The Young Voyageurs: Boy Hunters in the North

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER SEVEN.

  A BRIDGE OF BUCKSKIN.

  The canoe was lost, and all it had contained, or nearly all. Thevoyageurs had saved only their guns, knives, and the powder-horns andpouches, that had been attached to their persons. One other thing hadbeen saved--an axe which Basil had flung upon the rock as he stepped outof the sinking vessel. All the rest--robes, blankets, swans, cookingutensils, bags of provisions, such as coffee, flour, and dried meat--were lost--irrecoverably lost. These had either drifted off upon thesurface, or been carried under water and hidden among the loose stonesat the bottom. No matter where, they were lost; and our voyageurs nowstood on a small naked rock in the middle of the stream, with nothingleft but the clothes upon their backs, and the arms in their hands.Such was their condition.

  There was something so sudden and awful in the mishap that had befallenthem, that for some minutes they stood upon the spot where they hadsettled without moving or addressing a word to one another. They gazedafter the canoe. They knew that it was wrecked, although they could seenothing either of it or its contents. Thick darkness enveloped them,rendered more intense from the sudden extinction of the torchlight.They saw nothing but the foam flickering along the river; like theghosts of the swans they had killed, and they heard only the roaring ofthe water, that sounded in their ears with a hoarse and melancholy wail.

  For a long time they stood impressed with the lamentable condition intowhich the accident had plunged them; and a lamentable condition it was,sure enough. They were on a small rock in the midst of a rapid river.They were in the midst of a great wilderness too, many long miles from asettlement. The nearest could only be reached by travelling throughpathless forests, and over numerous and deep rivers. Impassable swamps,and lakes with marshy shores, lay on the route, and barred the directcourse, and all this journey would have to be made on foot.

  But none of our young voyageurs were of that stamp to yield themselvesto despair. One and all of them had experienced perils before--greatereven than that in which they now stood. As soon, therefore, as theybecame fully satisfied that their little vessel was wrecked, and all itscontents scattered, instead of despairing, their first thoughts were howto make the best of their situation.

  For that night, at least, they were helpless. They could not leave therock. It was surrounded by rapids. Sharp, jagged points peeped out ofthe water, and between these the current rushed with impetuosity. Inthe darkness no human being could have crossed to either shore insafety. To attempt it would have been madness, and our voyageurs sooncame to this conclusion. They had no other choice than to remain wherethey were until the morning; so, seating themselves upon the rock, theyprepared to pass the night.

  They sat huddled close together. They could not lie down--there was notroom enough for that. They kept awake most of the night, one or otherof them, overcome by fatigue, occasionally nodding over in a sort ofhalf-sleep, but awakening again after a few minutes' uncomfortabledreaming. They talked but little, as the noise of the rushing rapidsrendered conversation painful. To be heard, they were under thenecessity of shouting to one another, like passengers in an omnibus. Itwas cold, too. None of them had been much wetted in escaping from thecanoe; but they had saved neither overcoat, blanket, nor buffalo-robe;and, although it was now late in the spring, the nights near LakeWinnipeg, even at that season, are chilly. They were above the latitudeof 50 degrees; and although in England, which is on that parallel, it isnot very cold of a spring night, it must be remembered that the line ofequal temperature--in the language of meteorologists the "_isothermalline_,"--is of a much lower latitude in America than in Europe.

  Another fact worth remembering is, that upon the eastern or Atlanticcoast of the American Continent it is much colder in the same latitudethan on the western or Pacific side. The Pacific "sea-board" in itsclimate is more like the western edge of the old continent. This wouldseem to indicate that the climate of a coast country is much influencedby the side upon which the ocean lies, whether east or west. This inreality is the case, for you may observe on your map that the westerncoasts of both the "old world" and the "new" are somewhat similarlyplaced in regard to their oceans, and hence the similarity of theirclimates.

  There are many other causes connected with this; such as the directionof winds, and the different effects produced by them on the atmospherewhen they have passed over water or over land. It was, and is still bymany people believed, that the winds are produced by the air becomingheated in a particular place, and then ascending, and leaving a "vacuum"into which the colder air rushes from all sides around. This "rushing,"it was supposed, made the wind. To some extent this theory is true, butthere are several other causes that operate in producing wind.Electricity--an agent hitherto but little known, but one of the mostimportant elements of our Earth--has much to do with the winds; and therevolution of the Earth on its own axis has also an influence upon them.Indeed it is to be wondered at, that mankind should have so longremained satisfied with the very unsatisfactory theory of the _heatedair_. But it is not to be wondered at either, when we consider howlittle mankind has had to do with these things--when we consider that asyet nearly every country upon the face of the globe is despotic; thatthe whole time of the great body of the people is occupied in a strugglefor life--occupied in toiling for a few, who by the most cunning devicesrob them of the fruits of their toils--rob them so skilfully that thepoor blinded masses have grown to consider eternal toil as the _naturalstate of man_--nay more, are ready to persecute him who would elevatethem, and worship him who would sink them deeper in baseness andbondage;--when we reflect on this almost hopeless darkness of soul thathas marked the history of the past, and is too much the character of thepresent, we need not wonder that so few have had either leisure orinclination to yield themselves to the acquirement or prosecution ofscientific knowledge. "The winds have blown where they listed, and wehave heard the sound thereof," but men absorbed in the hard struggle oflife have found but little time to inquire "whence they come or whitherthey go."

