'*u .^^. ^ -^ -v^^o. ,V)>.>.. \^ .t>^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) ^T 4< «5?/ &•> fA 1.0 I.I 2.0 2.2 1^ 1^ 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 = — < t" ~ ► p /}. airlier'''Vnod of my life have parsed unheeded j*' Vanity ot ^'a"'ti*:^» ^^ » vanity;'**^- frfthiafiliVe appeat-s to me as a atr&dge mixttire'ir'f ichancesand ch^iiges, of upe and downs', of 'jdyfi arid PorroW^, and kiihough eomieftiines our f»et may tr^ad'in^plWsant paths, yet it must 'be conffesStd il^aV reveraes and di«appoint- m^lita riigti predom na it. Our lives as a; iriH* run eonti'fti'y to dht plans and rtepjr- biibnfl. loybuth we may mediate and piitfitndV>ctlii^ to ourselves the path of' lifpi w« intend to pursue j but very often it 13 all in vain. Our destibt ip marked out for lis in tli'e book of fate iod iu ep te of all we oah dto we cannot d(^iria(e an hair- bwadtBftoAVilie lines iaWdoV^h. I doiio' Ihink that thU iS the fault of ativ oerson in particitVaT. All our tdrtuon« wandertngt* throufirh life, and all our destiny, wnattjver it mal^ be Vs, r t^ink', olearFy to be attrib- , t ..I uted^o bur 8ui^jro|H|»4i?|5^' J^S "^ °°'? **'*'' j^ultVyery 9ff|pn,t tijat ou;|^^ ip "ffer eht fr(^in our planning^^^^ tjie cucum- .8 tances w h icbt jjeaet pgj: .p^tU , t,hrough, life that forces ua ijito a c^uje^' wb,ij9^^ we Jiad never dreamed 9J[, Ig. Ojir.JOftth w.hen tl>e qno^rning of ijfp i8,J)fea|5in|;jD uppn us everything secerns t,o h|ve>>,59^y ,ap|gea^- anpp and, we delight to , pji9tt|re tfl^ J^"^^ -^^^ i|ifficult:e9 ^hd tnajs^^hich f re the in^Yr itable.lot 0/ nian ^t^, fncQiin^f^s, t^se visionary dreamy oC yyjijii(i,:are,^68ipated bn^ b;y one and^,:g|[^_(|na||y^, t^e. . .^erp 'struggles of life (ak,e tj)flr jp^ao^ aj^d^staip lis in the face with viyji^ '■ ^"J^^ is certainly Hisri^t to do so. >.t^ time expired six months ago. Now I in- tend to lay up the Canova for the wmtr an4 go out into tbe^editerraneata trade m other hand it is our duty (o make the ^t »^«^^ ^^^^^^ ^ ^^^,^ ,,d go to college ofthecircumstatices in ^J'f "^.,f ^t and pe ec your.elf in the xnathematics ourselvesplacedjtrustingthataUwill be^ ,,3h you to come well in the end, and that at the close oran ana j g .^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ , I eventful career we may loolc ^^^^^ I ri^ank'd him kindly, but at the same time consider all the way in which o«r Patter ^-»^f J^ ^^ j ^^^ decided to go home to in heaven has led us, and gratefully ^'^^ ^^^^^^^^^ birthplace, and feas that all is well. '^' ""^ ^ ■ ' " ^"-d.. In my early life I had not the remotest idea that I was ever to behold the tracK. less forests of l^orth America, or partici- pate in all the joys and sorrows, the fatgues and adventures incident hereto Sy'houghtsandmyas^rationsotyouU, lay in a totally different direction, for was Zl as well i& most of my fellow 1 IryLnTired .0 the sea and hailed ;thdelightthethoughttl^tl should one day have the command ef a ship THs wis the sum total of my ambition. Ind there was every chance .ha my ihe Orkney iBiauuo, I..J ^ - -. iu, for the winter aaJ e« "•?. '™°*;' whom I had not .e.n for so.ne U.«, .nd as for learning navigation I could learn . _ 1 1 .* *i^ t^ ^ir* 7Nor,h America, or P"''"^" Xe^H ' r« ' "^' ""' "'* '*"."' ,6e joy, and sorrowB, ^^e 't Ae« jn I ^^_^^ ^^.^^ ^^ „g„, ,he S -i.hme ana naed ever, means ;o reconsider my deoieion. but nothmgcouM dissuade me from my purpose. ». no* ter promi.ed .he Cpiam that ,f .pared HouW cerlainl, return in the spring ami loin hi. .hip. TW, *as the turmng^."^ in „,v lite. I «ent home as I had mtendW Ind ZrT^'-'irzTLXi uid t'jrrt;^:: rin'^; Tm fledged able searnen. I stood >'"'M^X„„,„.,sLd gone , some to sea, some rntheesirmationofmysnpenorsand, ■« °"~^;„|j „„d other distant places, t^Tongh., had a brilliant future before me to Aua ^__ ^._^^^_ ^^ ^^^^^^ '«'"' "\l,« • """ """""' lenrffiends. The cons.-quenoe was tha^ I hecame uneasy and res lesth;^ ^ffrairo^ro'fXTes-s-ei. calUd ;:rarnt:"he cabin and addressed ,ne ^ ,oii.«,«. "Now James," said he, you ■ n North America. Now this was a 1 f i fp that I was totally ignorant line of life tnai j. vyo «t^j Wpst. of. I l>ad heard of the Nor'-West. FE IN RUPERTS LAND IN THE OLDEN TIME. spared ring ao'-^ ng point intended naviga- ve yeara in the , of «ny iea, some it places, ay many was ih^^ ^, chai""* longed to >r travell- 18 w'uile in my early enter the Company lis was a f ignorant Nor'-Westi as it .*» called, but knew nothing whatever regardinfi; the object of the work of the Hudson's feay Company there ^U I understood about it was that the country was noted for excessive cold and ttackless fbrests,a ^f ^^"T f^^'^'^^^Jn r of ^^^on^ J^ and the Governor and Com- wild beasts Of every despnption and, «\'^M ;;'„^; °"1 J^ent"^^^^ wilder Indians ; in fact it >»aB just tbe ^^ Hudson's Bay, by Edward Clouston.reBl- notice in ray last paper, I here produce it. An Agbeemknt made this nineteenth day day of Our Lord One thousand eight hundred an^ fifty. Bktwbbn James Stewart in the parish of Burray and South Ronaldshay, in the County of Orkney and Shetland in North Biitaln, country fitted for an adventurous spirit. My two friends earnestly advised me to enter the service also, and then we would enjoy life in its most adventurous and profitable form. The glowing descriptions > these two young Worthies gave me of the bouritry impressed me favorably, in oon- Bequence of which I went to ^tromness to interview the Company's agent regard- ing the matter. He gave me a florid description of the Company's service and strongly advised me to go to North Amen cawiththeir ships in June. The result was that I engaged there and then. The con- tract that I sighed was binding enough in • kll conscience, and as a copy Of it migji. prove interesting! will cause it to appear m mv next paper. Here then ihe die was caet. The idea of following the sea as a prpfessi n was abandoned, and 1 was bound to go to North America, to nie an unknown and almost an unheard of country. I was henceforth to follow a different pursuit from my hitherto accustomed occupation. The ocean which J loved so much and which I had never jost'pjght of one day of hiy life, was to be abandoned, and I was to enter on new scenes which I had never dreamed of in all my ranges of thought. I liad bound myseli by an agreement which at the time I thought pretty stiff, being a great deal more stringent and exacting than the articles of u ship. As this agree- ment may be of interest, according to ding in Stromness , their agent, of the other part as^followe:— The said James Stewart hereby contracts and agrees to enter Intothe service and em- ployment of the said Companjr in North America in the capacity of Labourer, ahd that he wl 1 embark when thereunto r«qult- ed on board such Ship or Vessel as shall be appointed by or on behalf of said Company and proceed to Hudson's Bay. and for the Term of Five Years, to be computed from the time of embarkation, and for such time as hereinafter mentioned, and faithfully serve the said Company in the capacity of Labour er, and devote the whole of his time and labour in their service and for their sole benefit,, and that he will do his duty as such and perform all such work and serVlcfe by day or by night for the said Company as Ke shaU be required to do, and obey all the orders which he shall receive from the Go- vernors of the Company in North America, or other their oflacers or Agents for the time being. And that he will with courage and fidelity on his said station. In the said service defend the property ©f the said Company and their Factories and Territories, and will not Bbsent himself from the said service, nor engage or be concerned in any trade or erh- ployment whatsoever except for the benefit ot the said company and according to their orders. And that all Goods obtained by bar ter with the Indians, or otherwise which shall come to the hands or possession of tte said James Stewart shall be held by him for the said Company only, and shall be duly de Uvered up to the said Governor or other offi- cers at their Factory or Trading Post, with out any waste, spoil or injury thereto. And In case of any wHlul neglect herein he shall make good to the said Company all such loss ordnjiageas they shall sustain thereby, to be deducted out of his wages. And that the -t ' I 4i I c H I LIFE IN RUPERT'S LAND IN THE OLDENjr\IK ■^*'- ^, , r,'p — t ' < ' ' ."Jim ' < " ■-- •*• - L.w». order. »nd regi)'.allo,n. e.f«bH»ho4, or, ,Mte(>d b^.y^n «» «i(W _^. ■ < "i . », .. ■ 1 1,1 ri^ivtnoMxr fr>r t.hft Good liiaae by the said Company fpr tjie pood Government of their, Se^tl'^mi^ntsi^naT^rrl- tbrfeB. And at alltlmes during the rfsid«nce of the said James Stewart In ^orth America, he will defend the rights and privileges of the said Company, and aid and support their Officers and Agents to the utmost of his power. And the said James Stewart further , It siiall 8h.a^l be.J^w fif\ ^r the (jQVflr.no^.^r Governor or other Offlcer^Pf tbe.saiaCopn- pany in North America atauy time during thesakl Term of Flv« Yeawior such addition al T«rm^8 afojiesi^W i* dUwlsf > ther said James 8te]^ar,t ^91^ their ^wvlce, an4.41rpct hls'return from thence to Europe In on« , of engages and agrees that In case he shall omit to give notice to the Governor or Officers of the said Company in North Anaerlcaone year or upwards before the explraUon of the ^aia term ^jve X^ti^n of his intention to qul^ tbelv 8ervlce,and i^eiwo to Europe then that, heherpby promiseiS and engages to remain. Qpe year longer, pudalso until the next Ship in tbfi 8erYlll at any time during this contract desert the service of the said Company, or otherwise neglect or refuse du^y to discharge his duty as eucH hired servant. as ftforpfftid, then he Shall for felt and lose all his Wages for t^ierW^ry whereof there shall be no relief either In Law or Equity. lo Witness whereof the said parties have hereunto set their hands. (Signed) Edward Clouston. (Signed) yirj]Li.i4M JS»iaTBB, witness. , JAMB^LKASK.Witl^eSS. And Vere in iU>8 piap?. I, desire to s^ate \liarin recorJin^ the reminiscences .Qli by- gone'aays. itis done Vitji no spirit ,of egotism on my part but rather to wish to keep Tn remembrance ttie doings, manner of life, customs ©f a handful of men, who by good government, sound discretion a id ed on the outwai^d and homeward Voyage as he shall be requlre4 to do by the Command- in- Officer. Apd the said Edward Clouston on" behalf of the said Company hereby engages that upon copditlon ot the due and upriglit principles beld i^ie amVoH half 9! • '.- :v i_i.;.V.;f'A,l k« cavn.'urp tribes, in a continent; inhabited by savage tribes, in 'peace ana 'gooi order. l?ar removed from ;.-,v-ilizatibn, praicilcally undefendecl and eng^^^at upon copdHlonoi the due and .utterly unable t^ ^^^f^^^T^ ^ "Sul service Qf the said James Stewart tn bally from the attacks o^ savage tribes. Me maaper as aforesaid, but not otherwise, ^j^g passed their time m security, solely i»-"L „*^'j T„»««« stfiwart shall receive from ,_,._ '' ; •-(„«/> r.iTfnitti and iuitice. iheVftid James S.t«^*rt shall receive from the said Con^panyafter the rate of Seventeen Pounds, Sltrling, per t*nnum. to commence on the aay 01 hw embarkj^tlon for Hudson B Bay as afp^es^id f).U «P tothe.day of his em- bark^tiou from thence toESurope in one of t^eship? oftftes^Jd company's service or in any Ship provided by them. they passeu ..-.- - ^ ,. , . bvtheo'mnipoienc of truth and ju^tice^ ^A.nd now in recording the scenes and incij dents 1 have observed, in tVibse "good, ol(| times," wbich llooW V»cic u^on with a kind of respectful awe, 1 do so with pleasure, but only sorry thJ^t tlie labk of •Sr^ LIFE IN rUPERT'S LAND IN THEJfLDEN TIMK recoi-aing those tiin«9 was not placed ia worihier hand?. After signing my agreement with the agent at Siromnesp, 1 paeeed the winter (juiotly at my home in Burray, one of the Uikney Islands. The year wore round and in the month of June we we»elookm(? out in anxious expectation of the arrival of the Company PHhip^ which generally papsed in front of our island on their wny to Stromness. On the lOih day of June two large ships were observed to pass which on passing fired off several cannon as a warning of their approach. We had no doubt but that thepe were the ships of the Hudson's Bay Con.pany, u? no other ships approached the Orkney Islands in this style. But we were ftoon confirmod in our conjectures, for on the 13ih of the month I received a letter from i\Ir Clouston directing me to hold my=- poned to die frequently was about the whole ceremony. This being done we were all packed off bag and baggage in (>n old herring boat and rowed off to the Prince of Wales, the largest vessel of the two, and there dumped on board In a very unceremonious manner. Here we found everything in a state of chaos and cOii- fuaion Boxes and bales of goods were lying around promiscuocsly in all direo- tions. Everything seemed to b« in a topsy-tnrvy condition ; according to the remark of an old sailor, "Everything on tlie top and nothing handy." I descended into the forera«lle in order to see what sort of quarters we were likely to have on this cruit, but, alas, I conld ooteee any place whare even a rat could lay his head. JKiverv nook and corner was chock full of goodf, so much so that we had no wjjere to stow our trunks save under the forecastle ladder. The number of young men in our company engaged to go out to Hudson's Bay was thirty six, gathered tron> different parts of the Orkupys, with some four or five from Shetland. Now the query was where were we all to sleep ? It was a grim outlook, for all the space available that could be seen was not above two fvei square. Necessity however is the mother of nventioo. When night came fourteen of us got pqupezed in under the deck beams and upon the bales of sooils, bnt the surface was rou<;h and un- even, and the sensation produced very forcibly reminded me of going to sleep among the rocky boulders that encircle GUI' native shoren, yet somehow v/o made a "shake down" among these hills and hollows. The sailors facetiously termed this 'Hhe field bed," which was hardly appropriate, as in a field we would not * have been squeezed down so tightly at f LIFE IN RUPERT'S LAND IN THE OLDEN TIME. bout the lone we ge in hn r to the !l of the n a very fo found ind cOil- )ds were U dire«3- be in a ig to the thing on eecended see what have on t see any lay his as chocic e had no knder the of young [o out to gathered ye, with 1. Now :o sleep ? the Fpace lot above >wever is en night in under bales of I and un- ced very ; to sleep t encircle w«a made hills and y termed as hardly *ould not tightly at any rate. Howt-ver we got used to it and began to find n not ro bad after ail ; that 18 when lyiisr qui.'tly at anchor in the harbour of Srmmiioss ; but when we got out t>> sea aiiii iho veflsel began to toss about the experience was sorueihing ter- rible. I had a pretty comfortable biBrth close to the starboard side of the ship, and would have enjoyed it. immensly onlv for one or two draw backs which rather interfered my coinfort. Firstly, it was all very well wh-n the ship was on the Iar'-| board tack, I being on the weather side, had ample rooni a« I was On the top of the heap, but wlun theship turned on the etart>oard tack it waa very little short of murder, as beiny: on the lee side, I had the tull weiglit uf my thirteen bed- fellows squeezing me almost to a jelly rend er in $; sleep iinposi-ible. ';ti^fv..: Anotner source of discomfort was that my nearest bedfellow had an ugly custom of sleeping with bin arm- stretched out at right angles from his body, arid when in a state of somnaIiulism''was used to throw his fists about in all directions, 'something; like the evoliUionH of the sails of a wind- mill, perfectly regardless of Whom or what he struck. Ufit'i when I had got nicely tucked in and had dozed off in a state of peace with mys-^lf and all the world would I get rudely awnkened by a sound whack betwe'^n the shoulders from the fist of Magnus Cromarty that would almost knock the wind out of i:ie and shut oflF ?leep for some time. Magnua C romirty vas from the island of South Ronaldshay ind, like myself, had been bred to the ea; consequently we became fast friends, lotwithstanding hid awkward mode of deeping. The rest of the party, not baring in the "field be0 tons register. She was commanded by Captain Herd, a veteran in the service of the Hmlson's Bay Company, who had navigated through Hudson's Straits for many years. Her other officers were Mr. Reid, first oflfitier ; Mr, Uackland, second officer, ami Mr. Bishop, boatswain. Mr. Reid and Mr. Hackland were both Orkntymen. I do not know what became of Mr. Reid, but Mr. Hacktand got command of an Ea-t India ship which went down with all hands rn a storm off the Cape of Good Hope in 1855. The Prince of Wales was, in the way of discipline, conducted strictly in man-o- war style. All routine orders were given by the boatswain's whistle, and every thing done systematically. Magnus Cro- marty and myself, being bred to the sea, were taken in along with the sailors ; we had to stand watch and ward with them and go aloft when required. This gave nj many advantages not shared in by the otherH who had engaged itiTthe Company's service. For instance, we were allowed as much fresh water as we required while the others were restricted to one quart per day. There were several other perquisites we enjoyed which the others did not, tha best of which was, in onr estimation at that time, that our grog was not water- ed to the ektent which that of the others were. We lay in Strom ness ten days after we ! ! Ill :i t^WMfoi.- -•.-. 'Sjf.^W LIFE IN UUPKRT'S LAND IN TUB OLDPIN TIME. were put on boaid, ami during thai tinw boats were continually posting between ilie ship ami tlie flbort, but once on board none of u'^ were pern)ittetl to go on (>l»ore again, To lliose (four parly whose re. lations livtd Ml the vicinity of Stroniness tliiM was isoniething of a liardahip, but for invHcIf I did not care much, for were I permitied to land I would only bo anion. * lieople that were utter ftrangers to inc. On the afierooon of the l^t ot July 18")1, the Blue Peter was hoisted to the masthead of the Prince Rupert which was the signal for sailing. A }reh , breeze had Hprung up from the south-east, aud «'verv preparation was made for starting. Mr. Cloustoii, the agent, came on board and called the roll of those engaged lo go out in the service ot '.be Company, in order to make Jsure that none of us had escaped, tlien shook hands with us all and went on shore. The pilot then came on board, the anciiors were weighed and the sails spread to caich the favor- able breeze. A salute of fTve guns were lirtn from each ship as a pmiing farewell to Stroinness, and in the twilight of the evening thesliips sailed gallantly through Hoy Soundr which being accomplished the pilot took leave of us and we entered upon the broadiAllaniic. After the- bustle of getting uuder way was over I slood upon the deck and watched the receding shores of Orkney, wondering in my mind if ever I should oe permitted to see them again. I could nut help heaving a sigh when they aank trom view in the darkness of the night; for I had left behind all that was dear lo me on eanh. I had left behind me the land ©f my birlli and childhood and the graves of my kindred. About midnight I turned in and re-ited as comfortably as could be uxoected under ihb circumHtuncea which [ have already meiitioned, until aroused ty the tihrill whittle of the boatswain pipinH all hands to v.'ash the deck<-. This is a diitv which must he performed on every well regulated ship in favorable weather. The decks are washed and holy stoned every morning in order to make them wliite and clean. This re- minds me of the distich have often heard and which is generally called tiie sailors rendering of the tourth command- ment of the Decalogue: "Six (lays nhalt thou work and do all tliou art able. On the seventh holy stone the »ckand scrape the cable." Oil getting UD I saw tliBt it was a beau- tiful n-jorning, the tun was ehining brightly, and the ships were dancing mer- rily over the waves with a spanking fair breeze; we were just pas.sing the "Baron Rona," » lonely rock lying out in the At- lantic Ocean some leagues northwest of Cape Wrath. To the eye of a sailor tl'.e scene was delightful, but, alas, lo the majority of my fel,ow passengers the out look was gloomy enough. Instead of gazing at the beauties of the ocean they were leaning over the bulwarks in all the agouy of sea-sickness and relieving them* sjlvej of everythiug that would turn up This state of things, aowever, did not last long ; a few days set all that right, with th e exception of one poor fellow from Shetland who did not turn up on deck until we arrived in smooth water in the Hudson Straits. The crowd turned out to be fairly healthv who hardly could get enough to eat. Afttr a few days when order began to be restored I began to look around me and tried to form an idea of what sort of customers; my fellow travellers were. fe.>.^»t»4p Vit,j i |.1 M an liiiiiiUjlMiirittnw :ea which it arc 118^1 LioutHvvaiii Uk. This orined oii favorable hed and order to This re- tre often ial!ed tne }inmand- all thou Hjk and ,8 a beau- ehiiuri); ring mer- iking fair e "Burou Q the At- thwest of sailor il'.e ), to the rs the out latead of cean they in all the ing them ' .1 turn up , did not lat right, How from J on deck ter in the urned out could get ' began to round me iit sort of era were. '■ 1 . -M Li IE IN RUPERT'S LAND IN THE OLDEN TIME. The first ooti I got acquainted with was Uugnus Crounaitv, already nientiooed; tht) next was a young manaloo from south Ronald.ihay^ oamed John Tborapson, a very good quiet young man, but in my opinion inucb too soft to enoonnler Uie hardships of the company's fervice. Poor fellow! he died a few years after be came into the country. The reet of our com- pany was chiefly from the Mainland of Orkney, who were, u|)0ii the whole, a nice set of feUows. On the comical Hide, however, there was in the fir >t place a little snipe, the tailor, a dim it. live Indi. yidual about five feet in Iieight^ who had thrown anide his lauboard, his nf'edles and thimble, and last but not leaHt hie wife whom he bad married about a month previous to hiH departure, in order to be come an adventurer in Hudson's Bay Territories. He was a trim little fellow, full of comic songH and wittv Having^ an i droll behaviour, so much that he was a universal favorite with tho company. Next waH Sloper, the man who knew evervthiii.i! from the calculutiou of an ec- lipse to the Hiicking of a pig. This indi* vidual was from the heightrt of Pomona where the inhabitariE rarely ever get a giimpr^e of the ocean. Mr. Sloper, it ap- ppHro, had crossed the Penlland Firih once in IiIm lifetime and in consequence was no slouch of a traveller in IiIh own estimation. The Penlland Firth at the point of crossing is about feven miles wide. This individual was the general butt of the party on account of hit* pro- pensity to brag and draw the long bow. Some of our party, I am sorry lo say, would relate some tall s orv of his own experience in order to draw out Sloper, who would invariably produce soni'^lhing of his own which would knock the other nty of ^ into the tbade aUogeth<>r. Rftt I stTall pass on and leave Mr Sloper f4tf the meao tiDie, nothing doubttog b«t that hf '#iU turn up on iome future oecaiffin. ■ These were tb« two most coiTBpi^uous ohamMtttra in our company, but take them lUlio liU they were quite a jolly lot and got Along together very w«IK We had pYtnty of good food and very httle work to do \ weather w^'' ''etightful as a rule, wit exception of one gale in mid ooe^u lasted for about tweatyfour hours. ily principal occi* \tioQ wasindol^g small jo^ In the way of splicing ropes or other little work al. ut the rTgging. , ^J f companion at work was a sailor of .(h^.'JH^, ship, named John Hicks. He was a fllrst ^i class seaman haring served his tinMklo the Royal Navy. We were fast frwhds and had many a good joke together; I rememder however, placing off one that nearly got me into s^rioua trouble at the time. It was on a beautifdl calm da>, the ship >fa8 lying almost motionles ', th<> Atlantic being nearly as smooth iieia jnirior. Hicks and I weVe sitting by t'fre windlass engaged in flxin'g some ropd In dtfnneciion with the fore topgallant sitil, at the faame laughing at olA George! the cook, who wa? waddling around the <^«dfc, bu.