Popular Adventure Tales

by Mayne Reid

  CHAPTER XII

  THE CHAIN OF LAKES

  Our young voyageurs now prepared to resume their journey. While Normanwas engaged in building his canoe, with his assistant, Francois, theothers had not been idle. Basil was, of course, the hunter of the party;and, in addition to the small game, such as hares, geese, and grouse, hehad killed three caribou, of the large variety known as "woodlandcaribou." These are a species of the reindeer of which I have more tosay hereafter. Lucien had attended to the drying of their flesh; andthere was enough of it still left, as our voyageurs believed, to supplytheir wants until they should reach Cumberland House, where they would,of course, procure a fresh stock of provisions. The skins of the caribouhad also been scraped and dressed by Lucien--who understood the processwell--and these, with the skin of the antelope, were sufficient to makea pair of hunting-shirts for Basil and Norman, who, it will beremembered, had lost theirs by cutting them up.

  Next morning the canoe was launched upon the river--below therapids--and the dried meat, with their other matters, snugly stowed inthe stern. Then the young voyageurs got in, and, seating themselves intheir places, seized hold of the paddles. The next moment the canoe shotout into the stream; and a triumphant cheer from the crew announced thatthey had recommenced their journey. They found to their delight that thelittle vessel behaved admirably--shooting through the water like anarrow, and leaking not water enough, as Francois expressed it, "to drowna mosquito."

  They had all taken their seats in the order which had been agreed uponfor the day. Norman was "bowsman," and, of course, sat in the bow. This,among the regular Canadian voyageurs, is esteemed the post of honour,and the bowsman is usually styled "Captain" by the rest of the crew. Itis also the post that requires the greatest amount of skill on the partof its occupant, particularly where there are rapids or shoals to beavoided. The post of "steersman" is also one of honour and importance;and both steersman and bowsman receive higher wages than the othervoyageurs who pass under the name of "middlemen." The steersman sits inthe stern, and that place was now occupied by Lucien, who had provedhimself an excellent steersman. Basil and Francois were, of course, the"middlemen," and plied the paddles.

  This was the arrangement made for the day; but although on other daysthe programme was to be changed, so as to relieve Basil and Francois, onall occasions when there were rapids or other difficulties to beencountered they were to return to this order. Norman, of course,understood canoe navigation better than his Southern cousins; andtherefore, by universal assent, he was acknowledged "the Captain," andFrancois always addressed him as such. Lucien's claim to the post ofsecond honour was admitted to be just, as he had proved himself capableof filling it to the satisfaction of all. Marengo had no post, but layquietly upon the buffalo skin between Lucien's legs, and listened to theconversation without joining in it, or in any way interfering in theworking of the vessel.

  In a few hours our voyageurs had passed through the low marshy countrythat lies around the mouth of the Red River, and the white expanse ofthe great Lake Winnipeg opened before them, stretching northward farbeyond the range of their vision. Norman knew the lake, having crossedit before, but its aspect somewhat disappointed the Southern travellers.Instead of a vast dark lake which they had expected to see, they lookedupon a whitish muddy sheet, that presented but few attractive points tothe eye, either in the hue of its water or the scenery of its shores.

  These, so far as they could see them, were low, and apparently marshy;and this is, in fact, the character of the southern shores of Winnipeg.On its east and north, however, the country is of a different character.There the geological formation is what is termed _primitive_. The rocksconsist of granite, sienite, gneiss, &c.; and, as is always the casewhere such rocks are found, the country is hilly and rugged. On thewestern shores a _secondary_ formation exists. This is _stratifiedlimestone_--the same as that which forms the bed of many of the greatprairies of America; and, indeed, the Lake Winnipeg lies between thissecondary formation and the primitive, which bounds it on the east.Along its western shores extends the flat limestone country, partlywooded and partly prairie land, running from that point for hundreds ofmiles up to the very foot of the Rocky Mountains, where the primitiverocks again make their appearance in the rugged peaks of that stupendouschain.