  The people of the United States are yet but partially free. They stillinherit, from customs and prejudices, the fruits of an ancestraloppression, and a bondage of centuries of duration. But even their_partial_ freedom has already shown its good effects. At this momentknowledge is progressing faster among these people than any other on theface of the earth. Meteorology begins to assume the palpable shape ofan exact science. The winds are being traced in their currents, andfollowed through all their windings, by Maury and other men of talent;and if you live twenty years longer (and I hope you may live three timesas many years), you will no doubt be able to tell "whence the windcometh and whither it goeth."

  Well, we began this politico-scientific discussion by observing that itwas very cold in the latitude of Lake Winnipeg, even in late spring.Only at night though; the days are sometimes so hot there that you mightfancy yourself in the tropics. These extremes are characteristic of theclimate of all American countries, and particularly those that lie at adistance from the sea-coast.

  Our voyageurs were chilled to the very bones, and of course glad to seethe daylight glimmering through the tops of the trees that grew upon thebanks of the river. As soon as day broke, they began to consider howthey would reach those trees. Although swimming a river of that widthwould have been to any of the four a mere bagatelle, they saw that itwas not to be so easy an affair. Had they been upon either bank, theycould have crossed to the other without difficulty--as they would havechosen a place where the water was comparatively still. On the rockthey had no choice, as the rapids extended on both sides above and belowit. Between the boulders the current rushed so impetuously, that hadthey attempted to swim to either bank, they would have been carrieddownward, and perhaps dashed with violence against one or other of thesharp stones.

  As soon as it was light, they saw all this; not without feelings ofapprehension and uneasiness. Their whole attention was now occupiedwith the one object--how they should get to the
bank of the river.

  The right bank was the more distant; but the passage in that directionappeared the easier one. The current was not so swift, nor yet did itseem so deep. They thought they might ford it, and Basil made theattempt; but he soon got beyond his depth; and was obliged, after beingcarried off his feet, to swim up under the lee of the rock again.

  From the rock to the right bank was about an hundred yards' distance.Here and there, at irregular intervals, sharp, jagged stones rose abovethe surface, some of them projecting three feet or more out of thewater, and looking _very_ much like upright tombstones. Lucien hadnoticed these, and expressed the opinion that if they only had a rope,they might fling it over one of these stones, and then, holding it fastat the other end, might pass by that means from one to the other.

  The suggestion was a good one, but where was the rope to come from? Alltheir ropes and cords--lassoes and all--had been swept away in thewreck. Not a string remained, except those that fastened their horns,flasks, and other accoutrements; and these were only small thongs, andwould be of no use for such a purpose. It would require a rope strongenough to carry the weight of a man impelled by a rapid current--infact, a weight equal to that of several men. They all set to thinkinghow this was to be obtained. Each looked at the other, and scanned thestraps and thongs that were around their bodies. They were satisfied ata glance that these would not be sufficient to make such a rope as waswanted. They did not give up the hope of being able to obtain one.They were all of them accustomed to resort to strange expedients, and asufficiently strange one now suggested itself. Basil and Norman seemedto have thought of it at the same time, for both at once unbuckled theirstraps, and commenced pulling off their buckskin hunting-shirts. Theothers said nothing, as they knew well what they were going to do withthem--they knew they intended cutting them into strips, and thentwisting a rope out of them.

  All four set to work together. Lucien and Francois held the shirtstaut, while Basil and Norman handled the knives, and in a few minutesthe rock was covered with strips of buckskin about two inches wide, by ayard or so in length. These were next joined and plaited together insuch a manner that a rope was formed nearly forty feet long. An eye wasmade at one end, and through this the other end was reeved--so that arunning noose was obtained, in the same manner as the Mexicans andIndians make their lassoes. The rope was now ready for use, and Basilwas the very hand to use it; for Basil knew how to fling a lasso as wellas either Mexican or Indian. He had practised it often, and had lassoedmany a long-horned bull upon the prairies of Opelousas and theAttakapas. To Basil, therefore, the rope was given. He placed himselfon the highest part of the rock, having first coiled the new-made lasso,and hung the coil lightly over his left arm. He then took the noose-endin his right hand, and commenced winding it around his head. Hiscompanions had laid themselves flat, so as not to be in the way of thenoose as it circled about. After a few turns the rope was launchedforth, and a loud "hurrah!" from Francois announced that the throw wassuccessful. It was so in fact, as the noose was seen settling smoothlyover the jutting-stone, taking full hold upon it. A pull from Basilfixed it; and in a few minutes it was made quite fast, without theslightest danger of its slipping off. The other end was then carriedround a projecting point of the rock on which they stood, and knottedfirmly, so that the rope was quite taut, and stretched in a nearlyhorizontal direction, about a foot above the surface of the water.