-y getting up dinner fov the officers and cabin ^lassengers. ' Init'little tlin^bur job beings finished I was sent aloft to ireftve the rope throutfh the block. I weht and f did as required, which being donto, Hicl^s called lo me to throw down the end of tiie rope to him. Just at that moment I p^* ceived that old George, had deposit^ a large pile of plates and dishes on the deck in front of the cook's galley in order to have ihein washed. Just then the wicked thought entered my mind that if I could manage to hit that pile of dishes witbHlh^<. i it J: 4 l\' f LIFE IN RUPERT'S LAND I^<^HE^I>ENjnME. ond 0< i1>e tope., \i W^&¥ )»•«* '»»»«* *^?^' of dissipating that drowsy feeliug which \,.*ee.i.ti to pefvade the p«bple on^-^f;^^', ...that time. Acoorhingly as old Georie <. wa. stauding be»idi5 the pile, tacVibg i^p , his sleeve* preparatory to commfcaovng .operations. I gathered op a few cml. of r6ii>arkmg'W»tha,sq5oificant nod, "The Coinpatoy 38 rich." .^ , ghortiy fc««r this the temperature be^aa to ftiU and Hf short bishts became quite cool, an indteatiomlmt w(i w*re approach- ing tb* ic> regiaus'of the north. On th« 2l9t of JttW^e sightf-d twd lai^ge lofeberg^ . * ., ^^^..1^ JL^r^Aanr it was ..operationa. I gathered op a '*^ °7* .^ ^^"j" ^^^g j^ bvitely ^rand^ur. It was I. ,.pe io my hand and .ak.ng -J '»f^^J ""J ^^^ ^^^ of^rmit^Uiri,^.ind ,4«r old George and^hu, *•»•; ^^ fw Twe that l' ^ «pon the^ ^tupetidaus V thrown My aim wan a tf«eo"«' ihe rope d^ecended graaii^g 6W Georira off , ^.raod laading straight in the midst of , .Ote pile of crockery with a crash knojjk- ing the whole affiiir 'oio spHnten* llwe Jse arQ««ed aU ..«ods on deck fro.j, ' their lethargy and cauoed tber^,tq rush to : the lee side of the. cpok's ,allef: to.fand ' ^ the cause o? the.rumpns. • MeauwhiU- »we that I gaaed upon iherte Bttipenddus blocks Of ibe moving on in Holitary si- Icinoe, remiridinu liie of somte arteife.U Gothic caJrtles broken loose from earth and drifting away upon the oce^n. We wer..nt u^^ \ ^^ ^^ „^,^^. ^n the 24, h . of ^^appacentjyunalea^^fi^^'-^ ,,^ ^''^gni'tudi of ttiediaas.er. At length his ,pLht up feeUngs found v.e«t and-welU I Mver heard 8«oh a profane old rascal in all my life. tWa,r was lurid with swear- iofi:. I WM nearly on the mmd to go dowA aiM «ha.tise the old sinner on the spot, but I suadfi'ily remembered that 1 were irt-qn':""'.' •• ., « . ^-x « July we Jiscov«.red land for ih^ first ti^.e after leaving Europe , it was Cape Re«o- l,U,on on Resolution Island at the eastern entrance of Hudson SlraUs. in !at. 61 dj^. :10 min N. a->dlong.65d^g 10 mm. W. I, seen.ed a bleak cluster Of black roCks without any ngn of vegetation. the ought to 8«y where I was and watch the ■^urao pr the wind. and besides. If rw.) down I might meet with an acc»dent,,Moys .roun P -7;,,^ ^,,,„g, , ,ev.re a-tnck of iJ pieces were thrown overboard, af.e l-"'^^ ^ .H.ine.s -clu.fi^^ the l.t- X^h Old George resumed his wonted ea sick ne ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ Sanonr. I saw then that ^^^^ 1 „/ ,' .'..ft Stromne.s Hutil now. iHMlabateiandthereforel ventu^ ddo ft - ^^^^ j^^^. ^^ ^^^ .„,^, ,,,,,,, Old: George met me with a laugb, aim ,! LIFE iN RUPERT'S LAND IN THE OLDEN TIME. "The » quite )r6ach* jteberg* It was >enclli 6nf inc^Sifeaat torrertt of raflQy' 6n tlie'-poor felld#: ' Oh t1^?«ih we airlved at Nottingham Island, Wirtch 'lies nearly half-Wav through the Straits. ' We Hy becaJiiifed a it sjpemed to be a repetition c* the e»n>« thing over and over again^. li WMnd«'d something like, "Ab liouh, all houch, kitty swabtoch," this was repeated inces- jiantly from every throat in that sinsular company. On arriving at the side of the ship they were n-t permitteii to oonie on board, whicli no dout»t was a wise pre- (iaution, as had ihiay gotten that lilxriy .., ttiey would have very soon filled the ship and We won la be powarless ehould they be (Evilly clif posed. ' Before tliey came iipar the ship Capt. Herd jssufed strict ordps (hat riieiiher crew nor passengers would he allowed lb ti-ade or haye'any inteKjoiirse or trade wtiatever with them »"til he was done trailing wiih them. 1.''he, reason of ^his Wa'* obvious ; these people had a large '1 > ,1! long' way oflt* shore iimobg thfe See «^h'ich |'quantV'tyol wa(r us* tusks and df^ horns was Jiretty rhick her^. Between tisahd' and such like, which tiein^ in the trade of the 'rthdrte V^re extensive iefe -fldt's with a great mariy stately ioeUeif^s towering amongst thertfj. ' ' ' Tn the afternoon twd or thiiie fi6n8 Were fired from the ship in order to acquaint the Esquimaux 6/ our airHvaV: In about an hour afterWcrds wfe heard a noise be tweeii us and the shore; Very Vnuch re- sembling the Poreaming of tb'e clouds of sea fowl that inhnt it the (iliflfV" of the Orkn**y Islands; In a little while we could de8<^ry a fleet'o* can«es, or kyaksas they are callekl, making their way out from the shore, amorig the i6e tloes, to- ward the frhii ; and in ft short tui'ie they were alongside of U". But subh a Bhbel of noise I nevei 'hi-aWl l»efo're. ' I slioiild think that there wert about fivfe hundred of these Creatures, ill shoutln<>,ot' rather sorcntKing' at ih« higUt's't pitch of their vo'oej< Some unearthly gibberish which I, of course, c^ould nut ' tliider>lan(l, audi do iioi kiio\vihi«t anybudv else could, as quite rigu> so far as we were concerned for we were tlien servants of tiie Coinpany and had no right to trade on our own account. And supposing thai we Ti'ad tbe liberty to trade, wliHlt good would those ililings have done the possessor ? We were going to a conn, try where we coulii not 'liopose of them, " , I I- :, r -.,11' /i; , and we coiild not carry them around with us, so 'h that case the possesion of such (itufi would be worse' than iisele s. However' after she Captain had secured all the yaiuahles we werea'luwed to trade with tlien. ; but then they had nothing to duipose'of exQi pi clothing, which th^y readily giveaway for very little in return.. Several «!«f our parly f(»r a needle or iwo, or an old Unlf', wtuiuJ get somf of ihem to-trip off their sealskin dress and Imrier it awtiv , leaving themselves as naked as i! 'Vi*' I'if'lxl LIFE IN RUPRRT'8 LAND m'Tni^J OLDRN TIMB. " ■— : -.1- - -- - iT-T-- . : •::' ^- I ■ t- v-T T ni«y w^re at tli^lr birth. fheftei^Bqiii- j blMdor,. being ,wpetly, MtaoJied to each Vnaux were exirenmW fond of pieces of arro^. Thi'', I uijfiertlood,; was used in iron, HucVi aejiron hoop, knive», needles! cmcbing wU^l^fl, which is an enterpriae ^■B-' and old hand saws; the latter of which ythA the cU'ef article that the Captain gave that the whole,s<^ttlen)ent takes,^ hand in. W hen a iWbaie; is want^ a flee^ ji^f kyak*, liiem in exchange Wliat set med veiy Jpieniifally, sppphed ,w,Uh ammpniiion.in sln^Smr to ine was that any ariicle they the shape of bows, and ar^pwa with got frou) the ship iii trade they invariably licked all over with their tbngnee. After 8un»el they were all ordered awav froiri the^^s^^ip^ 'ihey therefore paddled off 16 a large ice 'floe, not far from the Hhip, and there they landed, and after huuling iip their kvnks upon ihe ice, at down and proceeded to inspect the ar^iqles 'that they had obiained in barter fro»i> the "«hip. They all i»qaaited down ujion the ice, even those who had divested them- selves of all t. eir clothing sat down upon their bare hauucheSf apparently as happy a^ if they were peated on velvet cushions. After inspecting their wares they returned to the shore. These Esquimaux are a short, stumpy Tiice, rarely exceeding five feet in height, but they are wonderfully stout, and have long black hair. Their alothes are compos-ed wholly of sealsk-n, and conwnonly the pants, coat and cape are all made in one piece with l»oots of the same material. The dress of^e women is in much (he oHme style a<*f4»at of the ,)ie n . In walking they waddlelilong in a . grtPTverv much resembling thcit of a fat ^*^iucl< ; but they are veiy alert in their kyaks and can perform some wonderful feats of ckiil m tiiem. These kyaks are madft of sealf'kin stretched on a frame- work made from the ribs of the whale or of the walrus. I did iioi see any wood aujoiig'^t '.heni, every hard substance being apparently maue tnun hone. I saw some bows and arrows with them, a blown blown bladders, s^rt opt into the open sea and vfhen a, w^bale w ^een blo,win£ the icyakf, wh,9 go with thespeed of ^n arrow, hasten to the, spot, an4,,wheu, the whale makes his apof^auue a flight of ^rrows is stuck into, hinp, .wherouponthe whale dives down bat is soon fqrced to come to the surfaci^ f^ain in orc^e" to. breathe, when another flight of arrows is shoi into him. The, whale d ^cends again^ but on account of so many bladders bu ying him up he soon becomes exhausted and is stabbed to dfath by the speai;i> of th« Esqimaux. He is then towed ashore and divided among th^ orowdf We lay attached to the ice Qoe aU night, it being a dead calm, and 00 the morrow the same kind ot weather prevailed. A number of tnusket-i, bayonets and cntla8<*ef< were brought on de k and cleaned, and after breakfast [ understood that an ex- jiedition togo on ?hpre had been decided i.n. The longboat was hoisted out and the crew were mustered by the boatswain, among whom were included Magnus Cro» many aid myself. Arms were then served out, each man receiving a musket and bayonet, a pistol and cutlas'* with lots of animunit'on ; four swivel gunw were also put in '.tie boat. With such a warlike preparation I made sure that we were to have some bloody work on chore and. not having time to mat'e a will, I left orders wish the ship'« p-is ward that 8iop»f should have my gr*»g if I did not retnm. I,IFK FN UUPRKl'S UAMD IN TtIK OiJ)KN' XniP Bill wheti I saVv CaRt, Uer.C a-xl the fuPt omcer enter the boat together wHh the Mies from ihecibin t had my (U'uhta ftbo|i,l Imviag ,.a. fliiht on shore. The ohhin pasflcngera were a^ follows:, the Rev, Mr. Watkins of ihe Church Mi^. Ktbaary Socieiy, goin;^ out a« a uii-sionary among the Indians ; Capl. Hil'j R. A., ^/oirg but to taicc charf^eof pome pension- , oi-fl at F,bri fe^irry ; and Mrs. M ills and her two ^autrh'er"- going out to lake charge of tile ladies' Acidemy, St. John;.* Ci.l- If'ge, Rediiiver. Seeing the ladie« tnke paasage with u?, h»V prowpecta of a tight on sjiore ifadeii away considerahlv. Afior rowing a long way through the ice-pack we landed in a deep hay,, in fonn very much reeembiing St. Margaret's Hope in Orkney, onW tiia't llie surrouhding fhore was loially d.dferf nt. The country potnt d to be nothing but bare black rocks with- out Fign of vogctatirr, wliiie around th» shore wa-" a 8trange nsixture of ma«pe?" of rock and lump- of brokeu u;<'. wl'th two or three brgc icebefg" lying r'nuMh-d m the n.'idnle of the Uy. >:Ve ,-»w no f'ijjn <»t inhabitant^ and evpiyihi'n^ wa8 blfak ,»nd weird laoking in the <'x't>em'e W^- land'^ wUhout oppo. After renting for a Inie my companiou and I amu^^^ed our- selves by each fixing a swivel on the gun. w lie of ilie boat and bombarding a large iceberg wh'ch lay in fron- of us. We soun rrot tired of that however, as our firing had no appreciable etfi*ct upon the iceberg we therefore disuHMjnte our gnu^and lay down to consider what we should Jo nex^ inord'-r »o .|i|nrihe monotonv of our ex- >tence. Withit. u f^w n.inuies' we were atarlled from our revciit by iheappearanc^ of tvvoKM|uim«nx with tlieir kyaks wT,o cau.e in around the western point oftTie bay Ttiey di.l not f-ee »ifc however," our boat being iiidden between two high roc.t<«- We lav s»:il unit! th'V.caiue directly op- posite to us when ^ve rai-ed our •nn^'^^'l" and discharged a blank shot over |iK^i«; heads. The effect was inatHnianeou-, ihey ^ gave a pierc-ng t^hriek of nlarm and iti ' iesh tine t an it takes me lo write it, tHe>' whoeletl arottnd and were out of sight in a twinluoK a k)a'i of arms and HUuni:n:tion. Tliev liud Ufi ihe party a long way to t1»e ean of where we were. Leaving tbese . p^mui- ^, ^.g weather was fa.r nnd calu. t ic ted to con.e ..n boa-^ Two ..>e.. ...anaged 1 ,^,,^ ^oal wa8 again hoisl-d out and Hie l,ave no dunbt .Inh «1"' V>qui.oeaux dread-d t-ur con.i.i!.: i'»'o tl.o « illH<;e, alter Ihe friuhl ihey had >?.>■ hv u..r tiring over their heads in ti»e I'av. lull «V/ ^/"...v' - J to »et<.n deik hnt they wre soon n.aile touet over .he side of .l.^ship »ga.» Instead of.heI.t'htk>aU,.lu' women a..d Children had a MKl of a hoal shaped like a tea c .est, and low^d w..h oarr; I..U made of ti.eSKme materia' as .he k>»ks are namely, •eul.ki..s. A h-a-ful of them came aWgs.de of the ship, hu., hke the other*, were ..«» allowed .o conu' on hoard .a„Te boats crew selected. I s.ippo^" 't was heca.i-e we had done so weH befo.e. hut whatever ...i-h. be.herea-on ihe same co.npanv wen. a-l.ore, ladie-< and all, b..t ,,ii- fM..'e w.thon. »r...s of any kind .xcept .l.Uthe eh.t .m-«>r had o..e fowlM.j^ piece . Tins l-'and wa- unhU« Not. .,gha... , . '; "" ^;; , Isla..., be^.^ low and Ha. wi.h shelvm^ They had son^e d.er rku.s and sial.sk.ns | ^_^^^^ ,.^.^,.,,i„j, f,,,. ont intolhe seu.-, .e.-d r which they ..ade-l w.lh our boys fo. .^^^ j, ^^,.j, .,,i^,.„u ,.. fi„d a landin- plarc knives a..d needles. Ouv ofour y<...n!J fellowe idfered a woman a lar-e neede tor the child which she had slung on her tack, which >he n: Hi iiiv hundid over to but happily the sea was sn-ooth as u mirror. However we got mto a ere k where we made a landing, which wa-^ no f LIFK IN RUPKttrS LAND IN TUB OLDEN TLMK »'oon«'r dfi'ded tlmn we saw a lieer soamp- •riHg over ihe rockt at un enormous 8pee<» The whole party startc«l in the aireclion liiitl the .leer had gone, leaving as usual, hiokfiun.l invself in charge oUut toat MauHfidd Island boing lew Iving we had a muuh jj;reaier ranjre (.f vit^ion limn at Not tlngham Mand. We huw no sign of nnv nalivert on tl>e I^Und, they heing all gont ea«f towards Reeolution and N.)ttinghan) Islands hut we found traces ot iheir havin^j heen here at a reaent date. We Bnw tlie phif-es where they hail enean^i^ed and touul several of tlnir i^iuv.'.*. A there is no soil here to dij; into, ilio E «|iii meaux luiry their dead iii a pit'' "f stone- themselves to be two large Polar bears I could not for the life of me tell whower. the most f-urprhed, the bears or ihh men, but I rather think that the men were. B^or a minute or two the two parties ftoo«l /azina at each other, when the bearfi, as Ff anxiouH for further acciuaintance; came lowly towards u^; but Hicks and I sad- Jenlv remembered that we h .d urgent bufiiie^'e at the b mt, for which we made a rac- in order to see who would get there first. On looking around we saw that the hfars oam*' on a few paces further and then mtpiM'd into the lake and seemed to enjoy theiu'^t'lves by swimming around, iiid Do •louU' remarking to each otlier, in order to preserve ihent from i Ik- bfars i*\v|,^, ,•,,.,!, (he>e mortals be." 1 think, und wolves which prowl aruin. I. iiawevi't. ihai, it was well that we were As the island was Hat, :^o tl.ai we eoaM ; ..MHr.oe.i when we met the.»e animals as «ee somewhat around u-, Micks and i 1,.,!.. e therwi^e we might have pr<>- I0i»k a small waik in'and, lakin/ cart- no- lo get out of sight of the hoat. We Saw that the islan t wtt^ Hal and Monv, ohieHy Iimeionr, whi.li was dilK-riiit f o!ii thai '^ voktd a (piarrel with ihem, and the cliaiK-*'S would be that we would have CHinf olt MM-ond best Our i>arty having arrived about an .)»• Nitiingham Island, ilu lo k Ikmivj? j j,^,,,^ jifttTwards we rowed back to the there bleak. We saw severa! small lakes i ^j,,,^^ ^,„t without ge.ting on board we here, one whiob we came ni>\>n beoi- about hrtlf a mile lung upon the ^^h"rf■- ui whi..-ii grtnv wHpecie^ oi" short ctunte>l jj;ims>, veiv pretty and of a fciiorl velvrty ;.p|.eo:»,iicf. I was truly glad to see ii, iv ii uii« ihe first -"ign of vegtlalio.i I had k>- UirKs wire not there. At iheopjio-ite sie dinner had been prepared on boar.i of that vessel to which the gentlf lo^T! ot our ship were invited. Hav. iiiir ih'ni..:e left ihe ladies on board the I'liue.' ..t Wales we started ott for the Prince UujK rt, leavin-? our whip in charge „t,-e oil! illi.er Haekland. The parties vve i.M.k ..I. I...ard the Prince Rupert were t;;.pt. flcni. Chief oHicei Reid, Rev. Mr. W.ukiii'. < ill''. Hill tt. A. and Dr. Bed- dome, il»i' Mi'geoii on Iward the ^rince ot Wale-. .Mditnigh the crew of our kwal di.i 110! hivv* the iMtnour ot diniagin the were. But, to our a-tu .isi m,'M'. .it ap- iv.l. ii, y-i vn e enjoyed ourselves better pruashing clo-e to them on. la... l.-d \w , than it w. J, ad. We had an exce'lent while .Hones got U/.ilv uj. an i -ii --.v.- i d.nnei, vsliieh we sjool much in need of, \.t I [I r* '« ; LIFE IN RUPERT'S LAND IN THE OLE^IVJE. Afoovt II. o'clock at night the wind \^ emi/^A9 b!ow freshly aad the sfa becain* «ome»biit rough, but this did not«e«m to diatittbourdipner party. Howam thf t- i.^nburawla nnd tor* ot Qne nnmirc«r -ir. ...-^.r ■ , u.y way* ^•Whaii;''Pi««cl ^r*»^rr^^r>o* w*%^ ,^tami»ni n«ar, •H^.al^ i. ,«>thin?, l-^Wjve^ rowed ^ottblethat diJ«tftfle« .nva.lf at a -pell andibought 4othi»vr«>f^"" ' «^«^'3^ diatittb our dipuer party. Howam the JK^ ^^^^^^ ^^ 8l6^r wfth a^^>i?5«««»t .hjipt kept cruiHiug backwards and tor- ^J y^^ Rdd a«k«.^ oyph>re Wa» thii warda^tar each other, *e being «lear of I , ..Whv;" 8»*«J'<^^*'J^*^^*** **^'^ the ice now. A Httla after midmght our «>'»?• -• meioenow. a. ...•— - " ^eu*ieinen came on deck, a little .neHow>- uo doubt, but in perfect lood humour with themselves aftd everybody else, bnt ihey descended the ship's side all right. and it> a «ew rniuot^s we were landed ^af•ly on the deck of the Prince of Wales, Both sbips now fire.' a partins; salute and ,hen with a span :ing . breeze each one shaped it3 curse for its appointed de - tination; the Prince of Wales for York luncansbv Hctti ta Burwiek at o.i^Pt)«i. .•And. do you calMhai-tliree hnmire* .niles?" *skedMr. . Ri>id. > «'Aj'e, fai«n^ «»id> Sloper. "ft isH4l tKat a..d_ more^^ • .. Wett," saiii Mf. H^m '1 Know thepla^e - vou.peakof wert; ami H Ik j,.s^ .feve»^- miles." At this there v*as * r.:.iir of laui»h- ter at S'opor, and he ««qer heard the feAd of that for sometimes On the Ulhof iti'giisi we aiKCoviBrd - •: . . ^_ ' 4„.l «.nO ->.fr f«,ory .»d .be Prioce H..pe» for Moo., -ml, « i»i-h .^ « ^^, « ^ ^,^_ _^ ._^^ .^ ,, .^ Fnotory. . I ,i,„„.'",|,eU„UWngto«-».Mlll.tlnoltins When the mornihi oan\e »c !■«»• n.,' -^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^^ „(,w «tl l).wv.l oiiV A\, l>> «T UCU *liw '"-^ » ' eijjht of onr contort the PrincP Rupert, the weather was somewhat fogJty hut now ihere waa no more ice to be *♦ en so in that case we c6uld carry wore sail wuhoni foar The pasaagf^ across Hudson Bay was un- evodtful, we had ftne weather al the wav When about one hundred and fifiy n.il?s from Churchill we lay beoalhve.1 a wuole day*^^ The captain had tAen the observa- tion at aoon, after wni«h the chief ufti-.er, Mr, Reid, came forward to where a kno. of 09 were gaib^^red around the forcastle IftskcdMrTReid now far we were fron, land. He.8a*d wewereone hundreil an.i All wus hurry now 00 bo^vd on;>hip, ti«e anchors and chain* w^rc brouj^hi on deck in order to p/ppare^ convng inuv l...rbo.i.. About 10 o'clock ain.we-.wv the coin- ptu.v'H hir»e .chooneif.-om Y • 1< PactoW coniing ont t. meet u^. The .dvo.aer w i^ ,n charge of James HacUland, h other of Mr. n tick land, second om.,'fr of th;- Fnnce of WiiK'S. There was also a !»iiiH! ! jsail'boat which took the mails from iM uu.i started for York FacS.rv. The H-luMner .k*pt wuh n. ..nil we anchored in tV*- Fathuu. Hole which i^ scwm liule^ fr'.m Y».rk Factory . We arrived there about 2 o cloc* land. He,8ard we were one hundre^i an.t 1 ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^j^^ ^„,.,,„r, were drop finy milea from ChurohiU. and *''«^*«''l j ii,e process of unloading beg. n The ,be oeareat point, and added with a smile f^^^^^^^^^^^j some boats w.ro imploveii that the Captain was preparing to send a ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ „p the riv.r .o .he Fort. lK»at ft9hor« and that I and Cromarty wert- ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^- ^^^^ ^^^ ^,,^^„o^ j,., ,iie ship re doomed to d>«»R ' Fact«ry=w»?»,M»;*^u .fu-^^y-^^T^ . . ,ewtpn>^ft8.bPilt further ^ptheriv^. on ihe p^e^.«M^,90. that.to?u^ no^i^^^ granite.^K?^ ver^ ^tle distance Wk the land*i» opfi. ya?,t s^*^^!'^ , ■ Thia aftVR9P» half Ot t).e (^mpany of Hudson'^. R^y GompaRV'H f^rva^te were !loff^gooH«h9r^vna.tl^eHch<^-, loading tl^ Hbip. 1 happfuod to fc«!»»;«»^ | ;^-,„,,„,„t. the gee.e be.ntf improperly the wity that f ^?e. seui (jn phore inis | f ^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^ j^^.^^ cooked, creatCAl cared with fait, on being cooked, create^l Buch an ottfensivt «meil tuat-M^e threw .the whole of them outside theiwuae. But we . had 8ome bread of which we ate find triedt to knaw a little of the pemicaa, which we began to feel not so bad atter all, nptwUli sanding its repulsive look, so after sails- fvingourapuetite* to eolne weai^ure with ihiH uuaavoring form, we wer« again call- ed to work m unloading Roods* The lime in which a ship remains at York B"*clorv i? aiwaye a busy season, because ihe utmost exp^duioo is required to unload the .eHsel, and th*uship thefun and other merchandise of the qowpany s ine pa,iiy.vp»»* i"tT - - ,1 . ..,j^ j.\.„ wa.. m I .before inti ^t^, the M^^ug , 1857, jwt two month«.l«-« ^^^' days since lef Burray, The first^hina that struck ,„e on landing was the difi^r^ce.n conv- p,e«o.v ^th^ men, .whO:had been n.e Touag u»sn, i^st laud^d.jj'^h m; «^^;''*^ former bein« sallow looking and ihe.r ace ianu|?d with the suu ^nd wea^lipr, ihe lat- were fjiir^ndwith soiaeihing of a rony eomplexiou. Bull hnd very l.ute im.e to look arouud alter landing, as we were immediately .set to work to assin m un- load og the boats ,sod .schooner as fast l. they uame.frouv«heHhip. which occupied our Uuicuptil nearly midnight for what reason I do not k..ov; but u look ed to me like a large siorehouse wiihou- anvwmdoWB. Into thi8rho«.«e we were 8ent. bag and baggage, and f..r supper u supply «Jt pemican doled out to each ii.an. an artcie of food I haa never seen b^-foie On .examination of thi? curious looking 8iuff, I oould compare it to nothing but a -bip off as Poon as jiortible, but the t^econd ,,iid what I think is thechief one is that the ancbdruge place where the ship lie- ia- very much exposed, Fi>e Fathom .Hole being in the offing where there is no shel ser of any kind, and were a sudden «torm ,0 ari^e the danger of losing the ship would be very great. Agam I ^aa told :ri '.rr 3r3'::^tr;;,x:;ue „„.e,w,u„. . K.,«.r.^ x| fc J: tl iiiW ■»*■» rrfor the truth of this suienrxent, but vouch «or tne irun _ •^j.d account »•:*• picmre tant^«^ what rf «(». ^'^^ , during the Ulfr p».t «>' ^^ '•"\',"^J^ nr J t9 fancy I ^aw ig^ J^usU J^ •nxiet, around ^^« ^^'^ f *r,i*|-^ • iruw. - - , . ,, - .nnroich 6f the French i»»*i«aicw, tm X.n.e of lb. »«"«"».*' *,el net lh« c.t.noii out .nd Bre on th« ' - the woFR I'fc o „,.,«H. the answer ^y . .. ^ j.. » ^r^ntnmon getting tne ge,,er.llT WM » p_^,^„ j„,. iniE Ihe a»T» •"" ._.„.d which w«9 on When S«nor Tom.son co^Ud^ *" , „ W..V \.ecausi' _:..„. ,„»» „or writehe marked each bale and see the coontrv. I coold no. V""'-'-;,,, ,„. b»nk» o •"'-r™ win.-. .teVleet do»n . ».#• Wh-^n the phil> arrived ;rE,...»..d.«h.c..-U.d.dnnd.rconj^ vov.ihe HeasoMs ca.ch "^ *"'*' ,^* . ,. . .;;,„.».,t.»..d»-r.s„ip,«d.^^^^^^ ConiDHUv'H vew«el an.l reacl\*a b' g ?a'e;y. F..rtUi-.ctof herein I onm.n suriace w.»» — ^ Facioty ..f^^^ p-.r tUi- not of nero.-... becih. "' •■" „'^'; :;:„;,» .han :r;j;„;„„„,. O„.ernoro. .be Con.panyV the ground never thawrt ou* * i.« Mnriheru department, and, tneet during U,ebo.,.«a.».n....m,,...h,^^^^^^^^^ On ..riving .< the old "'""»"''"""'„"„ |,e «a. f»r"i«l«"' w.""""""- Jn.«edon'l..p.«- Here l*'^" "'t °! " 'c ;. k •» do .ba, part oftb. work. ;.. . cohfuBed pile of ru.n», P'^ ' ^1" ^o *„„., Ton.i.o„'. direcuona r,dr:::rT;;";;.-;d. uricd,o'Gover„o. xo,„..o,. ....„».-.-.-=- 10 I.IFB IN ..uPB«r8 t*NDiN2!^?J£5^ '""*: . . r» i.^..fo n«« ('AiHioanv. he came m w»»i wn- v- . .^.^. .^-;.inn »* -' tune "«»«• ^'"^" " , " » .>f the H«d«o,i'« Bay CoH.pauy. he came ■ omet^ h-.