  Lake Winnipeg is nearly three hundred miles in length, but it is verynarrow--being in its widest reach not over fifty miles, and in manyplaces only fifteen miles from shore to shore. It trends nearly duenorth and south, leaning a little north-west and south-east, andreceives many large rivers, as the Red, the Saskatchewan, and theWinnipeg. The waters of these are again carried out of it by otherrivers that run from the lake, and empty into the Hudson's Bay. There isa belief among the hunters and voyageurs that this lake has its tideslike the ocean. Such, however, is not the case. There is at times a riseand overflow of its waters, but it is not periodical, and is supposed tobe occasioned by strong winds forcing the waters towards a particularshore.

  Lake Winnipeg is remarkable, as being in the very centre of the NorthAmerican continent, and may be called the centre of the _canoenavigation_. From this point it is possible to travel _by water_ toHudson's Bay on the north-east, to the Atlantic Ocean on the east, tothe Gulf of Mexico on the south, to the Pacific on the west, and to thePolar Sea on the north and north-west. Considering that some of thesedistances are upwards of three thousand miles, it will be perceived thatLake Winnipeg holds a singular position upon the continent. All theroutes mentioned can be made without any great "portage," and even achoice of route is often to be had upon those different lines ofcommunication.

  These were points of information communicated by Norman as the canoe waspaddled along the shore; for Norman, although troubling himself butlittle about the causes of things, possessed a good practical knowledgeof things as they actually were. He was tolerably well acquainted withthe routes, their portages, and distances. Some of them he had travelledover in company with his father, and of others he had heard the accountsgiven by the voyageurs, traders, and trappers. Norman knew that LakeWinnipeg was muddy--he did not care to inquire the cause. He knew thatthere was a hilly country on its eastern and a low level land on itswestern shores, but it never occurred to him to speculate on thisgeological difference.

  It was the naturalist, Lucien, who threw out some hints on this part ofthe subject, and further added his opinion, that the lake came to bethere in consequence of the wearing away of the rocks at the junction ofthe stratified with the primitive formation, thus creating an excavationin the surface, which in time became filled with water and formed thelake. This cause he also assigned for the existence of a remarkable"chain of lakes" that extends almost from the Arctic Sea to thefrontiers of Canada. The most noted of these are Martin, Great Slave,Athabasca, Wollaston, Deer, Lake Winnipeg and the Lake of the Woods.

  Lucien further informed his companions, that where primitive rocks formthe surface of a country, that surface will be found to exhibit greatdiversity of aspect. There will be numerous lakes and swamps, ruggedsteep hills with deep valleys between, short streams with many falls andrapids. These are the characteristics of a primitive surface. On theother hand, where secondary rocks prevail the surface is usually aseries of plains, often high, dry, and treeless, as is the case upon thegreat American prairies.

  Upon such topics did Lucien instruct his companions, as they paddledtheir canoe around the edge of the lake. They had turned the head oftheir little vessel westward--as it was their design to keep along thewestern border of the lake until they should reach the mouth of theSaskatchewan. They kept at a short distance from the shore, usuallysteering from point to point, and in this way making their route asdirect as possible. It would have been still more direct had they struckout into the open lake, and kept up its middle; but this would have beena dangerous course to pursue.

  There are often high winds upon Lake Winnipeg, that spring up suddenly;and at such times the waves, if not mountains high, at least arrive atthe height of houses. Am
ong such billows the little craft would havebeen in danger of being swamped, and our voyageurs of going to thebottom. They, therefore, wisely resolved not to risk such an accident,but to "hug the shore," though it made their voyage longer. Each nightthey would land at some convenient place, kindle their fire, cook theirsupper, and dry their canoe for the next day's journey.

  According to this arrangement, a little before sunset of the first daythey came to land and made their camp. The canoe was unloaded, carefullylifted out of the water, and then set bottom upward to drip and dry. Afire was kindled, some of the dry meat cooked, and all four sat down andbegan to eat, as only hungry travellers can.