Owindia

Owindia

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Owindia, by Charlotte Selina Bompas
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Title: Owindia
Author: Charlotte Selina Bompas
Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6658] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on January 10,
2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English

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OWINDIA:
A TRUE TALE OF THE MACKENZIE RIVER INDIANS,
NORTH-WEST AMERICA.

THE STORY OF OWINDIA.

A pretty open spot on the bank of the Great Mackenzie River was the
place where Owindia first saw light. One of the universal pine forests
formed the back ground, while low shrubs and willows, with a pleasant,
green carpet of mossy grass, were the immediate surroundings of the
camp.
The banks of the Mackenzie often rise to a height of sixty feet above
the river. This was the case in the spot where Michel the Hunter had
pitched his tent, or "lodge" as it is called. A number of other Indians
were camped near, led thither by the fish which is so abundant in our
Northern rivers, and which proves a seldom failing resource when the
moose or reindeer go off their usual track. The woods also skirting the
river furnish large supplies of rabbits, which even the Indian children
are taught to snare. Beavers too are most numerous in this district, and
are excellent food, while their furs are an important article of trade with
the Hudson Bay Company; bringing to the poor Indian his much prized
luxury of tea or tobacco, a warm blanket or ammunition. As the Spring
comes on the women of the camps will be busy making "sirop" from
the birch trees, and dressing the skins of moose or deer which their

husbands have killed in the chase. There are also the canoes to be made
or repaired for use whenever the eight months' fetters of ice shall give
way.
Thus we see the Indian camps offer a pleasant spectacle of a contented
and busy people; and if they lack the refinement and luxuries of more
civilized communities, they have at all events this advantage,--they
have never learnt to need them.
Michel, the Indian, was a well-skilled, practised hunter. Given a windy
day, a good depth of snow, and one or two moose tracks on its fair
surface, and there was not much chance of the noble beast's escape
from Michel's swift tread and steady aim. Such is the excitement of
moose-hunting; and such the intense acuteness of the moose-deer's
sense of smell and hearing, that an Indian hunter will often strip
himself of every bit of clothing, and creep stealthily along on his
snow-shoes, lest by the slightest sound he should betray his presence,
and allow his prey to escape. And Michel was as skilled a trapper as he
was hunter; from the plump little musk-rat which he caught by the river
brink to the valuable marten, sable, beaver, otter, skunk, &c., &c., he
knew the ways and habits of each one; he would set his steel trap with
as true an intuition as if he had received notice of the coming of his
prey. Many a silver fox had found himself outdone in sharpness and
cunning by Michel; many a lynx or wild cat had fought for dear life,
and may-be, made one escape from Michel's snares, leaving perhaps
one of its paws in token of its fierce struggle, yet had perished after all,
being allured in some opposite direction by tempting bait, or irresistible
scent laid by the same skilful hand. In bear hunting also Michel was an
adept, and he lacked not opportunity for this sport on the banks of the
Mackenzie. Many a time would he and, perhaps, one other Indian