilized though pagan lands. Civilization is like thepolish that beautifies inferior furniture, which water willwash off if it be but hot enough. Christianity resemblesdye, which permeates every fibre of the fabric, and whichnothing can eradicate.
The success of the trappers in procuring beaver herewas great. In all sorts of creeks and rivers they werefound. One day they came to one of the curious riversbefore mentioned, which burst suddenly out of a plain,flowed on for several miles, and then disappeared into theearth as suddenly as it had risen. Even in this strangeplace beaver were seen, so the traps were set, and ahundred and fifty were caught at the first lift.
The manner in which the party proceeded was asfollows:--They marched in a mass in groups or in a longline, according to the nature of the ground over whichthey travelled. The hunters of the party went forwarda mile or two in advance, and scattered through thewoods. After them came the advance-guard, being thebravest and most stalwart of the men mounted on theirbest steeds, and with rifle in hand; immediately behindfollowed the women and children, also mounted, andthe pack-horses with the goods and camp equipage.
Another band of trappers formed the rear-guard to thisimposing cavalcade. There was no strict regimentalorder kept, but the people soon came to adopt thearrangements that were most convenient for all parties,and at length fell naturally into their places in the lineof march.
Joe Blunt usually was the foremost and always themost successful of the hunters. He was therefore seldomseen on the march except at the hour of starting, and atnight when he came back leading his horse, which alwaysgroaned under its heavy load of meat. Henri, being ahearty, jovial soul and fond of society, usually kept withthe main body. As for Dick, he was everywhere atonce, at least as much so as it is possible for humannature to be! His horse never wearied; it seemed todelight in going at full speed; no other horse in thetroop could come near Charlie, and Dick indulged himby appearing now at the front, now at the rear, anon inthe centre, and frequently nowhere!--having gone offwith Crusoe like a flash of lightning after a buffalo or adeer. Dick soon proved himself to be the best hunterof the party, and it was not long before he fulfilled hispromise to Crusoe and decorated his neck with a collarof grizzly bear claws.
Well, when the trappers came to a river where therewere signs of beaver they called a halt, and proceededto select a safe and convenient spot, near wood andwater, for the camp. Here the property of the bandwas securely piled in such a manner as to form a breastworkor slight fortification, and here Walter Cameronestablished headquarters. This was always the postof danger, being exposed to sudden attack by prowlingsavages, who often dogged the footsteps of the party intheir journeyings to see what they could steal. ButCameron was an old hand, and they found it difficult toescape his vigilant eye.
From this point all the trappers were sent forth insmall parties every morning in various directions, someon foot and some on horseback, according to the distancesthey had to go; but they never went fartherthan twenty miles, as they had to return to camp everyevening.
Each trapper had ten steel traps allowed him. Thesehe set every night, and visited every morning, sometimesoftener when practicable, selecting a spot in the streamwhere many trees had been cut down by beavers for thepurpose of damming up the water. In some places asmany as fifty tree stumps were seen in one spot, withinthe compass of half an acre, all cut through at abouteighteen inches from the root. We may remark, inpassing, that the beaver is very much like a giganticwater-rat, with this marked difference, that its tail isvery broad and flat like a paddle. The said tail is agreatly-esteemed article of food, as, indeed, is the wholebody at certain seasons of the year. The beaver's forelegs are very small and short, and it uses its paws ashands to convey food to its mouth, sitting the while inan erect position on its hind legs and tail. Its fur isa dense coat of a grayish-coloured down, concealed bylong coarse hair, which lies smooth, and is of a brightchestnut colour. Its teeth and jaws are of enormouspower; with them it can cut through the branch of atree as thick as a walking-stick at one snap, and, as wehave said, it gnaws through thick trees themselves.
As soon as a tree falls, the beavers set to work industriouslyto lop off the branches, which, as well as thesmaller trunks, they cut into lengths, according to theirweight and thickness. These are then dragged bymain force to the water-side, launched, and floated totheir destination. Beavers build their houses, or"lodges," under the banks of rivers and lakes, and alwaysselect those of such depth of water that there isno danger of their being frozen to the bottom. Whensuch cannot be found, and they are compelled to buildin small rivulets of insufficient depth, these clever littlecreatures dam up the waters until they are deep enough.
The banks thrown up by them across rivulets for thispurpose are of great strength, and would do credit tohuman engineers. Their lodges a............