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Fort Victoria Post Journal July 1847

1847 July

Thursday 1^st July Very warm weather. People employed the same as usual. No trade, nor anything remarkable to enter.

Friday 2^nd No change in the weather, but got very hazy towards evening. Early this morning some Skatchets arrived & brought 12 beavers, 8 land otters & some other small furs which they disposed of principally for guns, there being now no sale for the 2 1/2 pt blankets since the price of that article has been raised.

Saturday 3^rd Blowing fresh from the South West & weather very dry. Early this morning 3 canoes of Cape Flatteries arrived & brought several sea otters which they will not dispose of at the price at present charged for the 2 1/2 pt blanket, they are therefore determined to bring their sea otters back. Some other small furs were traded from them. Week's work as follows: 5 spaces of the Granary filled up & some pieces rafted home ∞ d^o., 20 pieces of the oak hauled out, about 6 acres of potatoes hoed & some hay mowed in the orchard & sundry other duties performed about the stores.

Sunday 4^th Raining almost all day. About 8 o’clock this morning the Cape Flattery Indians left this {place} for their own quarter. We had to allow them lodge within the stockade all night they being apprehensive of an attack from the hostile tribes in this neigbourhood.

Monday 5^th Raining almost all night & for some time during the day. Wind blowing strong from the South West. The people resumed their occupations of last week. No trade.

Tuesday 6^th Blowing strong from the South West & weather generally clear. People employed the same as yest^y, building Granary, hoeing potatoes & making hay. No trade.

Wednesday 7^th Fine clear weather with a fresh breeze from the South West. To day's operations same as yesterday. We have now got all the wallplates on the Granary & are now putting up the binders, 6 Indians making hay in the orchard.

Thursday 8^th Overcast with occasional showers of rain. Early this morning the Cadboro made her appearance at the entrance of the harbour from Langley, but the wind blowing strong from the Eastward prevented her coming in until the evening. People employed much the same as yesterday, the builders putting up the binders on the Granary. The Cadboro cargo from Langley consists of a few barrels of salmon & small fish & some bales of furs.

Friday 9^th Blowing fresh from the South East with large fleecy clouds rolling on towards the North. The salt for Nisqually & other packages for that Estab^t were shipped to day on board of the Cadboro & her cargo from Langley discharged. The binders of the Granary are now up & the people were employed for a part of the day cutting out oak pieces to be laid before the 1^st stone buttress to prevent the stone being displaced by the action of the waves, that being the most exposed place. Our potatoes are improving since the rainy weather set in.

Saturday 10^th Beautiful weather with a light easterly breeze. The remainder of the goods for Nisqually has this morning been shipped on board of the Cadboro. She left this harbour for that place about noon. Louis Satakarata who has been ill with a sore eye for the last two months was sent to Nisqually by the Cadboro to have the benefit of the Doc^r's assistance. Week's work as follows: 3 spaces of the Granary wall filled up the wallplates & binders put up on d^o., oak pieces cut out for a wall in front of the 1^st buttress of d^o., 20 bus. grain winn^d & about 10 bus. thrash^d, about 10 acres of potatoes hoed with sundry other jobs performed about the stores & a q^ty of hay made. There is nothing now doing in the way of trading furs & provisions is just as bad.

~~Monday~~ Sunday 11^th Very warm weather & nothing remarkable.

Monday 12^th Occasionally overcast but very warm. People employed much the same as last week, building, making hay &c. 2 land otters were traded to day for an inf^r blanket of 3 pts.

Tuesday 13^th Alternately clear and cloudy with fresh breeze from the South West. 8 hands were to day employed rafting logs for building a shed over the boilers, 3 finishing off the breast work before the 1^st stone buttress of the Granary, 2 making hay & the rest employed as usual. No trade of any kind. Several packages of goods to be sent round to Vancouver ∞ Cadboro were made up to day in Depot. Lazard and Lemon repairing carts & wheels & St. Gre. carting in hay.

Wednesday 14^th Generally overcast with a few light showers of rain. 8 hands were employed erecting a shed for the boilers & the others as usual. We had the boilers whitewashed with lime and glue to day to prevent them getting rusty. No trade.

Thursday 15^th Weather beautifully clear with light westerly winds. No occurrence out of the ordinary course of affairs & no change in the men's employments.

Friday 16 Heat very oppressive all day but very cool at night. The dairymen found one of the mares dead to day on the plains, supposed to have been occasioned by having eaten some poisonous herb. People employed much the same as usual.

Saturday 17^th Very warm weather with light variable airs. The principal results of the week's operations are as follows: a shed erected to cover the boilers, a breast work of oak erected before the 1^st buttress of Granary, 20 pieces of the oak hauled out, a cart made for the oxen, a pair of cart wheels hooped, 4 acres of potatoes hoed, a quantity of hay made & 12 cart loads {deletion} housed, 3 pieces of 35 feet placed under the Granary sleepers to support them, 15 bus. grain thrashed. No trade.

