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The Manitoban.

kju

116-

whic

Tha^flfQects of intlebtedness were as-
counties in the five
it was found that a
of the debt was in-
purchase money to
ovements or to invest in
he average state rate of

cejM^ined in
states, in
large proporti
curred to se/ure
pay for im
business

interest piid is found to vary from (5
per cent.An Tennessee to 8.04 per cent,
in Kan^s. A decline of nearly 1 per
cent, appears in the average rate of
interest paid on the mortgages made
duringtthe 10 years. It appears also
that of wiejnoEtgajjCsTiiade during the
decade in the states namad, less than
half were in force on Jantmry 1, lb9(),
but that] nearly three-quarters of the
mortgages made in AJabama, Iowa
and Kansas were on Acres, while in
Illinois and Nebraska the greatest
number were on lote. Large as the
totals appear, it 'w, significant that
only 31 per cent. (* the acres assessed
in lUin'iis are niOTtgages, though the
ip in Iowa to 47 and
per cent, but is as
low as 12 in TeAnes^iee and 22 per cent.
in Albama. Ttie amount of the mort-
gage indebtedness peraCIl^ for the
total numl)er of acres is, however less
in Kanaas than in Illinois, Kvhile the
debt per acre is only abouoone-third
as much ($6.57) in Kaii^as as in
Illinois."

By this we see that OndLrio farmers
are not the only one's »o mortgage
their farm, and that the tause of their
doing so is regarded as assign of pros-
perity rather than otheiVise by our
neighbors who live across fcbe li»e- If
this is true, it is a bright way of looking
at the matter, and as ever_; dailJc cloud
silver lining, we .shoald try

proportion runSi
in Kansas to 6]

has

and see it in
grumbling.

that light instead of

Daw8on Route .Military Ex-
pedttion.

BY A PRIVATE OF TUB POBCK.

HE MANITOBAN has lately con-
tained several very interesting and
and readable articles detailing' the
ditficuities and trials of the first Red River
Expedition under Co'. Wolsley in 1870,
by way of the once famous Dawson route,
from Prince Arthur's Landing. The
articles are to a large extent historical,
and are a valuaVjle contribution to the
literature concerning the early times of
this country.

The following; disjointed and discursive
pages are intended to relate a few incid-
ents connected with a la'er expedition to-
Fort Garry. The excitement incident to
the first Red River Expedition, and the
fact that it was commanded l)y an officer
of the British army who has since become
a noted general and also the fact that the
route luy through a hitherto unknown
wilderness seemed to have to a large ex-
tent overshadowed later expeditions over
the same route, consequently the fact that
there wore Ruch, seems to be now almost
entirely forgotten. It is not the desire
of the writer to compare th'ise later ex-
peditions with the first, either in import-
ance or in the difficulties encountered but
rather to bear testimony concerning the
hardships and severe labors which the
force was called upon to endure and per-
form. It is true'that the first expedition
"broke the road" for thoHe who fo' lowed,
and to one who has since traversed the-
route from end to end -especially if he
did so as a soldier — the thought would
naturally suggest itself that none but
British soldiers could have accomplished
the feat.

On the expiration of the term of ser'
vice for which the members of the first
expedition enlisted a large number took
their discharges from the force, and be-
came ordinary citizens. All the men who-
served th<'ir term became entitled to
gmnts of 160 acres of land each, which
though not of much value at that time
soon became valuable, and to shrewd and
careful fellows they bi-came the founda-
tion of future competencies, though many
warrants were sold for little or rothing.

•mmm

WP"

116

The Makitoban.

by less provident men, and by men who
«ould not forsRc the prosperous future of
the Great Northwest

A numher of the men re-enlisted ; thi"
time without th? incentive of a becond
grant of land, and to fill the places of
those who lefc the force, another contin-
gent was organized in Ontario and Quebec
in 1871, and forwarded to Fort Garry
taking almost the same route ; the prin-
cipal change boing from the northwest
angle of the Lake of the Woods, overland
to Winnipeg instead of by the Winnipeg
River.

It is about the third expedition of
which the writer was a member that this
article specially refers to. Unlike the
former expeditions the term of service
was misleading. Instead of one yeai-, the
terms ^as " one year or three years if re-
quired." Young men from all parts of
Ontario assembled at the Old Fort in
Toronto, where they were enlisted by
Lteut.-Ool. Durie, D.A.G., and were in-
formed by him that there was no doubt
of the men obtainiag their discharges at
the end of one year's service and would
only be required for a longer period in
«ase of disquiet in the country. At the
expiration of the year, the men demanded
their discharge but wt^re refused, and up-
on th-ir r«'presentations of the terms of
enlistment being forwarded to Ottawa it
was felt that justice would be done them.
They were however doomed to dissapoint-
ment ; the Government denying that the
force had been enlisted as stated by the
men, and the D. A. G's denying also that
they had made the statements attributed
to them ; consequently those who did not
desert, or purchase their discharge by
obtaining substitutes had to serve a
three year's term for their grants of
land.