« o.tive islnnd in the Orkney -j *hich i.. Sooih BonaUi*.lwv,n,7 own hirth piHce. Governor Tom .ioo. here e^dow^^ an Ao«d«my which remm«9 to this day, ^here any child who attends »»»«';«««?; ,Yee education. ^i preaeut TomiHOu . rcldamv. aa it I. called, i.th.gfe*t Beat .f learning .or the youhu men r^o^^-^ lo enter a «.afariog life, whether m the Bri .8h Navy or in the Mei^chantile Marine It iH accounted one of the best placet in gen.rallT a* prood of the.f «»<»■;"*>»•*• .fUuywere Urd High Adm.f.) of ,A^ rteet. At the Widdiug Of the p«f >»!«J encamp.d fur tn* niBhi,»nd at U^ btOdi^* .larled forth in ihe .nor^ini,.. H? had no bngleor bell to.iart the «leeyy orewaw.lh _ b« nu-rely .tood on ^he hauk ^nd «houte^» ,,^ "How, how how," Which wa«:general!y ^ ,. .uffieient to «tart e^ery ,«.«r ryjbiwxd uppcr.«o.t,»f not,a.iMow scn.raUy. did the busings. Thew twP g«|des were » n» 'j-.i» .atioa. And I m%y »ay that hiindreda of Active seamen huve received ^heu educa- Uon there. Thew ihinga all vame crowding on my ,niDd while situng on^bcKuioB of the oW fort at York Faqtory . but U was all e.lence there now, and the crumbling stockades and diUpidated wa^ll« were all that remain ed of a once busy plape. The actors of ihat day were all gone trom this trana.tory world ai>d like ti.e old fort Were slumber- i„e in .silence. The sceneB of that time had all passed away, and were I to revisit York FfcctOfV atthin time ihe prefier^t fort would b« ill the same con iitiuo with re- gard to myself, an those wl.(»were buny actor* there when 1 landed l.uve all po.w- ed away, very few of them l.e...aalpe, and those that are m life i.aye ifti ih»t place, .0 that there \^ lioi one ai Yu. U FuoU»ry now thatwan there wlieu I Undt^d in 18^1. Five davsafte ^ur Kal.n.^ from >h^ long *1IM« M» "MV -..-T.,^ .„ J-f — h TheiroamelwertBaptwl^ Bruce and Jean , . Baptiste Lesperance, They were two -^ Terv good men and generally ^^f^J^^ young^entrom iheotd couht»^y with , Ld*eBS and consldi^ritTon. bnt «'^^, this anon, they both^ S 'u ^r^^ ago at a good old age. M*^^^ >^!,.t!t-^ ^^ manned % eight meii. viz^. , ob« sktppet^ one bowsmao. and six rowtra. Itie skipper steered the boat with alongftweep ^_ while ine bowsman stood in the bOt» Witt« a long pule in his fie^nd to £uide thVi %oat among the rocks on geitmg over the r*pidi< The boats I pp-ak of were oalVed the Long -^ Pbruee bo-te, oii aoiQunt of this t¥ip they *' made to Long Portage. They lefi^Fort Gnrrv, «^- 1 ''>»id before, about the lOth of June and proceeded to' Norwliy House north ot Like Winnipeg, where they took a load ..f g..o.l.- for the far north or Mac- k. nzie river district, and then returned ttt iht Grand UHpids by way of Lake Winni-; ' iiui hf er aiH.ending'theSaskatchewaflB' Five ilavsarie »i.ui i^.......^ • - p^j, ai„. „. „. „ «hipthe br»als arrived from ihe Long Pu.- ^ ^.^^^ ^^ ^^^^ K.agiish river, turned uOfth* '"*' '" wards till at length they reAched the Long Puriaije, so callai, beca»i9# it divides lh« water^ which flow eastwards from those that fl; w8 northwards. Thi« portage ts lac^e These were the boai» hat broutjhi ti.efuta down from the Mackenzie rive, aislrict. These lefi Fort Garry on the lied River about the lOth of June in each rear. They were divided into two brigades rear. They were divided into two brigades ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^jj^g j^ jgo^th and in former of five boats each, manned by French' was q»r..^" v" - ■ , Th* bdietehorBes .re now .mployd. Tb* Mackenzie river boaia were ready ou ^tbe fort and made preparations for a n.gbt of joT.aUtv. to which several of our party .ere invited, among the rest Cromariran4 ".^rtir &« ""K »" '"" •"■* '^ pr"«.n. evening in .ing'"g . »o»8' '""^ r,tel » York Factor,, -b". .be, ~, ,.,„,,,.,p, „i,u .U. ..eep.- o ^W I^. for For. Oarr, .h« h.d co„« ° f.,„, i„„ij,„,, ,h,ch .bou,d be nje . STtbe «bip and relorned to l'** ° („ „.ail, in leacbing then, to be caret'. R .,'' T:i.'tip,en.r.r,,oco«,.ed.Wut -;°; /,,„„ comport tbe.n.e.ve..n H * iiftSi montliP, the boat gener- .„ xhe cane was this. 1 wo n>gn Tarrlving at Fort 'o.rr, a.H,n. .bend's „\„^L., eer.ant. o. 'i;-Co".p.nr t^ddCrd 0, Septe.nUr ^^^^ i .Ued ^''^ « ,^- '^ Tb...bP.«ontb...r,Wa^^.^«M«^^^^^^^^^^ n.rrv in mi, haJ P° ^*^*^ ** P*"^*"*?*" *?«« ^^e ^'"BV , -^.^jn^ between Garry »o^'?*»» ♦^ ^ ^. . ^^^^ve seamen | -^ up an jncessant chaii.r ng Lieut. Hooper, R.N., ^»Vb ". ^^ ^ j^ ^he Ihe.MseYves in the Gaelic laaguaRe. Wh-cU ofH.H.S.PU^ee,wh<^^«>^^ .^. U^^^ table understood but them^ of W>"'^» ^^-" ;; ;j-, ,ook ^at and Hooper md t^^^^' ^^^'^ ^^^^^ ,„^i„land coasted along tbe ^^^^ ^,„,, ^o the ofNorUvM^e^ca i>nU they^<^^ ^ ^^^ „.outb^thel4.cken,^^ve^tue _ :d.cne'ofth.m -Po'^V' ''" H^ct wl a Wd told then, that the.r conduct was a breach of etiquette, and connnon sense of worw**— '-^;- ,,„ river tue SH.son wreach of etiqueiie, »"" w.- -•- „.o«tb of tbe Mackenj r v.^ t. e ^^ ^^ br»c b ^ _ <. _^ ^^^__^ ^^., ,„ U^^e. >*-« r.?L^rrfbeJiaok..,.ie river :;- Vhe .be gne-t. of .«,__P»r., f f ♦ua the eue.-ts of any party they c„n.p...v «l.en « • "« ' P , ^.„ „^, il the MaiC|» or u p Unow wh*a the rest of forintbe firstpl^celhi^d ueyerwo.ked al havmaking before, and in the next place I never saw people wadin|j knee deep .u I came up wUb were the moat rascally thievish set 'hat ever were coDgregated to geiher The ihievea betweeo Jeru»alem I„ev„»- 7P''-f''C^Thri"ra"dy«icW could not ...Id. end,, to water making hay until 1 saw >i.»«r^' *"" wv en I left York Factory I was '"V° M ,W ,c !,« OS the top Of .he preteace th.l tUere ,«. no room for .1 . .„d «•'"""■;-' Xeio Jry Ld I ri,.r.for., having > .ood .took of oloth.. ;: "o^wrir^;:; A ,<«., I L .fr.d ».„ .„. .-,» ,..n. w^ fo«^ o pnt^ about a week afterwaras woiu w ii*i. mv dethes were not »^ * a tftrt ftQ we were oommt: Winter, as my ^^wiwp* '^'^' ;:lnredroy"lnd" "Th:r,; port.. !!,.„.d^for ... p«r;««. y»)~,'-Jf„ boats were loaded up andrcaJy to start for Red River. On arriving at the fort I found that thegreaterpartof our young men ba.i .,one with the Sask^itchewnn Brigade. These were destined to winter at Ldmon ton or some of the forts on the SasUate e wan. Some of them were left at Cumber lan.l. I think. The only one that remains in this vicinity is Mr. James D re ver who is now living at Muskeg Luke. He and I Factory, therefore, J had i^ well filled bag wiih not only clot|ies, but mr tuture winter'H supply of !,ea, sugar »^ld tobacco. But <.» my f^rriv,alj»V,IfArwfy«o,u«o everything ^ ps stolen fiouv me except ,lhe few rags il.at were quwy ba^k, 4nd tbere was no redres8, one J?A^V> BT'" ^'^^ ^^' i, On further kn.aw,ledge qf the ways of these fallows I fouud t\iat my exp^r^ei^ye was no exception to the xal«. If. ?vas artar 1 l....t..!» r\.f (Via U now liviue at Muskeg Luke, ne ana , was no excrpi.v,!. ^ ►^v.-... . , _ Mr SamuerLrask. of Si. Andrew., , as I could learn tli^ URivprsf^l habit Pj the Mr Samuel LrasKot the.e Long Pprt^^e brigades tc Manitoba and myselT, are the only ones alive in the country who came out on the Prince of Wales in 1851. , I was appointed t.goon ihe brigade of Baptiste Bruce, wbic^ consisted 9! e^ven boats Tliere was only another of luy fhip niaies in the brigade, namely Qvevga^Uu- crewdof the^eLong Ppft^^e brigades to fleece everv ycuugeterthjit.w^s unfo.nun,- ale enough to have Ijpeq .sei^t^, i^*"^ ^^ , hem. And here I uj j^af m %^ ^^"'^^ *' I admired the straiglxtf^r^ai^d dealings ot tlK'HiuUon's «ay pQinpsny, they were , ver} much to blame for allowing the young If I ii H l;fb i n bupebt'8 land in the ol dentimb^ i„«p.,i.n«d h.nd. fron, .h. old counlrj Uii.J ".«•• • ^f «»"«- "f/^',"';fk';"fc^* .„ ,« ...d,a o..r .0 .h. .«<..,n.«ci« »!l«;»] -:-:^tr-«S ''•■.^"'"' work wken they let their o«r. fall with • great plunge into the water. Eten in Factory were pui on uu.ru Europe the difference between the Br.U.h »hoseboat. and had to submit to being an^ French oarsn>en.. »ery.nark«^^Th^ kicked and cuffed all the way i om York Fench cannot 8*f »ong wuhou^no . a^ Factory to Norway Hou.e. with no better ^^y^^t'^t. ^ h ^a r^^ Uiese ieim-pavagee, without ihe leae' means ofredreM. I have known reepeotable young men from the o\i country that on landing at York Factory were put on board ticalmenl than would be i;iven to a dog. In addition to ihis every *tilch of clothes would be taken frcm them except the few ruga that remained on their backs. The Company would not allow even two of these young men to be together in one boat to coinforl one another. Ihey were, as I ■ai^, thrown a-nong a lot of semi savages of whose language th«»y did not know one word and iu whose breasts there never existed a spark of ^nercy, I do say that the Company was to blame in this respect. Again the work we had tc engage in now was totally different trom any that we were hitherto accustomed to do. The British dip their oars with the least poa Mble noise; but Ihey beat the French hollow in making a boat go ahead. But it is well known tuat oiie cannot make a good boatsman or sailor out of a Frtochman. The route from York Factory to Nor way House is rugged in the extreme, beiajj a eeries ot narrow tortuous rivers full of whirlpools and rapids with occasional waterfalls. In ascending these rivers var ions devices had to be resorted to in order to overcome the difficulties met with. And first is the trackmg line,Cwhich is used when the current is so strong that it can- not be rowen npagVinHt.espeiially with the :Z weT Wrrd i:; .i;ffe;^t cm-usy York U. as they are called. In "ro. treonesTewereu.e^ to in the old such a ca«e a Ion g hne.s P'ov.d^d b^ fro ,. the ones we ^^^ ^^.^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^,^ l,^,, ^ country. Ihey baa eacn mj. u* , ^^ .^ alternately the boats, were much too heavy. But the work all seemed in this country to be done by ms^in strength and brute force. Every thing was in the mosf rougli and primitive tashiou. An oar was as much as a man could cajry being made from a good nized the crew taking their turn at it alternately This line is of a great Jeneth and each man attaches it lo himeelf by means of a leath- er strap which is passed across the breast This strap is serviceal t« oa all occasioas, being used in track*-/ ^ >at and r axe. KventherowmgoftheFrendihalf It madew.U J ^ ^^ j^ ^hese and tat down at f ?.ch pull, and so on, sit- lingandstandiD,^ ..Uernately. This was to me an oncoulh «?.> of working a bo^t RDdloften wonileredin my own mmo broad part laid across the chest. In thif way the men walk, along the river bank towing the boat against the>tream some- thing like the canal horses in the old ftiidloften wonaeream my u«u u.... •«. This is oretty rough work at the what the sailors of Her Majesty s NavyJ c^untr^^^^^^ J^^^ ,^^^ ^^^^ woul I think of Bucn a mouc. ^. vO».^-- ---W IJt LIFE IN RUrKUrS LANDJNTHFM)IJ»RNJIM18. smooth to w.lk upon, but tU*t is mWo™ lUecane. Tl.e general rule .« that the banks of Ibe river are either -leq. rockaor ,„udJv ewamp*. ti\M wiih decM fd branch e«or roots of tree^. In either caae it le terrible wrrk for one Ju«l out from the lap of luxury iutheoM cuni.try. One ni(>- ment you may be aettinR along fairly wel the next up to the middle in mud and v^ater.. And then the root, and •tump* of thetrwewerea great annoyance, as by li.cse ones feet and limbs got terribly cut np and scratched, whih his cloihes would be torn to shreds. Between the thieving propensities of the French half breeds and the rough work on the road, I was pretty much in ra^o when I got to Norway tiouse The portages are the next difficulties to contend with on the trip. Verv msny rapids and shallows are met with necessi- tating the unloading ofthe goods and carry ing the goods and hanling the boats across on dry land. The^e portages var> in length from about ."orty TarJs to two miles Sometimes half a dozen of ihe^e portages are met with in a single day, for no sooner than one is crossed than a few sirok-s ot the oar brings us to another. In those davsallthe goods of the Hudson's Bay Company were made, as a rule, up in pack ages of ninetv pounds weight in each. In carrying thes-e over the porUges the leath er strap is used, the long tails or ends being tied around a bale ot ijoods which was set upon the back of the neek, between the phoulders with the broad part of the strap around the forehead. Another nine IV pound package was ihen set upon the former, resting on the neck and back of the head. The hands were by these means at liberty. This was no doubt a conven- ient way of carrying a burden to those who were accustomed to it, but to the novice it ».,.Q decidedly awkward, for unless they held their necks m stiff as did the childrea of Ismail in the time of Mo«es, one is mpi to get a severe twist in the vertebral column which will make him w.nce a little. fhe heavier portions of the goods sueii as rum i.un<^heons and casks of crock ery, were generally rolled over the porUge provided the nature of the ground permit- ted this to lie done, otherwise the casks were slung on poles and carried over on the shoulders of (our met?. Last ot all the boats were hauled over upon rollers. This was the general mode of iransporU- tionall through the country io old times. It was verv roug work, and the men who made a business of it. usually suftered much from rheumatism cooracled bv hard work and exposure. Yet I have seen some of the French half-breeds start on the Long Portage boats from Fort Garry in June, as ihin as a rail, and on thetr re- turn about the end of September w.'re a« fat and slei k as a porpoise, showing that hard as the work wa^.it agreed with them but then they had any quantity cf pemican to eat. And a* long as a native of this country had enough of that he was satis fi»'d. To be sure it was strong food and about the best in mauv ways for those who had much travelling to do in the country. Flour was a scarce article in those old days, and this pemi-an was a food w'.iich served for both bread and meat, and had the ad near- ly frightened out of our wits, verily believ jng that we had tumbled into the nether- most corner of pandemonhim Tlieee drunken savages tumbled and tore at one another around the camp fire so much that one unaccustomed to the manners and customs of these devih in human shape would firmly believe that all the fiends in hell were let loose. George Murray and myself took our blakkcts and went and hid ourfelves m the bush, afraid of being killed in the melee, but, as luck would have it, they did not molest us. We lay in the bush all night and ^lept uatil awakeneJ in the mornmg by Bapti- the water was shallow ami the curren swift we were ordered out to Uke part in tracking. From that until our arrival at Norway House there was no cessation of our slav- ish labors. Sometimes tracking, some- times poling the boat among the rocks and shallows, and at other times carrying goods over the portages. Thus for twento-four days, the length of time we took between York Factory and Norway House, we were made to work worse than galley slaves. This was my worst experiency in the sert v'ceofthe Hudson's Bay Company. It was mv first baptism in the wilds of North America, and it was a pretty severe one. Ii, however, had one good effect, it taught the men thus treated to be !»elf reliant and showed them that in this country one had to look out for himself ond if he got knock ed to give knocks in return. It taught both I and others under like circumPtances to adopt the creed of the celebrated Admiral Nelson, that is "Fear God, bonour the king, and hate a Frenchman as you would hate the very devil." It was no surprise to me to learn two years afterwards that up some where on the Saskatchewan river, I think at Edmon ton, that Paulette Paul got mtoa drunDen altercation with another Frcr.oh half- breed, of the same ferocious nature as him self, in the course ot which Paulette Paul got shot in the jaw, and for lack of proper medical treatment, died in a few days after ll I) UF« IN aUPBRrS LANJD IN iBK OIJ)EN TIME. :.r^' • • ' " >' ■ ■ ■ ■ . '■ •- -^- — ^ — ! . The ten over eady lo took up r respeo y before »VeB, Hii jr where curren '. part ill Norwar >ur slav- 5, aome- ocks and ing goods sn to -four : between », we were y slaves. the eert pany. It I of North vere ont-. It taugbt eliaut and y one had got knock lughtboth ptances to d A.dmirai onour the you would learn two wljere on : at Ednion >a drunDeri jr.oh half- Lure as him alette PauI k of proper wd&ys after a fitting end <i*turt otAeca^iap^mUetUnd- B, the ert »n4 fi[iahlander», wretc „ i .. On i»T''aW«»«''"*'^ N«irwii» '^«inff«; • ;ij!iM>f feM«>W« wl»o c»im* hM^hinW birjgade ipl»h(|9 o/ Scpi|(^!*.«l, tpj^V^^jfr '•'^ * Jjoo*' '>' VI. ^IjesnierAUGff vtogetbei- wn\t myn^M ,%od,^ uuTiil|e^^^yr|»n^U , ^t-pi^^^ • ■ ^Otorge *li»fr^i'Of «jj "^ ^n \^{r,^, fiUi^h w»t ml- Ar^t WHiier tr«»ach«r*ffUrarflty«nKi thi«in»*tiM*p*!i^w'^^ were aliuuli forty ofihe boatn»«»lii!«h« *W»K)iT*'l«ef Whi* up. 0|j- ^f^y m^t^^ ^Ht^)iinf4 llwr*, of rb«> total At this lioje tli%ii»<«sn*6r«3W Aicar^s^iii}'f(^,xx, |c9|lVufl, til* r«9f «r*t*"^X*»Wefly ,,, Hou»f was«tlie headqiM>Tl4i* «uHi •M>'rt*o ThM#*'F?.>¥«« in .the IfQrihern Departme<»sr.,*ki)jf- fori., jp^e .[^o.^j-f Vii<^ jrwi'CAHed iW ffikn'h ■ Albaoi! wa(> rJie ht«|K^}c|uftPlel«»>ot^'tb<^4$«l]^4l|^^^ <»rn Department* '• Ttife'.leer.wNiln^ oit^ihe Cornpnuy who aatiir 0nt(lr0t»»'fy!ork^F^c- ^ tory w«re. giiteraUjK . went « pJi» .;.JIorway ^ i.Hpust* >o.wintet»rfoJ:hatii» th^^rin]g»^thfy^ would hlft on haAd to.rteudi.tu «uy.|!»t»^e through the OiMintrji ,wh<$ne«nrf^t»ii, i^aint; ly io Mackenz.ierirM>i«ir. other t|:>htr«al Jo can oes manned by It'iiquiitJiiiliarHt'.f. a:#»)$:uttiupou wfr« ^ttediiiuft adgtubfc ^herj' oifif liWve fnoth^«r^ lh»rt tdill on'v 6n« rti^nr'h»''i'>he ^i^^ae^fpd H.wtM h«»tii<»'hrff-*^ve ' .il hi«^..oaiy.b«cii tv* 'ct«t^ •(l'»h<^"fort w-h«n I.^^a a^vt > acrfhS tVe Mke! vtncli is ealletf ftttav's lid|«. aitritfii Irdlmtilntf hii wt(« lo *«wn ftl tfcfe llH*'i*liiftjtr^ rrftWnd thin trwy lon#«rtnilf •« ttWC, aVI,%»fcbi«;. •hiob #•)! 4lp]6aR7u^*'<.'ont/%Wt'tb'tht> treaiih»t)il htt r^ftielfW-di hiS» ^!t^ fi^cm |;w«re thf%p»lmy .^Uts t>f tl»ftHodj.o»t*«B»y. ,r»p t er/ difer»#t h^^Xti^t to^Wn OompauT. ' V\ift> cofninamjItMi a bif h prieo in thf K.trop«fti» niittvk«tS( amd. there m^ro MO fr«'t iradern. rhe/ivOtMti|kiny Ttt1«»d^ fu|»r«me and tjHere jit** ho ^ipppinfititm ihrouighour ajl the coiutry lifiwiee;^! Hud •. •»/«'• B»y aod ttrit>ah Ci)Umibt«iM ,,, , th«r«f«rr«ii*n>o up fr>n JHuiitnsail .i« hoM kh« Counoil •i'Norvay^HQU^6 every «*pring bwngrng y -^ •riib ibii>» i^.ii- uuiiiber of frtpcb habti«iktHi>;\-fr0(u . the pro- ^iiKit oyf ^ueaH^ to H«jw« the Company ••Hit l>f tbvK*- •*•»* »|»u tett Nt Nirwa; accu-tofiad to«in^ifV Viiit't dfV.-oTMd, but howaver I var^ to<)(|^ bi^.i'ni^Vn adept at it. \-n^% ^r'nad tor^Dr1<*t1i'e '"hit*!. andaK I hadl^noif < tb^ft tifHRali^irfl li^tK in O r| nay, I adbrf tJ^iCiire t'tbttfi Wefyhwr (uaii. HotwithlitAniJfiiii'linV "^iltijtiltv of the Uov4uniir, Sir .©eorg*" Smtps<>u.; U i^fl UFB IN RUPERT'S fcANiyH^g^O ^PE^ TiME. f' f on!y three of us at the station, »nd ^re it not that I felt somewhat loneROWie 1. was well enough. The wouian wa-^ rery handy with her Beealy.ind^s ahnosi constantly employ ed in eoihroiderinis in wlk or bead wor« peasoB of this peculiar custom. She very readily ipld me it was pitch she was chew ingau'dlbe fare me a piece and madf J»ck river flf.wr^.tj.o^ fPiaygrt^n Luke, a Mtiail l««ke nt*|[{f m.rth . end ot LiketWinnipej,',»nd/ff nplies it» waters inle RoHP'd latoc^iimiutd at*»ly nurth of 'Nv>rway House. Acr.)*!- rhts lake tf^oui two miles from Norway Home i« a station «ulled RoHeville in honor of Mr. D. Rosi*. the gentleman previously in charge uf* Norway House. At the time of my a: nvai 5,5 \-t. ll.iii mixiwtn i^ •^ LIFB IN kUPER^'S LAND it* "tHE 01 DKN liMK. Atation wM IB charge of Rpt. W. Mmoo, who on the iKJcasioa of some dlfferencsa between himself and ihe Methodist confer ence, severed hie connection with the MethodUts and joined the church of Eliig land. The mi rsionar^ wno founded the Malhodiai miesionary station at Norway House was tl»e Rev. Jaa.es Evans, who was very buccessful amvngat the Indians and made many^converii. In course of time he got the Rer. Mr. Mag in the Employ of the Hudson's Bay Com- pany in their l^oais whiih went down to York Factory for goodi*. This brought the reverend gentleman into collision with that corporation. This considerably baffled hiin in his work of CUrtstianixing the tndiaax. JLboul this tiintt time a rumour was set afloat that Rev Mr. Evann was guilty of a too clo^e intimacy with 5>ome of the Indian females. Whether this was true or nut, it made matters slil! wors»\ A sort of inveftifcation waw lield liefore Sir George SiiiifMon, ih • Gouerner i^f the coiDpuny. but ll>e«videiice was vfry iODflicting and hh (at a8 I cuuld Itarn Miere Was never any dirtct evidence ttroiight Out agaiii*t Mr. Evan*. Be (hat hov/ever an it mav. (he, Re^i ,\Vm. Ma!«on, UK>k Kis stand agKinsl.4Miit:f KvanAaud in, ."avor of the Hudcon Ba-y, Cuiij:p«uiy who *eie ^aiJ to be the propecutorw. . The tip-; ci»©t of it was that Mr Evans retired from the stMtioi) he had heioed to bui^d up and Mr. Mason took his place. ':AI)out two ypurs after this transactiou tl^Methodi^t ci'nfcreiice at Toronto sent up a Rev, Mr. Tdrnbtril to i'.vdstigate Hjlf.n«atter. lb- Rev. Mr, Manon, ort becuH.iMj.' Hwnre ■•: this gentleiHon's pro|»f»i«ed vWiit. to«>k pn- age for Red-River m»d j.»me«i tlu' Cli'U.li of England; TUiS confirmwl iki!' HUspicii. . that all was not right, so fitrasMr. .M t^-*... was concernedj-bnt a** he bad severe I bi^ connictiou with oheHMetbodi.m fl.Mr ii h- could not l«e briflght iuA^ok on ibe ca.**.-. This Mr. M*>oii waw ia chargo of Uov-vi|ii attbetims ^l-wasut Norway Honfe. 1 liked the luaii very tuu*'h as be tva» a jipoiI preacher. A»fi»r thetri4n»a<^:tion« I b>»v<- mentioned CJiioerning Mr. Evam* I kncvx nothing of then* only: by lieai?*8y, as the* look place th-yetrtK'f* re mv arrival at that place. But I know li:ni Mr. Mason left the M^fhodistH and joiiied itie Churelt of England. :;j , , . ^ To the oredii of the ChriM^n lodiain", be it said, that when jlhey refused to work the Company's t»oati« on the Sabbath, they ask^'d the.offtcers of the Coutpany to le, ihcitt have three boats tnanoed by them selves and let the oilier three dif i: -iniie4 by the, heathea Indians and see which party aiadi' ihfe quiekest trip to York Factory and ba^k agai^h-^T^iw whs grant eJ. The Christian {nitians lay by every Sattbatb while tHaltettlWn irMuds worked every day^Hhe feiiuH w«» th«i the Christ- ian Indians got bacic to N^brn^y House thre^ days' earlier than thdse who worked on the Sabbatli, a ctea4^ evidence of the value of the Sabbath as a d4y of rest. The voyage from Norway Hotis* to York Factory and back is itsukily nt^de in a rlittle over a- month'.'''' in acdition tolhemt'n lliai liv«4< in what was called the mens hou^e, there was an- other iiouse called the iMiftrried mens' hon^^e, which wa8.t»actifiorWd ofTinlo sever al i-or'ms; each married couple having a if 1 n ' I'll ♦ iHlli 111 LIFE IN RUPERT'S LAND IN THE OLDEN -TIMfi., roo,n VheZi^^^^^^^e post W«reT I w. sin^ioned at a pUce; #h«rt ^ tiothiugl three in «umt»«r, nam.ly: Mr.' i».n»« t*^** Pr.«ch wa« .p^.k«o W# learu^n^ uJ AuderB,o», a Shetland i»»«ii»! OJrtf cai D- ^er Heciof ;4or.rinoi), a Scotch Hi«Waod«r rtshenjian and Andiew Ha;rk«*3« a French man, fr ' _ t ^-_ .J .^# '.. al..A 'W^tti«oA ' r«A it bef«)tc wa» a great ^vao^tage u^ %Ht, '■ •■■■■ Thfere ' '•an, I found irhen I returnedl *frjl estah '••lifthed in the mens' house, but U •?*» of Iwve another, ai ea«h end of ihe 4iwuBe, v,iry Utile belp to m«?^H I ditj ijot a^ten i! ' ^._u:»u »>. 'it toortr Innff Th* teacher was a waD fron . in each of, which two TOBD usually »iept"Mj bedfellQW was a veritable grant of * Ft«n'3h man, weighing aboMt at«t«iiti afenef' fl% hailed tjpm Quebec I' raiwid hiin-A deceftV"«rV«!* * '«'*o* •" bie w»ry«*»<'l>«* roug)», ii? hie plaT»aud ioihewhat '■ uig at t,iine<', bi»l i>\\\] we goi.atotig ti^^rably ^, well, coiicidering all things h1 he* Chief Kw5t*i»: > ^vi'^fS^ <*' Btorwajr HouH* dnrioi Ilk* VVH»i*» ^ '^"^ tb«rr.>*a«> Oeorgti B^rniitfon, ^ R^ . Thoqgh.he ha« long shieegoo* *o * hie rest, I still remember hiM «it4»*«ott- . menis of , gratHude 4nd reapect «>r hi«« , kuMipes iMid tUeiiiteteet. be look^ Hif irij* jwlfare., He, .wa* * gentVemati •Uigblv •dttciijed aiidj wrll vw*«mOlogy# b^taiv ikttd kindjred enbiiettie. Finding , that I wf^sotABiuditiiw nature, Ih" kindly* leul M>^ vWii»»»»- v*l»**k»i*» Bcienli^C bowke^^ and rw»A»red m»»ll the .awistanca in^ his ; power^ fte understood U»aW I wa«raBW«u8 . 10 learu ^|»e.Fr«i»**5b ,Iaogtt»^e.'