CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
THE FEAST--CHARLEY MAKES HIS FIRST SPEECH IN PUBLIC, AND MEETS WITH ANOLD FRIEND--AN EVENING IN THE GRASS.
Savages, not less than civilised men, are fond of a good dinner. Insaying this, we do not expect our reader to be overwhelmed withastonishment. He might have guessed as much; but when we state thatsavages, upon particular occasions, eat six dinners in one, and make ita point of honour to do so, we apprehend that we have thrown a slightlynew light on an old subject. Doubtless there are men in civilisedsociety who would do likewise if they could; but they cannot,fortunately, as great gastronomic powers are dependent on severe,healthful, and prolonged physical exertion. Therefore it is that inEngland we find men capable only of eating about two dinners at once,and suffering a good deal for it afterward; while in the backwood we seemen consume a week's dinner in one, without any evil consequencesfollowing the act.
The feast which was given by the Knisteneux in honour of the visit ofour two friends was provided on a more moderate scale than usual, inorder to accommodate the capacities of the "white men;" three days'allowance being cooked for each man. (Women are never admitted to thepublic feasts.) On the day preceding the ceremony, Charley and Jacqueshad received cards of invitation from the principal chief, in the shapeof two quills; similar invites being issued at the same time to all thebraves. Jacques being accustomed to the doings of Indians, and aware ofthe fact that whatever was provided for each man _must_ be eaten beforehe quitted the scene of operations, advised Charley to eat no breakfast,and to take a good walk as a preparative. Charley had strong faith,however, in his digestive powers, and felt much inclined, when morningcame, to satisfy the cravings of his appetite as usual; but Jacques drewsuch a vivid picture of the work that lay before him, that he forbore tourge the matter, and went off to walk with a light step, and anuncomfortable feeling of vacuity about the region of the stomach.
About noon the chiefs and braves assembled in an open enclosure situatedin an exposed place on the banks of the river, where the proceedingswere watched by the women, children, and dogs. The oldest chief sathimself down on the turf at one end of the enclosure, with JacquesCaradoc on his right hand, and next to him Charley Kennedy, who hadornamented himself with a blue stripe painted down the middle of hisnose, and a red bar across his chin. Charley's propensity for fun hadled him thus to decorate his face, in spite of his companion'sremonstrances,--urging, by way of excuse, that worthy's former argument,"that it was well to fall in with the ways o' the people a man happenedto be among, so long as these ways and customs were not contrary to whatwas right." Now Charley was sure there was nothing wrong in hispainting his nose sky-blue, if he thought fit.
Jacques thought it was absurd, and entertained the opinion that it wouldbe more dignified to leave his face "its nat'ral colour."
Charley didn't agree with him at all. He thought it would be paying theIndians a high compliment to follow their customs as far as possible,and said that, after all, his blue nose would not be very conspicuous,as he (Jacques) had told him that he would "look blue" at any rate whenhe saw the quantity of deer's meat he should have to devour.
Jacques laughed at this, but suggested that the bar across his chin was_red_. Whereupon Charley said that he could easily neutralise that byputting a green star under each eye; and then uttered a fervent wishthat his friend Harry Somerville could only see him in that guise.Finding him incorrigible, Jacques, who, notwithstanding hisremonstrances, was more than half imbued with Charley's spirit, gave in,and accompanied him to the feast, himself decorated with the additionalornament of a red night-cap, to whose crown was attached a tuft of whitefeathers.
A fire burned in the centre of the enclosure, round which the Indiansseated themselves according to seniority, and with deep solemnity; forit is a trait in the Indian's character that all his ceremonies areperformed with extreme gravity. Each man brought a dish or platter, anda wooden spoon.
The old chief, whose hair was very grey, and his face covered with oldwounds and scars, received either in war or in hunting, having seatedhimself, allowed a few minutes to elapse in silence, during which thecompany sat motionless, gazing at their plates as if they half expectedthem to become converted into beef-steaks. While they were seated thus,another party of Indians, who had been absent on a hunting expedition,strode rapidly but noiselessly into the enclosure, and seated themselvesin the circle. One of these passed close to Charley, and in doing sostooped, took his hand, and pressed it. Charley looked up in surprise,and beheld the face of his old friend Redfeather, gazing at him with anexpression in which were mingled affection, surprise, and amusement atthe peculiar alteration in his visage.
