fishing and its results—engineering and its consequences.
i found on reaching wichikagan that the fun was about to begin. blondin, who was our chief fisherman, had let down a long seine-net, which was being drawn slowly in by a band of natives, whose interest in a process which they had never before seen was deepening into excitement, as they observed here and there a symptom of something shooting below the surface of the still water, or beheld a large fish leap frantically into the air.
at first, when the net was being prepared, those children of the forest had merely stood by and looked on with curiosity. when blondin and his men rowed out from the shore, letting the net drop off the stern of our boat as they went, they indulged in a few guesses and undertoned remarks. when the boat gradually swept round and turned shoreward again, having left a long line of floats in its wake, they perceived that a large sheet of water had been enclosed, and a feeling of wonder, combined with a half guess as to what all this portended caused their black orbs to enlarge, and the whites thereof to glisten. but when they were requested to lay hold of a rope attached to the other end of the net and haul, the true state of the case burst upon their awakened minds and proportionate excitement followed.
as the circle of the net diminished and the evidences, above referred to, of life in the water became more frequent, gleeful expectation took the place of wonder, and a disposition to chatter manifested itself, especially among the women and children, who by that time had eagerly laid hold of the drag-rope.
soon it became apparent that a mighty mass of fish had been enclosed, and the creatures seemed themselves to become suddenly alive to their danger, for the crowded condition of their element—which, no doubt, caused only surprise at first—became so inconvenient that with one accord they made a terrified rush to the right. failing to obtain relief they turned and rushed to the left. discomfited again, they dashed lakeward. each rush was followed by a howl of anxiety from the natives; each failure was hailed with a yell of joy. three birch-bark canoes followed the net to send the more obstreperous of the fish shoreward. finding that they could not escape, the finny prisoners seemed to lose their wits and took to rushing skyward, with splashing consequences that almost drove the red-men mad!
“hold on! not so hard! you’ll break it!” shouted lumley to the men and women at the rope.
“what a tremendous haul!” said i, as i joined my friend, who stood at the outer end of our little wharf, enjoying the scene.
“i hope the net won’t break,” he replied. “if it does we shall lose them all, and the disappointment to the indians might be almost too much to bear. see, they prepare for action!”
this was very obvious. the men of the tribe, who might be described as glaring maniacs, had dropped their robes, and, almost naked, ran waist-deep into the water in a vain attempt to catch some of the larger fish as they were slowly forced towards the beach. even some of the women lost self-control and, regardless of petticoats, floundered after the men. as for the children, big and little, they developed into imps of darkness gone deranged.
suddenly a very wave of fish was sent upon the shore, where, of course, they began to leap about wildly. not less wildly did the indians leap among them, throttling the big ones and hurling armfuls of the lesser ones high up on the sward.
by that time the net was close in shore. the whole of the enclosed space became a sweltering mass. treading on the fish at last, many of both men and boys slipped in the water, and fell down over head and ears, so that the spectacle was presented of human beings bounding out of the water in apparent emulation of their prey. the excitement was almost too much for them. several of the boys were seen to rush up into the woods and dash back again, with no apparent reason except the desire to get rid of superabundant energy. one brave, in particular, so far forgot the characteristic dignity of the red-man, that he rushed up on the bank, bent forward, clapped a hand on each knee, threw back his head, shut his eyes, opened wide his mouth, and sought to relieve his feelings in one stupendous roar. but it would not do. he became suddenly solemn, glared again, and went at the fish more furiously than ever.
our men in the canoes landed, and rendered assistance. salamander was in one of the canoes which ran alongside of the wharf. the only other occupant was donald bane, who sat in the stern and steered. salamander was greatly excited. as the canoe ran up to the wharf, the bow was thrust over the net-rope, and he gazed at the struggling creatures below with intense delight on his brown visage.
“you had petter take care,” said donald bane, as he grasped the edge of the wharf, and cautiously rose up, “for canoes are easily overturned.” but salamander was too much engrossed to hear or reply. the highlander, who had not forgotten the trick formerly played on him and his countryman by the interpreter, stepped carefully out on the wharf. as he did so, he gave the canoe a little tilt with his foot, and salamander went head-foremost down among the fish!
a simulated cry of consternation broke from donald bane.
“wow—wow!” he exclaimed, as salamander’s head appeared with a number of little fish struggling in his hair, and a pike or jack-fish holding on to the lobe of his left ear, “the poor cratur! tak a grup o’ my hand, man. here! wow! but it seems a fery frundly jack-fush that—whatever.”
amid much spluttering, salamander was hauled out, and, regardless of his mishap, both he and donald immediately joined the others in securing their prey.
“it wass a grand haul, man, tonald,” said dougall that night at supper.