^b^ th#re; . j,,^; |fai,mf .,a.Prf*ak igmnt^i^r and a- Ft^^-h^j Nn^; X«|il*»^nt. Harin« iheM* " h.jo]cHa^»i .PreB*cbBi,«amthebweei«it;h ipe, M»T progre* wsw r^piditt *jq">ri»«Jf ' the WiM*lgr-, A. y»»ng Ftenefcman «who ■I «>ul4-i;*|.4 u^P^K-WM* k» Tii«d atid by ^Im .Jlfaehi.>g W^ i»Y 'IM' tita-^f »• reading the' ■ New )Sf '*'"'*' ^*''** by ver^e aHternatelar *^I made g eat pro^ren in i«»rnirt|p oread Vhe ).aimjage. b«V »wy progr^e* tn apaakiog it wfft nj«(?h ilii».ejr ae thew i waa barti»y 'U Very long. The teacher wa^ ^^ii^a'p from Rb^sav, one of ti.e Orkney IpUrtii-, ,who^t• i?afne wbs Jameq.Ink?ti'r.^ He wjys a mat likl many others V««ide.H, ,pT ver^^ .^liigli ty ravheii prltet»tonf>, ^but o( extren}p,lyjlow aly Ijtie*^ . t>vert»e«r' WhichVas-eodered still •i.or]!? fjdio«^e b.v hrK>alou(J 4iid,envioW '.di(*^i»ipf^.,,vHei| 'atWaya sifemed to be in (ear^ tj^j^ »jiy)f ont< Wbi»ome .small knuwledge.of reading and w''Ui"g»,biV,)*'^ knowledge of arithiuetip wiis^v^r^.liiijite.l i'Ueld my peace hu*tjy«jr, a»i}| U wi|.i*^ yos long befoire he ha discover that. I was hetrer ot ,fkritnnj,etig,_ than^lif ■and donsfquently he wouki ^ard^^v sp^akl to me. P©r this I did not c re m^»j,c^lj a"* With the books I had I cou.jia.njlt-ij^inrsei.'] ftiydwn schoolmaster, an4 injoinj^ this ll rtiade m«.:h better p''gre«*';^\»<»tv, if '^''1 Would have made under th*,Juition ofl Jfttnes InkslftT. X^ia .»}fP I'H'i l*»r» , "I fhgi'atiaie himself into .tnegoo^i graces .•fl MV BafoHpn, bnt unfortuuai^fj; {[.ir him-l self, iw took the wrong iv*thi^d (>/ j>roce.' ' X(r>»whtch was bv coiistiiuli/ig jliim«elf hii 'Eavesdropper, n^py.» and.a tajeoc^rer, cunl ^^oquenlly every idle .woro tl*" J >Hh Vl*4* "1 theiiiens' house was ^itr^ighlwHvrep »rj,.'.l juw Ff^;pfch.«ipakei> •«tong vbe mopfat iim] to Mr. ^arnstoi). no douR Jjr|l»|V pj^oreu -i If LIFE IN RUPERrSj-ASr j«JTHB_OLMNjf^ — -^ "^ J K. . k*, I other and more often ol)j«w we. , X^a o c. The hou*. which wa, occupied ^^ ^^T^ J"^J^,,ry watchful of bis ward. ^..tiveof iiheiland. Nvho acted a» cook ;„d general hou.eUeeper, and in addition :.UKed ti.a cow«. This man. ^ho had eon upward, of forty y.a.s in the com- "nVe «erv.ce, wan a strange nuxlure of l,g,o'nand .up^.r.taion-ch.eflr super- .t.iron. He, .borlly before mv arr.val a and toofc pa^icnlar care that Adam -u,. at hon>e a.>d in bed U seasonable hours. Thelonu .tinier evenings were ppt'n bv Ihe men in various ways, some hav...; a'game at .ard«. or draughts, some rea-hnp , and some telling s1or.es and 80 for h. T u , li.hl used was made by burning eturgeou oil. of which tbere«'a8,. plenty, m large iron. He. .bortlv before -V arrival at oU. owm^^^^^ ^^ ^,, .orway House, l..ibeenove..nU^^ .as generally en. Httend.ng .ome revival meetings and ha. nndergohe what he wa. pleusod lo call co.v.rsiou. Whatever Andrew may have undergone by thai I cannot .ay, but at evening^ ol* Andrew was »eDeraUy en. ployed in washing »p and fixing thmp.0 rights, or in making or mend;n^ cjothe* fj;UinvselforAda.„. Hewasaw^at^e undergone by thai I cannot .ay but at - -- ^ ^^ ^^^,,,,, ,Hat he b-i .„y rate, hne thing was certain h. t n . -t U, «^-^^ ^^ ,^^„ p,,p.,i„, fo, the any raic. ui'«^ * o , penwas in nowi«e improved thereby, ihal ' bv. n« pvpr He took a no he was ap cranky as ever, xict i,on, however, that being converted, he Wadami8>-iontaperform.andlhaicon8.s «o much work lo do in prepanng fo^ tbo n.enn' breakfast on the ensuing morning. Vfiers^emg all hands m bed and every- thing .nug fof tUe night, he would set the vhe heathen around bun. bofn white men and Indian. As u beginning he forth with adopted an Indian boy, a very imp lamp ou niw v»#»"~» >-• chapter fronv lb« bible and say his prav- era. To the creiit of the men be it said» no attempt wai. made to molest poor wlU ..lopud »n Indian I..,-, . very hop "» «'^""".j;" „, e«reieee. 3,11 part *ood scrubbing a.id providing him with a decent suit of clothing, had h.m christen «d Adam, in honor of the great pregenitor oflhehumftn race. By ^o doin^ he bod anideatnal if hs converted Adam, the whole humnn family would neaesaan.y follow. But the great dilliculty in carry ing out a scheme often lies in the begin- ning. Ii provend ^o in liii« ea?o. Adam would not be oonverled bv any rnlea knoAn to Andrew Goudie Hh ward wan »» untrnciable a« a mule, and prayer-, per tiuaslon and tearn were of no avail. Even the forcible application of « cudgel tailed to in-^til the principles which old Andrew sought to impart. The adopter and the a«iopifd led ft eort of cat anddo^ life, omelinies m jouvj uuu.oi -r,,u. — Andrew m ni«»";"b'""- .• - es treating bin>fcfcfHy,and wercit not for hiH own peevish temper would have pas., ed li.rt time pleai.antly enough among them. During the day the men were em- ployed in various occupations^ some m saw n» boards with a pit saw, some cut- tine/ firewood, some working in the carpen ter'shopaud others in the fur atore, It I was very often bard work far the foreman ' to find work for eucb a number of meo . Again some were tent out with dog sVeigh to bring h.me fish from the other eidc of the lake. One day Murdoch McLennaa and myr self were employed in sawing boards near the mens' house and after workinjj a spell we concluded to go into the house auU Lmvaarwtand smoke a pi|?e.. Oa eater I Itl LIFE IN ftBPEHrS LAND 119 THE m£ES2I.Nl5^ Aerm <*tthe men oi»i fcf" work No* W4rihe f-me to pf-epaWow* mi-chief or other for the conrtrig night, irt ^h*^ Pr^J^'C" th*- pile of box*- with acr»Hh. Old Aodre^ cot up from hii. knees, trembling in etery ' timb. and looking dumf.M.nded. notkBOMr • Some ot the m*»> other for the coniWjJ nlgnt, in ,nr ,,.^o^^.^ """•"' .„ a.jju Some ot the m*H or thing-, such Hi trunk^ boxeB, •Id :^c^i„^i;ne..ndoldwOr^.Ucinkaa^ Th* floor.n« of the lofl ^ae «o,neWhat l,,rl,ed:to hi- kn«. «gim, "hen 1 ljl"g»» „yt.a.b.Banpnn;.gvi.oro„.,.tno^ ,.«.». .una,. Ur.. ..... .-.n. .n- ,;V -^^^^ .,„„, .,.. ,„,. _ .» a .>«., TOtien, Bunarj !■■»» '— " «tto^ork and cleared. paB.8«« trom one end o? the lott to thebther ar.d Imving procured an auger we bdreda hole thrPugb U.V loft opposite McUnnan^e bunk and ..other in thc^oth^eiuic^ the oa ena oi i«« "'"^j " ■• — — ,. „i_ to come dancing along .he ion. .rahvely .nanner. Tbie w». too n»ucb for poor Andrew, be got up in n terrible fr.gbt and f„;!"ngtotbebe!j«ide of Alex. Pater.on the b1ack.mitb,EHv« him a vigorous push *" . . •■ i_ *i;^i, for Gudeeak ftiiother in the oiner ru** » - - , . ^..»i:pW Alick. for Gudeeak ?;»b^^« n., bunk. MTFre»c.>b,ai.Uow ...U,™np Alck A . ^^_^ ^^^^^^ day, trip. 80 for that t.Ae 1 slept alone We then took a tracking line and stretch- edfrc^on. end olthe loft to the other smuh* Who H«.pected that eome mi.ch ef WHHOn loot, got up. and. do»"'"K^^ t,ree.hes, demanded -^^t^,:-^--- edfrc^on. end olthe loft ^^ ^XjlZ[^l^::\Z^:^^^^^^^ a fright he could ,.SBmg one end down ^^^^^ int^> m tardlv teU, but tbougat there was .ome McLennan'* b^nk and '^'"^ "^'^'''^'1''^^^^^^ the lufi." Some of. one. Wethen piled up a'ttumbr of boxes tm^ ,,o were about aB.uperetl. one tipon another irt '"''V^"^*'!^^^; "'^^ ZnlT^^^dr.^ hi.n«elf. bog«n crosmng pin underneath .ui)p6rte,l the whole Rtruc o»« «« J^" „,ut.ering. "Mon D.eu, qu e.t Sre. A string made fast- to the mam ime "r '.."^^Xe ^be lamp." said tb. ..dthen madefa^t to ^^^^^ ^, ^^-mitb, taking,. the mounted .be ,halpart of the work _^V,« «i^" ^.^^ la-blVr in order to io.e.ti, r»aU Sozen old .in kettles and mode them ^attothe mainU.e. AU .bmsK being 4bue pro?.rly prepared we re urned to our *iuio |f ned a* 10 what he i«aw that night on the lon,.bul lye would only ^hake his head and ren.am mn.ua»an oyRUr. For aome lin.e after neither Andrew nor any of the French could be induced to go alone up on the 16ft even in davli«ht, consequently the pletwa8 never fouRd out by Andrew or any of the Frenclimen. Our time paijfed plea«nlly enough at Norway House, alihough aiqong ^uch a rorway House, although a^ong-..^.^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^ ^ numqer of men .^ome lurf.couB joke eould onlv he cut up wi travellitJ},'. The manner of preperation wum ihi^l The dried me*t of AhiMi I ha- »• Bpoken,wu8dried to a greater degree when intended for Ihe manufacture of pemun- can, it was then laid on bqffiJo ekinft and throiked with flaiU until it was reduci-,) toajinallpiece.. The fat ot iha animal v«aH melied in alarae potand wneahpUin^ hoi the poundi'd meat was thrc\v:n,in aud Ktirred up, much in the Pame. mode »- p«rridge is made, and then powred- m'" bags made from buflalo skin with thehar side out, and Hewed up. The bags wor* then ^et a^ide until they nere co^le4>«iow«» were pUyod off amongst themselves, ^o.^e of which I cannot forbear rtoording, as m • manner the recital of them will tfive an inflight into the kind of life we led m a country which aithMtime was almo^jt out off from the civilized world. Our food at ihat lin.e was plain enough, all ot which wa,. the product of thai parf of the a^t** Ti.e bag« of pemmicHu generally, weighe.l froai 90 tr !!• Ib^ W lit u one g9J,apC|.'. tomed to il, ihi« was excellent fopd,«»ul iihehefetthat could be devised fv>r sKl/^t^*- trip with dog sleighs as most of t,l),e M V'' son's liay Company's serv-inti h.V: V/^' [t could be used in severivl ways, i^ cpiiM, be eaten ju-^l as it was chopped, vff «\'0i ihe axe, when a litlle flour conW If a-id*,' I we generally fned som- of it iu n ^ryinj^' pan and stirred a little flour into, i^ ih.,^ was called "Rusj'eau." Again we v,8ed. Vv b. il it in a pot with some water Rt\dm^H^ a sort of soup from it, this went ^y t"'' name of "Bibbuboo." But in anj. eaM- riemnipan wae an excellem and *»Win;? before it was dried in that manner, no salt being uod, but such was not the case. In the north and more coM4»r D,*rt of tht" country, whitefish wai the principal j^tticli- »..:..» umH but such wasnoime ca^v. uuuun?,". ,....- , •ri." p».i^;. uplik. .1,. -ooded p.ru otlof «,... Thi. wa. *h.l £ «a8 u,«.t ^'^ '{ \ 1 Hi rl L ■Si !■. t ■n m) ^f .m LIFK TK KUrERT'S LAj^IN iHK OLDKK JlNlK rmncl tO.-iHl was ,u-vcr much m ihe ,,,„,„.,. .,, the buff.lo In tl.i. ca.c w. ihegreai dinner v»»s proparin}: for th governor And his staff. On nvcnng tue ' , , * 1,, Tn fliU ra«c we governor Aim m--' =<-»• - - '^"'""■^' r" tn f od .n trav.l t plae. we found no person i...,d. hut we ...orally had F'''-'^'. ° /oort Vo had La:d the cook ,n ihed.nln, room hn^.-V „„,,,• Uttv.h. ^^^^"'^'^'^'^'^'^r .mi! was c^.{n\\y .can.iDg thp place all ---'^•'•^''^'^^•''''r'^'r r t --ilrld Xnn?^ eye l.appon.' .o ali.M !;. wan ii'ii uii" -- Vivod very well upon fi>h prov.ded we got ,-,ntyof.hem.l.utll.evwereraiber.carco upon a. urge pot which wa-^bcl.n- on tl« .tovewith aM.ck across the top of it to ,,.,,„uof,l,.n„l.uta,ev«re™,b.r.carco ' ° ' " " ^ ' ,„ ,„„ „^ ,„„,«„m« „ ,;,,„. A. for nm,r,. «o ««» "»'!">« » "'"■'> ,7f ;V„,. A,„i„,„ ,„ k..o«- At^on.epost., however, each .nun at ,1., CUri«t..^as holidays was allowed a ,.,arl of tlonr and Home rai.ins or currants ,Uerewith to make a pUun podding, an. ;,,.,., generally all the c.r. en. ^ what this «.iuht be I raided Uvo «Uck and found that there was Honiethin^ auached ,0 the string rese.nhlinza Scotch haggi ,„„ in reality was a lord',vpUi.np»J^'."i: There was no tune to think in a ca=e l.kc thi., p.esence of mind was what d.d the ,Uy all the Oour seen m a | .. 1 ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^,„i,, ,^y ^cat ,,,...,„,onth. B.H.rill wed>d not f'''^' j i;.,;,!,,, p^Ting w vb out of the pot and t!u. want of h very much. ^..conced n. the Tappet of my coat, and I SpoaUingofp«mpudd,ng.rem.m^.me ,, L occaron »t Norway House, uhen ' !, , l.hi.ter an I my.elf foa^te.l on :^ leefa.,dplnm 1-''*-^ ^^ '^J ^-nsconcvu m ii'v ..-,-,-- ^(ri;i^« ■waso«.Bidethcdoorinaj-ffv»nd«fflk« Hsuoi. Meanwhile my friend, lHb.st«r, ,.,.i discovered a goodly roaH of beef »n ;'r.«fH..l pl-« l-'''"'^ '7,'"°;, ;,eove„.ja...ooW "> - T, «• „.U .. .p , avvak. How .hi, l.ap,K..e, I«.U ^^^^,,,^„„,,, an.Vhnrn.,! »f..r.,. : "„l<.,v„r 10 .how. ^..rin. .l,c l„.,e P P ^^_^, ^^^ ,_ „,,,„, „ ,„.l our boo , , , „ .^,. , 'o ,L boa, -h. 1. »1.«. ne M.l our boo-, ,l,nl Sir (l»ors« Simp'on an.. Hie om.er. ^, l,„r.l,er. 'nht Uo.i,..„ Bay ro,n,-.aov ».Te hold ,>. ' , .;,_,„^j,,„,, j,„„po., ia.o . cano. -^ „ , v.arl, council it »»< cu,>o,.,.-v «. | ^^ „^ „„ „„, «";'e W'^ ; ;, anil ai,.ocr i„ honor .he gov.rn ^ _.^^ ,,,,^ ^„^ „„„,, ,,„„,,, UA ho M <-( "„„. he Sv.aayo,, which thcc £e„ Ic- O'n this occas'"" •'^' , ler ran iniu ii»^- •■•- - - , , ^ 2^"; " , his b.ble and -prang into, hts bed and .a - •""• ^'" i n.oment was deeply engrossed .n h arch srovernor . . ,„,„.»> Snort V af^cr tui8iu« people ..,ro..«"e,. . o,in,r,o,;. c,,, r. ,„ou were there. ,n which 1 was there, the fo '""/ m.-ern with mostofthc men of the ^^ ^^,^, ^,., ;• ■, M,i-.oran,l,.,,«lr who „r.f.rre.l P ; ,.vavho,.,.anclt.koaa.rol, .hroogh Ihi'xoojs aloii„ i •:';:r.w.'i.o,,,,.nd,«.hed.v_wa. wo" He went to the uvea, but to hi. dLay.theroast of beef, like the rich., of ihi« world, had taken wing. aaJtbwa Hwav he knew not whither. He next az;; into tl>e pot but found it vacan, ''*^ °, 1 o.„.>»• '- ' .. Ideslood •n.aztdforaume, ^^^^ .,;; we wandered aoout unin h wa. u... • - ^^ ...,...,„....- fine, v'c liiinnened noon. On oar return back we happened , .^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ Goveru.-r's diuner leaving. »a to stray into the master's kitchen where }1 There was nothing n^ore beard of the „,atler for some lim.. bnt eventually Tun tb.t»Uhough theorize could not be brought to Isbister and my.elf by sub- "•'. U,etov" t, wen. .round .h.k,n« rrd^-tb "ervbody .nd».,i..g«ood. t„ He -hook h.«d, will. I-b,.ur and he„ al.o giving n,e . sbak. c .be band 'X-Oo^ b,e Stewar,,' and .hen-d ed i„ . «\iisi>er, "Take c«M aid don t eteal '.;:orpIn„. pudding." Thi.-- ?r«ic« en tl,»t -e were ,«ep.o>ed of com- ':'i„g.he.beft.andi.-na,.becon^»»ed Ihallhesuapio-ona were not far aetray, u.for.nor..b.n.weekweh»dac„ang. „td.e...nd».a„yabe.rtylanghovero„r °len;„re. Tbi,. in a measure g,.» a" i„.i5H into_.be pbar.o.er o, S O or.e their mmaj wu-1. *"" :-- on alike journey which lasted (or two :ouths. 'mother thing whch cause. Mackenzie river to be dreaded by the youngsters was that it wa« a place wh re winter prevailed all around during the ,ear without bardly a gleam «» •««»««;• These were no doubt grossly exaggerated but we believe it was held out as a threat to all def miters. • ^ .,.„„. Thetimesofwhchlamnow wr.i.ng was loug before the era of steamboats or railroads in this part of the country. 8 Panl, in Minnesota, was then only • bam let of onlvhalfa <*-^«'^ '^^^''l^ ' '^' f!'! trip, made by the carts from Red Rn^^^- the United Stales was to St. E«^«»» • .mall village somewhere on the MlssiSB- ippi frequently tra».lling or trantporl Srgood^frou, on. place .. .n..h.r - „ot done .0 quickly Ibena.now. New. fron, Knsl-nd came but onee a year, aod ,.t was wben jUe Co', ebips arnved at Y„ k Factory in tW *onth of Augua.^ I email m.ii. chiefly letter- to French ^■;h into, be cbaracero, *' Oeor.e .e... T' • ^-^^ ^^ ^^^ Company, wa, S,„rp.on. Hadbe„.t^en.> 1^.^^^^^^^ :•::;...;.; iB-odouht but wba, it would l-avc gone bard «>.bu.ut.e brounht up by the Governor, b.r Georg Sm.pHon. on his annual »«•'? ^«/'^« ^o O^ '^. . M,.»«roy canur i»-i" "- rotlJ'herewasawinter packet came uptrom Montreal about the end of the year, but this contained hardly anything 'iHe but letters connected with .he buH^- neF. of the compasy and a few of th^ Montreal papers. Sometimes there came aUosouie letters to the French servants from their friends in Quebec, but there can.e nothing from the old country only by the shir> once a year. The servants of the Company who were in the Mackenzie river district and o»h« r distant places often did not receive their letters for perhaps I « .U„.. uraro «irltt(>ll. ,w,„tv *.ys or n,or.. journe. Iron, York d^.^ "Ot r- ^ _^^^ ^^^^ ^^.^^^^^ F»cloryto Norway House, picu-ed ,„> two or lure . i J ■ii" n 1 1 LIFE IN KUPBftT'8 l^AND IN TflE^LlDrKKJ^^ The j£Ood8 ifor those dl , ihevj dsBtiiiaUon. Two brigaJ-e. each consi-ting of abotit ..X or or Beven boat., left Upper For^ o'rry now Winnipeg, about l^^elOlh of ^»"^» .1 .« M^rwav House, t,f uc«.u u« .»«- «.^ Rabbit and Stuff eou n»»rf, t»h! -i* P ""^. be Mu-kenz.e river l-oat • iWun ih- a -«•' andll.eR.iHv«rboU<«b.far- R-....U ootue A«-iu.bomer.v.r. -">•.•-.. j ing by the .a.ne -te, U. br ,ad .^.-..n. ? Norwat House, north of UkeWmn.. back ^^ Nrrway where they unloaded the=r cargoes _^, peg, where they ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ Xr-r;^or bu«a.o robe« tUt bHd lien collected at that pla*<» dur.ng the tfnte^ together with ^.e fur. that <,ame a:n;rolFurtEl.iceand o.her^^^^^^^ ontue As-uuboiner.ver. andj.^K^ Hou-^e and p»^-cd onward* to York Factory, r aoi....' .- •« about the time that the ^hu. ^^''V ^^ '^- ,andarr.ved, which wa- n.^mly MM...twne l>etween the middle of Auzusi and .l.« good. »'»*^ ^'"'";""; bad been" brouaht bT«innin<^ ol Septembor. Thev au-u ..ok year previous wh.oh had b Hou.. ^, f "^ bro.l^ht out by ihc .h,p for r»^"'rh'a"olk theservanu^ 'r"_„.?: . t the ship and wmtered a. „^^ „,,,.,.« 'rom Europe an- can,. k Dca. where uiejr u..— — and took on board the goodH wh.ch w i ♦ ..•,1 for Mackenzie river. Ihese '' ;; had ouie out from England the good, had come _ ^ brouaht new Hervants'rom European.! oan.H.uk to Norway House, «her. Unh t..e .u d^ anr.ervrn.s were leftu.be kepf «!-.. Tn il the follow.ng .pri.^g- Tak.ng ih. '1. tor th. lied Hver district wh.ch Ll beenlert at Norway Ho., eb^U boatB. 1 nei -— ^„j ^.^^^ed a. ha<' oome out by the snip »» ?i« Dlace who were o»iwed tc go to Mac this place wi the brigades ^""^Tadv'spok-ot with whom I came '"To^Norl ^o-e This riv.r work X. as I ^-eob..V^->-^ --^ M^^-^;; --;,b7brigade« relumed ,ionaud ^»--,^*'^,^";f.'a oecamede-lX; River, arriving there about the ,,ere .oon ^'-^^^^ " ^^""^^bing fiftv vears ,^. "^ , or September or the beginnui, of :;tr"i:":^^--^-^^ j,f age. lev ^ ^^^^ j.^^pQ, O.viober. jueu..™.. iKjati had such a distance to go that they very ofteu got frozen in befi»re reaching Sde.tiLon. And then that w.^. t«u5. -".- ' gemi .starvation th-y ^heir destination. "^"^ ^""' "": ". .„ be vyinter m a .taie ot . _ to .« „tmu8t limit where good. h«dtobe Cumberland House, v^ /g- li * iiKF IN RUPERT'S LANO I^ i"" U^^ ^N *^^___ ^^- J ,, ,,,„ ,„ eUi.Hy procure. wh*>e which •boiiH' ,4.8go.,dHwereotihe9»me clas- year :;;t yel there W.S no danger ott^..rb onuug unialeable on acooant of the, ;; -of unfashionable. Neither was ,he.r r„v lo«. to be apprehcnJed from any op- ' ' paity coining with a large ftock of from lh*r white ...- around the «hore. ''^ "-"*^" ^^^^„ , ,„ productH of Sa-kateh^wa« aud h^un nyer S It-icl« were chiefly buttala rube., ^.c ^^of wolves red foxe.«.yote. bad.- and other fur. of inlenor value. T .e ZL from 8a.kachewau. av.ng u. ll^sUe paiiy counuH . raiuds or portages to encouuW ou ih LdB.o take advantage ot the "^"'^^^ ;^^, ^own a, far a« Norwav House, w..h ■' '■ - ^-' very eany way ao ^^^ .^^^^ ^^.^^ ■lod reap the harve»t. It i* rtot L oon.puvc the distance traversed by the.e IlM^aoee -luring the.r *nnnner'« voyage, i;«ri would judge fro.n a rough caicula- ion that the distance traversed won d be Lwardsof two thousand miles. Oiher T„! b,.lky o...,r. of lh« .be l.toduoU ot .utaumc, b.io«cbi-a.. ffy,"^'; Lwardsof two thou^nd miles. Oiher gj^^^^^ewan fleet wa8 the largest u. Lions orl^iiH Bide of th. Rocky Moan. e^^^^^.^^^^^ ^, ^,,,„ f ,y u. Ls sent their own goods to York Fac- | " e y ^^^ ^^^^.^ ^^^.^^, ^^ j^^^^.^, 'orvand brought up their own goods m J,,, ,,,ter part of .he cargo wa« ,ne season, with the exception of he luhabaska district. The boats from this Ltofthe country could only come as K,r at Nor* av House, where thc.r goods Llbeeu stored the previous year, and lev, too, owing to the ,r*at distance ther Ld to come, often had consideraule d.ih- Llty tu reaching home before the winter I'xhe tnost valuable furs, of cour-.e, were L„ the most .. or, herly part of .he coun L From the Mackenzie river district i;;:ebroughttl>. finest furs of the silver Llllvc'.;f. xe-. ..>ietb'''- v-'iih th- m-nx, Varten and beaver, an.lalso .ome hue Ltter. Much the. amek.nd and quality vere brought fro^. the Athabaska and Great Slave Lake 'Jintrict. Further south HoU-t'.egrevterpart of .he cargo was discharged the.e,a..dt.ie men .ere tak^u tomakeupabrigadeolfiomteniofiftee.. W>als. w-.th the usual compliment of nine „.en to each boat. The.e befits proceeded ,0 Ybrk Factory ,n order to ...ee. the ship U. England and bring up the good, re, nuired for the Saskatchewan district. Ih.a . district was the chief p'acc in the country for feoat buildiojr, hence the surplus boat. loft at Norway House went to .'upp.y the other didtricts. Kevins thus given a rough sketch of ,he n.M.i.er in which merchandise was conveyed through the country. I .bell now take a glance at the manner by vjhich trade was carried ou with the Indians. The use of money as the medium of ex- Great Slave Lake District. ^'"^^'^^'^ ^^ , ';; "^ v^as here unknown, but l« lien ,i...-from I.le la Crosse Cuuiljerlan^-^^^^^^ ^;^orway House, Lac la Pluie and Yo M tbe J ^^^^^„g, ^,, „„ imagin- aciory Districts the furs were about, the TlK-riterio _ ,.:_„..,.;„,.„. Lame kind with the addition of the lynx. wolverine and badger, b-t these were ■ Lile inferior in quality. At York Factory ■ ' I _. 1.1. •..Ail A U/ ta.14 IliusideJ fur- ary Standard termed -a sk.n." which re- prlenied a valu* of two shilling sterli.ig On my first arrival in the country I recol „ quality. At York Factory ^' '"^ ^ " "^^^^^^ „,„ p,,..ed when tu a conrideruble trade >v*s Uxt be.n. M h ill ,XFB IN KUPEltrs LAND IN THE OLDEN TIME. „f . c.,U,„ o,.er . .kin I «• lo J ... i » J"*"" ." „, ., .„, „„, ,,,,1. .hey WHH worlli al.«n.i mo nkin. and a half, lu •omeparis of the country, the Indian, when d.HpoH.ng of hi- furs at the Uudnon Bay'tr-diuK po8i, r.cnv.d in exchange a ...rmn. number of. m»IMtick|.. or hUcUb the poor Indian. ngUt and left, whde hey hd no mean, of redreas, for when thej» did apply to the thegovernment that mad. vh. treaty with ih«.n. the.r complau.i« were disregarded. No wondar then that - .. -.1 ..» .-•inn iii&rin.r ..<.r.run number of ^^^^^^^ ^^'^^^^l^' ^'^U^^^ «^''^'"^'"' '^''^""'^ o. wood, each -pr^-nn. •-k - W.^^^^ ^^.^^^F-^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ,^^,, ,, — /r'^^r: ,l,e8ehemade hiHwayw.ihe eoode «tore „nap«roha.eathethin«he stood m need of, ^ing in exchange the -malUl.cksut wood he had received in exchange for ..« f„r.. One would imajs.ne that by ih. 8 ,,udeofdealin,th.Mewoa!dheafa.Tfield open for impo.ingon the red man. but th « was not taken advaud.ageof by theoftcer. TservKntsof the Hudson Bay Com- uie iMJui »■•••■- . . . hi... in the tace. took to co.....ul.ng repn- galH upon those who Hhamefully treated ir^m and who had ho l.ttle regard for .olemn treaties. On the other hand the Indians knew that th« word of an -ftcer of the con.p«ny was to be depended upon, and »l«o that in ca.e of .Ji«tre8«. sickness, or old age, they could look with oo^d.nce lo the company for help and support. I „,Hof the Hudson B»^. ,^7;: ";:;,;;; 7bad considerable experience ,.nv. luHll .heir •^->-gV;d ma aX tirindian. a..d have always found ndian. evHyU.ing whh <^«f"^'*''^„^"jrat when treated fairly, one could hard .traight.urward and upnght "^^^^^^^^^^ An Indian There wa.no hagglingoverpr,ce.ora^^^^^ ^^^^ ,^.^^^,,.., ,„ ,, .nileavor made on either s.dc to ^^^ r"' ^,, Jce practiced upon h.m. U h .each one another. The Indians had fuU -a h v. o^^ ^ p^.^ ^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ conHdence in 'he n.orM ^•^^'^"•^%°* J 1 ^^per^ons -and it « only ignorant per- Company'. ^*«-^^' '"l^^^ ^^Aever o s' who wiU do o-w.ll ...eermgly .eenorh.ard. this conOdence was ^^^^M^^j^^j^ to the Indian and half-hreed, but iPtr ved. . , , V « „, I. for my part I earnestly wish ti.at some This sv.ten, of upright dealing a u s »°^ / ^ .^ ,,,,^„, i i,ave known .0 m v „r the peaceable -'Vl- «lt t::Cu Ir^only i» possession of half the. ^d^rt : niie of .^^e Hudson's Bay Com Zly. While our neighbor, across the CLarv were having villages bu^^^^^^ won.en and children mu.de.ed and out- good .,...ii'i" i" ""' »»"«;"■ "°°" '"■ ,„„;„. n.l ohUdr... „.«.d.«1 «"« »"'- "! :„7h y r. eivod fro,,, .he I.di...-. ;""'»-'"'■"""' "' "" "'rV l^aU. true "odo,,b.,l.un.io not k..o- :Xereapon..fth.Had.ou. B.vCo,.,^ .^^^^^^^ .^ ^^^,, ^,.„. „„,j h.ve L.; o kee,. .l.e,„, «ere re.™B P"" ;-;;;.,,. Indian. receiveJ .hr« time. .„«.« ...cu„.y .l.l"."Bl. "•"""""'"'.