On the 19th September 1872, the en-
listed men from Ontario were joined in
Toronto by the Quebec contingent of In-
fantry and a Battery of Artillery from
*' B " Battery, Quebec, and took the
Northern Railway to OoUingwood where
they were uniformed and armed, and
formed into companies. Two days later
we boarded the steamer "Francis hmith"
for Prince Arthur's Landing under the
command of Lieut.-Gol. Villi^rs, of Ham-
ilton, now D. A.G. at Winnipeg.

The men found that the accommodation
furnished was the bare deck, each one
bunking where he could find space not
occupied by freight, some spreading their
blankets on boxes or barrels. The men,
being thus thrown closely together soon
became acquainted. They were a motley
mixture, Ontario farmer's sons, genteel
city youths, old soldiers formerly in Brit-
ish regiments, French habitats, and
among them all one strange character
named Vighneau who had been in the
Communist ranks in Paris, France, dur-
ing that terrible outbreak after the close
of the Franco- Prussian war. He kept
the company from sleeping by his persist-
ance in sini^ing French songs in an ex-
ceedingly forcible and excitable strain.
He had escaped from France after the
Communist outbreak had been quelled,
and reached Canada in time to enter the
service of Britain's Queen to keep the
peace somewhere in the far Northwest.

Another soldier also prone on his back
on the dock, began a song in the darkness
in an interval between Vighnefr's songs.
It was the well-known " Listen to the
Mocking Bird:" the peculiarity about this
song was that the voice ceased after the
words " Listen to the mocking bird " and
instead thereof r.ould be distinctly heard
the wiiigH and peculiar whistle of a bird
as it flew around the interior of the vjssel
from end to end, then it seemed to escape
to the outside and couid be heard flying
and whistling over the boat ; again ic
seemed I to return to the interior,
where it continued its rapid flight am' tb<4
whistling. The noise of the bird sudden-
ly ceased and the singer took up the re-
mainder of the song. He had imit<ated
the bird by his powers of ventriloquism.
As the names of the men were unknown
to each other, and as darkness prevailed
at the time, the singers name as far as I
know, was never known, and the song
was never heard again

On the 22nd September we reached
Prince Arthur's Landing, (now Port Ar
thiir) and after unloading our provisions,
stores, etc., from the steamer and loading
them on waggons we commenced our
march to Fort Garry about 5 p. m. by
ascending the steep hill behind the town
from the ourpmit of whioii A magnificent
view of Thunder Bay was obtained. We

The Maxitoban.

117

i,
e
e

soon reached the banks of the Kaniinisti-
quia River, and it being about dusk we
camped for the night on a npot near a low
wojden bridge. That identical spot [
recognized a few years ago while on a visit
to the east ; the CP.R'y crosses the river
only a few yards from the spot. As a
heavy rain had fallen a short time beforf,
the ground was very wet and muddy, and
while the tents were being pitched, a well
known song could be heard with the fol-
lowing parody on the refrain : —

Tentiug to-night, tenting to-night,
Tenting on the cold damp ground.

About dawn on the following niornin?,
we had breakfast on the hardest of Chris-
tie Brow.t's hardtack, beef and tea, and af-
ter striking tents, loading the wagons, etc.,
we resumed our march to Lake Slieban-
daween which was reached late in the
afternoon, and at once prepared to unpack
our boats, to cross the lake. The boats
had been in use by former expeditions and
were not in the best condition, and were
supplied with oars roughly hewn out of
young saplings from the woods. The
boats were capable of holding about forty
men each with the necessary proportion
of provisions. After the stores or provi-
sions had been transferred to the boats,
we embarked as many men to each boat
as it would safely hold, with a sergeant in
charge of each There were about ten
boats in all. After embarking we found
that the flset was to be towed by a small
■ steamer. This steamer was simply one of
the boats furnished with a small engine.
A start was made about 9 p. H. the boats
being connected by tow lines between
each of about 50 feet in length, the last
boat containing the officers.

'J'he night was dark and cool, and as
the suake like fleet wended its solitary
way among the islands, we began to realize
our novel position. The sight was weird
in the extreme, the only lights visible be-
ing that from the sparks of the little
steamer. We were in the midst of a
lake in an uninhabited country, unknown
to any one exce; t the voyageurs in charge.
Our hearts however were light ; w^^ knew
we were on our way to that far away
place — Fort Garry. The time was wiled
awaj' by sonsjs, each boat
the others in rolling out the choruses.

