A FACTORY.

One of the largest of the lakes beyond the 61st parallel is that called the

Great Slave Lake; it is two hundred and fifty miles long by fifty across, and is

situated exactly at 61? 25' N. lat. and 114? W. long. The surrounding districts

slope down to it, and it completely fills a vast natural hollow. The position of

the lake in the very centre of the hunting districts. once swarming with game,

early attracted the attention of the Company. Numerous streams either take their

rise from it or flow into it-the Mackenzie, the Athabasca, &c.; and several

important forts have been constructed on its shores-Fort Providence on the

north, and Fort Resolution on the south. Fort Reliance is situated on the

north-east extremity, and is about three hundred miles from the Chesterfield

inlet, a long narrow estuary formed by the waters of Hudson's Bay.

The Great Slave Lake is dotted with little islands, the granite and gneiss of

which they are formed jutting up in several places. Its northern banks are

clothed with thick woods, shutting out the barren frozen district beyond, not

inaptly called the "Cursed Land." The southern regions, on the other band, are

flat, without a rise of any kind, and the soil is mostly calcareous. The large

ruminants of the polar districts-the buffaloes or bisons, the flesh of which

forms almost the only food of the Canadian and native hunters-seldom go further

north than the Great Slave Lake.

The trees on the northern shores of the lake form magnificent forests. We

need not be astonished at meeting with such fine vegetation in this remote

district. The Great Slave Lake is not really in a higher latitude than Stockholm

or Christiania. We have only to remember that the isothermal lines, or belts of

equal heat, along which heat is distributed in equal quantities, do not follow

the terrestrial parallels, and that with the same latitude, America is ever so

much colder than Europe. In April the streets of New York are still white with

snow, yet the latitude of New York is nearly the same as that of the Azores. The

nature of a country, its position with regard to the oceans, and even the

conformation of its soil, all influence its climate.

In summer Fort Reliance was surrounded with masses of verdure, refreshing to

the sight after the long dreary winter. Timber was plentiful in these forests,

which consisted almost entirely of poplar, pine, and birch. The islets on the

lake produced very fine willows. Game was abundant in the underwood, even during

the bad season. Further south the hunters from the fort successfully pursued

bisons, elks, and Canadian porcupines, the flesh of which is excellent. The

waters of the Slave Lake were full of fish; trout in them attained to an immense

size, their weight often exceeding forty pounds. Pikes, voracious lobes, a sort

of charr or grayling called " blue fish," and countless legions of tittamegs,

the Coregonus of naturalists, disported themselves in the water, so that

the inhabitants of Fort Reliance were well supplied with food. Nature provided

for all their wants; and clothed in the skins of foxes, martens, bears, and

other Arctic animals, they were able to brave the rigour of the winter.

The fort, properly so called, consisted of a wooden house with a ground-floor

and one upper storey. In it lived the commandant and his officers. The barracks

for the soldiers, the magazines of the Company, and the offices where exchanges

were made, surrounded this house. A little chapel, which wanted nothing but a

clergyman, and a powder-magazine, completed the buildings of the settlement. The

whole was surrounded by palisades twenty-five feet high, defended by a small

bastion with a pointed roof at each of the four corners of the parallelogram

formed by the enceinte. The fort was thus protected from surprise, a necessary

precaution in the days when the Indians, instead of being the purveyors of the

Company, fought for the independence of their native land, and when the agents

and soldiers of rival associations disputed the possession of the rich fur

country.

At that time the Hudson's Bay Company employed about a million men on its

territories. It held supreme authority over them, an authority which could even

inflict death. The governors of the factories could regulate salaries, and

arbitrarily fix the price of provisions and furs; and as a result of this

irresponsible power, they often realised a profit of no less than three hundred

per cent.

We shall see from the following table, taken from the " Voyage of Captain

Robert Lade," on what terms exchanges were formerly made with those Indians who

have since become the best hunters of the Company. Beavers' skins were then the

currency employed in buying and selling.

The Indians paid-

For one gun, · 10 beavers' skins
" half a pound of powder, · 1 "
" four pounds of shot, · 1 "
" one axe, · 1 "
" six knives, · 1 "
" one pound of glass beads, · 1 "
" one laced coat, · 6 "
" one coat not laced, · 5 "
" one laced female dress, · 6 "
" one pound of tobacco, · 1 "
" one box of powder, · 1 "
" one comb and one looking glass, · 2 "

But a few years ago beaver-skins became so scarce that the currency had to be

changed. Bison-furs are now the medium of trade. When an Indian presents himself

at the fort, the agents of the Company give him as many pieces of wood as he

brings skins, and he exchanges these pieces of wood for manufactured articles on

the premises; and as the Company fix the price of the articles they buy and

sell, they cannot fail to realise large profits.

Such was the mode of proceeding in Fort Reliance and other factories; so that

Mrs Paulina Barnett was able to watch the working of the system during her stay,

which extended until the 16th April. Many a long talk did she have with

Lieutenant Hobson, many were the projects they formed, and firmly were they both

determined to allow no obstacle to check their advance. As for Thomas Black, he

never opened his lips except when his own special mission was discussed. He was

wrapped up in the subject of the luminous corona and red prominences of the

moon; he lived but to solve the problem, and in the end made Mrs Paulina Barnett

nearly as enthusiastic as himself. How eager the two were to cross the Arctic

Circle, and how far off the 18th July 1860 appeared to both, but especially to

the impatient Greenwich astronomer, can easily be imagined.

The preparations for departure could not be commenced until the middle of

March, and a month passed before they were completed. In fact, it was a

formidable undertaking to organise such an expedition for crossing the Polar

regions. Everything had to betaken with them-food, clothes, tools, arms,

ammunition, and a nondescript collection of various requisites.