^f, "'.ton . or 1... fure than l.e «o.. I do "Ot ..„.,kj.« ,,, India,,.. The, JiftV,e„ce..e«.^...™"l,,j^.,. been an, belter off. He- ,«, f„r. While M.e ""'^Ll'!!. T. , neoule had no noliot. of economy ihere- 'rak,„g tr.a,ie. »iO. the l-di.na for their r^ilof,, the pa,.,.e„t. .reed -..on were people had no notioh of economy, the e Le it would matter very little, vrhat they r -lofy. Ihe payments ^g-^^^;™ ^^7 Twould be all sp^nt. and .natead of ^„.y„,l.d 10 tkf bauds of rascally agents, go j ! If momy, there- ittle vrhat th^y , and inatea'i of LLFB .H RUPERT'S LAND INraEm^PEN TIME, r~T7^^'"^^^^IinTi^*MWM'aoo#. inth« dimmer lime. ,«,... u u would uv.iy I-*!" ^'l<^. higkit prt«« •" *«">""' "' *>' r"'^'. i„d.len. h.b.t.. A. .1 "". l'<'"'r«f' „4»„„,.i„p.rwd«.itbyth. ..».!... bat these people nuuuv ^"""V" *. '-o .,.,_.. " , , 'i^;«iij««jiv '"^JtiA^Hne mira fliVOUf imp»rM>u «/ .. »j '•" itcoaW ft be kept eo long eaf •ml eweet al tlmt whieb wi dried by th*. iun. The I4l«> OlMipiinT "«-e. *Juit;JmjM »| that whJeh WM anwi uj ••" .— • l^ireM^n^a «^'^/f.Mn«:.OhWuTfl%o convert ,nt^ buffalo rob-, were furirr b.irvwii.te.^d.t*^ »^J« "^^^^^^^^^^^^ .nit.ene. and dog harness, /o._....,-^.on''rti^WApaot WW fever ^a^^ ,J^, ^.^nieB, and tb^ir oulfite ef Jn*w.nr'^«on; -tti^ f *p*°^,,.j*; fHe-V Tfatlyvo wtancc w.". "•;, ,. ^; ,sm^ fior^esand carts wa« a notftl ••peclacle. i .tood 'Srr need of. There -^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ [^^ ,req,.en,ly Wn* Cl^e grot.nd now occu TiangeVtJfMiif vat-Kin fn^hose'day-'ae ^'".^1 ""^ , 7,_ ,..,, ;,, wilinToec covered w.th Btooa nn noru u.. • .- - . .^ . tj..-xi., <^ |,»ve frequently seen »nc g. v...- "•■" -,-- - ^„geVtJ»«.W..Wn "^'""'.'''i'^X^r^* Pi«l I'J •'■• «»T ;>' Wll.nVl! covered -..h »-*'«"' -:"r*I'^At1lS<.Vb;.r 1 ^«.d,1. The co,„.n«n.;y -" . -■"^" ♦«i r or teifbr* their tors. »" "-"^ . t«me when Ineti-unvnio " . - ^^ ^y^ i^' "^„*,...o.hi.wVa.». "a '"»'-''■■«■ a-. I thevio-mity of PentlHna 'fend ?f^"^"« ['^ lente (oihenumoer ui n^m --• ^ - hundred. The cotnmnnity was a mixtiire of English and French balf-breede, with a .p^nk^ng Of Oree Indian,. Before rJa^ing the selttement of Red River a Coua c.l wa. r; nerkilv held and a captam wa. elected by bnllot. whoee busmea was to oversee ind direct all uiattere in the camp toMtle dirputee. regulate the time lo startand encamp as well as to give he •Hignal when to start in ?"»";» »'J« buffalo. During his term of office the CHpffein'H word W' law. and woe be to ..: " 'W-h M thfe man who dared to disobey it. Anyone the«at»itoba' penhemiary jWw Jt«n. u ,^^^,^^ to act contrary to ....e.t,ayoneswe..'f^^i^t^-- Th' ip-^'^ oroer was su.UaBly dealt Heasonf.yfhuniingiii^t.jrt'-*'^^^^]"^^^^^^ ,Ub. The pnnHim.nt for any. act ^ol any'aUihe y tar- around, ^«cept "4 U>. P„ . ,..,,. .,.„„ ?,„.. 1,.., m ..'IMers -««''"' '<'Ji*t With. i«>e puiii'-u"'-",- --; — ^ . w ilfu I diPobedianee consieted of n^attjng Ihe offetiders saddle and harness to piece*. ,'herebV di^abin.g him from joining in the chase. When a herd of buff-lo • appeared althand. were in readiness and stood eirne.lly waiiilig on nor.eback >he signal T„.ia «..!. '■ -~« »*' '" ■■™*"'« . :'■■ " ",U i»>w,Ur loo.e i.. his firing, whf ''''"^?:rf;iir.;;rTu.tHt or ih.^».a.hr^i on^^>. «.«» t^. ..«».. y III fj! LIFE IN RUPERT'S LAND IN THE 0I.PI5N TIUE. was giv«» tb«7« FJ»« * «ener*l stampede, t» wbioh th#» hunter who bad the b««L. .h>w stood tba best chance £>f g ettiag the .best animal . in the ^ herd. 0«<'.e in the thiok 9f the>ufta»o, there was, a4 maj be aupposed, indiecrimmate , aUaraund.bot the daiijjtr of one hunter b ag apt . to shoot ftDOther was. pot i^reatas the hwnter generaUj'^ AM downwv48 upon the bufialo. the howw ranging alongside the buffalo, thus the danger ot tne balls flving aiound was greatly diminifhejl. The gun used were the old fl.nt lock style, and in rapid firing the hur.tfr geaerally took some powder in his hand out of hi* hand without measuring it and put m the muz zle of his gun dropping a l»all out ol his mquih atterit. No, wads were used at that time. The danger in huntine the buff»lolav chiefly in the horse stumbling, by bis teet getting into a badger hole. In such cases the rider would be thruwn a considerable distance and receive a swere shaking up, and often severe bodily injury. The hunt cult to fitid out the perpetrator of the deed. But the buffalo aad thebuffblo bunters are^ however, now Jthiaga, of the pa«S and the qusiint saeoes connected therewith hare passed away -farever The (Jfbaas, Delormes, Gfaots, Hallets.'DeHJardinsand many others I could name bavegose to their -rest. The only one now remaining of the old buffalo hunters ^ 4 FaFeal Breland» who was onoe a memb«r of the Northwest Council, .but is now living at Lake Dauphin. These roving deniiene of the praisie lived alife of complete free- dom, far h^yond the bounds of civilization they passed their time free as tha wild beasts tfcey were hunting %nd had as little concern or thought for the morrow. No matter whether the hunt was a poor om^ or c'berwise it w all the same, the pro- ceeds from the sale of their buffiilo robes, fur?, etc., bad to be expendetl as soon a"* .eceived. I have seen some of these bunt ers go inio tlie Company's office at Fori •Bd Often severe iK.auy injury. /»-•"" ^.^; ,„j ^^^^^,, son.ewbere about nine •r has been known to swallow has mouih- I ^» / ^ „...,.«.^ .^.,n,l. in W.h fi.t . ful of balls when the horse happened to stumble. Agreuldeslof jealousy eome- t^pes \isted among the hunters us* to who h*d the fastest horse; those who wore iu possession of the beet buffalo runners were considered people of some imporia.-ce and various devices were resoried to in order to keep their horses up to the stan- dard. Sometimes, too often, I bel eve, jealousy went so far as to try and injure a good horse, by such men as wished to be considered the po-seseor of the best buffalo runner. The general mo Je ot proceedure was to stick a pin in the joint son»ewhere near the hooJ by which means the animal would be lamed, and yet lue /cause oi 'he lameness very difficult to find out and even if found out it would otten be difli- hundred or a thousand pounds iu his R*if, and walk straight to the Company's sale store and epend everv farthing of it. I have often been serving them in the show by selling them cotton, cloth and other goods, when after l»uying a pile of stuff of one thing or another, they w..uld apk how much was to pay, I woul « tell them the aiuouDt, they would throw me^down the whole pile of money ihev had willi iiistruo tions to help myself. 1 would then take out the required sum and hand the rest back, when they would go on buying sgain and bO on until thf y had a sufficient stock of most ihing^t very often ti t- «»,! ti.ftt wlipn thev had Durchased all the supplies they t^tood in need of they had still some caeh remaining. Takin^; i.6 *.-__..-.- ^:.«iih«.iil^t Of. the mquey , willnow reUiro. to ^iocjyax V*'* < ^ 4f.U atiin aba laying U by ^ tor a luvur. u-jr ^^^"^^-^^jj^^^^^ H^,se. a^l r« •rW-never okce thouglitof,^ t^e mouey wi I a9.w re. iirA.to ?*<^'^'^*-'^ ^^'^ . ^ '.:^„. ISi^^^^d uot want. A^cordia^lr 4« T have before obaerved,.th.a fort wa, IK^ po8i.e88or of (lie *suiitrfl«ou- money would Btand .ometimes^ * Wn 8. ud» di^atiKgl«l.i«-iui'*-towbat:hy^^ his eve %d'utd iigbt on wmetlung he Imd oot purchased, and whether of service ^r ndi, it ^ras rmmedlalety purcaaed. Jh!* wa«Xl>e-gen'erarduHtom until all the money had disappeared. ,, .^ All their purcbases having been made •nd the mouey all gone the next thing wa? tc start off for the prairies ,«gaiu , Three or fonr w^eks was a sufficient . lengi^h of lime to remain in the Red River settlement Their home waaon the boundleKs prairies pf the west and they longed to return to it. '>, The buffalo hunters, although chiefly French halfbreeda of the snme ^tock as Ihose who worked on the Con^pany boats, were altogether d.ffereni in the.r As I have before observed,, tbis fort wa» the general d.epoi, for men and goods, .there >ing About eirteen Scotch Ud- from the Orkne^rgpr from the .HeA>rnle^ and about forty.-ave F rend, from Quebec. .These repieen ViQl'-uce, .The.Orkney inena^,arul« were be ^er educated tha«. the French, and .yere conl-idered mote trn.»twortUy.aa. servants, while very. few of the Fiencb, werfti^ble to read and were asarule ilU.terate. .and h=.rdly a^ trustre worthy a9 thp Scptcb. They were fi»H c'asp hewers Qf jwood an'l draw-rs of wate yet hardly tq be depended »P««» '^maawM Wiring fideUvy »M,d tru^iworiJuRet.*,- Tbey.wer^ ipo^epyer. very extravagant apd fwnd of dress. tbe|r ieggtog*,.. coal* Hodcaps were a?,ner*,Ily decprated w'tli ribbons of evp.ry>ue,and colour in creation, were. lo« type ad.licteJ .o 1r""k."" '^'"J'i w!..laing l,e«.r.o,l„c...d ,W.., were a lu" 'J f~ . , and no» a bit over scrupulous in the way or honestv. the buff.Uo hunter, were more chivalrous and dignified in their man..er., Miicllv h.nesl and teiuperate. One would think ihatonCon.iMg a. doin tbe prairies they would be induced to go on a Hpree like their br-^^thren wh • when thev cume back from their summer trip wound up with a drunken carou ai. Bnt uot so with the hunter?, they never indulged in „u,ch drink, each principal hunter buying perhaps a gallon or haif gallon ot rum to iKke out with them for their winter supply bin I never knew them indulging in a en III as. lilc - rr.i-i .• - Having made this digression in these few ScottiP^i I^Ipb,, being beitpr.edncated than tQe French and .eq'»»|ly l'*>"dy. aud a'f^^d-. with a greater jpower of pndurance, attain ed p .fli'-'tiom in the service which the FreucU were unable to fill. This was the occasion sometimes ..of bitter hostility between the parties, which often resulted in a free fight, which gener- ally resulted in favor of the Scotch. At ..ome pos'ts where the French were in the majority of four to one of the Scoich, they would try to domineer over tlie sons ©f Caledonia, but they sometimes carried the joke too far for their own uersonal com- fort. Otten wheii the Scotch blood was aioudea the French found themselves ; !! i: t U: I i LIFE IN hUPERVS LAKD IN THE 01.DENJWB. ^m ioruered. Th«e disputes generally iQOx | place between the freshly imported yoany hands. ThePrerich. newly arrived fron. Quebec thonghtthenieelves very Pmart .n « way, while the live hardy young Orcid- lan who hitherto bad been cradled on the ^eep, was equaUy pdgnacioos, though hot Kx> overUarii.g, bene- the disputes. The 'tyrannising pt'openwilies of the vouog Frenchmen was thfe (^ausvof a fracas awring n.y feflidence at Norway House The French tru*ting to their superior numlers pnueeded fo thvvith to eyrannize over tke- ticotch lud«. Thin wae borne wiib patience for' foine time, although often iher were taeued a^ menials; but their ihf^olenc- .vmt off fo far that patience ceased 10 f.e a virt-ie and endurance was no longer Dos.ible. Ii was I U>'"^. >" the. nichth of Novem^Ser, thaf one of the 8c>lch lad- tfina tyrannized over DV a Frenchh.an , lahl out bis oppres ».or with Si blow df bis fiSi-.tliis was exact )y what he deserved, and the matter would have pasi^ed off w.iboiii any further noticfe had not a couple of the other Frenchmen ,et UMbn the young Scotchnian and begau to kiok b^n.. This led lo repri.-als from ,helbf»^^ ^Liit endeavored, to, cotirt hjs favour on every'occasibn. ' Matters, tberefors.. after this went on Bmooihlr enough , Jor.spme time. ' The servants of the Hudson ?, Bay that were brouglit from Scotland were njoslly eagaged to serVe for five years, tboserfrom Queb"ec and Montreal for three years. . Tne wages in those days were somewhat low being £iQ for apprentice clerlcP,.from £29 to £2& fo r carpenters and £17 for labour- ers per annum Out of this the men had tbfurniVh their owa clotbing, tea, sugar and tobacco, and in most cases their own salt. Conseqaently ihe savings of a labour er for his first coTiiract of three or five years, were very small mdeed, aale.s he exercised the stricteet economy. After the first conlrac higher wages were usually given, etpfcially to faithful and trust- worthy men. Those of this character. who had a fair amount of education, had a good cliame of rising in the service, by f,eing put in charge of some outlying post and lu ^uch cases there were cerlam allowances granted in addition to ^ the salary which enabled one to get along without having to spend much of hi in- come. . J X . 'A great many men remained for a cons^iderable length of time in the ,h;,the French vere *« '7;'; ."^r^'.^p^.v's service and some of them bad ,,„Ui wi.b. and. '^'^'^««f '^'^Vt^^;;-^ a Tqui.e a handsome lot of -oney. on U.eyne.ertookHn,unduea n :li \ LIFE IK RDP?RT-8 Limr^-tmO^^^^^ rere nj.osil j Uioseirom rears. .Tne lewhat low », from £2» (or labour- he men had , lea, sugar their own iof a labour hree or five , anle::*8 he y. After the ere usually and trust- I character} location, had e eervice, by lUllying post rere certain lion to the ) get along ich of hi in- ained for. a me it) the ( of them had )f Money, on y handled and naining vear* B old eervaats Rtive country » ; • ,Ui'r. Settled dowu in *ltat w»"'«' "«''"'*^ •"'■'■*,, cLr^una. wewereaU.v4frea^>^^^^ the fori for the holUays., Aitb^l^wn. ht:;rvanl. .olto.rieen.d,ysJ.,l.da.« .j|.chm.nwa«allow.da,pH.t^rum>; d^v. U»*iaUy we h;^d a, ball auo-n t ba Sebul it wa« ;ie»,er,llv a o»^ ..d.U Xr. We bad P'-^ ''""' bul ^be:: l U. dance, «nd plenty V^ '""..c,^.ut xbee | w- a lan^entabie laoVc ot the, .t^m^le «l.- Tm,' There being unlV, I, tbu,K, three ■^r went over to U.^.v^k, w).ere.ibe.e were5>lentj;^'h*^'".!^'»^^^^^-^''^*'"*l''' thalcla»sfiitaiograve«,l,>allroonv,>"^^ beside. alUbat,.il lb* «HVu.«ter tb^re at UoHHviUe happened to fpy on. of thereon. 'ny'HmenoyerAbe.ehe.>vuudm»lc^.an LrLlfa..overtb.Hi.tter..-Pn^jeaBon ofthi. WH., perbHp.stb^i.Vpi.«ecn >lr. B«rn-.on|»nd ib« clergyn.an ^Al^er^, whh | Ly little luvelo<.>lr.,Ba,rn«tun,wa.., ihJtimea .trs-ng cbvi^cb of KfW«^»J.l man, and Mr. Mason was at il.ai tuno a >ire,ieTan, ^ecau-,, pHhi^^althmi^h t '*^th« i;iVT of Abe missionary to hold :ryi.;.a:.h; ; ^ortivery ^ a^t^rnate inn- *' ^ _.. _^.«U^» tninia«er not ^Sterno^V.y^^'"^''^'-T rl p;Le speme^ io hi^cH ioge^er . A. for f rB'.rnston be conducted divinp .erv.ce himaely every Sundav fornoon according \o tlie litaoy of the Chnrct. of England, 'and a. his authority wa. not to be Irghtly esteemed, every man atthfe fort attended . botW Prote«lanl and Catbolic. " iWiortly »ft« , Ci»ristM»8, or j-ather be ^J^^^rl,Mnas,an^the.u.^W,lhe ^ket a,Tp from Mon ^EeV iVom 8i^ George ^Simp-on. the ^vernor. The .^ana.f of seftdjn^ ^IJ th • tckei,waf»;.ha.,a,n,an.,..»-e.^twah a fnm ViQ^tr^alto the nearest Biidsona Bay Fort, Hnd f run. .there anotner man was'^en-i^Ua dog«:eigh tOthe;next 'p„Ht ;.jd HO on fro,n. on po.t to another until it came to Norway Ifouse, where the ,n..lw.« 'divided, one part of which wa8 sent to' York Faciory and the snrroUMdiug '.ountryaod tbf other part lo Red River or upper Fort Garry, ffom where it was Bent 10 Fort Elbce and the Sa-katoJ^iewan di-ir.ci. Generally potue of the French received leUers from Home of ihft.ir fnends in the provice of Q.i'^bec by this mail. At ibis'tim'e.howe'ver, ihoir can.e sow. letter lofon.e ofi\iem, ,and amon^ the news ihey received wa? that a celebrated pgi • hslnan.fd. ni^n.ed Michael Nadean had eng"ged in ; the corppany's service, and woulV i-enp with Governor Simpsons canoes in the ppr^ing,. Thi« PV''^* of n«^^" 8«'^!»i«td ,the Freoch ^h.i }\>v )»?«»" '^ . P''H<; '"J «^'?^%?^''^ buv^, aqd propl»^.ied> >b.t .ihe^dl^y of p., ing up old scP.e«wa,; fa«tf.ppr9a»;bi„^and^ when the, Ai'^^.^'i'* , ,come..w«.. wpp.ld. of 'c^r.e,baveto lakea back seat. We \l I!! ji^ ! 1* LLFB TN RUPERT'S LAND IN THB OLDEN TIME. if !f4 ZZZr^.^^r^^^^^^'^ ^o under- 1 more to prsooal comfort tuao outward ttandrtbat'rw?i.d^ 1.0 ....ntu.n of bid! show; whil. tfce U«.r were n.ore .nchoed ding good morning o 'h^^ .Mhat affair vraa scitled. The aupply etort- f..r ihe ^-ervantd of the Companr wa.*«'"ly opened onoe a year, eo that by th.« ii.e.n» a man could BOlgotothe stor m ai.v limf and get what he wanted nH.»•^- v- was reallv «ome thing indi»pM.-ibV. Kmh ..an made a careful e«.mate a u, w a. a...onnt ot lea, sugar, tobacco a..d c :...l.i..4J he required for th. year, tbr- U* wan ha..ded in to the headfortoft.e d.-iru-.. and ih n each nian received hiMK.rt.o- This refers to the«en who were .«muo..e.l at the out- lying po.t.of adi-iric; hu. those who toAn^ry and aaudy adornmeat. Th« general clothing worn by the em- ployee* of the HudHOo Bay Company in ihow daya consisted of trousers made of dreMfd deer skin, with a jacket or doub- let of the same material, cloth leggings and the Hudson Bay coat or capot witn a hood to cover the head m cold weather. The fset were protected by moccasin* made of dressed moose skin, and instead of socks the feet were wrapped npina thiclt clot: , called duffle, made for the purpose in England. The hands wve protected b> Urge mittenn made of dress ed moose skin and lin'^d with duffle. These mittens were worn suMpeaded aronnd the neck b» a string, which kept them conven lent for siippinj: the hands in and out of '"'"' "^Zl a"; a'p uLVle' fort, .uch as them when tequireJ to arrange anvthing ^ere -^d''" r^**';^,,^.. "V..,a ,,,',,, ,he.r that might be required. The undercloth Norway Hou.e couidgo ^^ .^ i.a nonnisted Of a flannel «hiri, but no •wnsupplMH, hut, an in iheoa.e of .he others, onlv once a y.a', «bi«h wa. jiener ^UintUemoutuofApnl. Thi^pmCice of giving out .«.pl--t. a certain Stat. timewa.avervwiseregUHt.on.a. .f tie store wan open a. all time- ...ere wed havehsen ao .nd .o .he w»nt. of .-om ,nen, and in con^equence «r.,h .he su.al amount of -alary thvvrece,v.d .hey won d .oon involve theni.e.ve. h«pele..ly .. debt It was an exceilenl method for teaching the n.entue principle, of economy for as the servant, received their accn.ni.^ currnt each year,they knew exac.y ho. niuch thev had naved or expended, and by thf. n'ea«« .hey cutdown ihHrexpen.e asmucha.po.siMe. Asarnlethe.cotch were more economical m .heirou.Uy .han Their brethren the French. The former , u»-o.. what was necessrtiv aint only pu.vjsjo^' - durable in the way of lagconsiPied of a flannel shirt, but no drawers were used, that l>eing con idered too cumbersome and heavy n running after dog trains or in working and chop- ping in the woods. The main oiject sougntin winter clothi'«g was lightness combined with warn.ih. To aitai.t this, nothing was more suuable than dressed dee: skin, on aecounl of its Jightn.sH and impeviouHnecH to .he sharp, cold, cutting wind^. Without ihi»« nece-sarv ptot«-ctiou a dozen sloth cao. if oua could gei .hem on. would not keep out the keen, cold wind?. This was lh»^ general dre.-s of the Hmlson Bay Company's men in .he winter reason, bu , of course, .he appe^iranos variHl according to the las-s of the wearer Some of the men would take no pains to make any display in their dres-^; while olhers would have their coats, moccaMns Clothing, looking/ mittens, legg.nsaud oapB gauy auurae. n 5 2. UFB IN BUPKBr8J^ANDJNjr510^.^H3M^ »utward nciined the ero- pany in iiade of r doiib- lejjginga , witn a veal her. occaoio* insUad np ma for the ds w«re of dresB e. These i>nntl ihe » con V en il out of finvthinK idercloth but no >n idered running nd cliop- oiject lightness tain this, 1 dressed iln«'8H and [, untung ptdtfCtlOU I jtel them fen, cold efH of the the winter .ppeiiraiic* the wearer o pains to BHi^; wlnle niuc«;a^in8 liV Suuruvu ;-;^;"^,;;Z~;olour«d ribbonnand bead .ork. Thl^cench and --^^^^^^^^liZ^ liar in this respect; ho much .'o that ihev :";dforc.bl,re.n1ndoneofahar..qum outfit. rhevwouldhaveaBtreamottnauy coloure.^ ribbon, flying fr.m th.,r -^'-' J^'; ^^ "^^^'J^j;^, ,,, ,, u.e door, closely pur dent whtch took placedur.n. my re-tdenoe ^nd then ne ^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^ ^^_ '.t Norwav Hon.. U --« ; '^ -; -; ^t -P^ng into a pond of muddy of April, that the »"'" ^^ ^''\ J',,^,, J ^ P,,, ^l,ie.. lay out in front ofthe men s received their suppl.eH fro.n '''^ ''"'^; ™' """,,„/ ,,^re that IsbiHter would when.ntheatternoon,I-b..t.randmy.e hou^en^^^^^^^^^^ ^^.^ ,^^^^, ^^, bapp.nedt..come in.o the m.n. ^^^^^^ ^iL jumped in aiter me. fron. .ome wo.k we had been a. buun ^eW^^^^^J^f ^^^ „,^ ^^^ow .ne down down to have a rent w- o^'-rve.l two a d ^'^ n= ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ Frenchn.enadmir.n.p^.e.-^-^o!am^^^ ^^^^.^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^, clothing that meyhad J";^ ^"*^'**;;"" Ua.sed my wra;n considerably, ana by the .ore, wnioh «'-;;-; ^^—.l -r^^,;^^ , got on top or Isb.ter a^ bebuPily engajr.d n. ad .m.... u it ° ■ ^,^^,,„ ;„ the nuid and water Wh.letneywere.lat- .n,..-ydn ., lu.^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^.^^^ ^^^^^ ^ ingsomeh.ghly .-'--l r.b '^ ='' ' T ^^ J,; J^p and w^ came into cots and caps w. tw. w.e sU ... at w ..le I l^et. I ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^.^^^^ ^^ for end of the hou«e qn.eilv ^"'*»'^'"- j , j^j^ ,i,e ...uldle of next week. pip- «r^-'-'; ^''";';;:;;;; :;;' ti^Vw:^:^ excited that we each go.ng on around u. « '^ ["^^ J ;;^„i, ....^ ,rto"r <'-oais and threw the... w.idly two Frenchn.en had fi...^hed '*'""^,''^''" '... ,^,^1^^,^ comer of the house, and ...d were holding up th..r ^ "^^ ' ^ /'M ";:^ '^^^^^ for a fight. In admir tmn, we two ro. t.^an w -^e^ -^ ,^ P ^^^^^^ ^, ,^, «,,,, „,. „ear to jom .n .ulogv. ^^ ^ ^a,U ''" | /^j ^„,i ^v gr.al p.rsuasiun got us ':-'''r:^:rv:.r :::t:;;: r2d: a„d t, "th.. m.ans .event,^ Tor a iiiM.-. ..^...^ ■•• ■ lion at the gaudy d.spl«y, bu- at Un^th l-biHtef wmdered how he wonld look .n a coat like hat -Trv .1 ight be. There wan, howeTer, 'pa8t redemption.' Ah the Kprinfi; came on prtperatians were e for the cuninier s work. The \, a marked di^fierence between Sloper and MoLeod. JlcLeod would broke ho contra carpenter* were busy patphjng "b an* : j>r,on in anyihii; he might ea^^^^^ mat repairing boats, while some ef the meb .^jV- how^unlikely his nurraiion miglit'be For matan-ie, according to his account, British Coluinl>:a wa3 a country equal' to ■■■ ^. ' V . •.■,1'. '. ^, ;...<•'. tr^ ' .• the Garden of Eden, if npt 6iipericr to, it. He wuuld never ceai^e laudibs ihut coun- try to the nkieH an.tic( and woiiid inward'y -'e^pise him for his iguor ance. Now when we left the old cpumry very few of the young fellows who came out with us on the ship could boast ot having a watch, with the exyep ion cf my friend Slo^,er and iwo or three othiers. But thi." watch of Sioper's was really a wondeiful piece of meoiiani*m, the *uu were sent on trips after the Indians, whil^ at the same time a great many of the Indians were coming in to the fort with ineir winter's i«upplv of furs. I was about this time sent out with an Thdinn on a trip on s»ow snoei:, Wi visited several camps 01 Indians and had a very good'tiuie on'ihs wfioie. We had a train of dogs each and there were four dogs oh each uleigh. t lined walking .md running in tnowfliocs very well, but I cannot say that I admired driving dogs, it Feemed to be the cau^t' of too much profanity One who wishe? to letirn to swear in French language, J would advise him to take about a week's journey with doj; sleigh" and I wilt guarantee that he wi 1 acquire that accomplishment to perfection. ()n mv arrival back to Norway House I found that four of mv companion*, who bad come out w ith me on the ship, had arrived froin Oxfoni Rouse, where they had been left the preceding fall on their 'way up from York Factory. rh»^y were "acc.tmpanied by an oM nand named Mur- doch iMcL o', who had been in the com- ' pany's service ior upwards of forty year?, *mo-t of wliich time he had been in Briti^ih Columbia. My friend Sloper also came and moon mi^ht err in mak'ng their usual roU'Ols, iiut Sloper's watch, never. The ' first yarn he told me when we met was about thiw self-!