When we left the landing in tow of our

vieing with

diminutive tug, we thought ourselves for-
tunate in escaping the labors of rowing
the boats with the great, rough and un-
wieldy oars, but after a fev hours confin-
ment in the boat? (he cold became so un-
comfortable that we would have been glad
to row had it been allowed. About 1
A.M. we reached land and unloading began
preparatory to transporting ourselves and
our dunnage across the portage. This
was at length accomplished by the aid of
a rickety old waggon and a team appar-
ently reduced to the veritable "straw a
day." "J he portage was about one half
mile in width and by daylight we were
rea<ly for our breakfast of hardtack, etc.,
which was relished as no plum pudding
had ever been before. After breakfast
we embarked on Lake Kashabo-ne in
boats with oars similar to those already
described. There being no tug on this
lake we had to row, and the weather be-
ing cold we were not unwilling, though
our progress was much slower. However
we soon reached the next portage, and
after transferring our stores, etc., across
over an unusually rough bush road we
reached the shores of Lac des Mille Lacs
where we camped for the night. Early
in the mornisg we resumed our journey,
over this beautiful lake, the scenery was
truly magniticent, the lake being dotted
with hundreds of lovely islands, each
covered with a thick evergrtrn under-
growth down to the water's edge, it seem-
ed like a fairy land, if land and water can
be so styled.

Our journey over portage and lake con-
tinued much the same as has l>een des-
cribed. After crossing Baril Lake, Lake
Windeg tosta^oon, French Lake and Lake
Kiogasekok and the portages separating
th^m and running the rapids on the Mat-
tawin we reached Sturgeon Lake, at the
crossing of which an amusing incident
occurred which is worth relating. Soon
after 1 "saving the landing on this lake the
boats became separated in a severe gale
which suddenly sprang up, the boat in
which the writer to»"med one of the crew,
was commanded by one Sergeant Brodie,
from Elorx, it had another Sergeant on
board nami'd McPher^on, an old soldier
formerly of the lOOch Regimoit, a rugged
old Scotchman who felt resentful at being
commanded by ^ younger man and a

163712

■mKm

ftm

118

The Manitqkan

voluntppr at that. While the atorm was
at its height and the boat shippinii; water
at the how, Brodie decided to run to a
Biuall island dose by. This MsPherson
viijorously opposed, calling H-odie a
coward, etc., but Brodie l)eing in com-
mand, a laiidins; was aflTected, where we
at oncn prepared for the night by cor.
structing a sht-lter from tho wind and
rain with poles and pine boun;hs. We
slept comfortably all night and found in
the morning that the storm had not
abated to any great extent.

McPheruon inhisted on making a start
and the men supported him, but Brodin
opposed it strongly. Headerl by Mc-
Fherson tlie men launched the boat-, how-
ever, but Brodie positively refused to em-
bark and tried to exercise hU authority.
McPherson and the men were e><ger to
proceed and did so, leaving Brolie stand-
ing on a rock wildly gesticulating and
threatening us all wiih arrest and court
marHhall for disobedience of orders and
insubordinatioa. We did notq'i»il, how-
ever, and as we kept on vigorously at t'le
oars we could faintly hear Hroilie's wnil
to leave him some beef. After proceed-
ing about two miles the men prevail^'d on
McPhersontorelenttothe extentof return-
ing and giving our modern R ibinson
Cruf'oe an opportunity of Joiain^; us: he
gladly did so and a few hours aft^r we
reached the portage and found the re-
mainder of the force in great anxiety
about our safety, and preparing to go in
search of us.

On reaching Fort Garry, Pi ivate Fred.
Swire who formed one of the p>»rty com-
possd the following poetical etru>ion on
the occaKioii of which 500 copies were
printed at the office of the Liberal, con-
ducted at that time by Mr. S'e«art
Mulvey and circulated in the barracks
much to the grief and indignHtion of the
two sergeants interested; —

It wa« on Sturgeon's atormy lake,

Ihere Mited a .nartial crow
Provisions they did wiih tbum take,

Both beef and biaonit too ;
But when the storm Itlast loudly roared,

And far was port or haven.
The leader of this martial band

Turned nnt to be a craven.
'What bo '." he cried, "what ho '. I My,

"Pray tnrn the vesucl's course,
For iiia6h I f-'ar there'* danger near

And keenly etings remorse.
Steer for the shore, 1 pr'ythee try

For I am unprepared to die. "

"Now out npon thee for a knave !

I would not lift one toe to save
Nor thee, nor any of thy class ;

For thou'rt a most esregious ass ;
You've not the heart of fowl or pheaaant.