Sunday 18^th Very warm weather. Last night 6 canoes of Cape Flattery Indians arrived with some furs and oil &c. In course of the day Snitlum arrived with some beavers which are now deposited in store for security.

Monday 19^th Heat very oppressive. Had the thermometer to day in the sun & rose about noon to 90^o fell again at sunset to 60^o. 8 hands were squaring ~~pieces~~ logs for the saw, 2 hands gum^g skow & Minie with an assistant putting iron bands about a pair of new cart wheels. About 10 beavers & otters were traded to day from Snitlum & several other furs and oil traded from the Cape Flattery Indians.

Tuesday 20^th Heat intense as yesterday, thermometer in the sun about noon at 102^◦ & at sunset fell to 66^o. About 8 A.M. an Indian belonging to the Cape Flattery tribe was discovered in the act of breaking in through the outer store, where the property in Depot is deposited & on being carried into the Fort for punishment some of his tribe, who were inside trading interfered, presented their arms at us & were on the point of firing when I called some of the Chiefs aside & represented the case to them & upbraided them for countenancing a thief as being beneath the dignity of Chiefs & told them to walk outside or abide by the consequences which they did very reluctantly. The thief was then flogged having received 18 lashes on the back & kept in prison until the evening when he was set at liberty. The Cape Flatteries traded all their oil which amounted to about 200 gns. 2 sea otters were traded from them at 7 blkts ea, 2 more were taken away by them, not being contented with the price. People employed principally all day securing the foundation spaces of N^o. 6 where the Indian attempted to get into the Store.

Wednesday 21^st Warm weather still continues. Therm^r from noon to sunset varying from 95^o to 66^o. We are now under the necessity of carting in water for the use of the Estab^t from the well behind. 8 hands with our Indians squaring logs for the saw on the opposite side & Charpentier hauling them out with the oxen. We had one of the skows repaired and pitched to day. No trade.

Thursday 22 Warm weather as yesterday with a cooling breeze from the South West. No trade. The people employed as yesterday, squaring logs for the saw & hauling them out of the woods, 4 hands making hay.

Friday 23^rd Heavy rain all night with thunder being the first we heard this season. 6 hands squaring rafters & the Indians rafting logs for the saw across the arm. No trade of any kind.

Saturday 24^th Overcast with a light breeze from the South West. Week's operations as follows: 33 boards of 1in 12ft long sawn, 96 logs ∞ saw 12ft long squared & brought out of the woods, 1 cart ∞ oxen made & two cart wheels repaired & hooped, a q^ty of hay mowed by 4 men & 6 cart loads of d^o. housed, 20 bus. grain thrash^d & winnowed, 6 posts of oak sq^d to support the Granary sills and sundry jobs performed about the Store. At 4pm the Cadboro arrived from Nisqually & brought letters & other documents from that place and Vancouver. The returns of New Caledonia & the interior posts are on board of her having been sent across the Nisqually portage. 9 of our engaged Indians, whose contracts expired to day, were paid off this afternoon.

Sunday 25^th Overcast with light variable winds . Nothing transpired out of the ordinary course of affairs.

Monday 26^th Fine clear weather with light variable airs. People employed as last week, squaring rafters, pit sawing & repairing carts & wheels. We had the furs & wool discharged from the Cadboro in course of the day, all apparently in good order.

Tuesday 27^th Fine weather as yesterday. A lot of sundries from Depot for Vancouver was shipped to day on board the Cadboro, invoice & pack^g of which made out with various other documents to be transmitted to Vanc^r by her. People employed the same as usual. No trade.

Wednesday 28^th Overcast with a thunder and heavy rain this morning, afterwards cleared up. All the documents for Vanc^r having been delivered, Captain Captain Scarborough at [6] AM. he left the harbour at that time on his way to Columbia River. Our men at their occupations of yesterday. No trade. Louis Satakarata returned from Nisqually by the Cadboro but is still unable to resume duty with his sore eye. In the evening the lightning appeared very vivid with loud peels of thunder, accompanied with heavy showers of rain.

Thursday 29^th Lightning remarkably vivid last night with very loud peels of thunder & some heavy showers of rain. People employed the same as usual except the carters who were carting in hay. One of the oxen got killed this afternoon in crossing a ditch with the cart, by having had [a horn] entangled in the bank on one side in crossing & before he could be extracted got his neck broke. No trade worthy of notice.

Friday 30^th Generally overcast with a light breeze from the South West. 8 hands were emplye^d to day carrying out rafters & the rest as usual except Minie who was making bolts for the knees of the Granary. 3 deer were traded to day but no furs of any kind now traded.

Saturday 31^st Weather beautifully clear with a fresh breeze from the South West. The principal results of this week's operations are as follows: 6 loads of hay carted from Cedar Hill & housed, 40 rafters squared & brought home with 16 pieces 9 ft long 6 x 9in squared brought home for stauchions to support the buttress of Granary, 16 bolts ∞ k{n}ees ∞ d^o. made, 2 cart wheels made by Lazard, 170 boards of 1in 12ft long sawn & sundry other duties performed about the Store. No trade this week worthy of notice.

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