  The voyageurs now prepared to cross over. Their guns, pouches, andflasks were carefully secured, so that the water could not damage them.Then each took a piece of the buckskin thong, and fastened it round hiswaist, leaving enough to form a running loop. This loop was intended toembrace the rope, and run along it, as they drew themselves forward bytheir hands.

  Basil passed over first. He was the oldest, and, as he asserted, it wasbut right he should run the risk in testing the new-fashioned bridge, ofwhich he was the architect. It worked admirably, and sustained theweight of his body, with the whole force of the current acting upon it.Of course he was swept far down, and the rope was stretched to its fulltension, but he succeeded in handing himself along, until he was able totouch the second rock, and clamber upon it in safety. During thepassage across he was watched by his companions with emotions of noordinary character, but as soon as he had reached the opposite end ofthe rope all three uttered a loud and simultaneous cheer. Lucien passedover next, and after him Francois. Notwithstanding his danger, Francoislaughed loudly all the time he was in the water, while his brothers werenot without some fears for his safety. Marengo was next attached to therope, and pulled safely over.

  Norman was the last to cross upon the buckskin bridge, but, like theothers, he landed in safety; and the four, with the dog, now stood uponthe little isolated boulder, where there was just room enough to givethem all a footing.

  A difficulty now presented itself, which they had not hitherto thoughtof. Another reach of rapid current was to be crossed, before they couldsafely trust themselves to enter the water. This they knew before, butthey had also noticed that there was another jutting rock, upon whichthey might fling their rope. But the rope itself was now thedifficulty. It was fast at both ends, and how were they to release itfrom the rock they had left? One of them could easily cross over againand untie it, but how was he to get back to the others? Here was adilemma which had not presented itself before, and they now sawthemselves no better off than ever. The rapid that remained to becrossed, was as dangerous as the one they had succeeded in passing.There was no hope that they could swim it in safety. They wouldcertainly be swept with violence against the rocks below. There was nochance, then, of their going an inch farther--unless by some meanssimilar to that they had just used, and the rope was no longer at theirservice.

  For some time they all stood silent, each considering the matter in hisown way. How could they free the rope?

  "It cannot be done," said one. "Impossible," rejoined another. "Wemust make a second rope. Francois's shirt still remains, and ourleggings--we can use them."

  This was the mode suggested by Francois and Norman, and Lucien seemed toassent to it. They had already commenced untying their leggings, whenBasil uttered the ejaculation--

  "Stop!"

  "Well, what is it, brother?" asked Lucien.

  "I think I can free the rope at the other end. At all events, let metry. It will not cost much, either in time or trouble."

  "How do you mean to do it, brother?"

  "Sit close, all of you. Give me room--you shall see presently."

  As directed by Basil, they all cowered closely down, so as to occupy aslittle space as possible. Basil, having uncovered the lock of hisrifle--which had been carefully bound up in a piece of deer's bladder--placed himself in a firm position, and appeared as if about to fire.Such was his intention--for in a few moments he was seen to raise thegun to his shoulder, and take aim. None of his companions uttered aword. They had already guessed the object of this movement, and satsilently awaiting the result.

  On the rock which they had left, the rope still bound fast passed aroundone of the angles, in such a way that, from the point where Basil stood,it offered a fair mark. It was at this Basil was aiming. His objectwas to cut the thong with his bullet. He could not do it with a singleshot, as the thong was broader than the bullet, but he had calculatedthat he might effect his purpose with several. If he did not succeed incutting it clean through, the ball flattening upon the rock would,perhaps, tear the rope in such a manner that, by pulling by the otherend, they might detach it. Such were the calculations and hopes ofBasil.

  A moment more and the crack of his rifle was heard. At the same instantthe dust rose up from the point at which he had aimed, and several smallfragments flew off into the water. Again was heard Francois's "hurrah,"for Francois, as well as the others, had seen that the rope had been hitat the right place, and now exhibited a mangled appearance.

  While Basil was reloading, Norman took aim and fired. Norman
was a goodshot, though perhaps not so good a one as Basil, for that was no easymatter, as there were few such marksmen to be found anywhere, not evenamong the professional trappers and hunters themselves. But Norman wasa fair shot, and this time hit his mark. The thong was evidently betterthan half divided by the two; bullets. Seeing this, Francois took holdof the other end, and gave it a strong jerk or two, but it was still toomuch for him, and he ceased pulling, and waited the effect of Basil'ssecond shot.

  The latter had now reloaded, and, taking deliberate aim again, fired.The rope was still held taut upon the rock, for part of it dragged inthe current, the force of which kept pressing it hard downward.Scarcely was the report heard, when the farther end of the thong flewfrom its fastening, and, swept by the running water, was seen fallinginto the lee of the boulder on which the party now stood. A third timewas heard the voice of Francois uttering one of his customary "hurrahs."The rope was now dragged up, and made ready for further use. Basilagain took hold of it; and, after coiling it as before, succeeded inthrowing the noose over the third rock, where it settled and held fast.The other end was tied as before, and all passed safely to the newstation. Here, however, their labour ended. They found that from thispoint to the shore the river was shallow, and fordable; and, leaving therope where it was, all four took the water, and waded safely to thebank.