So let'n proceed hoya — are you preaent ?"
'Twaa thus apoke 'Phair^on,' yet the oar

Propeltrd the little bark to ahore.
And it would seem thut PhairKon too

Was not without a qualm or two.
Arrived at land, aahoie thnv sprang

Brave Crusoe, aud aloud tb-re rang
Ilia voice throughout the forest ulade

''C'>m«) on, ye divils, who'a afrnid?"
And Echo, through the Konihre shade

Replied afar, "Crusoe's afraid."

Upon the be'^ch, they camped that night.

And anxious, waited for the light.
Tiie morning dawned, the tempest roar*.

And hurled the bilinwa from the ahore*.
No prospect aeemed held up to view

Of launching o'er'thoae waters blue ;
But aome more bi>l<i, were fain to start.

Save Ousoe ot the craven heart ;
In vain he heg* thmib few to stay —

"Not bo" eaya 'Phairson, '' ve'll away,
And Rend for you aome other day. "

"Wh»t ; leave me here with no relief?"
Says CruHoe : "pray then leatY. the beef;

And if you venture on tha: lake,
Upon yourself the bliime yon take."

"All right" crifB 'Phairson. "that I'll do
And now friend Knbinaon, Adieu !"

Out pprang the boat propelled by oars
Manned by a dc/.ttn stalwart rowera ;

And, aa more diRtant grew the land.
The voice of Crusoe renched the Iwnd,

Borne by the breeze o'er rock and reef —
For God's nake. 'Phairxori, Uav. the beef."

"Not so," bawls 'Phairson, "you're asiiarn,.
'And that be liusted for a yarn.' "

And how the crewa were safe at laat.

How dangera numerous they passed
And in the end got aafely hom»,

la told in many a book and tome.
And brifiht eyrd kidii, with curly pate

Will ask thttir mother to relate
The story oVr iind o'er agtn -

How Ciueoe feared the rasing main.
And Rumor ^ays that in his sleep

Crusoe again is on the deep.
And muttering, 'It were nnt so bad

If only thope spare rilis I had',
In every breeze that stirs the leaf

His fancy whispers, 'Riba o( beef.'
And wavelets breaking on the shore

Say 'Beef ribs come again no more.' "

(Coiillnued in May Number.)

Tl«)l

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i -v.oV f ■U-'-A ^'^ ^^

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^""""^■■■p

The Manitouan. ^>'Aji/>-J5L lS<]2^ 22.5

n.)>,«TlUTUMl l^t all, find tlmt. tlieircliild-
,^n Avere ilk'i?itiniati'. Xuuktouk dif-
ciilticH at on/fc were tbrceccii rsjK'clally
as t<> titles /(nd transfers of projuTty,
to say nothing of the uneasiness and
distpiiet (»iused in the minds of those
who i»os8t!Ssed a Hokle spouse. But to
remedy All tlu' difficulties an<l legalize
nnitters, M*,-+:'aTfwright sugg'ested in
ins report a jilan of getting over the
<|uestion ; lie says :/—

"Such heing til** ease, it is obvious
that it requires tlw* interposition of the
Legislature as /veil to setle what is
j)a8t, as to [)roX-ide somt; regulations
for tlie future i'n framing of which it
should be considered that gocnl policy
requires that jn a new country, at least,
matrimonial / connections should be
made as easy as may be consistent with
the importnii(;e of such engagenx'nts :
iUid having p>»*d^frtr"tviyself to bring
this busintiss forward efirly in the next
Session, 1 am lead t(^ hope that Your
Excellency will make i<uch ri'presenta
tjons to His Majesty's^'Ministcrs as Avill
induce them to coiifeent to such ar-
rangements respecti^ig this business,
as the circunistanc(^s of the country
may render expcdit'ht."

To those of us whq are living in this
enlightened age of tW li'th century,
such proceedings seem ratlier strange,
and many who have scolding wives
and worthless husluinds, iliay i)erhap8
fe(!l that by this act their liberties were
rudely tiiken away, and tiie chance of
any future freedom unwittingly done
for. N.

Dawson Route Military
Expeditions.

Br A PRIVATE OF TIIR FORCE.

(Confiniied from Morch number:)

In continuing the account of the pro-
gress of the ."trd expedition o\'er
the Dawson Houte in 1872. it would
not be wise to particularize the ar-
rivals and departures at the various
]tortages on our route, in view of the
fact that the relation of such would be

simply a repetition of nmeh that has
been so ably described in tin; Man'I-
TOHAN Ijy a member of the 1st expedi-
tion. The duties of the oflicers and
men of our force were somewhat simi-
lar to those of the larger force of 1H70,
though the route followed by the latter
from LnkeSliebandowan to Fort Francis
was a more southerly «me to that by
which we groped our way through
that rocky and desolate country. The
reader, if he has travelled over the C.
V. li. to Fort William, can form an
idea of the ditticulties encountere«l l)y
those early exi)editions to this country,
in crossing lakes antl jiortages, wading
swam]»s, climbing rocks, in fording
streams and running rapids, on thiur
way to Fort (Jarry. A few moments
reH«'ction on the changed circumstances
of to-day ; the sul)stitution of the lux-
urious i'ullman coach tor the laJwrious
and dangerous method of travel, then
necessary to reach this country, will
convince and gratify any loyal Can-
adian of the wonderful progress made
in this Avestern country during the
last twenty years.

