It was Matonabbee whom the
English traders sent up the Saskatchewan to invite the tribes of the
Athabasca down to the bay. The Athabascans listened to the message of
peace with a treacherous smile. At midnight assassins stole to his
tent, overpowered his slave, and dragged the captive out. Leaping to
his feet, Matonabbee shouted defiance, hurled his assailants aside like
so many straws, pursued the raiders to their tents, single-handed
released his slave, and marched out unscathed. That was the way
Matonabbee had won the Athabascans for the Hudson's Bay Company.
Officers of the garrison, bluff sea-captains, spinning yarns of iceberg
and floe, soldiers and traders, made up the rest of the company. Among
the white men was one eager face,--that of Samuel Hearne, who was to
explore the interior and now scanned the birch-bark drawings to learn
the way to the "Far-off-Metal River."
[Illustration: Samuel Hearne.]
By November 6 all was in readiness for the departure of the explorer.
Two Indian guides, who knew the way to the North, were assigned to
Hearne; two European servants went with him to look after the
provisions; and two Indian hunters joined the company. In the gray
mist of Northern dawn, with the stars still pricking through the frosty
air, seven salutes of cannon awakened the echoes of the frozen sea.
The gates of the fort flung open, creaking with the frost rust, and
Hearne came out, followed by his little company, the dog bells of the
long toboggan sleighs setting up a merry jingling as the huskies broke
from a trot to a gallop over the snow-fields for the North.
Pages:
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240