Adventures Among the Red Indians Part 23

"The first _what_?" queried Weld. "And what on earth is this awful stench?"

"Rattlesnake," chuckled the Yankee. "See'd him pick it up, didn't ye?

Come on; here's a chance for _you_, now.--Bah! What in the 'nation did ye want to do _that_ for?"

For, without any hesitation, Weld had pulled out his revolver and sent two bullets into the body of a snake which, coiled up like a wire spring, had placed itself across a narrow path, and was rearing its head in an uncomfortably suggestive manner.

"What did you expect me to do?" asked Weld with some impatience.

"Why, _this_.--Stand clear!"

But the Yankee was too "c.o.c.ksure," as the boys say; and was only too glad to spring back again to the side of his guest. What he had _tried_ to do was to seize another snake by the tail and "snap" it, as a carter cracks a whip; but the creature's mouth and poison-fangs happened to be very much in the way just then, and the innkeeper left the task to the more expert Ojibewas.

Now that he knew what to expect, Weld retired to a safe distance and began to note all that took place. The overpowering smell of which he had complained arose from the snakes themselves. The rats, rabbits, squirrels, etc., on which they feed begin to putrefy as soon as they are swallowed, owing to the action of the poison, and one snake is often enough to make a whole neighbourhood intolerable.

The majority of those captured were small, averaging about three and a half feet long, and the activity of the Indians in detecting, seizing, and killing them was almost incredible. In most cases the snake was lying, straight or coiled as the case might be, in the tracks usually followed by small animals in their periodical path to the water, for rattlesnakes are singularly slow in their movement, and so are forced to rely more on their proverbial "wisdom." The moment one of them was discovered it was whisked off the ground so rapidly that it seemed to fly up; one deft jerk, or whip-like flick, dislocated its backbone and it was dead. To an Englishman the process sounds about as sane and as safe as lifting a bull-terrier by the tail; but the Indians did their work unmovedly, not a man was bitten, and Weld learned later that not once in ten years was such hunting attended with fatal results to anyone; for should a man be bitten a rough sort of cautery, or the sucking of the wound, together with drugs taken internally, generally gave the lie to the popular belief that a rattlesnake's bite is incurable.

Where a captive was inconveniently large or long, or where he refused to uncoil himself, the savages used their sticks, either to rap him on the head, or to "straighten-out" his coils. The object in killing was to obtain the oil and gall, which were highly valued for medicinal and other virtues; therefore, any blow that might wound the body was avoided if possible. In Weld's opinion the "rattle" of the animal has been much exaggerated by travellers; "creaking" or "rustling" would be a better term, for the noise resembles that made by stiff paper, or parchment, when crumpled in the hand. A few days later, when travelling up-country by canoe, he realised that these snakes can swim with perfect ease, for the Ojibewa guides whom he had engaged more than once drew his attention to one of them gliding down the bank and into the water in determined pursuit of a rat that had refused to become a victim to its supposed (and very doubtful) powers of fascination.

For the first time in his life, Mr. Weld now found himself completely cut off from a.s.sociation with white men, for he had before him a lonely journey by river and lake to a backwoods settlement, where an old friend, Major Strickland, had set up a model farm. Fortunately, one of the Ojibewas spoke English fluently, and the other three had at least a smattering of French. Perhaps they were not remarkable for their intelligence, save where canoeing and hunting were concerned, but at least they were amiable, obliging, and contented.

His first acquaintance with rapids was worthy of remark, for it came without a moment's warning or preparation. He and two Indians travelled in one canoe, while the other two followed, in a second, with his baggage. Weld was lying back, idly smoking, and probably lost in admiration of the solemn, rugged beauty of the steep banks, fringed with pine and cedar trees, when all in a moment the world seemed to turn over and slip from under him; his head struck the gunwale smartly, and he gradually got a dim notion that he was standing with his back against something hard and his body at right angles to that of the Indian in the bows, who nevertheless continued to ply his paddle stolidly, and without a smile or a word. For a few seconds the boat trebled her speed in some unaccountable manner, then followed another jerk, another knock on the head, and once more he was lounging in his former position, and the canoe moving along as before.

He now threw a glance behind him, and shuddered, for what he saw was a sheer fall of water, apparently about sixteen feet high, studded everywhere with ugly-looking rocks. He began an angry remonstrance with the Indians for not having warned him, but just then a weird cry, something between the bray of a jacka.s.s and the wail of a peac.o.c.k, echoed through the forest. One second a large white body was seen flapping over their heads; the next, the same body lay fluttering on the water near the boat. One of the Ojibewas had dropped his paddle and, like lightning, sent an arrow through the noisy creature, which turned out to be a pelican that they had disturbed from its evening fis.h.i.+ng.