During our Journey ings our cliief
amusement was racing on the lakes
and rivers at every ojjportunity ; the
men doubling up on tiie huge oars,
iind Ix^nding to them with a determina-
tion not to be l)eaten, oftentimes the
oars being broken in the struggle.
One race the writer recollects having
witnessed in the stream flowing into
Sturgeon Lake. The boats collided at
a narrow i)art of the stream where
two could not pass, and they were in-
,jured and oars liroken, and a few
heads came very near being Isroken
also.

This reminds me of an amusing in-
cident which occurred shortly after-
wards. Lieut. Taillefer, whoconniiand-
ed our section of the force, had issued
very strict orders against any further
racing and any one who had seen the
stern countenanc<' of the <'X-l';ipaI
Zouave would sa\- that an order from
him was law. We had not pr<K'et'ded
far, however, when a boat with a cnw
of Ontario boys came forging on in the

f^ <:\~Ji p n^

226

ThU Manitodan.

roar of the boat oceuj^ed by Lieut.
Taillefer, wliich was inauni'd by a
crew nearly all of whom were j)hy8i-
cally light, ))eing nearly all from AIoii-
treal. Tlie latter were certainly not In-
clined to let the Ontario boat iwss with-
out an effort, notwithstanding' the order
given by th<» otticer in command ; ho
they pulled for all they were able,
while Taillefer sat gloomily taking in
the situation. A repetition of the ord-
er was exjKJCted forbidding the race,
when, presto ! he makes a spring and
hurls a diminutive Frenchman from
the oar and taking his seat at it — a
Hercules in strength and size — gave
one tremendous stroke and l)reaking
the thwart pin, went on his back witli
heels in the air with the momentum of
a battering ram. His only remark
when struggling to gnt up was " well
boys you must not think I am a poor
rower." It was generally reiuarked
that Mr. Taillefer was never known
to smile, and it is certain he did not
on that occasion, though his crew did.
Experiences of another nature serv-
ed to vary the monotony of our jiro-
gress, viz., the running of rapids on
the Maligne river, and afterwards on
the Rainy river above Fort Francis.
The rapids on the former are long
and very swift, with falls here and
there of about 2 to 2J feet in height.
The boats were handled by our Iri-
quois Indian voyageursiOne at each bow
and stern.and one man at each oar pull-
ing as if going against the stream,
and descending with fearful rapidity
between terrible threatening rocky.
Nearly the whole force disembarked
at the head of the stream. A fcAv of
the abler bodied men being retained
to row the boats, the former portaging
thems«^lves and the greater part of the
stores overland in the usual way. The
boat in which the writer assisted in
rowing, had a narrow escape from
being swamped in the rapid. It struck
a submergetl rock, turned stern fore-
most, and after a series of gymnastic
performances, glided into the lake,
lialf filled with water.
After our boat's crew, nominallv

commanded by the redoubtable Crusoe,
had landed we soon reached Tanner's
lake over a long and rocky i)ort-
age, which was soon crossed. An-
other long and rocky i)ortage known
as Island portage brought us to
Lake Nameukan, on the northern shore
of which is located an Indian reserve,
occupied by a bjmd of Indians, headecl
at that tiriie by the famous chief Black-
stone. VVhil(! we were preparing to
eml)ark on the lak<', the giant chief,
followed by an immense throng of the
filthiest and most repulsive natives that
we had ever setm. presented himself
and began a harangue, which Judging
i)y the manner in which he drew our
attention to surrounding objects, in-
cluding his loyal following, might
have been a learned discoui-se on geol-
ogy, natural history, ethnology and
astronomy. Would it be reasonable
to suppose that, through our ignorancx;
of moderii languag*'?', several new ideas
and discoveries in these sciences are
not now known to the world ? It is
»|uite ju'olMible that it was an appeal
for food, at least Billy Keddy thought
so, when he approache<l liim with a
salaam, in the midst of his elocjuent
peroration, and handed him one of the
hanlest of our hard-tack. The chief
took it. looked at it, and with a tre-
mendous llgh ! he turned and stalked
majestically away.

