Wuat Lies Beyonp tur Mountains? 33

Mackenzie tells of one portage, over a mile
long, across which men had been known to
carry seven packs at a time, or 630 pounds,
without a halt. Nearly all took temporary
Indian wives while in the north, so that in
time a considerable half-breed population
grew up about the North West Company’s
posts. ‘The seniors in the Company usually
followed their men’s example, for an Indian
wife was almost a necessity to cook meals, to
make moccasins and snowshoes, and to attend
to other domestic duties. Mackenzie did as
the rest: a half-breed son of his, described as
an “‘amiable young man’’, died in 1809 in the
Peace River country, and another (or pos-
sibly the same one) was baptized in Montreal
in 1805.

The voyageurs were usually contented so
long as they had plenty to eat and smoke.
David Thompson wrote of them:

The fact is Jean Baptiste will not think,
he is not paid for it; when he has a minute’s
respite he smokes his pipe, his constant com-
panion, and all goes well; he will go through
hardships, but requires a belly full, at least