On the following morning, as Weld was finis.h.i.+ng his breakfast over his camp fire, he was aroused from his meditations by one of the Indians pointing significantly towards the thicket behind him.

"'Morning! Have you got a drop of tea left; we're thirsty," cried a voice as he turned his head, and a second added, "Well, Peter; what are you doing round our neighbourhood?"

The Indian who spoke English jumped up delightedly, and greeted with much respect three strapping young fellows who suddenly stepped out from among the bushes.

"I don't know who you are, gentlemen," said Weld as he rose to welcome them, "but it's good to hear one's own language spoken again."

The lads introduced themselves as farm pupils of Major Strickland's, and, leaving the Indians to bring Weld's luggage by water, they showed him a short cut to his friend's house, which, in a straight line, was but seven miles away.

At the farm he was surprised to find Indians performing all the domestic offices of a civilised household, and dressed more or less in European garb; for, tired of the ingrained laziness of negro servants, the Major had long had all the menial work of his house and estate done by redskins, and these, as far as Weld could see, worked diligently and honestly. One small body of them were kept constantly employed as hunters, and instructors in woodcraft to the pupils, and, judging from their abilities as deer-trackers, the lads could have had no better tutors.

An animal much coveted for the sake both of its skin and its flesh was the _cabrit_, p.r.o.ng-buck, or p.r.o.ng-horned antelope, as it is variously called; and the stalking of this creature was Weld's princ.i.p.al amus.e.m.e.nt during his stay. In spite of frequent slaughter among them, large herds were often to be seen in the neighbourhood, and one day no less than a hundred carcases were brought home, to be dried for winter food.

The hunting party on this occasion consisted of Weld, Strickland, and six other Englishmen, together with about thirty Ojibewas, a dozen of whom were given a start of five hours. These, leaving the farm at daybreak, moved swiftly through the spa.r.s.e forest to the hills beyond, and started a herd of over two hundred. Taking up positions at wide intervals from each other, the Indians succeeded in frightening and mystifying the bucks, and gradually driving them towards the spot for which the main body of the hunt was now making. This was some ten miles from the farm, and so rapidly did all his companions cover the distance, that Weld had great difficulty in keeping up with them, though himself a strong and athletic man.

One old Ojibewa was always a few yards ahead of the party, and Weld was instructed to watch and obey every signal made by him. Sometimes he came to a dead halt, and the whole troop followed his example, not so much as a whisper being uttered; then again, he would lead the way at a good swinging pace, often talking freely and even loudly with those behind. All of a sudden, however, he broke off his conversation; a gun-shot had sounded from some three miles away. He held up his hand, and everyone stood breathless. Presently he moved on again, but more slowly, for several hundred yards, the rest gliding along in his wake, and at last he stopped dead again. This was the most irksome, or the most disciplinary, period of the hunt, for the tyrannical leader kept everyone standing motionless for quite ten minutes; and when Weld merely took out his handkerchief to mop his brow, the Indians nearest him eyed him as reproachfully as though this were a penal offence.

The next thing the guide did was to fall flat on his face, and each man mechanically imitated him--except Weld, who had visions of a dislocated shoulder, if not of a self-discharging gun, and who consequently performed the manoeuvre by degrees.

Now that his ear was so close to the ground, he could plainly detect the uniform tread of a large body of light-stepping animals, but he dared not risk spoiling sport by raising his head to peer among the tree-trunks in front of him. In a few minutes a gun went off, half a mile to their left front, and was immediately echoed by one to the right, and another well ahead, whereat the trampling increased in speed and volume. Immediately the leader raised his hand to a perpendicular, and the redskins began to crawl on, worm-fas.h.i.+on, in two diverging lines. Weld started awkwardly to imitate them, but a strong hand caught him by the ankle and held him still. s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g his head round, he saw that Strickland was his captor.

"Hold on," whispered the Major. "We get our fun from this side."

Another three minutes' silence followed, only broken by the tramp of the approaching herd, slower now, and more hesitating.

"Now then; roll away or crawl away to your right, as far as you can, and as sharp as you can; and jump up when I open fire," whispered the old soldier, and Weld could see that, at a wave of his friend's arm, all the Englishmen were swiftly separating. He obeyed; but by the time he had covered a dozen yards, he became convinced that the Indians had all gone suddenly demented, for from every direction there arose a succession of demoniacal yells that almost drowned the crack-crack of the rifles that now sounded on his left.

He leapt to his feet; not an Indian was in sight. The white men, all standing up, were blazing away as hard as they could, into an immense herd of bucks, which were falling in numbers out of all reasonable proportion to the shots fired. Then he discovered that, from the other three sides, the Ojibewas, lying in the long gra.s.s or crouching behind trees, were pouring volley after volley of arrows at the bewildered beasts, which, b.u.t.ting each other, were starting hither and thither, completely panic-stricken.