•After crossing lijike Nameukan and
the portage l>etween that lake and
Rainy Lake, we met Lieut-Col. W.
Osborne Smith, who had arrived from
Fort (Jarry, to replace Col. Villiers.
The former at once took command,
and after embarking in the bojjts, we
began to cross Rainy Lake. We had
not ]»roc(H'ded far when a severe storm
suddenly arose wliicli drove us to the
lee of an island close to the Minnesot^i
shore. We cami»ed for the night in
Uncle Sam's dominions, and waited all
n<(xt day, Sunday, for the: storm to
abate. While Avaiting, our provisions
ran short, and that niorning a bugle
sounded, "Fall in." The call was not
expected and the men Avondered if it
was for Divine service, when lo ! the

The Manitohan.

2S7

'>lo Crusoe,
1 TaniH'r'g
>cky i)ort-
'sed. Aii-
ig<' known
l>t an to
liem slioH'
n rpHerve,
lis, iH'afk'd
lji«'fBlHck-
^<'JJHl•in^ to
iaiit chief,
oiig of th<«
htives that
pi hiniHt'lf
!'> Judging-
divw our
ly'ects, in-
g. might
>o on geol-
)logy and
•easonable
igiioranc(!
uow ideas
enc't's are
<•:•' It iH
«'i apjK'al
y thoug-ht
in wItJi a
eloijuent
ane of th(i
rhe chief
til a tre-
(I Htalked

ik"n and
ak(^ and
■f'oi. w.
•<'<l from
Villiei-s.
mmand,
<wts, we
IVe had
'fi storm
8 to the
•inesotii
iglit in
ited all
orm to
visions
bugle
'as not
1 if it
>! the

the ('ol. Hteppe'l up and in huiguuge
not found in the I'niyer Ixutk. culled us
nanjfs, more foreibic than ajipropriHte
4)n that sacred inorn. He charged U8
with wasting "(rod's precious food,"
and said, " if any man in future saw
another wasting i)rovi9iou8 he was to
hit him over tiu; head with his rifle,"
and. he added, " I will .justify him in
4oing so." The Colonel then went oft'
in iiis big war canoe to Fort Francis
for supplies and met us next (biy.
passing each boat and throwing a
(luantity of hard-taok to the hungry
men, which we attacked at the immi-
nent risk of bn-iiking our te(^tli.

It did not set^m to us that there was
any waste, as some ;J(M) men, exposed
to tiie exhilirating ozone of the ()ctol)er
brtM'zes of theDawsim Route and row-
ing heavy boats, 'lad perfectly legiti-
mate means of gett'ag away witli food
without "casting tiieir bread upon the
waters."

We soon reached Rainy River and
after running several dangerous rapids
in tlie MO miles between the iiead of the
river and Fort Francis, we reached th«'
latter place and camped on tiie jthiin
opposite the Falls, where fresh meat
was served to us, tin- Hi-st we had eaten
since leaving CoUingwood. It was
certainly an agreeable changt- from
the saltest of salt pork and liard-tjick.

Th(^ village of Fort Francis is beau-
tifully situated on the liigli banks of the
river, in full view of the falls. The
village at that time was simply an out-
post of the Hudson's Bay ('onii)any. and
almost unknown to tlie outer world,
but it would be (piite safe to predict
for it a great future, siiould the much
talked of "Wini.ipeg an<l Duluth Hail-
way become an acconi])lisiie;l fact. It
li(!s in an aImo-(t direct line l)etween
WinniiK'g and Duiutii. and if it only
iiad raihvay communication with tlie
wheat fields of the west and Mitii Liike
SuiH-rior to the east, its almost unlimited
watei'-j)ower could be utilized to grind
the wheat of ha If the continent. It does
not reipiire the expericjiced eye of an
engineer to see tiiat by the construction
of power canals on botii sides of tiie

river above the 1 ills, a score of mills
could obtain |m)W( r at a comparatively
very snnill cost.

After laying in a supply of flour,
furnished by the Hudson's Hay Com-
pany, and bidding a regretful good-
bye to our jtopular leader. Lieut.-Col.
Villiers who had brought us safely to
that point, we embarked on our boats
and resumed our Journey down Rainy
Rivei". The current being with us, we
mad(! rapid jtrogress, and after i)ro-
ceeding some :\0 or 40 miles, w(^ cam|)ed
<m the Minnesota side for the night.
Farly in the morning we resumed our
journey down this beautiful stream,
and 'itte the following night we passed
Hungry Hall, and camped on a sandy
and barren island, near the mouth of
the river. Xext morning we found
that a severe storm prevailed on the
Lake of the Worxls, which compelled
us to delay embarking in our frail
l)oats. Our meals here were simple in
t\w extreme. The bill of fare consist-
ing of "slapjacks," the recipe for the
preparation of which is — mix flour with
Rainy River water to the consistency of
dough, spread it by hand into cakes of
a suitable size and bake on sheet iron
frying-pans over an open Are, built on
a sandy beach. In order that the
slapjacks be jtropiu'ly seasoned, it is
necessary that thc^ wind should be
blowing at the rate of about ten miles
an hour, sutticient to incor}»orate
eiumgh sand in them to make them
palatable. Xo other seasoning should
be used. We followed this recipe to
the letter, in fact we could not do
otherwise under the circumstances,
the nniterials mentioned being all
we had in our regimental pantry.
We spent the time in watching the
storm and in attempting to capture
prairie chickens, large numbers of
wliich flew over our heads, almost close
enough to enable us to hit them with
clubs.