>ame watch, that it had never stopped fjoing from the day he left Biromtiess to this very day T'o snow the good qualities of tiiis wonderful tim*- keept-r he related thai he was sent out to tli«» wood.s at Oxford House shortly before with thi • party. Now iiotii McLeod and ' Christ mas to cut some firei>ood, and while ti'oper wer* sosiewliat remarkable charge ; doing fO hegul so wariu at hi" woik that ters in their way, boiti being pretty much he slipped off hn coat and verit, in the addiolVd •.otelling some wonderful «tories, Docket of which wa-j his watuh, and hung and hiivini^ very few scninles in tlrawiiu' ihe^^e farint^niH on the tiranchof a tree : i 'M L^ ug with such er aitempl to lay chaoc* to or unreason- vapj howeTpr, 1 , Sloper and like no contra I 8ay, no mat ion rnight be hiH account, atry equal' to iiiperior to.it. Z that coun- to the indivi- to doubt his i -J-y . ■- 4 '■ , on the tether )n of ii>8 own anyone who n hii^ siratige y look upoTt [lid n^tic( and for his iguor e old cpuniry *» who came uld boast ot jep ion cf my hree othierH. was really a i»m, the -uu n^llieir uRual never. The ' we met was , tliat It had he day he left T'o Show the iderful tuh*- ts sent out to ""liorily before >od, and while hi", woik that i vecjt, in the :ch, add hun^ rji_-h of a tree , LIFE IN RUPERT'S LAND IN THE OLDEN TIME. ^rom the fort with perrmp jr .)^__.. „„;^„.v.i» o„nnpr. The restif to return to the fort as hi- w*8 wanted immediately. He started for home for- get; ins: all tt»)OUt bis coat and vest which be had hung to the branch of a tree. He was not allowed to go back to tlie woods again until after the Christmas and New Year which was about two monthf after he had left his clolhe. there. He was sure that bv this time his watch would be ruined as the weather was between forty and flftv below zero niost of the time, but having an enjoyable supper. The restif jhe men in the house were busying fhem selves about one thing and another, while I.bister and myself were sittting together at t>-e farther end of the room from Mur- doch, filling our pipes pretaratory to having a comfortable smoke. We were whispering a lew words to each other, when one ot t!ie men near us remarked: "The devil has some business on hand IsbiHier and Stewart are whispering to- what was his astonishment to find that geiher." "■■'" "° We scorned to make a reply to this in the watch was still ticking on as lively as a cricket and had not loai a second of time einct It was hung there ••But who wound it up In the mean- lime," asked Suipe, the tailor. "Hold vourtungne,vou impudent young whelp," retorted the. blacksmith, "cheeky Solent remark, but shortly after I got up and walked to the oh mney where McLeod wa^ cooking his goose, in order to light Hiy pipe, which hnving done I (»«t down on Uie form behind McLeod and in a little vhile ventured to say 'hat there were no wneip, reiuricu iiiv. I/. . - - , \o. 1 I • \M T A voaw^ brats like vou wuuld !.poilany story wild geese In British Columbia. McLeod by your fooliwh question The sun wa.«* now getting somewhat stron.', cou>tquenlly there war* every appearance ot ^p.ing. The wild geene were beginning to fly northwards and every one who war* the possessor of a gun wa- on vhe alert f t r some frcHh meal. McLeod among the rest got his shooting iron in or lerrand a- luck would have it, r undern* alh his goo.^e to yatch the gravy, sat besi.leil giving the string a turn now and again turned around and asked me In the name of hi« Satanic Majesty who told me that. I meekly replied that I had read m veral authors and I never met with one yet who ev*>r mentioned the fact of wild geese being there, which I believed to be true. From one thing to anot'.ier wa both got into a verv hot d;scu> • ■'■'; 1 have, yetia my mipdV eye the J.Ufik look Qf^|3tpo\f>^ment def^jcted on MuLecd'r face w^en b^ found )ioi hing but a piece oi the ^t^in): remain n^. The joke wa'fl too good for any ot the mt n to peach on labia ter, 6o, of course, n«>liody touk notice of the flight «ftheg»»o-e Am for ni}8elfl Haid that I tbou^hi I HuwHomelbing t^oout atthcd«or, but ulieiiier it was a man or a gooi*e I reallv hud no lecoileciiou. McLeod however, got lugiiiii uiud and b>gan to swear like a ti<)0|.iei, and actually got. outside on ihe platforn-.dMPhed off hi? cap and danced with ruge, but the trouble wut- that hd could nut ^u•pecl anv person. After ►w from ditl*^t'fiil iiartfof the country n&mely from Lac lu Pluie, Fott EUice, Sarkaichtwun Dictnct, Cumberland and variouH (ilher parts tuingiug the offlcere of each fort to th^xtany council held at Norway Houf-e ou the arrival of the Go- vernor, Sir Georgf- Simp-on. Somewhtr I think about the mindlc of June, Sir George Simpson arrived with hi" fleet of four capoes from Montreal, manned bv Irtquoi^w ^topi tl^e Province o\ Quet>ec, to gether with aliout fiveorwix voung French men aw »ervantf< , Of courca we youn;; '©colcl.J lad,' were anxiourt to bee the man wat to l^no^lit UB all !j'to a «;ocked hat on his arrival. Consequently wben the uewe came that the Qbvernor wtfu ebiiiiiilt d&#fl ,%he fiver, everyone haKtened down to the triyer to see him land. As soon asthe canoed touched ihe nbore the c-ews junip ed out and cemmeneed itnloading their cargoes while tue i^vernor was employed in shaking hands with every one of us great and sniall. Amoeg the company who arrived m the canocb I noticed a stout raw boned Frenchman, making him(>elf very conspicuous by bis awaggeiing airs, and stood sometimes looking at the crowd of us on the bank with a sort of disdainful stiif}. I was mentally wondering in my mind who this pompous individual might be when one of the Frenchman of the fort whinpered to me that (his was none other than the redoubtable Michael Nadeau I did not feel very much startled ove the news, but concluded to wait f • develope men's. They came nooner than I expect ed. On the itorrow HourPtcn and myf-elf were coming from the fur store, where we were eu'ja ed packing fui-^, to our break- fast, when we were met by this newly im portfd oiiampion. We politely wished him good morning to wljich he replied wico a sort of half grunt. Hu immediately turned to my friend and at-ked hiiu if his name wtis Hourslon. My friend meeklv replied that ii was. "Well, I understand,' said ne, "that you have been looking for me." "I was not looking for you very much in particular," replied Willie, "vet tleyer- theless I am always glal tu meet with a good man." ••Take care," said Nadeaii, "you had better keep vourselt quiei, you 4re nc match for me." "Weel, weei," said Willie, "that may be •'»'/ own to the )0D a8'th« "•ews jump ding their 9 emplQjred one of U9 npanv who I Rtout raT7 intfelf very ; airs, and e crowd of 'dipilainful ing in my lual might in of the WHS none ael Niideau d ove the develope n I expect [inu are nc hat may be w Ll.FK TN RTTPBRT»S LAND IN THE OLDKN TIME, tint we Mona ken mucle aboot that tiU'w«| wfy hard to do." U try." Bv this time all hand« nnder«too4 that "Tell me about il" qnnth Mr. L . Hovrston prooeedtd to give a<:ircu>w there waa , W)mPthing a^.tit »nd in a little Mantial acoounl ot fie whole affair, an.t time tue beUigerenta were Burrounded by a crowd of Scut»;h an I Fre-ioa ir.»iii the Nadeaa made a Wind turH at Hour-ton but somehow his left ear happened to run again(H H< nrston'R fiHt and the shock, I (iuppose cau'^ed hi w to tall oo hii* back. ThiB Criilifig accident aerroed toruflS^' h,!-* temper conBid«rat>l«.,a«d gelling up in a rnge, made a blind ru^h i«» catch Hour^ton by the throat, but a well direcleil blow into the br*ad ba^kei by H».urHton'H fist laid him: on the gronad hmp as a bagJul of old cloihew. This wa- ilie rtnii'hing touch, he lay fleiipelest. for a time, when Hourston turned *;a inly around i-» >iie French and i-aid: "BovH, tak' up yu'r man, I think he ib rather f*ick " Tiie French looked crextfalidn, they eaw that their hopoe of suprem«uy were btasi ed forever. The great Michael lfad^a^ hod met his match and goi the wornl ot It. On the day followmg that event, Hour« ton and I were proceed iui to our work in ihe ftir store, ne u^ua', and on our Wiiy passmg the master's houae, we ub-ierved Chief Factor L a big burlv BhhIihIi, man ta\iug aquiet walk in front «)f the building. On perceiving us he called out in a ii>tentorian voice: "Hi, boy 6 come here.' On our approach he thus aildreBned Hour-ton, "Well, Willie, you thrashed thai Frenchman yesterday." wound up hv saving, "He tried to grip m<», by »he throat, ^vlien I up with my fi'^t and gave him one like that," at the naipe tin e •uit'Bg the action to the word, he planted a double header into the pit of Mr. L— '*> Ptomach, which sent him nprawling over thi sidewalk. This waH ocular demonstra tion with a vengeance, with which Mr. L was more than Batiffitd. As a rule it indicates suprenie pleasure when people are more \h»n eatisfled with anything, but in thiB iufit^nce the leverse was the cane. \|r. L r gatherel himpe'f to his feet, Bwearujg black an 1 ame dfcpline that was meted oui to Mr. L Ye Sir George Simpson was respected by all tlie servtMiis ot tli» compa y. In laci he was ibe beau id^'i! »»" a good master, knd and considerate to all under hi> chHrjre, more especially to the laboring olasH'"ottl.econ.U)unitv. If any di?piUe would an e between a mast.'r and one .d his servants, Sir George w-.i.l I n. variably t,ike|ilie part of the servant. He was fond oft* nchjuke. ..i.(U...iuNt'.l it none the less wb< n perpe rated on himself In those early davs some of t lie masters or chief traders got the name of being rather inclined to yrannize over their ^e^vanls, but in nine cases out of ten I ho fault lay with the class of ser'-auts with which ihev had t.) deal. The musters who bore t./is charactsr were mostly of the old flchool deacen-lenl* of the Montreal Northwest Fur Company who in the ear'y days had only French Canadians and Iruod humor and straightway treated the cot)k to a stiff glass ot brandy, which in those J , UFK IN VT'^'^.i.rs r.WD IN THE OLDSN TIME. . days wrtP a panucea tor all noren there Veinj? no tfinperance Ipcturerp in the rank ihe cuinpany. Tl»e n.a'^ter ami the Or lull wer"; fast friemls after tiiat little epipode. During the lime that Governor Simpoon and ihe PHveral ctticers of the Hnd^on'i* Bay Company reiiiftined at Norway HonPe there wan no want uf amiisentetit. The banlo' of the river were lined with encamp HienlP of lioHt- crewH from »imosi cverv part of the connfry, wiili the exoiption of tho Mackenzie River Diserict. The crewn were a strange inixmre of Orkneyiren, Scotch Highlunders, Freach and Engli-h iiaWbreedb and C:ee Indians 1 hev were. ineee«l, a muiley crew, and while remain inn at Norway Hou-'e, hud notiiing to do lilt to eiipu,(' 111 fHiit- (>f tttreniith and ag'l itv, t-iiig .'•ontj^n and jfamhlt' with cards and dice. Mofil of the Flinch were i;ood ning- ers and were the principal hoii -ters of the iiHiltiinde that wer^ gatliend io>;eihtr liiere. After ili«' C'lincil wu- over Sir n<'r>r<.'e SimpHnn Homeliuies went lo Yo k Factoiy aii'i ai vitli«r ciuierv vitiiied U' •; Kiver, be tort- uiK leiurn lo Moulrea), but chiefly to the laiter place, an he waw ^("nt-raily called U'toii hv ilie aeltlt-r'J along the hank** <.f tliH Rfd iliverto ^etlle Home dUloul'y or other. Afier the dep-^riure «fshe rjovernor em h* hiiiiailf td' htitrti lool' heir wav hoiii' wiinl-, itiid with hem weir all my c >mrad tha ^le out with - e 'ilipl> C"."nil'ia, .-« iiie to Athaha-kiiCiiiiih r and aiid i.ac ia pii..r. I (in*, vv..- ieti oi ai! of'in'ii. Ti e tt>r»t ht'iii;[HM piu-ked up atid Heni away, I w!l^ taken by Mr. Barns ton to work in the garden. This pleased me very much, the work was not hard, and I had ample lime fbr study. Mr. BarnHton and familv wer« often in the garden and would ehat pleasantly with me As for Mr. Barnston himsolf, he often worked with meaiu'. was a' ways imparting pome useful knowledge to me He was well versed in etomology and would spend a great deal of lime in trlling me the habits of the different in-^ectiJ we met with in the garden In f^ct Etomology was his hobby and I am afraid I imposed a good deal on the old gentleman on that account. For nsiance he wouM come out into the gar- den seeming' in a great hurry tn have something or other done, and would make m*> work pretty haid — a little more than I caied faz. tiit-v' ate aiKi^drank and when tiieir lieart was merry thev laid down to re.st. I now began to think I was going to be IN * LI.FE IN RUPERT'S LAND IN THl OLDEN TIME. r;.\ kept a Norway hoiiM- a-* a ««"ri ot |i'i'e Of Mr, Barri'^ton, l*ii' I wa- iniHtHken. On lie 28th of A»i^:it-« 1852, I rn!»'ivp.l oider- toenihark f«i«- l*un died off in PC -hortrt fiiue, and 1 durcMiiv Bonif will Link I hrl coinuiiited xonie faul' wilt n ordered rff«o h nmiHrilv, bii thiH wan not the cane. Tli h wrt«* the iteiier al cu-t<'ii> in rh» CrmpHiiv'" -ervice. It r-'HeinIt ed heiiig in tlie armv or navy, not one e.onld be wure how he wh» i(» he di?' td oH wi lie ai lie ('« niiiMiiv'f fortf. One receivid III?- o'd Tf hnii had toohev. Al tiMt lime I I »d n»vfr lieanl of Ber- fti'- River , an, wh»-i||t-r I Imd any poriajre-' to eiifoniiier in jr'ttiii'/ »here uii what wt-r*' :he characterH of th** men 1 had I thUe |»aM'8;>e.wiili, i.h> enquiry I foniui tliM' I'm H n's Kiver wu^ ik»I far f'oni N'«m way HtiUi^e, neiii^ merely nii omi-o-t oi tiiai diftrici and -uiuned Imf way hetwteii th t p'ace atiil Red River, on l^nke Wnm p y, and llial iiifie were no rapid», poi ta^ie- nor iraekiiiy; on tiie WHV ilii Ijt. 1 further learned thu th" po-t wan in chii-jje of sert Ciuuming I imm'idirtely >rot my traps put together ami after hiddiiifr jiutid hve to my many friends al -Norway Hoii-e, I ;iOt in lioard the h ai destined for Beren'M River. I tound that the crew con-^i!-led of Indiann w.th the exception dt the skipper, who was an Orney half-bree.i named Thomas Harper, and son-in-law nf Mr Cumm:n};s I felt sorry at leaving Norway House, where I had rp<>nt a vear so happily and where I had formed s-o may acquaintan- ces. But then all my comrades who had come out with me in th*- hip, were )lor.f^ and even if I had rem>'lnee ••xpecle ., I knew othinjr aUmt it, but then it was not my first time to be thrown alone auion}; ^irangera and work ed niy way, antl why not now? f learned from Thomas Haruer thai Reren's River was a small place where only three men were kept. That at pre^-en tliers wtT only two, that was H r| er himself and an Otkneyman named William Waters We left Noiwav Hou^e ati'mt noon and ■fioi up a» far as Plitvt>reen L»ke where we eiicamp'.d for the nitrlit This Lake ifl iin mediately north of Lake Winnipetr troni^ which i< is 8eparateJorway House was situated but now call fd Wai reii's Landing On the next night we got into Lake VViunip'-g, which at first sight l->oked like an oiien •'ea. Wo reached the first p(.ini at till' entrance of the lake on the east sidi vvhi"'h IS called Montreal Point, the |.K»int opposite to it OP the west side is cai.ed Mos-y Point. We had to encamp al Mon treal point on account of th'' wind being too adver-ie and b'owmj: v ry strong. On thisaccount we had to remain here i.>r three days. On the fourth dav the wind eel in gt»r ii iiii|;h oing lo, H8 h'\Ufi alMMit time i«i he Hri'i work I leHriied ren's River three men tlierM wfr •elf and au Bter.M It noon nmt e where we Luke ifl iin nipetr trotn t chaiine!, which iiM it iiuw call into Lake l-xikeii hke flrnt |M>iui he east nidi t, the p(i\nt m cal.ed inp at Mnii *itid betiij; ry strong. %in here tor iv the wind ; urid«»rwHV I.' wiiorewe 1 the wind Hi>w<:'ver, ■rover th t ailor, bcit'jr little fresh ?, HuH when be look of the f»ky thai it was n<.int? to hl.w, fo In j their way acroM the AilanMc. At tl»e ron^erjnnce »iei ween the two we made tune ol my arrivnl «»i II i"-!'-* Uiver h« but hIoa pro-.Te"!". ■ "'•" al»oir Hitlv-flve v^ftr-" of a m, hn^ -♦HI Wehivaithe Spi.ler I-land- for three »»•*'«•"'• ^-gorouH. We arrived at Ihren'a day^. The weather w.i- fair nu.^. of the , K'V" aUmt fonr o'clock inlhe afternoon time, hnt Mr. HariK-r wa- a great nkv and Mr. ( umminsrs kept me with him nn reuder aitil held that It wii" g'tnif to hlow til dnylightof next morning. I then went |»-U-| O'l'l lirm ■•■■•< 11 »i f. - f,- '••fl, •w ...-i- •• _ hard. 1 ha.l no .h.rhl al>oui hin pro^noHti the men h hoUMean it w„s called, and tWrew eatinM- ... H .t.Mu, If ue wouLI wait lo..^' j n.v.elf on the bed where I .hpt till nearly enoii -h f"«rii BiK wliile t he weatlier waw **'^**" filiewfcoul«l K.'p iMi veitHon whv we did not pr ceed ami jret on an far a" we c .nld Tht only white man at Beren'n river, n)««r» from ^'r Ciimmingw, was or:e Bnr »til' I -.-If atioiii i V' illimn Watej", a mm from Kirkw»ll, the m I'e', one p'atie wif^ H'* i»«ioit ii« an otlier tit iiiH. .11 |..ti>r 11- i liHii p'eiitv !•> ea' ill) t iit'tf u> i • I ti I II •! iiiiic.li m>itter where ! wh-. Ii wii>j <|iiite m «lift'»"enee froir inv r'p lip the rivfiH fr.»m Ytuk J\iet«ir\. .iiir ln, poriHiiif inornhH ami n li> 1. vv IohIh to «Mr V. The I'ldhrM hii'iiijf I l»'iitv to eat unit ^h to diirry. Uiii- -kiiip^T loiik thiiiir-' vt'iy i-oolv, then wliHi WHO I that I nhoird comiihtii,? Orkney, a Hlioemaker by trade. He wan a <P'r little fellow, with anyamonntof I iiij^uae, rather aiMicted to HettiNg forth hi- own exploits'. But, however, that d d iioi concern me mttcti, I let my uifw friend do the Hjieakin-t v. Iiile I sat nnd listened Ht the BMine time wonderini; Mhatsortofa lie wji-i to have at ihi« place. At fir-t it feemed tn me lh:u it was2<>ine to he u lonely >*\\o\, Inil thtit did not tjonble me much,! had Bevenil hook-i,| Mr. Ciin- iiiinif'' hnd a unmher more, find the nia»<- ter himself, heinu quite an inteilig'^nt con However af er tt-n dav- from leavii g I v"rsHlionain»t, I ho..n fuu.id mynelf at Norwa\ Hun-i' vve : rr V'd at Keivti'- river wht^ie [ WHS kiiidiv received by Mr. Cum ho'iie, The oocnpints of the \!ienM' hotne were • Mil :h, whom I found i.. tie .i kinlly old i Thomas Harper and his wifeand two genii' man who hud b en 'ii th» Companv'P ' cbi dreii.Ht geiher wi h W Wafr* and hervue (or over foriv years. I wh-" not loiijr with him ht-fore I found hat he was very inteJiiLjeni and had a fund >if informa tioti with regard to the ('ompany's service in ol'ien 'ime when the keen competition vva- (;ar ied • n between the Hudson*- B ly Company and the Northwest Fui o> mpaiiv mv-eK. Ill the ma te - ^'.nifcc vheir resided Mr. Cummin^-- liii* w i^e and two j/ruwii up d iiifhteis, and anon almr t. a v»'»rMof ^jre The-eall comprised iho nilective strength of the Fort. Beren'c river i« Bitnated o'l the ea-» •I(^e ffLiike \V'iiiiiip«jr, wliH 1, iihtue WU-' ..c of VI on I real. He came out f'-om the old I preiiient and mo-t pictn Ov|ne >»po ati-nud con try, somewiiere at.oni the year 1812 'he Lake, 'llie Hnd- imN Ray |.iopi -s fiii or 1813, at least tt was durinir the laiter aied in-ideot'adeep 1.. y altno llandhck d yeaiH of the French war, as he told me they with the rivei llowins: down !he»;eiiire o' were chaf-ed by a Fi och privateer on the lav. The bay v\a- doiteu all i.ve LIFE IN RUPERT'S LAND IN THE OLr.EN TIME. ■ i ill!' with a number of Pinall inletf), each one •domed with aiufi ol spruce trees, looking very pretty m ih*- puminf^r liine. The ground all ronnd, however, is very rorky being nothing Im bft'l^ ot jiruniie with mosKy uiikisliPH in the lower parts covered with stnnted fiprucc In a place like thi8 anyatteiiipt at agric Itura is out of the qneHtion. '1 here was a little garden at the place, but th^ '•oil waa nothing hut white mud whicn would hardly rai^e anvihing. Ah a Consequence, at the tiuieofiny retii dence tiiere it wa^* a po')r place iu the way of living. At sea.-ons there were plenty offish and that ouiiHiituted our only tliet. But there were some eeasona wuen the catch of fl-h was wonderfully f mall and .•ueh case'* as t'.at the only »hing left for up to do was to tie our belt» ti>;luer over our abduinen und dream of tiouie. bread, butter and roadi beef. I found trial at Beren's river one came more in lonuot with the Indiana. I he tmly Icidii.n.s ui Norway Hon -e were ihocv- living al RoxsviHe, the Methodini mission a y 8itttion, andtltese were in a manner Ci vi];zed leiii^brou)>ht under the influence of the gxcpeland hud cast a>i(ie and for g;tf*/i tiieir heaihenish rile.s of worKhip. Al Beren'H Kiver it wa quite the revei^e, here the Ind.aiis were more numerous*, and besides th'-y were siili in a Dtate of ignorance with regard to the Chrisiiun reli gion. I was going to pav they were --till uncivilizeti, liii th>it wou'd be saving t(tr to the wiM un'utored heathen at lb" ri.'-k ^of being couPuined by public opinion, I would unhe-^iihtingl* piefer fall into the hands of the unconverted Indmn. I do not deny that much tr<"'d h»«' beeo done amongnt the aborigines in Rupert'* Laml l>v faithful workers in the cause of Cliristianity. yet, no unprej'idiced percons who M lit alt auqoainte<) with the circum- stances I ppeak of can deny that the Indian in addition to learning Christianity, hai alsolearne.i einiii;;ii of the white ma .'s vices almost if not wholly to oounlerbalHace any good he might have imbibed. Ther« have been many bright t'XHmple.-« of ehrist anity Hmon;; the Indians tliiii have come 1 nd«rmyown obsernation, ve' wh< n one oomeo to compute the amount of money that has been s^pent in ti»e endeavor tocon vert iheaborig neet' of Rupert.'?. Land, one cannot elp ctiming to the conchfion that the lefull lias been very birren indeed That is in real 6o»a_)JtZc con ver-i ions. I iiad noj'ooner got FettieiJ at B^ren's River than I had totioto work, and at this time it was nearly all n the wa'er, havinjj togi> out fishing every jay. We had skifl* and bircii iuirk CH::oe-, but aftei* going s»ut in iht canoes, I preferred lii ni,thry being lighter to handle, and much ^a•er in a heavy sea on the lake itian a Hai bottomed skill'. 1 well remember the first time I tricl lO navtgaie a hircn bark canoe. It was at Norway House when one beiiutiful after noon a few nt theyt)U"g haiid^ at tlie fort look It ill I Heir liejt Ih to h ive atriil lu working a bircli bark canoe, i weni among the re-t, «ni\ h»x beea in Rupert'* lift cHiise of iced percoDS ihecircutii- t the Indian uaaiiy, hai rime tii« .'s iiiierbHiHace mil. Tlier* e.-* ot fhrijit iiavt> come e' will n one 1 1 of tiioney '•avor to con M Land, one clii«ioii thai Vxfn indeed, -iions, at B^ren'a , and at this i'er, havidj; e had skit!* ei-jjoiii^ Witt , thr-y heirig ^a'er in a ill holloiiied lie I trie I lo It n-a^ at ufit'ul after at llif fort e atriil i>i •eni among ' hair in tiie w»-re jK'rfeof i of a caiiotf By keeping ?d to ptd lie • I aWiirkfd tl a-* a caiius man. Bat Mtiuig down in the bottom of making three raeals « day. HoweTer it ia the canoe did not «ut me, it wa*« too hum wonderful how Boon 1 got ut.ed to it and ble a position for me. True, everybody through time never took * thought of it who worked in a can »e «at thu", but I made nure I conl ' do better, therefore, in order to nho* off mv a^jilitv •'<) n\ up in my frail craft, aa I proposed to paddle while in thic p^J-i'ion. B'lt. lo! and b< hold, the Salt wan a scarce artida at that time. Each ser ant of ths company wai allowed one quart of salt per year, for which he had to pay eighteen pence, or thirty-six cents. Sugar was more easily obtained ennoe-hot fr.nn under me an if I had t.*-en than salt, as each man was allowed of thai • taiiSing on a blown bladder, whil-f Ito..k dive headtormo«r into he whist Oi coining to the surface I perceiAed my < aim floatin>r right side up some disian>te front me I maiiazed to get to the shot e a' 1 right while ►ome of the others* who wer- iti the bay broiigrit my cnnoe to land. B'lt ihi« jitlle episode cured me of anv de«ire to show ofl'any more Hew ta-.^l^ij oientiion in paddl n_' araiioe. Theold way was the bent way after all. From the fad that th** powi at B reu's River wa-i "6 miii'li enclo «m| bv tif land we had a long «a,% to row out tuiM- ti-hing groimdnon thi l-.k«'. T.i-vi-f ir- nn witidy commodity twelve pounds a year, at the iiu derate price of one shilling a pound. Our yearly allowance of tea was four pounds a year at two shillings a pound. Otir general mode of cooking whitefish was at breakfast by boiling tht-m, and, when boilea, empty the whole affair, ish liquor and all into a tin dish, throw a fsprinkliug of salt thereupon and seizing iiur ep-ions fell to without ceremony. At supper time, hav:ng a little more time on our hands, wa were a little more par- ticular. Artr liAviiv^ takdii the scales off our vvhisedsh and the entrails taken out. we had I* carefully washed. We attached ia.vs ^» hen th- w-.t.r whs r.-u-t. ,i wa. no •'«'t cord to the tail and hung it up m small U'l ertal'ing to get out to e)nr nets bui in calm w^aih r it was not .-o bid I found that at this piaue wm wr-ri* oimfi'ied to t,w<, ineaN a day, a vvhite iMi beina the aliownnct* PHch iiijin at a iinal. This was plenty of fi'h n^i droib>, Init v* heie ^^a-" toe brend or potatoes? AIh«, there wa-« nr.rs.