Page 207 - La Société canadienne d'histoire de l'Église catholique - Rapport 1961

The boat or canoe was manned, according to size and capacity,
by a crew consisting of from four to ten Canadian voyageurs,
or by half-bloods, their descendants. This class, which once
occupied so prominent a position in thc early recollections of
the times, but which has now nearly disappeared from the
country they mere the first to visit, deserves a passing notice.
The Canadian voyageurs, as the name indicates, came origi-
nally from Canada, principally from Quebec and Montreal.
They mere employed by the principal traders, under written
contracts, executed in Canada, for a term of from three to five
years-their wages from two hundred and fifty livres (fifty
dollars) to seven hundred and fifty livres (one hundred and
fifty dollars) per year, to which was added what was termed an
"outfit," consisting of a Mackinaw blanket, two cotton shirts,
a capote or loose sack coat, two pairs of coarse pants, shoes,
and socks, and some other small articles, including soap.
Their food, when in the "wintering ground," consisted, for the
greater portion of the time, of corn and tallow, occasionally
enriched by a piece of fat pork-or venison and bear meat,
when they happened to be plenty; yet with this spare and simple
diet, they were healthy and always cheerful and happy. Their
powers of endurance were astonishing. They would row or
paddle all day, and when necessary would carry on their backs,
suspended by a strap or band crossing their breast or forehead,
large packs of furs or merchandize, weighing from one hun-
dred to one hundred and thirty pounds, for whole days, and
when night came, enjoyed their frugal meal, and joincd in
merry jokes, recounted stories of their many hair-breadth
escapes by "flood and forest," or perhaps joined in the dance
to the music of the violin, if among their companions any were
capable of "sawing sweet sounds." In the spring of the year,
they returned to the settlements or principal trading-posts, to
spend the summer months in comparative ease, and in the
enjoyment of the pastimes and frolics they so highly prized.
Always improvident, open-hearted and convivial, they saved .
nothing, nor thought of the wants of the future, but spent