The Fur Country · Chapter
Some Excursions explained
The settlers at Fort Hope engage in hunting and fishing expeditions to stock provisions for the winter.
What happens
The settlers at Fort Hope engage in hunting and fishing expeditions to stock provisions for the winter. They encounter bears, wolves, and a wolverene, while also gathering flora like spruce for beer and wild leeks. The fort is fortified with a fence and sentry-boxes, and the party prepares for the harsh season ahead.
Themes in this chapter
Survival Against Nature
The settlers hunt and gather to stock provisions, facing threats from bears, wolves, and the harsh climate.
Commerce and Exploitation
The wolverene's fur is noted as a significant export for the Hudson's Bay Company.
Human Resilience and Camaraderie
The community works together on hunting, fishing, and fortification, with Mrs. Barnett joining the men in hunting.
Characters to notice
- Lieutenant Jaspar Hobson
Oversees the fortification and hunting parties, noting the abundance of bears and wolves.
- Mrs. Paulina Barnett
Joins hunting expeditions, carrying a gun and keeping pace with the men.
- Sergeant Long
Demonstrates skill as an angler, fishing daily with Madge.
- Madge
Accompanies Sergeant Long on fishing trips, returning with salmon.
- Thomas Black
Is present when the wolverene is brought to the fort, having never seen such an animal before.
- Mrs. Joliffe
Uses the game and plants for cooking, making pies from hares and gathering wild leeks and Labrador tea.
Key passages
“Sergeant Long was a first-rate angler, and nothing could surpass the skill and patience with which he whipped the water and cast his line. The faithful Madge, another worthy disciple of Isaak Walton was perhaps his only equal.”
Sergeant Long and Madge were both expert fishermen, spending days by the river and returning with salmon.
Highlights the fishing prowess of Long and Madge.
“The wolverene, as this strange quadruped is called by zoologists, lives in hollow trees or rocky caves, whence it issues at night and creates great havoc amongst beavers, muskrats, and other rodents, sometimes fighting with a fox or a wolf for its spoils.”
The wolverene is a nocturnal predator that preys on small rodents and occasionally fights with foxes or wolves.
Describes the behavior of the wolverene brought to the fort.
“The young shoots of this tree are very valuable, yielding a favourite beverage known in North America as 'spruce-beer.'”
The shoots of the black fir are used to make spruce-beer, a popular drink.
Notes the practical use of local flora.