"Redfeather!" exclaimed Charley in delight, half rising; but the Indianpressed him down.
"You must not rise," he whispered, and giving his hand another squeeze,passed round the circle, and took his place directly opposite.
Having continued motionless for five minutes with becoming gravity, thecompany began operations by proceeding to smoke out of the sacred stem--a ceremony which precedes all occasions of importance, and is conductedas follows:--The sacred stem is placed on two forked sticks to preventits touching the ground, as that would be considered a great evil. Astone pipe is then filled with tobacco, by an attendant appointedspecially to that office, and affixed to the stem, which is presented tothe principal chief. That individual, with a gravity and _hauteur_ thatis unsurpassed in the annals of pomposity, receives the pipe in bothhands, blows a puff to the east (probably in consequence of its beingthe quarter whence the sun rises), and thereafter pays a similar mark ofattention to the other three points. He then raises the pipe above hishead, points and balances it in various directions (for what reason andwith what end in view is best known to himself), and replaces it againon the forks. The company meanwhile observe his proceedings with sedateinterest, evidently imbued with the idea that they are deriving from theceremony a vast amount of edification--an idea which is helped out,doubtless, by the appearance of the women and children, who surround theenclosure, and gaze at the proceedings with looks of awe-struckseriousness that are quite solemnising to behold.
The chief then makes a speech relative to the circumstance which hascalled them together; and which is always more or less interlarded withboastful reference to his own deeds, past, present, and prospective,eulogistic remarks on those of his forefathers, and a generalcondemnation of all other Indian tribes whatever. These speeches areusually delivered with great animation, and contain much poetic allusionto the objects of nature that surround the homes of the savage. Thespeech being finished, the chief sits down amid a universal "Ho!"uttered by the company with an emphatic prolongation of the lastletter--this syllable being the Indian substitute, we presume, for"rapturous applause."
The chief who officiated on the present occasion, having accomplishedthe opening ceremonies thus far, sat down; while the pipe-bearerpresented the sacred stem to the members of the company in succession,each of whom drew a few whiffs and mumbled a few words.
"Do as you see the redskins do, Mr Charles," whispered Jacques, whilethe pipe was going round.
"That's impossible," replied Charley, in a tone that could not be heardexcept by his friend. "I couldn't make a face of hideous solemnity likethat black thief opposite if I was to try ever so hard."
"Don't let them think you are laughing at them," returned the hunter;"they would be ill pleased if they thought so."
"I'll try," said Charley, "but it is hard work, Jacques, to keep fromlaughing; I feel like a high-pressure steam-engine already. There's awoman standing out there with a little brown baby on her back; she hasquite fascinated me; I can't keep my eyes off her, and if she goes oncontorting her visage much longer, I feel that I shall give way."
"Hush!"
At this moment the pipe was presented to Charley, who put it to hislips, drew three whiffs, and returned it with a bland smile to thebearer.
The smile was a very sweet one, for that was a pecul
iar trait in thenative urbanity of Charley's disposition, and it would have gone far incivilised society to prepossess strangers in his favour: but it loweredhim considerably in the estimation of his red friends, who entertained awhole some feeling of contempt for any appearance of levity on highoccasions. But Charley's face was of that agreeable stamp that, thoughgentle and bland when lighted up with a smile, is particularly masculineand manly in expression when in repose, and the frown that knit hisbrows when he observed the bad impression he had given almost reinstatedhim in their esteem. But his popularity became great, and theadmiration of his swarthy friends greater, when he rose and made aneloquent speech in English, which Jacques translated into the Indianlanguage.
He told them, in reply to the chief's oration (wherein that warrior hadcomplimented his pale-faced brothers on their numerous good qualities),that he was delighted and proud to meet with his Indian friends; thatthe object of his mission was to acquaint them with the fact that a newtrading-fort was established not far off, by himself and his comrades,for their special benefit and behoof; that the stores were full of goodswhich he hoped they would soon obtain possession of, in exchange forfurs; that he had travelled a great distance on purpose to see theirland and ascertain its capabilities in the way of fur-bearing animalsand game; that he had not been disappointed in his expectations, as hehad found the animals to be as numerous as bees, the fish plentiful inthe rivers and lakes, and the country at large a perfect paradise. Heproceeded to tell them further that he expected they would justify thereport he had heard of them, that they were a brave nation and goodhunters, by bringing in large quantities of furs.