“oo ay, shames. it was no that paad,” replied donald.
and, truly, it was a grand haul; for, not only did we obtain enough of every species of fish that swarmed in lake wichikagan, to provide a right royal feast to ourselves and our red friends, but a good many were left over and above to form the commencement of a store for the future.
by that time we had fairly commenced the fishery with a view to a winter supply. the weather was still delicious, and had begun to grow cool at nights, but as there was yet no frost, all the fish we took had to be hung up by the tail, and thus partially dried. afterwards, when the frost fairly set in, this hanging process was dispensed with, for fish, once frozen in those regions, remain perfectly fresh during the entire winter, so that those eaten in spring are quite as good as those consumed in autumn.
lumley now set me to superintend the digging and constructing of an ice-house, which should be ready to receive in spring the ice that would be required to keep our provisions fresh during the following summer. it consisted merely of a shallow square pit or hole in the ground, over which a log hut was constructed. the pit we intended to floor with solid cubes of ice measuring about a yard on each side. this lowest foundation, in those northern ice-houses, never melts, but a fresh stratum is laid above it which is cleared out and renewed every spring, and it is amongst this that the meat or fish to be preserved is laid in summer.
another piece of work that lumley gave me to superintend at this time was the construction of a water-wheel and dam to drive our pit-saw. you see, i had a turn for mechanics, and was under the impression that my powers in that way were greater than they afterwards turned out to be. we were sitting at tea alone in our hall at the time the subject was mooted.
“where have you sent the carpenter?” i asked, as i pushed in my pannikin for more of the refreshing beverage.
i must interrupt the thread of my narrative here for a moment to say that we took no crockery with us on that expedition. our cups were tin pannikins, our plates were made of tin; our pots and kettles were either tin or copper. we had no sugar basins, or butter-dishes, or table-cloths, or any of the other amenities of civilised life. but everything we had was strong and serviceable, and the same may be said of the things we constructed. the deal tables and chairs made for us by coppet were very strong if not elegant, and the plank walls and ceiling of our rooms were cheerful, though neither papered nor whitewashed. it has often struck me, while sojourning in the great nor’-west, that civilised man surrounds himself with a great many needless luxuries which do not by any means add to his comfort, though the removal of them might add considerably to his distress.
but to return.
“coppet is off,” said lumley in reply to my question, “to get some timber for oars, as well as birch-bark to make a canoe or two; we must also set about making a new boat some day or other.”
“lumley,” said i, “it has often occurred to me that it takes a terrible deal of time to cut trees into planks with our pit-saws, and occupies far too much of the time of two men who might be much more profitably employed.”
“true, max—what then?”
“why then,” said i, “what would you say if i were to construct a saw-mill!”
“i’d say you were a clever fellow,” replied my friend, with one of his knowing looks.
“but what say you to my making the attempt?”
“do so, by all means, my boy—only don’t use up too many pit-saws in the attempt!”
i saw that he did not believe in my powers, and became all the more determined to succeed.
accordingly, i went next day with coppet and dumont, on whom of course i depended for the carrying out of my designs, to examine the ground where the mill-dam was to be made.
“you see,” i explained, “we have a superabundance of water in the rivulet at the back of the fort, and by collecting it we may get any amount of power we please, which is of importance, because it will enable us to simplify the machinery.”
“oui, oui, monsieur,” said coppet, who either was, or wished to appear, very knowing on such matters.
“now,” continued i, “here is a natural basin formed by rocks, which only wants a small dam at its lower end to enable us to collect water enough to drive the biggest mill in the world. by making our opening at the very bottom of the basin, the pressure of water, when it is full, will be so great that a very small water-wheel, without any multiplying gear, will suffice to drive our saw—don’t you see?”
“oui, monsieur, oui,” answered dumont, whose knitted brows showed that the worthy blacksmith was at least doing his best to understand me.
“well, then,” i continued, “you see that we shall have no difficulty as to the dam. then, as to the wheel, it will be a simple one of not more than four feet diameter, presented vertically to what i may term the water-spout, so that its axle, which will have a crank in it, will work the saw direct; thus, avoiding toothed wheels and cogs, we shall avoid friction, and, if need be, increase the speed easily, d’you see?”
“bon, monsieur—good, good,” exclaimed coppet, becoming quite enthusiastic in his appreciation of my plans.
“of course,” i continued, “the saw can easily be fitted to a frame, and a very simple contrivance can be made to drive along the larger frame that will carry the logs to be sawn; but these are trifling matters of detail which you and i will work out at our leisure, dumont.”
“oui, monsieur, oui,” replied the blacksmith, with tighter knitted brows, and with a readiness of assent which i do believe the good fellow would have accorded if i had proposed to fit a new axis to the world.
“there is only one thing that troubles me,” said i: “how are we to gauge or estimate the force of our water-spout so as to regulate our mill when made? do you understand such matters—the measurement of force—coppet?”
the carpenter shook his head.
“that’s unfortunate. do you, dumont?”
“non, monsieur.”