The troops, under the command of Lieutenant Jaspar Hobson, were one chief and

two subordinate officers, with ten soldiers, three of whom took their wives with

them. They were all picked men, chosen by Captain Craventy on account of their

energy and resolution. We append a list of the whole party:-

1. Lieutenant Jaspar Hobson. · 11. Sabine, soldier.
2. Sergeant Long. · 12. Hope, do.
3. Corporal Joliffe. · 13. Kellet, do.
4. Petersen, soldier · 14. Mrs Rae
5. Belcher, do. · 15. Mrs Joliffe.
6. Rae, do · 16. Mrs Mac-Nab.
7. Marbre, do · 17. Mrs Paulina Barnett.
8. Garry, do · 18. Madge.
9. Pond, do · 19. Thomas Black
10. Mac-Nab, do. ·

In all, nineteen persons to be transported several hundreds of miles through

a desert and imperfectly-known country.

With this project in view, however, the Company had collected everything

necessary for the expedition. A dozen sledges, with their teams of dogs, were in

readiness. These primitive vehicles consisted of strong but light planks joined

together by transverse bands. A piece of curved wood, turning up at the end like

a skate, was fixed beneath the sledge, enabling it to cleave the snow without

sinking deeply into it. Six swift and intelligent dogs, yoked two and two, and

controlled by the long thong brandished by the driver, drew the sledges, and

could go at a rate of fifteen miles an hour.

The wardrobe of the travellers consisted of garments made of reindeer-skins,

lined throughout with thick furs. All wore linen next the skin as a protection

against the sudden changes of temperature frequent in these latitudes. Each one,

officer or soldier, male or female, wore seal-skin boots sewn with twine, in the

manufacture of which the natives excel. These boots are absolutely impervious,

and are so flexible that they are admirably adapted for walking. Pine-wood

snow-shoes, two or three feet long, capable of supporting the weight of a man on

the most brittle snow, and enabling him to pass over it with the rapidity of a

skater on ice, can be fastened to the soles of the seal-skin boots. Fur caps and

deer-skin belts completed the costumes.

For arms, Lieutenant Hobson had the regulation musketoons provided by the

Company, pistols, ordnance sabres, and plenty of ammunition; for tools : axes,

saws, adzes, and other instruments required in carpentering. Then there was the

collection of all that would be needed for setting up a factory in the remote

district for which they were bound : a stove; a smelting furnace, two airpumps

for ventilation, an India-rubber boat, only inflated when required, &c.,

&c.

The party might have relied for provisions on the hunters amongst them. Some

of the soldiers were skilful trackers of game, and there were plenty of reindeer

in the Polar regions. Whole tribes of Indians, or Esquimaux, deprived of bread

and all other nourishment, subsist entirely on this venison, which is both

abundant and palatable. But as delays and difficulties had to be allowed for, a

certain quantity of provisions was taken with them. The flesh of the bison, elk,

and deer, amassed in the large battues on the south of the lake; corned

beef, which will keep for any length of time; and some Indian preparations, in

which the flesh of animals, ground to powder, retains its nutritive properties

in a very small bulk, requiring no cooking, and forming a very nourishing diet,

were amongst the stores provided in case of need.

Lieutenant Hobson likewise took several casks of rum and whisky; but he was

firmly resolved to economise these spirits, so injurious to the health in cold

latitudes, as much as possible. The Company had placed at his disposal a little

portable medicine-chest, containing formidable quantities of lime-juice, lemons,

and other simple remedies necessary to check, or if possible to prevent, the

scorbutic affections which take such a terrible form in these regions.

All the men had been chosen with great care; none were too stout or too thin,

and all had for years been accustomed to the severity of the climate, and could

therefore more easily endure the fatigues of an expedition to the Polar Sea.

They were all brave, high-spirited fellows, who had taken service of their own

accord. Double pay had been promised them during their stay at the confines of

the American continent, should they succeed in making a settlement beyond the

seventieth parallel.

The sledge provided for Mrs Barnett and her faithful Madge was rather more

comfortable than the others. She did not wish to be treated better than her

travelling companions, but yielded to the urgent request of Captain Craventy,

who was but carrying out the wishes of the Company.

The vehicle which brought Thomas Black to Fort Reliance also conveyed him and

his scientific apparatus from it. A few astronomical instruments, of which there

were not many in those days-a telescope for his selenographic observations, a

sextant for taking the latitude, a chronometer for determining the longitudes, a

few maps, a few books, were all stored away in this sledge, and Thomas Black

relied upon his faithful dogs to lose nothing by the way.

Of course the food for the various teams was not forgotten. There were

altogether no less than seventy-two dogs, quite a herd to provide for by the

way, and it was the business of the hunters to cater for them. These strong

intelligent animals were bought of the Chippeway Indians, who know well how to

train them for their arduous calling.

The little company was most skilfully organised. The zeal of Lieutenant

Jaspar Hobson was beyond all praise. Proud of his mission, and devoted to his

task; he neglected nothing which could insure success. Corporal Joliffe, always

a busybody, exerted himself without producing any very tangible results; but his

wife was most useful and devoted; and Mrs Paulina Barnett had already struck up

a great friendship with the brisk little Canadian woman, whose fair hair and

large soft eyes were so pleasant to look at.

We need scarcely add that Captain Craventy did all in his power to further

the enterprise. The instructions he had received from the Company showed what

great importance they attached to the success of the expedition, and the

establishment of a new factory beyond the seventieth parallel. We may therefore

safely affirm that every human effort likely to insure success which could be

made was made; but who could tell what insurmountable difficulties nature might

place in the path of the brave Lieutenant I who could tell what awaited him and

his devoted little band.