Being strongly urged by Jacques to compliment them on their various goodqualities, Charley launched out into an extravagantly poetic vein, saidthat he had _heard_ (but he hoped to have many opportunities of seeingit proved) that there was no nation under the sun equal to them inbravery, activity, and perseverance; that he had heard of men in oldentimes who made it their profession to fight with wild bulls for theamusement of their friends, but he had no doubt whatever their couragewould be made conspicuous in the way of fighting wild bears andbuffaloes, not for the amusement but the benefit of their wives andchildren (he might have added, of the Hudson's Bay Company, but hedidn't, supposing that that was self-evident, probably). Hecomplimented them on the way in which they had conducted themselves inwar in times past, comparing their stealthy approach to enemies camps tothe insidious snake that glides among the bushes and darts unexpectedlyon its prey; said that their eyes were sharp to follow the war-trailthrough the forest or over the dry sward of the prairie; their aim withgun or bow true and sure as the flight of the goose when it leaves thelands of the sun, and points its beak to the icy regions of the north;their war-whoops loud as the thunders of the cataract; and their suddenonset like the lightning flash that darts from the sky and scatters thestout oak in splinters on the plain.
At this point Jacques expressed his satisfaction at the style in whichhis young friend was progressing.
"That's your sort, Mr Charles. Don't spare the butter; lay it onthick. You've not said too much yet, for they _are_ a brave race,that's a fact, as I've good reason to know."
Jacques, however, did not feel quite so well satisfied when Charley wenton to tell them that, although bravery in war was an admirable thing,war itself was a thing not at all to be desired, and should only beundertaken in case of necessity. He especially pointed out that therewas not much glory to be earned in fighting against the Chipewyans, who,everybody knew, were a poor, timid set of people, whom they ought ratherto pity than to destroy; and recommended them to devote themselves moreto the chase than they had done in times past, and less to theprosecution of war in time to come.
All this, and a great deal more, did Charley say, in a manner, and witha rapidity of utterance, that surprised himself, when he considered thefact that he had never adventured into the field of public speakingbefore. All this, and a great deal more--a very great deal more--didJacques Caradoc interpret to the admiring Indians, who listened with theutmost gravity and profound attention, greeting the close with a veryemphatic "Ho!"
Jacques's translation was by no means perfect. Many of the flights intowhich Charley ventured, especially in regard to the manners and customsof the _savages_ of ancient Greece and Rome, were quite incomprehensibleto the worthy backwoodsman; but he invariably proceeded when Charleyhalted, giving a flight of his own when at a loss, varying and modifyingwhen he thought it advisable, and altering, adding, or cutting off as hepleased.
Several other chiefs addressed the assembly, and then dinner, if we mayso call it, was served. In Charley's case it was breakfast; to theIndians it was breakfast, dinner, and supper in one. It consisted of alarge platter of dried meat, reindeer tongues (considered a greatdelicacy), and marrowbones.
Notwithstanding the graphic power with which Jacques had prepared hisyoung companion for this meal, Charley's heart sank when he beheld themountain of boiled meat that was placed before him. He was ravenouslyhungry, it is true, but it was patent to his perception at a glance thatno powers of gormandising of which he was capable could enable him toconsume the mass in the course of one day.
Jacques observed his consternation, and was not a little entertained byit, although his face wore an expression of profound gravity while heproceeded to attack his own dish, which was equal to that of his friend.
Before commencing, a small portion of meat was thrown into the fire, asa sacrifice to the Great Master of Life.
"How they do eat, to be sure!" whispered Charley to Jacques, after hehad glanced in wonder at the circle of men who were devouring their foodwith the most extraordinary rapidity.
"Why, you must know," replied Jacques, "that it's considered a point ofhonour to get it over soon, and the man that is done first gets mostcredit. But it's hard work," (he sighed, and paused a little tobreathe), "and I've not got half through yet."
"It's quite plain that I must lose credit with them, then, if it dependson my eating that. Tell me, Jacques, is there no way of escape? Must Isit here till it is all consumed?"