Early the following morning, the
storm having spent itself meanwhile,
we resumed oui* journey over the l)roa(l
expanse of the Lake of the Woods, and
as we all had bv this time become

22H

The Manitoiun.

oxiwrienc't'tl boatiiUMi, wv soon crosn'd
thi8 last and largoHt lake on tlic roulf,
and reached the North West Angic,
after rowing through a broad expanuo
of wild rice bordt-rlng the Hhorc at that
point. Upon landing we found a cav-
alcade of Imrneased oxen and Red Riv-
er carts awaiting us, to carry our
stores, etc, overland, a di»tanc<' of 110
miles to Fort ( larry. This mode ot
conveyanc«! was new to many of ui?,
ami the various nondescript outHts
with their halfbreed drivers were ob-
jects of interest to a gr»<at«'r extent
than even Blackstone and his band.

The lojig black haired driviu-s w .'ri'
inti'rviewed for a'.' kindt of informa-
tion and their outfl'»a closely tixamined
but not a vestige of iron found upon
either carts or harness. Tlit^ carts
were soon load» d with our stores and
dispatched in advance of the column.
After a meal of slapjacks we com-
menced our march to Fort (iarry.
The road lay through the wocxls for
a distance of about 75 miles from the
lake. Th(i tall, dead tamarac and
spruce trees on each side showed that
an extensive bush Are had raged some
time before, burning the foliage to the
tops and left the bare poles swaying in
the breeze. Our daily march covered
a distance of about HO miles, which
was considered good considering that
the road bed was of white sand, our
feet sinking about six inches at every
step, and that each man carried his
rifle, accoutrements and forty rounds
of ammunition, the knapsacks only be-
ing in the carts.

Many of the men hml been scirved
with boots at Col ling wood two and
three sizes too large, a number, in-
cluding the writer, wearing number
twelves, and tlu^ reader can imagine
for himself which would suffer most
when a No. 9 foot, a No. V2 boot and a
sandy road are introduced to each
other. Many of the boots were dis-
carded and thrown into the carts, the;
wearers filling their socks with hay,
and keeping up with the column on
the march.

On the afternoon of the third day we

emerged into the open prairie near
I'ointe du Chene, when^ wtM-amped for
the night. During the night a heavy fall
of snow covered the ground to the depth
of about (■( inches, whicli became slush
in tlw morning. To the b(K)tless men
this waa aiiytliing but comfortable, but
such minor discomforts were nothing in
vii'w of the early termination of our
somewhat eventful journey. The last
full day's march was soon n'sumed
over tht! prairie, towards the oft heard
of R«'d River and the scene of the Riel
rebellion of nearly two years before.
The snow and tlu^ mud soon disappear-
ed and the change from the sand to the
prairie trail was a welcome one. To-
wards the close of the day, however,
several began to flag through ill Htting
boots and from laek of boors of any
kind, and towards evening the writer
was told off to take charge of a picket
to bring up the stragglers. The days
being short, darkness soon covered the
prairie with its pall, and aliout !»
o'elork a camp fire could be seen in the
distance. This was cheering, as it was
thought an indication that our march
for that, day would very soon be over.
After trudging several miles and the
light seemingly as distant as vvvr, we
entjuired at a house by the roadside
(situated, we afterwards found, in the
parish of Lorette) wliat the distance
was to the light. We were told "about
tree miles." That at least was defin-
it»', we thought.

.\nother liour wi^arily passed and
tsill as the light appeared no nearer,
eniiuiry was again made at a house of
the distance to the light. Our hearts
sank when we got the answer "about
tree miles," and for some time the
picket had sonu^ difficulty in prevent-
ing several Montreal men seeking shel-
ter in houses of the French residents
by the way. However, about midnight
we rcHched the camp fire, around
which the men had gathered and were
fast asleep on the ground •'•. the op<m
air, the tents not having i ••> Ived. A
number of our straggle*. ■ rr^m ibund
a haystack close by, from which they
pulled a quantity of hay in tiic; midst

^'«'i<' near

Jinipcd thv

ion vy full

ItfU'dcptl,
klt'H.S Ilii'M

ftnhlo, |,i,t
liothiiijif in
!"• of oui"

loft Iwnnl
the Kiel
r^ '"'foi'e.
i9Hpp«vir-
iid to the
"'•'■ To-
in>vev(«i-,
i'l Httin^r
of any

^'< picket

''h' (lavH
•eivd tile
a'foiit !»
f^'i in the
•s it Avas
' iiiarcJi
f>e over.
«n(l tiie
v«!r, we
'oadside
. in tlie
li^tarico

"Hbout

de/iii.

learor,
•>US(' of

lu'arts
'•bout
le tlie
f^veiit-
rsliei-
ifieiitu
ni«-lit
"oiiiid
wi!i-e
open
!. A
buiKi

tlley

aidst

The Makitouax.

