CHAPTER TWELVE.
A NEW SCENE--THE ESQUIMAU--DEER-SLAYING--ENEMIES IN THE BUSH.
Turn we now to another, a more distant, and a wilder scene. Near thebleak shores of Hudson's Straits there flows a river which forms anoutlet to the superfluous waters of the almost unknown territory lyingbetween the uninhabited parts of Labrador and that tract of desert landwhich borders Hudson's Bay on the east, and is known to the fur-tradersby the appellation of East Main. This river is called the Caniapuscaw,and discharges itself into Ungava Bay.
The scene to which we would turn the reader's attention is upwards oftwenty miles from the mouth of this river, at a particular bend, wherethe stream spreads itself out into a sheet of water almost worthy ofbeing called a lake, and just below which two bold cliffs shut out theseaward view, and cause an abrupt narrowing of the river. The scene ispeculiar, and surpassingly grand. On each side of the stream majesticmountains raise their bald and rugged peaks almost into the clouds.Little herbage grows on the more exposed places, and nothing, save hereand there a stunted and weather-worn pine, breaks the sharp outline ofthe cliffs. But in the gorges and dark ravines--for there are novalleys--clumps of small-sized spruce--fir and larch trees throw asoftness over some of the details of a spot whose general aspect is oneof sterility. The mountains rise in a succession of irregular steps orterraces, whose faces are so precipitous that they cannot be ascended.To accomplish the feat of scaling the mountain-tops it would benecessary to clamber up a ravine until the first terrace should begained, then, walking along that, ascend the next ravine, and so on. Atthe upper end of the lake (as we shall hereafter call this wide part ofthe river) lies a low island, fringed with a scanty growth of willows;and not far from this, on the eastern bank of the river, lies a smallpatch of level sand. This spot is somewhat peculiar, inasmuch as it isbacked by a low platform of rock, whose surface is smooth as a table.At the foot of this rock bubbles a little spring, which, meanderingthrough a tangled spot of stunted shrubbery ere it mingles with thesand, gives unusual green-ness and vitality to the surrounding herbage.On the edge of this rocky platform sat the figure of a man.
It was evening. The declining sun shot its last few rays over the browof the opposite mountains, and bathed him in mellow light, as he satapparently contemplating the scene before him. The man's costumebespoke him a native of the savage region in the midst of which heseemed the only human being. But although an Esquimau, he exhibitedseveral physical peculiarities not commonly supposed to belong to thatpeople. To an altitude of six feet three he added a breadth of shoulderand expansion of chest seldom equalled among men of more highly-favouredclimes; and his real bulk being very greatly increased by his costume,he appeared to be a very giant--no unfitting tenant of such giantscenery. The said costume consisted of an extremely loose coat or shirtof deerskin, having the hair outside, and a capacious hood, whichusually hung down behind, but covered his head at this time, in order toprotect it from a sharp north-west breeze that whirled among the gulliesof the mountains, and surging down their sides, darkened the surface ofthe water. A pair of long sealskin boots encased his limbs from foot tothigh; and a little wallet or bag of sealskin, with the hair outside,hung from his shoulders. Simple although this costume was, it had abulky rotundity of appearance that harmonised well with the giant'sfrank, good-humoured countenance, which was manly, firm, and massive,besides being rosy, oily, and fat. In the latter peculiarity he partookof the well-known characteristic of his tribe; but the effeminacy inappearance that is produced by a round, fat face was done away in thecase of our giant by a remarkably black though as yet downy moustacheand beard, of a length suitable to twenty-three winters. His hair waslong, straight, and black, besides being uncommonly glossy--an effectattributable to the prevalence of whale-oil in these regions. On theforehead the locks were cut short, so as to afford free scope to hisblack eyes and sturdy-looking nose. By his side lay a long huntingspear, and a double-bladed paddle, fully fifteen feet long; which latterbelonged to a kayak, or Esquimau canoe, that lay on the sand close tothe water's edge. Sitting there, motionless as the rocks around him,the giant looked like a colossal statue of an Esquimau. He was nofigure of stone, however, but a veritable human being, as was proved byhis starting suddenly from his reverie and hastening towards the springbefore mentioned, at which he stooped and drank rapidly, like one whohad to make up for lost time.
After a few hurried gulps, the man strode towards his canoe; but as hewent his restless eye became fixed on the branching antlers of a deer,that were tossed in the air on the summit of a neighbouring cliff. Likeone who is suddenly paralysed, the Esquimau stood transfixed in theattitude in which he had been arrested. He did not even seem tobreathe, as the antlers moved to and fro, clearly defined against theblue sky. At length they disappeared, and the animal to which theybelonged slowly descended a ravine towards the river. Then, as if setfree from a spell, the man glided into his kayak, and swept rapidly butnoiselessly behind a projecting point of rock, where he waited patientlytill the deer took to the water. He had not long to wait, however, forin a few minutes afterwards the deer, followed by several companions,walked out upon the patch of sand, snuffed the air once or twice, andentered the stream with the intention of crossing.