"No doubt of it. Every bit that has been cooked must be crammed downour throats somehow or other."
Charley heaved a deep sigh, and made another desperate attack on a largesteak, while the Indians around him made considerable progress inreducing their respective mountains.
Several times Charley and Redfeather exchanged glances as they paused intheir labours.
"I say, Jacques," said Charley, pulling up once more, "how do you geton? Pretty well stuffed by this time, I should imagine?"
"Oh no! I've a good deal o' room yet."
"I give in. Credit or disgrace, it's all one. I'll not make a pig ofmyself for any redskin in the land."
Jacques smiled.
"See," continued Charley, "there's a fellow opposite who has devoured asmuch as would have served me for three days. I don't know whether it'simagination or not, but I do verily believe that he's _blacker_ in theface than when he sat down!"
"Very likely," replied Jacques, wiping his lips. "Now I've done."
"Done? you have left at least a third of your supply."
"True, and I may as well tell you for your comfort that there is one wayof escape open to you. It is a custom among these fellows, that whenany one cannot gulp his share o' the prog, he may get help from any ofhis friends who can cram it down their throats; and as there are alwayssuch fellows among these Injins, they seldom have any difficulty."
"A most convenient practice," replied Charley; "I'll adopt it at once."
Charley turned to his next neighbour with the intent to beg of him toeat his remnant of the feast.
"Bless my heart, Jacques, I've no chance with the fellow on my lefthand; he's stuffed quite full already, and is not quite done with hisown share."
"Never fear," replied his friend, looking at the individual in question,who was languidly lifting a marrow-bone to his lips; "he'll do it easy.I knows the gauge o' them cha
ps, and for all his sleepy look just nowhe's game for a lot more."
"Impossible," replied Charley, looking in despair at his unfinishedviands and then at the Indian. A glance round the circle seemed furtherto convince him that if he did not eat it himself there were none of theparty likely to do so.
"You'll have to give him a good lump o' tobacco to do it, though; hewon't undertake so much for a trifle, I can tell you." Jacques chuckledas he said this, and handed his own portion over to another Indian, whoreadily undertook to finish it for him.
"He'll burst; I feel certain of that," said Charley, with a deep sigh,as he surveyed his friend on the left.
At last he took courage to propose the thing to him, and just as the manfinished the last morsel of his own repast, Charley placed his own platebefore him, with a look that seemed to say, "Eat it, my friend, _if youcan_."
The Indian, much to his surprise, immediately commenced to it, and inless than half an hour the whole was disposed of.
During this scene of gluttony, one of the chiefs entertained theassembly with a wild and most unmusical chant, to which he beat time ona sort of tambourine, while the women outside of the enclosure beat asimilar accompaniment.
"I say, master," whispered Jacques, "it seems to my observation that thefellow you called Redfeather eats less than any Injin I ever saw. Hehas got a comrade to eat more than half of his share; now that'sstrange."
"It won't appear strange, Jacques, when I tell you that Redfeather haslived much more among white men than Indians during the last ten years;and although voyageurs eat an enormous quantity of food, they don't makeit a point of honour, as these fellows seem to do, to eat much more thanenough. Besides, Redfeather is a very different man from those aroundhim: he has been partially educated by the missionaries on PlaygreenLake, and I think has a strong leaning towards them."
While they were thus conversing in whispers, Redfeather rose, andholding forth his hand, delivered himself of the following oration:--
"The time has come for Redfeather to speak. He has kept silence formany moons now, but his heart has been full of words. It is too full;he must speak now. Redfeather has fought with his tribe, and has beenaccounted a brave, and one who loves his people. This is true. He_does_ love, even more than they can understand. His friends know thathe has never feared to face danger or death in their defence, and that,if it were necessary, he would do so still. But Redfeather is going toleave his people now. His heart is heavy at the thought. Perhaps manymoons will come and go, many snows may fall and melt away, before hesees his people again; and it is this that makes him full of sorrow, itis this that makes his head to droop like the branches of the weepingwillow."
