The Northern Coasts of America and the Hudson's Bay Territories

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T. Nelson and Sons, 1853 - America - 409 pages
History of exploration; early voyages for discovery of east and west coasts of northern North America, and overland expeditions of Hearne, Mackenzie, Franklin, Back, Dease and Simpson, and Rae.

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Page 178 - I now mixed up some vermilion in melted grease, and inscribed, in large characters, on the South-East face of the rock on which we had slept last night, this brief memorial - 'Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada, by land, the twenty-second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-three.
Page 295 - did I share my own plate with the children whose helpless state and piteous cries were peculiarly distressing ; compassion for the full-grown may, or may not, be felt, but that heart must be cased in steel which is insensible to the cry of a child for food.
Page 130 - ... so cruelly wounded. On this request being made, one of the Indians hastily drew his spear from the place where it was first lodged, and pierced it through her breast near the heart. The love of life, however, even in this most miserable state, was so predominant, that though this might...
Page 144 - By his wide curvature of wing and sudden suspension in the air he knows him to be the fish-hawk, settling over some devoted victim of the deep. His eye kindles at the sight, and balancing himself, with half-opened wings on the branch, he watches the result. Down, rapid as an arrow from heaven, descends the distant object of his attention, the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it disappears in the deep, making the surges foam around. At this moment the eager looks of the eagle are all ardour,...
Page 214 - Had my own life," says Dr Richardson, " alone been threatened, I would not have purchased it by such a measure ; but I considered myself as intrusted also with the protection of Hepburn's, a man who by his humane attentions and devotedness had so endeared himself to me, that I felt more anxiety for his safety than for my own.
Page 118 - Women were made for labour; one of them can carry or haul as much as two men can do. They also pitch our tents, make and mend our clothing, keep us warm at night; and, in fact, there is no such thing as travelling any considerable distance...
Page 209 - ... portable, and they proved of incalculable benefit to us. We read portions of them to each other as we lay in bed, in addition to the morning and evening service, and found that they inspired us on each perusal with so strong a sense of the omnipresence of a beneficent God that our situation even in these wilds appeared no longer destitute, and we conversed not only with calmness but with cheerfulness, detailing with unrestrained confidence the past events of our lives and dwelling with hope on...
Page 140 - In places* which have been long frequented by beavers undisturbed, their dams, by frequent repairing^, become a solid bank, capable of resisting a great force both of water and ice ; and as the willow, poplar and birch, generally take root and shoot up, they by degrees form a kind of regular planted hedge, which I have seen in some places so tall that birds have built their nests among the branches.
Page 17 - ... of great rivers they found, which certainly could not proceed from an island. They report that this land is thickly peopled, and that the houses are built of very long beams of timber, and covered with the skins of fishes. They have brought hither along with them seven of the inhabitants, including men, women, and children ; and in the other caravel, which is looked for every hour, they are bringing fifty more. These people, in color, figure, stature, and expression, greatly resemble gypsies.
Page 142 - ... well as the bird is characterized by a peculiar motion of its caudal extremity. The food of this animal consists chiefly of the root of the plant called Nuphar luteum, which bears a resemblance to a cabbage-stalk, and grows at the bottom of lakes and rivers. It also gnaws the bark of birch, poplar, and willow trees. In summer, however, a more varied herbage, with the addition of berries, is consumed. When the ice breaks up in the spring, the beavers always leave their houses and rove about until...

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