But there was an enemy near whom they little dreamed of--not an enemywho would dash excitedly into the midst of them, or awaken the thundersof the place with his noisy gun, but a foe who could patiently bide histime, and take cool and quiet advantage of it when it came. When thedeer had proceeded about a hundred yards into the river, the Esquimaudipped his paddle twice, and the narrow, sharp-pointed canoe, which, ata short distance, seemed little more than a floating plank, dartedthrough the water and ranged alongside of the startled animals. Thefattest of the herd was separated from its fellows and driven towardsthe shore from which it had started, while the others struggled acrossthe river. Once or twice the separated deer endeavoured to turn torejoin its comrades--an attempt which was frustrated by the Esquimau,who could paddle infinitely faster over the water in his skin canoe thanthe deer could swim. As they neared the shore, the giant cast on it oneor two glances, and having made up his mind as to the most convenientspot for landing, he urged the point of his canoe between the antlers ofthe deer, and steered it in this manner to the sand-bank. The deer,thus directed, had no resource but to land where its persecutor chose;but no sooner did its foot touch ground, than it sprang convulsivelyforward in the vain hope to escape. The same instant its captor's canoeshot beside it. Grasping the long lance before mentioned in his hand,he placed its glittering point on the deer's side, tickled it slowly toascertain that it was between two ribs, and, with a quick thrust,stabbed it to the heart. A convulsive shudder, as the deer's head sankin the stream, proved that, though cold-blooded in appearance, theaction was more effective and less cruel than many other more approvedmethods of killing game.
Our Esquimau thought neither of the method of slaying his deer nor ofman's opinion regarding it. His sole object was to procure supper,having tasted nothing since early morning; and the manner in which heate showed at once the strength of his appetite and his totalindifference to cookery, for he ate it raw. There was a certainappearance of haste in all his actions which, however, seemedunaccountable, considering the peaceful nature of the vast solitudesaround him. Scarcely had he cut off and devoured a portion of the deerthan he hastened again to his canoe, and darted like an arrow from theshore. This is no exaggerated simile. The long, thin, sharp Esquimaukayak is highly suggestive of an arrow in its form, and much more so inits extraordinary speed. It consists of an extremely light framework ofwood covered with sealskin parchment, which is stretched upon it allover as tight as a drum. The top of the canoe being covered as well asthe bottom, it is thus, as it were, decked; and a small hole in themiddle of this deck admits its occupant. The kayak can only hold oneperson. The paddle, as already said, is a long pole with a blade ateach end. It is dipped alternately on each side, and is used not
onlyto propel the kayak, but to prevent it from upsetting. Indeed, soliable is it to upset that nothing but the wonderful adroitness of itsoccupant prevents it from doing so with every swing of his body.
Quick, however, though the kayak sped over the rippling wave, it couldnot have escaped the messenger of death that seemed about to bedispatched after it by a dark-skinned, red-painted Indian, who, at themoment the vessel left the shore, leapt from behind a rocky point, and,levelling a long gun, took a steady aim at the unconscious Esquimau. Alittle puff of powder answered to the click of the lock, as the gunmissed fire. With an exclamation of anger the savage seized hispowder-horn to reprime, when a rude grasp was laid on his shoulder, andanother Indian, who, from the eagle feather in his hair, and his generalbearing, appeared to be a chief, exclaimed--
"Fool! you have the impatience of a woman, and you have not yet shownthat you have the heart of a man. Would the scalp of yonEater-of-raw-flesh pay us for coming so far from our hunting-grounds?If your gun had spoken among these mountains, we would have found theempty wigwams of his people, instead of fringing our belts with theirscalps."
With a frown of anger the chief turned on his heel and retraced hissteps into the ravine from which he had emerged, followed by his abashedand silent companion.
Meanwhile the Esquimau, ignorant of the fate from which he had justescaped, continued to ply his paddle with right good will. The littlecraft, obedient to the powerful impulse, combined as it was with thecurrent of the ebb-tide, flew rather than floated toward the narrows,through which it passed, and opened up a view of the ice-encumberedwaters of Ungava Bay. Directing his course along the western shores ofthe river, the Esquimau speedily reached the coast at a point whereseveral low, rough-built summer huts clustered near the shore. Here heran his kayak into a little creek, and, having lifted it beyond tidemark, betook himself to his dwelling.