-- cf either, so in coii-equencee it wa- fi«h for br-^akfa^t, ditto for '■upi) r a^d ditto front of a blazing fire in the ciiimney, where it hung until it was nicely done bro« n. The 6uri)lu8 fish we caught were by no means thrown away. We had a loto hiingry dogs to feed during the suMmer which were kept at the post during the vinttT wiiiier drawing the dleighs when out visiting the Indians. At Norway for next inorntngai breakiast ugnm. The I House there were generally kept from reason that we ha.l only wo um als a day j ^f^y '" ^'^^r -^ogs. These were not kept wa- lee u^e we hoi no time to lake any at the fort during the summer, more, havinir 'o siart out to the lake im- The dogs were sent toa distant island in mf-dately afte» brt^afka-t andasii rule i] d the lake where they were kept bv an Indian not return ttntil late in the evening '•o un whose emp'oyment was lo fish for th sole le^sw.' took our dinner iin-l -upper on benefit of the dogs. When in the fall the top of each other we had no oihtr way of ice became sufficiently strong enough for : % m i 'i i ■\v. LIFE IN RUPERT'S LAND* IN THE OLDEN TIME, them t'owaik upon "thev were retWiied 'lo'orljfv we iiad very irongh weather on tlie fiif the fort. The dogs of the Hiul"»on*f^'iiay Conipany were' of a riond'-cnpC ureed. Prom the Ititiali^ cur to the G^qni'niea'ux ■Tedgedogf" tlify'wefeof 'altphapes "and aizen. In fact they were a mong-ef breed At Beren's Riverwe had"a'bouitl»irty dogi ^hicb required a good many n-fj to sup- port. Agam ifwe Had more fill itan Ihe dogs conld'eat'we had alwuyn ar'roWd of Indian women and children aroii'tid the post who were ita'ly tonnatch upanvthing b thi" way of siirplas fish /tiat inigjitlbe lying ai'ound.'Sonjetimes the wear her was BO rough that we could not go oiit to the nets. In a case like (hut, m^'ifai^ nf our u^ual grantum of fi-'h diet, we generally took an exba smuke of tobacco JEind laid down in eweei contentment and moral'zed upon the uncertainity of ali thing-, ettpeci ally the wpather. The dogs in the old Hudson's Biiy Com puny limec, and are yet put to mo're iisef* than iravelli'iir in trading with Indians' In places where no cattle itr lior'es vere Kept they did duty in' hauling firewood and even building lo^H. I have nefu three do;rs haul a Slick out of the wood< which woufd be quite a pull for a couple of oxen. In tliis way w«i hud to haul our firtrwood ulMefiy at Beren's Rivea. V\'e had a tew cows her*- I think tMO or three and a bull. I u^ed to draw woo^ast, and we Imd not a few quarrels, for he hud a custom On the road lioiitewards lu sec otf al tuii tilt, and very often I'-ave the load of wool scattered here and there by the road^i(le. The dog" were more iraciatile ainl would ai all tiinen biing he load luiine in saletr* My chief work, however, at Beren'f* River was nshing. i iiUcd the business very well lake, sometimes, which was \tr6ublesome As well'as 'dangerous; for after a storm we wore usee! to find our sets full of driftwood g '■>■•■'■ ■ ' •■/■<'' i ^^ ■"' V" " ■ '■■■ . and rotten stick" which tooir ns sometime to clear out. To the fsl! of ^hi year we used tocatch a great many ducks: in the nets wi>o in diving after the finh got entaagled . in the' nets. . ; ^ - I Is the fall of the year wheti the cold weather set in we took up th« nets and waited until the ice «>rt fast and theA w^int to work and «et our nets under the ice, which was done ini this fashion: Ai" 8t>on as the ice on the lak* was strong enoughto bei«r u»» up we look our dogs and sleighs jand wtnt into the wood? and got a goodly number of pine boughs which we planted in the ice on the lake about Hfry vards uparr, wlirch was to guide u^^sin and outto the fi-hing groundf* which v# ea ou" nine orten uiiieaout intothe lake. Witliont 'his precaution we would certainly lose our way in stonny weather when the snow drifieii CO iniich thai, we could hardly see fifty yards ahead of us. "r e manner ot ("etting our nets under »he ice'was by cutting holes iu.the ice about five <»r six feel apart • nd then pas» intr a long pole under the ice to which was attached a line. This pole was then shoved from one hole to another under the ice while the line was drawn under to tns 1. ngtii of I wo nets. After this Sein^doiie the nets were made t:isi to the eh only the two end holes were ope.ied every li ither on the trbubieHoiiie r ft storm we I of (iriftwooti (18 norne tiine 1^ year we u«ied I in the nets got entasgled hen the cold he nets and n(i the A w^nt iider the ice, tiion: A<" w>on )t)g enough=to » and sleighs got a jioodly ch we planted It rtfry varda sin and .out to ) ea' ou* I'ine ke. Witliont certainly lot>e hen the 8now d hardly see «r nets nnder »» in. the ice nd then pass tu which waft \« then Hhoved iijder the ice umler to ttis is Sein^ 'lone lie eh ope.ieil every So \ ')j LI.F^ TN itUPERT'S LA!?D IIS TflEJ OLpEN^TIMB, ;i i'y to reach bur des^tiriatien, one wav « f anbiher; w luoul freezing some part of oni hands Or face. Tnalea^t exposure ot«'at^ tiose or han li' reniiered th«.n liable l^' be nipped by iho fio^t. At liiivea our faces would-be flnpediike the skin of a zebra with places whete the frost had can »'hi :hohl of ON. My ears and nose generally 'Ufferid the mo>t, bui I have gol som- -evere bites on the bands too The frosi is'feo inaidlous thai one very often gets hit ten without knowing it. It \* riot gener illy the place that feels cold that i* most I aide to be caught hui the place where you do not feel it at all The severest nip 1 ever got was one day when working har*- hang aViout two hundred cnildren and about that a man got two whitefi-*li a day, wilil^ Ljjx hundreddogs. Mr.Cmumi'>gs told the each dog had only one, but both dojjs and men were fed out of the H^ • pile. The me I at «he post, therefore, had the lnxur> of twomtali* a day, while iliedo;;shHd only one. At that time, however, u .JIJ not Heem to affect n>e verv muvjli, hut now on lookini: buck uyoii it I tlunk tbat it was rather gruesome. A< I have said b f -re, at the time I wa- at Hercn's River I bad a l-eticr npportnnitv of III Ivtiiii the Indmn in hi* p'iiiiiiive etat- than at Norwcy Ho-tse, where they are monlly con-erteu to iiie Cnrislian faith T..f liiiian- at B*'' '- Riv*''" were jn-t fi- nal ne made ih'- I.UI I Will not clasj- them a8 niic MliZ"d, b?CHUse I cannot Irnliifnllyapp'V i lie ter-n t.. i. peop'e whom ] bad leuniPtJ to revere f..r iheir seiis»i of jurtiice and iruilifu'ness. I remember that »t one tine there na.sa cciti •• convirtcd Indism mis-ionary of the Meliiod *»t ctiuroii ca tie to Btreii's river on one of hi- canoe irip^ f'om Beiei.'s river. H s name wiis Fetter Jacobs. While at BerenV River he wi-hed lo have some talk with the Indian- who were encamped 01, th- other Hi 1-- of. he river. A- our nta-ter was an excellent Indian echoiar and <'*J"ld Hpiak he Indian lantiuaa- fluenllv Mr. .Jacobs invned Mr. Cum- n.tng' loaccompiiiy lum. He, knowing ,ny desire lo get acq-ia nted with the Indians that he had brouglit with him a man of their own Nation who wished to speak with them on the white man's reli gion, and begged them to give him a patient hearing, to which the Indian'* gave a gninlot aKsen?. The Rev. Mr. Jacobs 'hen began his oration by relating to them , he account of the Noachin flood. His harangue lasted for some considerable lime, the subitance of which I, of course uonld nf>t updcrsiand, not being verged in rl.e Indian language, bull noticed .Mr. Cummings smiling on several occasions It would appear from what I learned afiPrwaids, that Mr. Jacobs himself had bnt a very imperfect knowledge of tin- Holy .Scriptures, and in consequence msde some veiy serious blnnders , nty adnlls and about gR told the nth him a wished to man's reli ivro him a idiHn'> gave ^Ir. Jacobs ng to them flood. Hilt Dusiderable , of course g verged in noticed Mr. occa-^ions^ L I leaf n«'d himself had of tin- Holy made sortie which was ah hiid four 'tie Iii'li.'uis, vely tu'th Mr. Jacobs Hoipe 'in»e ) brain the h the I ruih t there were •e only three e" liis ntistake. ^/ LiF? IN auPEET;a land in the olden time. but Mr , Jacobs op3(the matter quite eooly saying that the Indians did not know but that he waa right, and perhaps WQbld never know to the contrary. Coming towards spring in the latter part of March I was sent along with Mr. Har per to look after the Indians and find out what their winter's catch of fursamount ed to. We went on snowshoes as usubI and had two trains of four dogs in each train.. Our route lay across Lake Winn i peg to the west side, passing up the little Saskatehewan and by Fairford np to Lake Manitoba, and all the s.urroundiug country We were absent ab..ut three or four weeks and visited several encampments of Indian We found that the Indians had made a good hunt and there waa a goodly supply among them of beaver, mink, marten, otter and both red and silver foxes, with a sprink ling of furs of lesser value, such as lynx, badger, wolverine and bkunk. We took very few of these with us, as these were in the palmy days of the Hudson's Bay Company, there being no opposition trader in those dayfl, and that being the case we were sure that every skin would be brought into the post when navigation opened so that the Indiaus could come in with their canoes. On our return travelling was very heavy ' on account of the snow beginning to melt 80 that during theday when the sun began ' to get warm the snow was reduced to a watery slush which filled onr, snow shoes makmg theni very hard to lift ihis kind of travelling is apt to produce what IS called snow shoef^nowshow sickness 'thai It- the sinews of the leg ar apt to get cramped and gather up in a knot in the calves of tlie leg which is exceedingly psin ful. Another very annoying t ling at this btintii year was , snow btmdnesB. ali day with Dothine but . the J time of tlie Travelling all day witti Dotning glare of the sun uptm the snow to lo^ at tries the eyes very much, wbic&is oot^felt inucb during the day, l^iii wheq night comes, it lli the very mischief. I^he suffex ing from that is soiiietning intenBe. I Lave been ia a high fever with it, wtijle i would roll in agony on the ground, with a feeling Somehow that my eyed were VSl^'of'^liot burningsalrti. ' " ' " ' ''* n C our retur on thip trip ^lule in . Ihe middle of Lalce Winnipeg we w^pre. oyer taken by a terrific snowstorm. The ^jnd blew fiercely* and the snow was falling thickly^ no land could be s.een for w^ could not discern six yards ahea^ of jja^ ^ ^ T'l^us being exposed to the fury of the tempest without shelter and not knowing Jffhioh way to proceed, for we had lost our re,ckon ing, our only alternative was to let, thiji^gB take their course and follow the dogs to whei-ever they might lead us. We there "'i . ° • . .-1.;;'.. ' ■ I J :>• ■' . fore let the dogs go ahead and w^hout driving them kt them And their ]wray. Thus we travelled tHrough tlie blinding storm all day, with an intense cold, wh;ch we did not mind much as we kept ourselves toler ably warm by walking. The storm kept up all day and now darkness was coming down upon us, and we could not help begin ning to think that we were rather in a bad way. But just about dark we struck land but what land we could not tell, but we ere glad to see it nevertheless. We got up into the bush and hastily gathered a few dry sticks and made a fire with flint tmder and steel; we had no matches in those days. We cooked a whitefish each of tis, aiid thawed out one for each o f the dogs, and then gathered more wood and made a roar I i' !f ••^^B^fW^ft' LIFE IN ilUPBRT'8 LAND IN THE OLDEN t'lMB. jl*y4jJ^|^Wr^i, A^tj^ )yiPS^40\^D,Lc9qln It v»ai8 well they did iv;^t kpfivfj. , I,b?|d gone ' tbroujjji perils oil the b^ijjj^deep, aod novf jf;f<>und that there, are qpepot, danig«r,OD land as Veil aa on 894.. P.Q theraorrpw ifj^en we,awakened,up w8 to\\u^ oursejves on the Birch lalan Js^, about Jialf w.*y. be- 'tween the Litile^ Saskatchewan, JEiiyer.and Keren's River^ The mojnjp^^"? cle^r jand, cold with very little vy>n4* SQ^ye.bitphpd up our dogs and §tart,ed for hoy)e about two o'clock in the afternoon, |,,^lvupt,coqfe8» i was thorougly exhausted, ipy,limbs_ wer«5 stiff from 8t>inuch beajry snowhoe tranip ing and I was thorougt^jy. euow blind, . I had many trips on anawshoes,, before tbat but nevea such a hard one, ,. „ Howpver, it 18 seldom ^hat misfortunes cQiae sip^e ^ad it was po in this case. N© , gponer thj^n I began torepover from the iU "(^ffec^s of thjs voyi^ge, than I caught a malig , nant fevejf aod a^soretb.roat, ponsequeut I " suppose,, unon the.eev^re fatigues I ha undergone,. I was unable to swallow anv ppunabn^ent, even M there was any to be *baort of dialect betwern the Cree and the Chippewa; boib sides being understood by them vet dtffenng some wh'atfrumeith'^r. At the time I am writing these Indians knew nothing whatever of of the Christian religion, they might have heard ot it from their brethren at Norway Hous(;but were utterly ignorant of its meaning. The Indians of Norway UoBse who were converted to the Christian relj gion were mostly Crees, as I have said, a shade different from th^ Bungay's of Beren's river. We had hardly anything in common and did not have much inter course with each other, except it might be when the men worked together in the com pany'«< l>oat8 in going anl.reluruing from York, Factory, Their religion* notmonotn^iitic by anv means, for they had god^ i»a»v and lordrf many. Of course there were tAvo pnnci pal one:^, natuely G.-eche • Msnitou,. th -Great Spirit, and Matehe Manitoii, tii» ;2vil Si-irit; but there were a set of undf lings, as it'were, too numerous to mention for everything in nature almost, both un i mate and inanimate, had itfc 'presiding deity. Every kind of beast, bird and even fish had 1 ts attendant Bpirit. And then ihc four winds of heaven weieso many epirilK 'the Bun, moon and star?, the clouds, light niri^ an 1 than l^r h U eao'i it-t ^pirit, all o whicu influenced the lives ot the poor Indian. It maybe well suppised that with such a multitude of divinities in their sacred catalogue, snper.stion would be ram part, which wrs the case. Mmy of these eupert'titions were no donV)t sad to :ontem plate, while otheri of them were comical in'the extrtme. With regard to the the two principal divinities, Oeetche Manitou and Matehe Manitou, the Indians worship the latter. According to tneir belief the Great Spirit, is certainly the Supreme Ruler of all things, tven over Matehe Manitou, the Evil Spirit; but he is wiore particularly the tutelar deity of the white man and is too highly exalted to take at.y in'.erest ia the poor Indian. Furthermore he is the the person ificatiun of goodness itself, and will not willingly injure any pooi Indian unless he wantonly tries to do harm to the white man. This l-elief among the natives was a great factor in keeping the Indians from molesting the servants of the company in any way. During my residence at this i m HI (Sf,tfts^^.i...mi if ^ LLFK IN RUPERT'S LAND IN THl OLDEN TIME. -: '■ ; — : — ■ — '——. >- • 'i'-^ iT ■ ' 'i'. place I never had an angry word with an ' \n winding up h« prayei", presented the Indian in any way to seriously impair the friendly intercourse we had with each other. True, their greatest orinoe against U8 wa8 in stealing a whitefidh or two from ttk when we landed with our accustomed haul from the neta; but we never showed mucb anger agninst them for that. Poor creatures, when I think of that time now I think I would give them half Of all I poHsespfd, for I am apt to look back with a kind of mental regret for the pleasant times I spent among these unsophisticated ' children of nature. But to return to their religious creed ; Geeclie Manitou being goodness itself, and confequently incapable of wilfully injur-' ing either Indian or white man in any way, these; f>eople .thought there really was no necessity in propitiating the favor of such a harmless being as that ; there- fore thev set him aside as one from which they had nothing to fear. But Matche Manitou, the Evil Spirit, being being not an imp of the devil ; but the deVll himself was the object to be dreaded whose favor tbey ought to endeavor to obtain, and whose wrath tbev ought to conciliate to ilte best of their ability. But still, after all, according to their belief he was not such a malignant personage a^ our theo- logicans ometimen paint him. He could by repeated supplications and offerings be persuaded to do a good turn to his sup- plicants some time. Hence there was a kind of halt friendly feeling tov^ards hi^ Satanic Majesty among tho Indians which I can hardly blame them for. Even among the clergymen of my own loyed Scottish hom^ a kind of sympathetic feel ing ip exhibited for his brimstone majes- IV. For instance a Scottish clergymen,^ everything animate or inanimate following petition: "And nd<),0 Lord, if It be thy will, dae thou hae mercy on the puir deil, an' a' the praise snd glory shall be thine, Araea." On anqther occasion a Scotch parson, in tha course of his sermon, made the following remark, ■*Nae doot the word deeril may be the proper English; but I mysel' prefer call- ing him thedeil, it soonds mair freeodly like.!' With such examples before us we can not blame the poor Indians very much for their affejitiopat?; fee)fng r- ,i. ,*.<.. » -"< The next duty of im-porlance fo Indian mythology is Wes8e«-kte«jack, a Bort of gentleman foreman grtd, whosfl' bnsirtess seems to have been to superintend and direct the work of cr ation and overseaing thing" in general afterwards. i. 1 In the work of creation having first rhade the trees and herbs of the field, n^x» turned hi« hand to make all the iinimals reptiles, fowl and fish ; but at that time there was a great scarcity of light upon the earth, the sun at that time being ofily an occasional viHitor to this globe. Anxious to keep the sun from wandering WBV a> a r*;ipeotiii j di»t«D«&jil«fc BCiaii. t««!vtf-tHH..ih«.^int of Aii«i^orl6 tbe^re^ oftb4 anilual*, hia taH^ial^ our^ iaiiiaialiattimp^kioat two t>t-^hff«e iMhaa long Tet withal he waa aboAl a» COri- .t^ita^'afr^PiMPb £tliloni«Mu4llflMftle»v«r wLj(k>:Ahe 44Ui9«,i)MBgiyiiu;«itbfiiSU«ii looif.«do^ Df^vJM fWi^eiQi ik«^ ofijjred i9' |(o ..mid %ht',,.|be PhlUatwei iHitr, b«)ue aMurod,, biye/Hr- Beaivei thato ht, would parfoi^m ihn taiji^ l^a waa IM^mukted t9 gcv Jkp b«a»er M ^ •I ,t|ilt-^«A.v iMMi^ fucceeded io £t)A>^iftg wind was ordeaedr byv Weeee-kee jack io tbroiugh the»ord» tb^t bild Aha |un bel^ye hoiip^at a reepedful dif taooe from tbe^uni -when lUe days w*»rft! lOag.-w) a» t>ol Io .«ouateraoi ,ih« affect&roiiofiiAbe. beaefioiai (;wjirtnth lof kha »uii»<^ But duriag tbetboft day»>Of the year^MKaeTiwa-iin- "waa per- • mitiedto blow upon tire earth and bring ,,$Bowand4oe iia traiik'^jwiibat th« beofr. Ilffog* and>(>o lort^ mifthfc enjoy 4b eir winter «l«ep witiioul moleMtatioor On iue«e -eonditiDna mutually agreed u»^n^tb». sun iiHW tog»ibi« Hbertj^ s ; ^1'• *•> i, '5 Bur ntoW ftockliirt!' s«bt«d 'n^W Thwaiih >hiild«nbr the power* -to "oalooee thift-bahd* brwhich he- #aB held * and the heat em* eating from him prevwt- ' ed either Weeaeilcefrjtek (fr any of *he cr*ature6 of his c«^atloii' t04approa(* t*»« »<j()iitus^))y fjrfHu theiBar^bHke f^««^»t ba)|QQO «l|i|i^,^^e copea tb»t atWMbaa it U)«>«»irtb ai;*: iHigP- But «r*a iK>t ibe poor beayw^ ^^ pitiful aigbii wbw»l»t preaeoted t^ims/jU to^^Wea** ke>ckt#B,iW*^eMvn 2 ■&»*». teet^v w^jre buro.taway vn ,tb«[^^p?^ly,. tfro or ,|ibir«e blackened atunopf wm^a^ } bi» Jb^iir* «hic4v formerly, resembled* that oClfee aw4ne,.wrai b(ul -^ofA. coat ot fur 5«bich WM the 90 vy of all {•b^^'^'i'*^ aoimaja ; ftai to compensate for tl»«l \fi%» of hip tf etb, be waifr farnjebei wfi^h » ne|i,ne$^ broiit^ and ibarpadmirAbly ^ted JU> out, dqvi^o Vfes fpr building purposes. But iu,^i;d^. tb^t it sbottld bo kepvtA tem^w^^t^e vii^enca be dexivetl tbes* fayojf, hit t#e*b. were iWKB m URRKT'g tiUD m TEB QLttE» tllMI. •iMd«.(>(« broM'n color M if iktj h%d beci^ 4eor«hedbrib« Bra. AmI tl»i« ibImw 4h«| < b«*v«r MiM ligr hw hatohM like ie«(h mi4| 4«Mh *d(^ th» t.ctt^r*i tempcnturc of th^ >«lrtii,MJfv ^prCcMdtd U tock* mm. In ordl^ %lMiA mao might b« made good aaur|to«e^ Wesae-ke^jaak waa m proud ol kli worknianihlk) thtil he, after iettinif hi^ ttjan of Aone Mpon Mh tiet, before putting -lire i^ta^ him, walked backwards a consider Able ' dfttanoe to see how his man w6uld idb^from a remote point of new. When heliad thus walked a goodly distance from hii bbject of adiniratibn; he stood gaeing ■'ftfr* long tiine in silent c6ntenjplatidn and -^isfactWtf with the complete job he had a«cOtopli«hed. Bit , while thus ehi- ^loyW a malidiOUB bear happened to peep out of bis bole. e«i)ied tihe figure ae it eiood til alhtfl grandeur. Filled with en ry, he rushed up" to the newly made Inan and, Hhe pig against a alone wall, began to root, Ticittit'Sly'againet the model man. The con equencewii that before Wesse-ke-jaak could interfere, Mr. Bruin had knockeii he mkn brer, who, falling upon the hard tOfkiVroki »6to » hundred piecea. ' '^W:e»eeike-ja*k was terribly enraged fkhi by this utitoward accident his great ' Wbrk wae thus destroyed. For a time he codM neither Mt nor eleep, being so much ,iDOBilM»ot work haA oomfil^ Bofeva; ,h«determiMd to iDMt««aother«ttaMpt *f> fnakaanMDi b«il opofoivdfd oo>t0apaiid M aeoch time ever i%Akna ikpe. Baaai to work te make OM of oUr^ and ioalhtle time had one nioel? ii^de which after mtr ting tea ajpokided4>l4oe, icft^^ it io 4ry io the euo. Tliia beingSdooe eaiiafaetorUy h« torthwtth endued him witb iifa aad ihas we have fuaa m *4ie in at the preeanlfi^y but the Indtana sliaUmcat the nutdward «ocid«)nt by wbi«h;thaw»an ofatoaewaa deateoyed an had Weie«-ke-jaaksuooeed*d ' IB pttitinf life in the man of f tone the hurfian family wopld hai^e bMn tM times atrcMigfr than ther are now. ' " ' '** Butinprooes* of time Werwe-ke^'iaak found that he had an unruly family to deaUwilh. All the erMturea of. creation began to prep ujion each other. Loud com pti^nts were made a^iaat the fox because he attacked the birde and killed them; the fiuh complained againet the otter for th* same tliidg; while khe bear set up a^dipmal groaning becauee the winter waff' so long he could get bo berries to eat. But the greatftBt complaint wfie made agaipat man bfpauee.he at» ej.erytiiii«t,that,c%|De.iH!. hU ,wayj be!|8te,. fourl, fiph.and herrws w^ert-ull devpured by this cri>amre.of,«ren>ion. The ^jlamour of aJl ihew RV^N be<»afne.«o greaitthat. Wesperkftjfak d^termmedf to call a general|CQunciU.lo eee.n]^ether w »t were^ he could not, b^in^rdfip oi^tftf oh^ and reach «?nie. agreeme»<^ by. which all weee grieyaiicea,ilould. im r*me.4ied, .Ap cordlngly a. gew»»l proclamation, apt issued Bum,mowag.all t he sfiiritp, of r the ▼ariott«;iiving creatures before feiro at a eerta^n.dMe, . ;^ ■■•"■•. -, When the timeAffiTe^ *^f» TH^.««»f grieved at the disaftirous end of .x^'. .1 mivoH niuUande.cooveneaiWliiQhproy^a II UiS luaur "• •■^ — ^ ^^ n. H« 9ii V) i4 io ft Ihil* iok»f(«rMb- i.ilio4vy io iafietorUy )m lir« ^Aftd ihaa prMtnlrdi^ tli« ntitdvwrd of •t«ne'W«« Mitsuooeedtd >f >t&ne kb« MO t«ft limes :o ■»*;«- tiin- ijT family to a of. er«»ttoo r. ! IiOttd com e fox because led them; the otter for tb* !t up ft di(>inal ■ waii^ so long «t. But the »»g«ip»t mso at,c%|u«,if\(.hi< prms w;«r#.«ill irei^ljon. The Le« l^#fne.«o d|;j(er.tttine4i to «(i^et^erj«, It if jT qvktAfcbim^ bir.wbiok, aU rjemp/;li«d, .Ap Ql»fn.attOD..«>M Bpjritf, pfrthe efort>ini at a 4,wli»<|hproyfid I LirriH'litfFKBrS tAUB W tHB OtDBW tlMR; Id !>« a very oftrnly aet. *b« «ei«t aa^ eOttfoBidn waa lomMhtnii tNiibla,'«W«l| o6dc#q1. Itt vaid \%%t\tlW^ »baero««^ to k«apaUIl aodpiaUa U Ma«io, thara^wfta ao iMd' t<^~ »; .■..•>i (.''^K.;- Wmm kf j«jk ftnallyioailita Uft^r «ii4 9«eatne rwy vrtthy. Tba maat attUy ona id tb« cro#d waaiha feeg, arboii to «HA« •fall tba( ^oaM be dooalkepi up ftn moat attbt chattering aad cso^iritiK. Wasaa ''k% titad aflhaA liiAd ol life and l»uu «it^ d*cid«4|mn^« i^i}«w earth. Hm( #e#ee ke jbak wHh ^a hitakiHieoaM iiat M wJl^' *<> 4«

