Page 163 |
Previous | 163 of 520 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
|
This page
All
|
142 T H R O U G H THE MACKENZIE BASIN
This was a half- breed f a m i l y , the head of which, a shrivelled
old fellow, was busy making a paddle with his crooked knife,
the materials of a birch- bark canoe l y i n g beside him— and
most beautifully they make the canoe i n this region. His
wife was standing close by, a smudged hag o f most sinister
aspect; also a son and his wife. On stages, and on the
shrubs around, were strewn nets, ragged blankets, frowsy
shawls, and a huddle of other shreds and patches; and,
everywhere else, a horde of hungry dogs s n a r l i n g and pounci
n g upon each other like wolves. F i l t h here was supreme,
and the mise en scene characteristic of a very low and very
rare type of Wahpooskow life indeed— a type butted and
bounded by the w o r d " fish.*' A n attempt was made to photograph
the group, but the o ld f e l l ow turned aside, and the old
woman hobbled into the recesses of a tepee, where we heard
her muttering such execrations i n Cree as were possible to
that innocent tongue. The bands of the woman at the cabin
door were a miracle of grime and scrofula. Her sluttish
locks, together with two c h i l d r e n , hung around her; one of
the latter chewing a muddy carrot up into the leaves, an
ungainly l i t t l e i m p : the other was a g i r l of s i n g u l a r l y beautif
u l features and o f perfect form, her large luminous eyes of
richest brown reflecting the sunlight from their depths like
mirrors— a l i t t l e angel clad i n d i r t . Why other w i l d things
should be delicately clean, the birds, the fishes she lived on,
and she be bred amidst running sores and v e r m i n , was one
of the mysteries I pondered over when we took to our canoes.
F o r such a p a i r of eyes, fpr those exquisite features, some
scraggy denizen of V a n i t y F a i r would have given a king's
ransom. Yet here was a t h i n g of beauty, dropped by a vile
freak of N a t u r e into an a p p a l l i n g environment of filth and
ignorance: a creature destined, no doubt, to spring into
mature womanhood, and lapse, in time, into a counterpart
of the bleared Hecate who mumbled her Cree philippics in
the neighbouring wigwam.
On our r e t u rn t r i p some detours were made, one of which
Object Description
Description
| Title | Page 163 |
| OCR | 142 T H R O U G H THE MACKENZIE BASIN This was a half- breed f a m i l y , the head of which, a shrivelled old fellow, was busy making a paddle with his crooked knife, the materials of a birch- bark canoe l y i n g beside him— and most beautifully they make the canoe i n this region. His wife was standing close by, a smudged hag o f most sinister aspect; also a son and his wife. On stages, and on the shrubs around, were strewn nets, ragged blankets, frowsy shawls, and a huddle of other shreds and patches; and, everywhere else, a horde of hungry dogs s n a r l i n g and pounci n g upon each other like wolves. F i l t h here was supreme, and the mise en scene characteristic of a very low and very rare type of Wahpooskow life indeed— a type butted and bounded by the w o r d " fish.*' A n attempt was made to photograph the group, but the o ld f e l l ow turned aside, and the old woman hobbled into the recesses of a tepee, where we heard her muttering such execrations i n Cree as were possible to that innocent tongue. The bands of the woman at the cabin door were a miracle of grime and scrofula. Her sluttish locks, together with two c h i l d r e n , hung around her; one of the latter chewing a muddy carrot up into the leaves, an ungainly l i t t l e i m p : the other was a g i r l of s i n g u l a r l y beautif u l features and o f perfect form, her large luminous eyes of richest brown reflecting the sunlight from their depths like mirrors— a l i t t l e angel clad i n d i r t . Why other w i l d things should be delicately clean, the birds, the fishes she lived on, and she be bred amidst running sores and v e r m i n , was one of the mysteries I pondered over when we took to our canoes. F o r such a p a i r of eyes, fpr those exquisite features, some scraggy denizen of V a n i t y F a i r would have given a king's ransom. Yet here was a t h i n g of beauty, dropped by a vile freak of N a t u r e into an a p p a l l i n g environment of filth and ignorance: a creature destined, no doubt, to spring into mature womanhood, and lapse, in time, into a counterpart of the bleared Hecate who mumbled her Cree philippics in the neighbouring wigwam. On our r e t u rn t r i p some detours were made, one of which |
Tags
Comments
Post a Comment for Page 163