Redfeather paused at this point, but not a sound escaped from thelistening circle: the Indians were evidently taken by surprise at thisabrupt announcement. He proceeded:--
"When Redfeather travelled not long since with the white men, he metwith a paleface who came from the other side of the Great Salt Laketowards the rising sun. This man was called by some of the people amissionary. He spoke wonderful words in the ears of Redfeather. Hetold him of things about the Great Spirit which he did not know before,and he asked Redfeather to go and help him to speak to the Indians aboutthese strange things. Redfeather would not go. He loved his people toomuch, and he thought that the words of the missionary seemedfoolishness. But he has thought much about it since. He does notunderstand the strange things that were told to him, and he has tried toforget them, but he cannot. He can get no rest. He hears strangesounds in the breeze that shakes the pine. He thinks that there arevoices in the waterfall; the rivers seem to speak. Redfeather's spiritis vexed. The Great Spirit, perhaps, is talking to him. He hasresolved to go to the dwelling of the missionary and stay with him."
The Indian paused again, but still no sound escaped from his comrades.Dropping his voice to a soft, plaintive tone, he continued:--
"But Redfeather loves his kindred. He desires very much that theyshould hear the things that the missionary said. He spoke of the happyhunting-grounds to which the spirits of our fathers have gone, and saidthat we required a _guide_ to lead us there; that there was but oneguide, whose name, he said, was Jesus. Redfeather would stay and huntwith his people, but his spirit is troubled; he cannot rest; he mustgo!"
Redfeather sat down, and a long silence ensued. His words had evidentlytaken the whole party by surprise, although not a countenance thereshowed the smallest symptom of astonishment, except that of CharleyKennedy, whose intercourse with Indians had not yet been so great as tohave taught him to conceal his feelings.
At length the old chief rose, and after complimenting Redfeather on hisbravery in general, and admitting that he had shown much love to hispeople on all occasions, went into the subject of his quitting them atsome length. He reminded him that there were evil spirits as well asgood; that it was not for him to say which kind had been troubling him,but that he ought to consider well before he went to live altogetherwith palefaces. Several other speeches were made, some to the sameeffect, and others applauding his resolve. These latter had, perhaps,some idea that his bringing the pale-faced missionary among them wouldgratify their taste for the marvellous--a taste that is pretty strong inall uneducated minds.
One man, however, was particularly urgent in endeavouring to dissuadehim from his purpose. He was a tall, low-browed man; muscular and wellbuilt, but possessed of a most villainous expression of countenance.From a remark that fell from one of the company, Charley discovered thathis name was Misconna, and so learned, to his surprise, that he was thevery Indian mentioned by Redfeather as the man who had been his rivalfor the hand of Wabisca, and who had so cruelly killed the wife of thepoor trapper the night on which the Chipewyan camp was attacked, and thepeople slaughtered.
What reason Misconna had for objecting so strongly to Redfeather'sleaving the community no one could tell, although some of those who knewhis unforgiving nature suspected that he still entertained the hope ofbeing able, some day or other, to wreak his vengeance on his old rival.But whatever was his object, he failed in moving Redfeather'sresolution; and it was at last admitted by the whole party thatRedfeather was a "wise chief," that he knew best what ought to be doneunder the circumstances, and it was hoped that his promised visit, incompany with the missionary, would not be delayed many moons.
That night, in the deep shadow of the trees, by the brook that murmurednear the Indian camp, while the stars twinkled through the branchesoverhead, Charley introduced Redfeather to his friend Jacques Caradoc,and a friendship was struck up between the bold hunter and the red manthat grew and strengthened as each successive day made them acquaintedwith their respective good qualities. In the same place, and with thesame stars looking down upon them, it was further agreed that Redfeathershould accompany his new friends, taking his wife along with him inanother canoe, as far as their several routes led them in the samedirection, which was about four or five days' journey; and that whilethe one party diverged towards the fort at Stoney Creek, the othershould pursue its course to the missionary station on the shores of LakeWinnipeg.
But there was a snake in the grass there that they little suspected.Misconna had crept through the bushes after them, with a degree ofcaution that might have baffled their vigilance, even had they suspectedtreason in a friendly camp. He lay listening intently to all theirplans, and when they returned to their camp, he rose out from among thebushes, like a dark spirit of evil, clutched the handle of hisscalping-knife, and gave utterance to a malicious growl; then walkinghastily after them, his dusky figure was soon concealed among the trees.