Surely this was
the Sea of the North--Hudson Bay--of which the Nipissing chief had told
Groseillers long ago. Then the Crees had great store of beaver pelts;
and trade must not be forgotten. No sooner had peace been arranged
between Sautaux and Crees, than Cree hunters flocked out of the
northern forests to winter on Lake Superior. A rumor of Iroquois on
the war-path compelled Radisson and Groseillers to move their camp back
from Lake Superior higher up the chain of lakes and rivers between what
is now Minnesota and Canada, toward the country of the Sioux. In the
fall of 1659 Groseillers' health began to fail from the hardships; so
he remained in camp for the winter, attending to the trade, while
Radisson carried on the explorations alone.
This was one of the coldest winters known in Canada.[16] The snow fell
so heavily in the thick pine woods of Minnesota that Radisson says the
forest became as sombre as a cellar. The colder the weather the better
the fur, and, presenting gifts to insure safe conduct, Radisson set out
with a band of one hundred and fifty Cree hunters for the Northwest.
They travelled on snow-shoes, hunting moose on the way and sleeping at
night round a camp-fire under the stars. League after league, with no
sound through the deathly white forest but the soft crunch-crunch of
the snowshoes, they travelled two hundred miles toward what is now
Manitoba. When they had set out, the snow was like a cushion. Now it
began to melt in the spring sun, and clogged the snow-shoes till it was
almost impossible to travel.
Pages:
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99