'^K^' Q« theraCora Qoenpiiawon^d llHt^ffVftfcx dovn in^a <*^a iffttareaud ^L«f ^^n up eo«[\a mud 80. thairhf tnuelit q^jlJIie « i>f» earth, put aao% thtotter k<« ^^ftcl^iotq h\i QAliTe alemeat «Qd fla4ini( ! |f^ pltAlifttl ht oevar reiuiqed. to hie q^VwttA^tJki4tiri« that the iriuakrate Uil was verv ehort and ia •ignifioapt, being only a small aflkir. Mr. Muakrat went down as directed, and gather ed a goodly armful of mud and etraigbtiray came to the siirfaqe of the water', but then atood na^rbe tu6k a benahful of thef^ue and dai>hed it oeer the moiith of the f«og witk) itie hope (^atopping hi? ohatternig (o«evep. But thie wae^ of* ao araiU the frog kdew the glue out, but part of it remaiaed •round the coraera ofliia-moutli* idrhiobie theoaufieof.tbe whitastr^k around th^ coraera. of hie mouth 10 this day. But nothing could be dene td allay the; Stottti and turtiult of thie, ibrireti'tion Weeee kejaak, therefore, dismissed '.'them a11, voWlug teogeftnce on the' ichol^'^k of ihem. ' c Hie nM exploit, tbe(>efore, wae td bhild an iiAmens^ canOe, Into which' he took ^ pair of ' every k4'nd of Iiwa8 quite delighted" and iftralghtway ntad<^a new earth. Hverytiiing be ng-finished^he ' caused the living part oflii cargo t<> land I ^ Biit h« dm bot f6ri^«i Mr. Befcver fot m« « of ^ 'l^iwetnie Ufl bf^hifeh he ^<« etik\A^ tq plMlef Mi hyiliie. Thtiu the beaver foi* Wi^WcoHKxflitlrtg nature T^befted A beauti fi^fcoafc o! fur, wetli cfcfctp *« ftn «i* t6i« 'iiitling floVrh trees' to buit(i Ws hb«-« aiWi^ tail like a trowel with #Mc^ WclWM ^plaslei-JmhiJfnBe. -^^ ;-**' ' j And here I may inehtion that I once ftM tiie ple;»8ure of witneeein^ a cpni|3any o( beaveraV work bmldihg a >»fnteirhabita t.OP tortbeio^elv^. JCI^ ''^^^^'v' *!!!! to be foj^«P.t^'>n» t>"^ ^ «"» K^r '«»»* * "»'' it once in wy lifetime an^now I^ ?,?Tf,L?-* pect to eee tlj.e like aualnt ^ . -• ,. '• KqoWAnjj my anxiety to see the etranga ^ne*f ^0"*«' It wae a calm »nd Blill evening in the fall Of the year that we eH,rie4 out and took yp«¥r position wtbe; ^okofa creek qiiarA? Opposite \ti» piace where lije beave^*' bad commenced to build their house. We lay down prone on the earth in a posMion where we could just peep over the bank •where the wo/ks, were ^oiqg on. Of course ^e >«^ to keep perfectly still, for tliew creatures have Bcntin«?l» set at .dififerent P9,Dt8 ap,^ ai-the.i?ast noise a cert ^m,sig :, Jili '^si^ppm under Jhewftt^rtu aa ,AUHle beltore dar.k.the^ >«fMe troop ,aadde«.ly •^*r«««i out of the watei a^d .commenced worKvo*. AoA. flret^I M^uat _.• .V. I i»» /^r /\wai>BA»r who seem waJbeU ttp-awi «l«Wl>4h« baalfcoftiwOiM. where t*« tompiM^ .jW«rv' i^ work,.* !!• oarrieil» MHia^l Bt^k «ri b)»«no|ith abQUti» look {o*ff. wkMb itoolb.lp ba HitiVfan^ •( affki: I ift.Dot ifcoow in wbaA^W^ fe« communicated his wisher an I do ^Mfipl ^obih• hmvt>9 iMint^ rfim\§tM04» «» Ihcie was euoih it bat eecaped am^ w9m»Vf al|b»ugh I r^me»>b©r. p#rfeo4^y well haw regularly lhiiwork.w»aiJlkri!ied» dyhie m order to form a dam^- It !jwaft dykA «! out of *|KJ , which fcl«iy nd then inm \ with a low g" proper « i* ubere, wjiile f roow "8S(* of tluB ifUi^e itec'etore pf ol^in>«i^t8 .»o iheY l»uilti »8 It dan^ef^pf »Dd braph |tvft ,-,<»,...,..,^:*..™»i»-'~'»iE^ii"*£: pUn of th«f Irttti4\i ifl to watch in the fall of the ye*r Whrt-e the beaver builds his house and mnVk the spot. Even Vhen Ihe Iridiaft* are Bonieiimes deceived in locating the .|i^6« In thv irtnter. I was told' bv the'Iiuliahs Ih at the pas sage ways btcwrtn the chambers and thfe wftt»r ,nuA 'bfek^pt open at All hazards* antl \o attain this end one Of their nunSber byturns is kept walking budkwards and •forwards between the houses and the waier to'keep the way Irom being frozen op- fo oapturea colony of -these animals in ihe spring before the thaw, when the fur > good, requires the greatest care on the part of the Indian. He munt proceed wrth the utmoat caution, and .endeavor to stop ths p»a<«age to the water, and this is no <,a(»y task, an at tlie least suspicious nois** fcbout their dwelling ihe whole body of them take to the water. Often has an li>(dian found lo his sorrow that afie*' all trouble in breaking through the roof of the passage, all the colony had tied and lefi hiac nothing but an emply house. Bu*' when one is lucky enough to get the pas- sage way bloolted up, oefore the creatures are alarmed he is often rewarded by a rich find. All that remaittg et him to do then is to uncover the roof of the houHC Sufficiently to upear the in mates, much in the same manner is fish H speared. While speaking of the Indians, the^r habits and mythology, I n>»y make men tton of one of their festivals at whioh I had the good fortune to be present. The testivalis usually l>eld!in »h«8prlii« of Vh9 year., It if, I was kd to and«?rsta«d ceremonies. Their code of rslig.ous duiiea fct«'C0ntainM ln\T\e ^re'riKpl* I4ld ^iSWn by theeht^fvrtafrtfer *f ceffcmbnUs. U Is » «6rt 6f Secret s«J«1ety, Muiiti tw ti^^les hU xi^i the botkhtfy IVohV UkrfiSu^Kd^ to iU fVlrtjOrth.' j ,^ ,., The name of the feast jV'^etawln" or •^feaHt 6f long life." 'the head centre itxfgedV tCTitVas «sla\iri6he'd'in rtie'eAst by BotivetJf the DivliMti*s,'t ^'Sb Wot dttte ^to leArhNvhidh, ^itt Itfs sbft puVpo** "^^^.^ 1W< uVfe lOnJj I) fe tb "ilH lh|1iv^e'of&1x htindi^d years ago. 1^8 ft.|^feWrre6 *'^re ordered to b6 pierfofmed eveVV ilVerhaU year forovtsh And fi-oVh this !od^'^ 'e'^lib iished at Lakfe Superior the APVertt! Irlbes of Indians in North AhieriW i-««ceiV8il their power tb institute brfthoh lalgtfs: Each lodib Hkd its OfaBti MHfete'r bf mediqiue, ft Mstl?ter bf t)ei-feftiooner eniered than we were saluted with the beating of drum'- and a salutation wjiuh sounded something like, ne kan, kan nah, ka na nah. The chief led me to the centre of the tent, where stood the wooden images cf ihe goose, the duck, the fox and some other deities which 1 did not at that lime notice Hete I was told to Heposit nty offer ingj of tobacco, tea and sugnr, which I did amid the toin tom of the drum and eieveral exclu mations ot approval from the Indians. I must confes that nt the time 1 had seriuus misgivings in mj mind whether I was not coramitinga sin by making an offering unto idul", but as I d^d not intend it as an act of worship, but merely did^'bo in pursuit of Knowledge, my conscience was quieted on that occanion. After this ceremony was performed. I was sat down at the end of ihe tent near where the chief men were aseem bled, when I was treated to a dish of boiled sturgeon which I acceptid, being, very glad it was sturgeon inst* ai of boiled dog, of wnich I saw plenty aro'.tnd me. It is the greatest afl'ronl one can offer to 411 Ind lan to refuse to eat what he sets be ore one, and therefore in such a case it may be readily understood that I was glad to get a dish of sturgeou set before me, ralh er than a hash of boiled dog. The ceremony of my reception aud par taking of the food offered mt* being, over I now had leisure to look around me and see where I was and what my surround ings were. As I have said before the tent was long and somewhat narrow, with several poles stuck in a straight line down the centre, which supporte'a cordon which were suspended the offerings made by those penitent sinners who came tu obtain pardon for their misdeeds, as also the offerings of tho^e wtio hid made a good hunt during the past winter, and thoFC who had recovered from some sick ness. These offerings eonsibted of vari- ous articles, such as pieces of printed calico, clothing guns, knives, ammunition and other things. At the foot of each pole were placed rotighly|made wooden images of various birds and animals while at the head of the tent where the ehief men sat was a sort of image representing a human form partly of wood and partly of clothing which I was informed was the god of medi cine. The spectators were seated close around the -ides of ihe tent, suffioient space being left between the assembly and ihp line of tent poles in the centre to allow those who performed their religious rites to march around, which was done in a sort of half walk, half run and part dauce and uttering a monotous chant while the drum at the end of the tent kept up a continual tom tom. Tueongiu of this peculiar kind of wor ship, according to Indian tradition is a* follows. Geeohe Manitou, or the Great SG LLFE IN RUPERT'S LAND IN THE OLDEN TIME. at Le sets be a case it may was glad to ;ore lue, rath lion aud par f being, over )Uod ine and fiy eurround fore the tent arrow, with ;ht line down e ^ a cord on ferings made who came tu leedH; as also hid made a winter, and m 8oine sick iited of ^ari- ! of printed ammunition I of euch pole )oden images while at the etiief men sat ing a human y of clothing e^od of medi treated close it, suffioient ts.se in biy and !ntre to allow eligious rites lone in a sort ft dauce and lile the drum p a continual kind ofwor ad'tion is a« or the Great Hpirit, revealed these mysteriouM ceremon ies to man shortly after his creation, about the time the first pair hiMJ grand children boro to theiD, and before death entered in to the world. At that time there lived two powerful makes who had existed from the beginning of the world— the rattlesnake and the nata«a, They lived together in harmony for many years, but at length the rattle enake grew jealous of the powerful and deadly uatawa, which envy so increased that the rattlesnnke challengetl the natawa to try which of them possessed the most deadly poison by iT^flicting a bite on man kind, The natawa demurred at (ir.Ht not being willing to disturb the h ^ruiony and peace that existed in ti.e wo.ld, but from day to day the rattlesnake so taunted him w'th cowardice that the good natured na 4wa consented to accept the challenge At that period th«ir lived ^wo powerful chieftains near to each other who were on great terms of intnnacy. Tliey had each a son grown up to manhood who loved eaoli other sincerely, and often^^>^ed to hunt in the woods together. During oneofthes^e rambles it came to pass thai ibe rattles'uiike and natawa waylaid them for the purpose of inflicting a wound on each to see winch of their poisons were the most .iead'y. The young men, uncon-oion^ of danger happened to pass the thinket where the two snakes were in ambush, when all of a sud den the two reptiles sprang opon them and gave each of them a sting. 1 he young man who was bitten by the natawa instantly dropp^d dead from the effects of thepoi-on while the other had time to run to his father's tent, which when he had reached a noted medicine man applied a powe ful antidote to the wound, aud he recovered i D a few day.<). After the deed was done the natawa snake was arieved and enraged with the rattlesnake, by wnose guile and tempta. lion he hail been instrumental in bringing death and sorrow bo mankind. "Brother," said the natawa to tha rattle »nake, ''You have been the cause of bring i 't, death and misery to mankind by your t \:ious and evil designs, thtreforeyou shall ever after this h ive a rattle in your tall to warn every being who approaches vou of your hateful presence, and the human race shall pursue you to death." The old chieftain, whose son had died of poison, brou ht the body home and with his tribe performed the burial ceremony Every day the old chieftain repaired to the grave of his beloved hou and mourned his loss bitterly. The friends of the old man endeavored to console him in his grief, but witi.out effect, he would noi even speak to them During one of his daily visits to the grave of his son, he naw an enormous snake striped with various colors like a rainbow, ascending out of the earth, who thus addressed him, "Old man of the plain, I command you to appear at this spot on the third day fallowing this, and you must implicitly follow my directions and obey my commands. Then shall ap- pear to you a snake on this very same spot, he will be sent by the gods. You will elevate the serpent three times by the "orns, and at each taie you elevate or rais^ him up, you shall repeat the words of a'lorarion to the snake by saying', ne kan, rje kan, kan, na, ka, ka, nah. Oh! oh! old Immediately after you have performed the « I ^gk'-'- ^^E IS BC PEBT'8 L4.MP, tN 'fflE OI.I«M TIME. c7^^^::i^^^^^^i^^ pear to voii a Manitou of your race, ^who will teach you the cercnonv of the metawin *^of lii^ t^nt'of life, an^ reveal to.^ou the "foVsteifioUs rites vtS:l\ch come from the ji'ouna borrows arid vfW !Ve?j.you if :^ou pSpy ihem ; Adieu uVv eon; yoii Vni pbilit to the centre 'Of the heayens.in^ centre of the ear'tli and to the tobr abodes of the spirits with your -pit)e stem, whilst I gyide down the jiferpen 'diculai" rdck of our abodea." At ilia^ >n'»^*"* thesni^ke disappeared downwardp wiih a tremendous hissinj; 'feoMiia/cKUsed presumably by the rapidity 'of his decent. According to the instructions of the great (make ihe ol'l man repaired to tlie grave of his son on tlie third day, and after present JDg his pipe stem to the centre of the sky and the earth an i the four winds, present fld pf tUe flKia 9f.*be deadlynatawa wbieli contained Al»^ wagio bead, he ihiw address ed the « jeivii^ig, his ioi of the lent of Ll Pfigy RUPERT'S LAND IN. THE O LDEMiTIME. ____ , - ' ' ■ ' ° ' i" ~ ' " """"" ^ 'v,.A/t«,xob|iQtipg this medicine song fo^i life aa related to in» by trlielttdiaD oalhed «Ofii«.;stji|»ft,. the^ oid'^^maa j»at down oeisT tbe.^bi^tajitj^.and taught bina the ceremoii leSj^iHitfit^iitQf th«..ioixg tent of life which PGc.u{>ie4:«Qn)<| 'lual visitor vaninhed Crouiithe the gkze, of ihe c4d. chief tain. 'vr: 'Alttler sonvenionths when the old chief fain's mourning was over and- after cele bratiing a. feast. with bis tribes he command edthat.ai'i the male? should purity him ^4,*M»8iH hini in-bntldiog the long tet»t of life, .,DMi?ii^ th»ftvemng« he employed bipipe^/ip^je^cbiAg the-ma'es of bis iribe tot,8ing, Cummings, arid novr I «\ittH' ehdeavorMo give a description of t^e ^eWiiionte^ I*»aw theni perform i» tb« rea^i'I^ae"];)erroitf«d to be'i>ree#nt «l. '5 --»*.w^'f - ■■ M^'i' 'The'G'ftria 'Master, in giving notice o( the miffetTfi'^j's'fibds I^^rti'6b'o^'(obac6b Ho all the hi^i^^ef-s' of the^l 6dgfe 'with 'a' r^^ ti est fco- meet 'at ifcertitin tim^ iind"|ii«c^ ib celebrate the festival oritaeD»td°w«l;^bf )b'ii'g t^nt of life, wfiich lert^Mfy • *tkM«3'*'iirace about tlie -fepfifag of th^'^feiih ^tirWtft'^ snnithfel-sWsoii. ' ' ' - * ' ' - '" ' In "the fir'slt place, after meeting, the tent is erected mi!ie%rin I have described T'hls being dbn^, tlie'Grand )kfMtei-''"iaa Master of Cereitionies cotlecrt afl tK^'nieirf bersraod dppi^oach ''the tent oA'thi '^Ss' side and then march aroundtt three tifbe^ following Tthe cotirse of thie sun.' At tU*! thii^d" ilnVe around the Gri^nd Master hStli' opposite t'he en'rancie and ^dVancis HirVjj' limes, esssayiftg to ehter and three'tiniW retreats, meanwhile atnging as JFdllo'Wfi: — i'l approach but fear To be near thy presence, OhIOhlOhlOhlOhl , A he finishes tnis oiiaxt the Direotor of Ceremonies, with his wand lifts up ihe door, and the Grand Master enters follow ed by all the members. He then chants as follOVW8:-rs I have entered, I have entered, Long life to gain, long life to I gain, OhlOhlOhlOhlOh! Then they march around the inside of the tent three tTrtv^, eaclr ifa tlJe t;o«ttfrt'»^*s' Ot their order, aud ' eacib havioif inivif % lU i / LIFE I» RUPERT'S ;LAND IN THE OLDEN TIME. hand his skin bag and magio bead. Tbe jnemben then each take th* «ttat allotted to them by the Director of Ceremonies, while the Grand Master takes his stand near tbe image of the sod of medicine with the drum and knocker in hia hands. He taps the drum three times, at each in'er val repeating the words, **ne lean, ne kan kan na na, ka nanah." He then proceed to address the company in scmewhai the following strains: — "Tbe Great Spirit who dwelleth in the heaven of heavens, bless you all and send you long life. The white haired man briog with him life, and haHgiveu me Hff, which I give to all my brothers and sipiers. Our forefathers left ua tl ^3 tent to teach our children and your life depends upon the secrets of your own breasts. Prepare yonr magic beads and medicine skmn of the tent of life, to cast your beads on the Btck and dyiog men who may be placed be fore yoa to restore life. Your magic beads shall pierce tht rocks, the ppiriis who pie aide over our eecret councils shall bless rour efForts to restore health ai.d long life The path of our ancestors teaching us the use of the countless herbs and rooit grow ing in this our world will sing the song of •nchantment when each member will offer with gratitude to his teacher, the offerings he may have brought witti him to seek and receive long life. The Grand Master having finished his speech several other of the leading mem bars addressed the meeting, and ii seemed remarkable to me to notice with what ease and fluency these Indians spoke. Theie •jenti to ba no hesitation, no pau «< to thiiik of a word and no stammering in any way. There words seemed to roll in ae ta>t as the speaker couid utter ib^ta. Ta^ tanorof the speeches were aboattfta sante which was to obey their supariont and us6 the medicines to be found in iihV Worhl. The speeches being now at^dcav itito mem hers of the lodge marched «fOUls9 the t«nt several times swinging their medicine baga and ult^riiig a monotonous ohi^ttt, while the drum was kept constaotly Oh kite torn torn. The candidaten for admission into the secrets of the lod^e, the prepera»ion of whom I shall speak hereafter, and were a halt op he Chief lething to } rae if be had len would >sture and and snake making a^ [ noise. In open his I life, as it \y recover 1 aud the icine bag ! ceremony e can 'idat :ingcandi< I linother, I man hold ing around pany. He Keiendb to _i_:... .1 this bead Is superD^turally drawn from, their bodies and replaced in their medicioe bags without either having seen or toucned them. After this rite has been gone through, the several offerings contributed are taken down and handed to the newlv initiated candidates who in their turn dis* tribute them among the different medicine men; thi^ division iff however, not done arbitrarily, as the offerings are divided ac- cording to provision made previously in a secret conclave held a Phort time before This being done, the medicine men again march around the tent at a half trot and point their medicine bags occasionally a^ eaoh other, the paity pointed at immedia tely falls down as if struck by lightning, but soon recover^, gets up and follows the crowd. On some occasions one seems as if badly woiiuded and unable to get up, in each caees the others gatlter around him and after much ceremony make a show ot extracting a b ad from his body. This ceremony was to me very amu-ing on account of the effect the pointing of a medi cine bag had upon one. If it was pointed at the body the victim suddenly fell down motionless where he lay exactly as if dead nntil the medicine men Kathered around him and by varioun maoipul^uQs brought him to life again. When the medicine baa was pointed at one's knee he would instan' ly become lame and would with great difficulty hobble at'ier the procedaion, but after a little while he would gradually get better and finally resume bia wonted jog trot with the rest. Most of the women and children were seated around the inside of the tent, with the except ion of thope who were employed in cooking outsideand they were not a few no ces-'atioR in ** \s there v;as saeminirlv a- J :: Irv- ing. Some of the women were going to and iroin the nets which were set in the river for sturgeon. No sooner was a stir geoD caught than it was brought ashore and cooked immediately. There also neemed to be a law Chat any dog who had the temerity to enter into the sacred tent wa^ imniidiately killed, skin ned and boiled forthwith. As there we e plenty of dog< around there were quite a few thus sacrificed. Several dishes full o'dog broth and dog meat as well as tturgeon were *ct before the pcveral wooden images in the tent which were all divided amongst the medi cine m< n when the feast was over. About 8ix o'clock in the evening the ceremony was ended and [ returned to the fort. Tiiere was a great deal of juggling in these ceremonies, which aitliongU some of It may be clapped as very strange yet [ had no thought but that the whole perform ance which seemenj'ire one evei - 'n>r, and o f course I was anxious to see the ceremony. Mr. Cumming?, who had soma belief tnat the imitation of the matawin lent were aided by something nut of this earth, asked me to come with him assur ing me that however unbelieving I might be with regard to the tent of long life, yet at the conjuring tent Iwould be convinced that there was no doubt but that the super natural had a hand in the pe' forma nee. Oa the apoiijted ovcuiog Mr. Cumminga I I LLFE IN llUPERT'S LAND lA THE OL(DEN TIME.. 1 4ii B 1 ■-, ■ ' \ ^^^^^^^H •m^ ^^^1 »(S ' ^^^^^^H Is and his wifetind mfge'f btarted of to the place where the conjuror ^Ta8 to perform- Mr Cuminmgs paid that we wouM go o liUie 'early in order thai I might havetimi? to exaniinethe prcmi es before the perform ances oonnnenced. ' On arriving at the grounds I saw tha' the tent was ereq^ed by driving sever il Bticke' or poles in the gronnJ in a circle^ These poles were-drawn togeih' r at the top by means of a line made of buifiilo ekin, called Bhagnappi. The tent was ihen' covered wi'h dressed bufFnlo skins lie! (irtnlj on with the same aforesaid ''shaga Bappi," leaving a -mall aperture at tlie b "ttom for* the convenience of the conjurer in enteriijg into the tent. Now this man Bear, the conjuror was a clecrepit old man, who had been poiHoned by S4.ine of his tribe, whereby the skin of his hand-< waH a complete m\88 of soreg, ajid his finger nails about d oppjng off. This habit ot the Indians in poisoning one another shall be related further on. About sun ie I Mr. Bea* watie pr«pera-^, tions tc.epter his teni, but before doing so I was permitted to examine the inside to fiee that the Bear was the onl.v one domi'; cilftd •herein. After this the Bej«r en(er«d and closed iheidoQr behind him- Immedi ately afier this th« the. tent began, to «w«y backwards and forwards while gradual !jr \yas. heard eeveral voices 8peaki*»g in the lent. .This was explained to t«.e,a(^ the feverai spirits who entered the teut.euoh as the spirits of the fox, the g<^'-e,. !he crane, and. the north wind audno forth. the entrance of eachsspirii wRs^m,«rkeJ by a thump,, as if soni^i heavy bouy fell on the ground. Meaawliile th« leqt kept i uiwa «• »..- ... -■ s — fcivaying from one^ide to thi otlwr continiil unt to be m» ie k£i;;wo. ally while an iticessant chattering of talk was kept up. This lasted the whol^ uigjii without intermission, which seemed veify wonderful to ine, I could hardly b«Heve that there was anything of the supernatu- ral in thepe operations, and v?t there were some things In could not cooipre^iend. I could not account for the swaying of, the tent nil night, I could hardly believe thit Bear, whose hands were in soch a putre fi?d state and who was an old man we»K in body could sway a tent like that continu ally without cessation. He might ipiilqite the variouH sounds 1 heard, wbieh iu itMelf was bireiy possible, but the inoyickijj'gf the tent to me waK inexplicable. Through the interprnttrt;ion 6f Mr.Cq,in inings, who was an excellent Indiai| scho'ar, I had an interview with the con jnror Bear, and questioned him pretiy clonely as to what he feoew of the science of conjuring. 'He told me that ii^.tfrdi!r to be a conjuro"" one mu«*t go ihrottgw a cer- tain cert moiiy, and be initiatedlfi! a wgd lar manner, part of which ceremotiies con sisted of fasting fur a conBiderabl^ ^?|E^i') of timej and paving particular attention to' dreams' and other sign*. It is the usnl'l custom for a novice to begin the discipline he must undergo in order to becomCli QOtj juror, to erp4>*a sleeping stage t»^ |i.tne1ig the thick branches of the trees a'hd i^ter fasting to retire ther to sleep. Whether waking or (?leepins: he could not tell, bat. in sucii acae ho v'h^ visited by spirits who aave him diiectiuns what to do and alfo pave him tbe nov.f»rof calling spirits |o ^ e cor"' were^aito k> was .J. r ;' balk of I hem ' e !it Bear told me that tli^lta V* i.>o8tof the ceremonies hp ^ to make known, ^e great being «^ei«t and od no acco - L f Wi '■ M I W. 'i . fi WWi'K ' JMfWP" ' .'. f . y ti li W"MM' 'i *' ''* 'W I' " < * ' * ' »^i' ^l" ^-^:r'''^""^'«S^""''"-».^,.„*>--..; enng of Ulk ; whole "igfit seemed vftty kfdly b«H«ve e supefnatu- ^t there were tipre))eD<|.. 1 aying ot ji\%h keiieve thdt ^och a putre Id man weafk i thatcoDtinu might i^nil^t* t'hioh ill iuelf le laoviai^oiF ' • IW Mil" le. '***^ f» 6f Mr.dqtn silent indiai| with the con I Htm pretiy of the science *t iTJ^Ordijr to r6tt|tt a cer- Uedlfiia ^fgo remonies con erabl^ length r attention tu t is th&'ufiu^l the diacipliu'i^ age ttj| |h»bl)g reea atiil ifier •ep. Whether not tell, b^^in ty spirits who do and sIpo ling spirits to J me that tM'nn jeremonies lie >wD, tile great and OD DO acco