The fur trade

Eftir þann uetr hinn fysta kom sumar þa urdu þeir uarir vit Skrælingia ok for þar ór skôgi fram mikill flokkr manna. þar uar nærr naut fe þeirra en gradungr tok at belia ok gialla akafliga hatt en þat hrędduzst Skrælingar ok lǫgdu undan med byrdar sinar en þat uar grauara ok safuali ok allz skonar skinna uara ok snua til bæiar Kallz efnis ok uilldu þar inn j husin en Kallzefni let ueria dyrnnar. huorigir skildu annars mal.

After that first winter, summer came. Then they became aware of the Skrælings. A large crowd of men came out of the forest near where the cattle were. The bull began to bellow and roar very loudly. This frightened the Skrælings, and they ran off with their bundles, which held gray furs, sables, and all kinds of skins. They turned toward Karlsefni’s farm and tried to get into the houses, but Karlsefni had the doors guarded. Neither side understood the other’s language.

Sur ces entrefaites chaque Capitaine par ordre donna le signal, & tout incontinent chargez de leurs paquets d'ame[s] courans comme à l'assaut d'vne ville, monterent sur ce Theatre à la faueur des échelles qui estoient tout autour, & les pendirent aux perches: chaque Village y auoit son departement. Cela fait, on osta toutes les échelles, & quelques Capitaines y demeurerent, & passerent tout le reste de l'apresdinée iusques à sept heures à publier des presens qu'ils faisoient au nom des defuncts à quelques personnes particulieres. Voila, disoient ils, ce qu'vn tel defunct donne à vn tel son parent. Enuiron les cinq à six heures ils pauerent le fond de la fosse, & la borderét de belles grãdes robes neufues de dix Castors, en telle façon qu'elles s'estendoient plus d'vn pied au dehors de la fosse.

Then each chief in turn gave the signal. At once, loaded with their bundles of souls, they ran as if to storm a town and climbed onto the stage by the ladders all around it, and they hung the bundles on the poles. Each village had its own section. When this was done, all the ladders were taken away. Some chiefs stayed up there and spent the rest of the afternoon, until seven o’clock, announcing gifts that they gave in the name of the dead to particular people. “This,” they would say, “is what this dead man gives to that one, his relative.” Around five or six o’clock they lined the bottom of the pit and its edges with fine, large, new robes of ten beaver skins each, laid so that they reached more than a foot over the edge.

We contrived an other plott, to reduce to powder those boanes, the rest of crows and doggs. So putt all that together halfe foot within grounde, and so makes a fire uppon it. We covered all that very well with earth, soe feeling the heat, and boyled them againe and gave more froth then before; in the next place, the skins that weare reserved to make us shooe, cloath, and stokins, yea, most of the skins of our cottages, the castors' skins, where the children beshit them above a hundred times. We burned the haire on the coals; the rest goes downe throats, eating heartily these things most abhorred. We went so eagerly to it that our gumms did bleede like one newly wounded. The wood was our food the rest of sorrowfull time.

We came up with another plan: to grind to powder those bones, and what was left of crows and dogs. We put it all together half a foot underground and made a fire on top. We covered it all well with earth, so that it felt the heat, and then boiled it again, and it gave more froth than before. Next we ate the skins that had been saved to make our shoes, clothes, and stockings, and even most of the skins of our lodges, the beaver skins, which the children had soiled more than a hundred times. We burned the hair off on the coals; the rest went down our throats, and we ate heartily these most loathsome things. We went at it so eagerly that our gums bled like someone newly wounded. Wood was our food for the rest of that sorrowful time.

He made signs for me to sit down on his right hand: which I did. Our Leader set on several grand-pipes, and smoked all round, according to their usual custom: not a word was yet spoke on either side. Smoking being over, Buffalo flesh boiled was served round in baskets of a species of bent, and I was presented with 10 Buffalo tongues. Attickasish my Guide, informed him I was sent by the Great Leader who lives down at the great waters, to invite his young men down to see him and to bring with them Beaver skins, & Wolves skins: & they would get in return Powder, Shot, Guns, Cloth, Beads, &c. He made little answer: only said that it was far off, & they could not paddle. Then they entered upon indifferent subjects until we were ordered to depart to our tents, which were pitched about a full quarter of a Mile without their lines.

He made signs for me to sit down at his right hand, which I did. Our leader set out several grand pipes, and they smoked all round, according to their usual custom. Not a word was yet spoken on either side. When the smoking was over, boiled buffalo meat was served round in baskets of a kind of grass, and I was presented with 10 buffalo tongues. Attickasish, my guide, told him I had been sent by the Great Leader who lives down at the great waters, to invite his young men down to see him. They were to bring beaver skins and wolf skins with them. In return they would get powder, shot, guns, cloth, beads, and so on. He made little answer. He only said that it was far off, and they could not paddle. Then they talked of other matters until we were told to go to our tents, which were pitched a full quarter of a mile outside their lines.

Pendant notre séjour forcé à l'entrée de la baie, nous avions sans cesse été entourés de pirogues de sauvages. Ils nous proposaient, en échange de notre fer, du poisson, des peaux de loutre ou d'autres animaux, ainsi que différens petits meubles de leur costume ; ils avaient l'air, à notre grand étonnement, d'être très-accoutumés au trafic, et ils faisaient aussi-bien leur marché que les plus habiles acheteurs d'Europe.

While we were held at the entrance of the bay, we were constantly surrounded by the savages' canoes. They offered us fish, the skins of sea otters and other animals, and various small items of their dress, in exchange for our iron. To our great surprise, they seemed very used to trading, and they drove as good a bargain as the shrewdest buyers in Europe.

Dès que nous fûmes établis derrière l'île, presque tous les sauvages de la baie s'y rendirent. Le bruit de notre arrivée se répandit bientôt aux environs ; nous vîmes arriver plusieurs pirogues chargées d'une quantité très-considérable de peaux de loutres, que ces Indiens échangèrent contre des haches, des herminettes et du fer en barre. Ils nous donnaient leurs saumons pour des morceaux de vieux cercles ; mais bientôt ils devinrent plus difficiles, et nous ne pûmes nous procurer ce poisson, qu'avec des clous ou quelques petits instrumens de fer. Je crois qu'il n'est aucune contrée où la loutre de mer soit plus commune que dans cette partie de l'Amérique ; et je serais peu surpris qu'une factorerie qui étendrait son commerce seulement à quarante ou cinquante lieues sur le bord de la mer, rassemblât chaque année dix mille peaux de cet animal.

As soon as we had settled in behind the island, nearly all the savages of the bay came there. News of our arrival soon spread through the area. Several canoes arrived loaded with a great many sea otter skins, which these Indians traded for axes, adzes, and bar iron. At first they gave us their salmon for pieces of old barrel hoops. But they soon became harder to please, and we could only get salmon for nails or small iron tools. I believe there is no country where the sea otter is more common than this part of America. I would not be surprised if a trading post that dealt along only forty or fifty leagues of coast collected ten thousand skins a year.