He went on to
say that he had already seen white men, and knew that they promised
more than they performed. He, personally, was a peaceful man, who
contented himself with moderate views in order to avoid quarrels;
nevertheless, he desired that an immediate answer should be given
before the strangers quitted his lodge. A hurried consultation took
place, and Henry could do nothing but comply with the chief's demands,
for he was powerless to resist. Having, therefore, intimated his
acceptance of these demands, he was invited to smoke the pipe of
peace, and then obtained permission to depart. After this the goods
demanded were handed over, but Chatik managed to snatch more rum from
them before they got safely away.
[Footnote 13: Elsewhere Henry observes the great numbers of pelicans
to be seen on Lake Winnipeg.]
In the winter of 1776 Henry, who, together with his party, had
received welcome hospitality from the Hudson's Bay Company's station
at Cumberland House, resolved to reach the western region known as the
Great Plains, or Prairies--that immense tract of country through which
flow the Athabaska, the Saskatchewan, the Red River, and the Missouri.
He and his party, of course, travelled on snowshoes, and their goods
were packed on sledges made of thin boards, and drawn after them by
the men. The cold was intense, so that, besides wearing very warm
woollen clothes, they were obliged to wrap themselves in blankets of
beaver skin and huge bison robes.
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