“h’m! i’m sadly ignorant on the point myself,” i continued. “of course i know that so many cubic feet of water will exert a certain pressure, but then i don’t know what that certain pressure is, nor how to find out how many cubic feet our somewhat irregular dam will contain. nor do i know precisely the strength of the material required in the dam to resist the water.”
dumont humbly suggested here that we could at all events act on the principle that guided adam and eve in the formation of their first water-mill, and find out by experiment. and coppet said that we could get over the difficulty about the strength of materials by making everything ten times stronger than was required.
“you are right lads,” said i, much amused with the earnest manner in which they gave the advice. “now let us go at it without delay, so that we may get into working order before the frost stops us.”
we set to with enthusiasm, and progressed with our labour much faster than i had expected. the natural basin to which i have referred lay just below a ledge of rock over which the rivulet flowed into it, forming a pretty deep pool about ten feet in diameter. flowing out of this pool, it ran about twelve feet further through a narrow gorge, where it dropped over another ledge. now, all that we had to do was to shut up the outlet of the narrow gorge with a strong dam, and so cause the pool to swell and rise into a small but very deep pond.
our first step was to divert the channel of the brook so as to leave us free to construct the dam. the nature of the ground rendered this easy enough. then, before going further, we made the trough which was to conduct the water out of the dam. it was made of four strong planks about ten feet long and eight inches wide, forming, so to speak, a square pipe. this we laid firmly in the bottom of the basin with its end projecting over the lower ledge. to the inner end we attached a perpendicular piece of wooden piping which rose several feet from the ground. this was meant to prevent mud and stones from getting into, and choking, the pipe.
this done, we laid some very large timbers over the pipe and across the opening of the gorge, above and between which we put heavy stones and large quantities of gravel—also turf and twigs, and all sorts of rubbish. thus was the dam begun, and we continued the process until we raised it to a height of some twenty feet or so.
“what a magnificent pool it will be to dive in!” said lumley, one day, when he came to see us at work.
“won’t it,” said i; “especially in winter!”
“whatever happens to your works, the dam, i think, will never give way,” continued lumley; “it seems to me unnecessarily strong.”
not to try the reader’s patience, i may say at once that we advanced with our labour without a hitch until it was nearly finished. to the opening in the pipe or spout we attached a powerful sluice by which to stop the flow desired, and, all being ready, broke down the dyke that had turned aside our stream, and let the water in. of course we had constructed an overflow part of the basin by which to conduct the surplus water back to its proper channel below our works.
it was a trying moment when we first let the water in. would it leak?—would it break down?—was in everyone’s mind. i had no fear as to the latter point, but felt uncertain as to the former. we had much longer to wait, however, for the filling than i had expected; but when at last it was full up to the brim, and the trees around were reflected on its surface, and no leak appeared anywhere, i could not resist giving a cheer, which was heartily taken up and echoed by our whole party—for we had all assembled to watch the result.
“now, coppet, lend a hand at the winch. we’ll open the sluice and observe the force.”
after a few turns our winch refused to move, and only a small part of the opening had been uncovered, from which the water was squirting furiously.
“something wrong,” said i, looking down at the men below. “just take a look, salamander, and see what it is.”
our lively interpreter went down on hands and knees and made an earnest examination, despite the squirting water.
“oh! i sees. all right now,” he shouted, “heave away!”
“get out of the way, then,” we cried, as we once more applied all our force to the winch. it turned with unexpected suddenness, the sluice flew up, and out came a straight column of water with extreme violence. it hit salamander full in the stomach, lifted him off his legs, and swept him right down the gully, pitching him headlong over another ledge, where he fell with such force that his mortal career had certainly been ended then and there but for a thick juniper bush, which fortunately broke his fall. as it was, he was little the worse of his adventure, but he had learned a lesson of prompt obedience to orders which he did not soon forget.
i now planned a sort of movable buffer by which the force of the water-spout could be diminished or even turned aside altogether. it acted very well, and, under its protection, we set up the saw and started it. we were all assembled again, of course, at the first starting of the saw, along with a good many of our red friends, whose curiosity in our various proceedings knew no bounds.
opening the sluice slowly, and fixing the buffer so as to turn at least three-quarters of the furious water-spout aside, i had the extreme satisfaction of seeing the saw begin to rip up a large log. it went on splendidly, though still with somewhat greater force than i desired. but, alas! my want of critical knowledge of engineering told heavily against us, for, all of a sudden, the sluice broke. the buffer still acted, however, and being needlessly strong, was, i thought, safe, but the hinges of the thing were far too weak. they gave way. the violent spout thus set free dashed against the wheel with its full force, turning it round with a whirr–r–r! that sent the saw up and down so fast as to render it almost invisible.
we stood aghast! what fearful termination to the machine impended we could not guess. a moment later and the crank broke, entangled itself with the wheel and stopped it. as if maddened by this additional resistance, the water-spout then swept the whole concern away, after which, like a wild-horse set free, it took a leap of full thirty feet—a straight column of solid water—before it burst itself on the ground, and rushed wildly down to the lake! it was a humiliating termination—and showed how terrible it is to create a power which one cannot control.
i draw a veil over the story here. my feelings forbid me to write more!