220

of whicli tlioy Htn'tclifd tlicir tii'<'(l
llmbt* and had th*- Houiulc^t and ni08t
mstful Hl(;t'p of any on th<\|ounu'y.

Next niurniiijif, the 2l8t (>erol)er,
the march waaajfiiin n-sumcd and soon
tlie cro.HHinpf of the Seine Uiv(!r to the
«'H8t of St. Boil face was readied, wiiere
we halted to wasii and ch-aii up
before (-ntiTinjif civilizarion af^ain.
Soon after wc! reachc^d tlic hanks ot
Red River, passinjf hi front of th**
Bishop's F'ahice and crossed th«* Hod
River by way of a ferry into what, is
now known as Fort Roiifje, and from
thence over the Assiniboine Rivisr on a
I" atoon brldjfc, close* to and east
of where the Main St. Bridg-e now
Htandu, and into Fort (iarry throufli
the massive south gate. The onler
"halt, front, dress" brou^'lit our lonff
tiresome Joui'ney to a close, when w(;
were told off in half companies to our
respective barrack rooms in tlie old
two story Hudson's Bjiy (.'ompany's fur
warehouse, standing In a row within
and close to the western wall, and
fronting on what served as the bar-
rack square.

The buildings which served as bar-
racks were three in number, two
stories In height and built of logs after
the old Red River fashion, and shingled
•with heavy oak shingles fastened
to oak sheeting with old fashioned,
broad headend, hand
A large door in the
the S(iuare opened
ibule on each side
a large barn like room, utterly devoid
of ornament of any khul. From the
vestibule ascended a stair to two
similar situated rooms in the second
story. Around the rooms with their
heads to the wall were located the cots.
and in the centre were the tables an^!
benches. In these homely and prin.
itive quarters we found a home. And
each man after having his cot allotted
to him and being free from his heavy
accoutrements was directed to Hll his
empty tick with straw which was to be
his soldier's bed ; that done, he was free
for a time to look around him. Some
betook themselves toletterwriting,some
to renewing old acquaintances among

made nails,
middle, facing

into a vest-
of which was

those who had re-enlisted and remained
with the force ; while mnny, a, large
ni'ijority, found their way to the can-
teen in a semi basement of an adjoining
building to regale tlu^mselviM with the
iicjuid refreshments provided and for
8!ile to thirsty soldiers. ^

( To he cmtinued.)

B^ttT*Ice"ACamepon,

((.•. I'oetry tlm^Iappy Medium.
A Story ift 'L'wo Book*.

{Furiht Manitobnii.)

Bv w:

OS.MAN MAHEK.

{CimtinHmi.)

HAT'S carrying ittoo far, uncle,"

Kaid V;uie, "do you fancy my

digest! veiu:^i(iis are capable

of eonsumiiip^ w'ivholfe pig, and a live

om* at thaTT^ /

'• Voung man," / answered Mr.
Vaughan in a grav/and solemn lone,
•'don't laugh, if I !*ay you'll despoil of
live and hajipiness for your inner man'i
sake a carniveroiis eonsumei" of vege-
tables you'll do so. and mind you don't
forget it."

'•Weil, that fight. Them porkers
began to grunt- as well as the one
you'll be i)ivsented with for dinner —
and called the cattle to witness the
siK'CtHcle, which they accordingly did,
crowding around, switching their tails
with <U*light, and clamouring so furi-
ously that ili^j3juu>4iands hastfsned to
discover the causeAof disturbance.
Well, when 1 arrived,|I saw two naked
roosters, still peckingl away like fury
and the whoh- host of witnesses show-
ing their a[)proval ol? the cen-mony in
the liveliest possibhj manner. "

"How's Violet," Vane managed to
query at this point, more for a cjiange
of subject than anytliing else.

"Oh, she's excellent, just feeling the
effects of love's young dream. There's
a young feller around here, looking
about with anxious and longing eyes,
and I fancy there'll be a hitching match
fore long. Well, them chick— »"

^MrfX A/Wv"

(Vw^ TfWjJvJi

*. ii

A^V>

"JJC^

ilw>d