"'Ware horns!" shouted the Major's son as, hurriedly b.u.t.ting his rifle, he felled an antelope that had charged despairingly at him; and very soon Weld was glad enough to follow the example, as a stout young buck rushed, head down, in his direction.

More terrified now by the noise of the guns and the sight of the white men than by the arrows and shouts that proceeded from the other three points of the compa.s.s, the herd turned to flee back towards the hills.

But this was only the signal for every Indian to spring erect and brandish his long spear. That effectually broke up the herd; the distracted creatures squeezed a pa.s.sage for themselves wherever they could, and fled out of sight, leaving a good half of their number to be carried back to the farm in the waggons which were now on their way to the scene of the battue.

CHAPTER XXI

CHIPPEWYANS AND COLUMBIAN GOLD-DIGGERS

While human nature is what it is, the sudden discovery of gold in any country must ever be the signal for all the available flotsam and jetsam and riff-raff of society to flock to that country, in the sorry hope of finding a shorter road to wealth than the old-fas.h.i.+oned one of steady plodding.

Before mining concerns were regulated by governments or by syndicates, the edifying spectacle of men wrangling and fighting over a claim or a "find," like dogs over a bone, might be witnessed at any hour of the day. Add to this the constant disturbance between the strangers and the original inhabitants, and you have a condition of affairs which must quickly call for some intervention by the State. This is what our Government thought when, in 1857, the discovery of gold in British Columbia began to lead to rioting among the miners and to petty insurrections of the Indians of the vicinity. In order to nip such disorders in the bud, a few troops were landed near what is now called New Westminster, on the Fraser River, and a man-of-war, H.M.S.

_Plumper_, commanded by Captain Richards, was ordered to keep a watchful eye on the river mouth. Rumour said that the s.h.i.+p had been sent to hold the Indians in check; but Admiral Mayne, who was then first lieutenant of the _Plumper_, tells us that it was the white immigrants who required handling, and that, but for them, the Columbian Indians, who had long been quiet and inoffensive, would have confined their attentions to their fis.h.i.+ng and farming.

One day, just at the beginning of winter, news was brought to the s.h.i.+p that fighting was going on among the miners and Indians at a camp near a small town called Yale. The _Plumper_ had a steam-launch which was ordinarily used for river work, and an armed body of bluejackets under Lieutenant Mayne at once put off in a large pinnace for the spot--two miles higher up--where she was lying in dock, with the intention of hastening to the scene of the disturbance. To the young officer's dismay, the launch had disappeared, and, on inquiry, he learned that Colonel Moody of the Engineers, who had been the first to hear the news, had immediately put off in her with twenty-five men and a howitzer. A mounted messenger was soon dispatched back to the harbour and, in half an hour, returned with orders from the Captain, for the firing-party to hurry after the soldiers and offer their services.

By nightfall the place was reached; a cheerless, rugged spot where the crew had some difficulty in landing. The pinnace was made fast to the launch, and, following the directions of the men who had been left in charge of her, the sailors marched quickly over a hill and were soon at the diggings.

"You've come too late," were the Engineer officer's first words. He pointed to a group of prisoners, Indian and white, who, under the guard of an armed picket, were making themselves comfortable for the night. "We've had a heavy day, though," continued Colonel Moody; "and three of my fellows have been badly wounded. Your men pretty fresh, I suppose?"

"Quite, sir."

"Give them half an hour for supper, and then I shall want you to march them about ten miles across country. I have guides ready for you. Come and have something to eat, and I'll tell you all about it."

The Colonel, a subaltern, and a regimental surgeon had established themselves in a miner's hut, and here, over a very unconventional meal, Mayne learned what had happened. Scarcely had the soldiers put an end to the rioting, when six Chippewyan Indians had galloped into the camp. The miners at the next claim had fired on them, they said; had threatened to burn their winter fodder-stacks, and meant to drive them out of their old settlement.

"Of course, we've only heard one side," concluded Colonel Moody.

"Don't trust your guides too far, Mr. Mayne. Let one of them keep his horse, in case you want to send me a message in a hurry, and make the other five march between your men; they can leave their horses here."

He turned to the surgeon. "You'd better go, too, Campbell; you may be wanted. They've a very good doctor here if we need him. Good-bye, and good luck to you both."

The doctor buckled on his sword and Mayne collected the sailors, placing five of the Indians in the centre, and all set off at a brisk step. The mounted redskin led them some miles along a curving valley and then across an open tract of country, whence they were soon able to see the lights from some settlement.

"Is that the place?" the lieutenant asked of a redskin who spoke intelligible English.

"Yes; we have but four miles to go now."

"There seems to be plenty of light in the place; how is that?"

The Indian did not reply, but spoke in his own language to his neighbour.