{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_22254/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_22254","id":"gutenberg_22254","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22254","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Biographies","Category: History - American","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Indians of North America -- Missions -- Canada","Manitoba -- Description and travel","Native America","Northwest, Canadian -- Description and travel","Red River Settlement"],"text":"Produced by A www.PGDP.net Volunteer, Riikka Talonpoika\nand the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at\nhttp://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images\ngenerously made available by the Canadian Institute for\nHistorical Microreproductions (www.canadiana.org))\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA JOURNAL.\n\nPRINTED BY L. B. SEELEY,\nWESTON GREEN, THAMES DITTON.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SUBSTANCE OF A JOURNAL\n\nDURING A RESIDENCE AT THE RED RIVER COLONY,\n\nBritish North America;\n\nAND FREQUENT EXCURSIONS AMONG THE NORTH-WEST AMERICAN INDIANS,\n\nIN THE YEARS 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823.\n\n\n\nBy\n\nJOHN WEST, M. A.\n\nLATE CHAPLAIN TO THE HON. THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY.\n\n\n\nPRINTED FOR L. B. SEELEY AND SON,\nFLEET STREET, LONDON.\nMDCCCXXIV.\n\n\n\nTO THE\n\nREV. HENRY BUDD, M. A.\n\nCHAPLAIN TO BRIDEWELL HOSPITAL, MINISTER OF BRIDEWELL PRECINCT,\nAND RECTOR OF WHITE ROOTHING, ESSEX,\n\nAS A TESTIMONY\n\nOF GRATITUDE FOR HIS KINDNESS AND FRIENDSHIP,\nAND OF HIGH ESTEEM FOR HIS UNWEARIED EXERTIONS IN EVERY\nCAUSE OF BENEVOLENCE AND ENLIGHTENED ENDEAVOUR\nTO PROMOTE THE BEST INTERESTS OF MAN,\n\nTHE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED\n\nBY THE AUTHOR.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nVariant spellings have been retained.\n\nThe Errata have been moved to the beginning of the text.\n\nTo improve readability, dashes between entries in the Table of Contents\nand in chapter subheadings have been converted to periods.\n\n\n\n\nERRATA.\n\n\nPage 1, line 7, _for_ Salteaux, _read_ Saulteaux.\n    21, line 6, _for_ 1820, _read_ 1817.\n    36, line 2 from bottom, _for_ spiritous, _read_ spirituous.\n    57, line 24, _for_ forty, _read_ sixty.\n    70, bottom of the page, _for_ Heritics, _read_ Heretics.\n   131, line 24, _for_ Loom, _read_ Loon.\n   156, line 3, _for_ a, _read_ no.\n   180, line 3, _for_ intrepedity, _read_ intrepidity.\n   204, line 19, _for_ intention it, _read_ intention of it.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nWe live in a day when the most distant parts of the earth are opening\nas the sphere of Missionary labours. The state of the heathen world is\nbecoming better known, and the sympathy of British Christians has been\nawakened, in zealous endeavours to evangelize and soothe its sorrows.\nIn these encouraging signs of the times, the Author is induced to give\nthe following pages to the public, from having traversed some of the\ndreary wilds of North America, and felt deeply interested in the\nreligious instruction and amelioration of the condition of the natives.\nThey are wandering, in unnumbered tribes, through vast wildernesses,\nwhere generation after generation have passed away, in gross ignorance\nand almost brutal degradation.\n\nShould any information he is enabled to give excite a further Christian\nsympathy, and more active benevolence in their behalf, it will truly\nrejoice his heart: and his prayer to God, is, that the Aborigines of a\nBritish Territory, may not remain as outcasts from British Missionary\nexertions; but may be raised through their instrumentality, to what\nthey are capable of enjoying, the advantages of civilized and social\nlife, with the blessings of Christianity.\n\nSeptember, 1824.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n                                                                PAGE.\n\nCHAPTER I.--Departure from England. Arrival at the Orkney Isles. Enter\nHudson's Straits. Icebergs. Esquimaux. Killing a Polar Bear. York\nFactory. Embarked for the Red River Colony. Difficulties of the\nNavigation. Lake Winipeg. Muskeggowuck, or Swamp Indians. Pigewis, a\nchief of the Chipewyans, or Saulteaux Tribe. Arrival at the Red River.\nColonists. School established. Wolf dogs. Indians visit Fort Douglas.\nDesign of a Building for Divine Worship                             1\n\nCHAPTER II.--Visit the School. Leave the Forks for Qu'appelle. Arrival\nat Brandon House. Indian Corpse staged. Marriages at Company's Posts.\nDistribution of the Scriptures. Departure from Brandon House.\nEncampment. Arrival at Qu'appelle. Character and Customs of Stone\nIndians. Stop at some Hunter's Tents on return to the Colony. Visit\nPembina. Hunting Buffaloes. Indian address. Canadian Voyageurs. Indian\nMarriages. Burial Ground. Pemican. Indian Hunter sends his son to be\neducated. Mosquitoes. Locusts                                      28\n\nCHAPTER III.--Norway House. Baptisms. Arrival at York Factory. Swiss\nEmigrants. Auxiliary Bible Society formed. Boat wrecked. Catholic\nPriests. Sioux Indians killed at the Colony. Circulation of the\nScriptures among the Colonists. Scarcity of Provisions. Fishing under\nthe Ice. Wild Fowl. Meet the Sioux Indians at Pembina. They scalp an\nAssiniboine. War dance. Cruelly put to death a Captive Boy. Indian\nexpression of gratitude for the Education of his Child. Sturgeon   64\n\nCHAPTER IV.--Arrival of Canoe from Montreal. Liberal Provision for\nMissionary Establishment. Manitobah Lake. Indian Gardens. Meet Captain\nFranklin and Officers of the Arctic Expedition at York Factory. First\nAnniversary of the Auxiliary Bible Society. Half-Caste Children. Aurora\nBorealis. Conversation with Pigewis. Good Harvest at the Settlement,\nand arrival of Cattle from United States. Massacre of Hunters. Produce\nof Grain at Colony                                                 94\n\nCHAPTER V.--Climate of Red River. Thermometer. Pigewis's Nephew.\nWolves. Remarks of General Washington. Indian Woman shot by her son.\nSufferings of Indians. Their notions of the Deluge. No visible object\nof adoration. Acknowledge a Future Life. Left the Colony for Bas la\nRiviere. Lost on Winipeg Lake. Recover the Track, and meet an\nintoxicated Indian. Apparent facilities for establishing Schools West\nof Rocky Mountains. Russians affording Religious instruction on the\nNorth West Coast of North America. Rumours of War among the surrounding\nTribes with the Sioux Indians                                     110\n\nCHAPTER VI.--Progress of Indian Children in reading. Building for\nDivine Worship. Left the Colony. Arrival at York Fort. Departure for\nChurchill Factory. Bears. Indian Hieroglyphics. Arrival at Churchill.\nInterview with Esquimaux. Return to York Factory. Embark for England.\nMoravian Missionaries. Greenland. Arrival in the Thames           150\n\n\n\n\nDIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER.\n\n\n1. The engraving of meeting the Indians, to face the title page.\n\n2. Scalping the Indians to face page 85.\n\n3. The Protestant Church, to face page 155.\n\n\n\n\nTHE RED RIVER COLONY; AND THE NORTH-WEST-AMERICAN INDIANS.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nDEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND. ARRIVAL AT THE ORKNEY ISLES. ENTER HUDSON'S\nSTRAITS. ICEBERGS. ESQUIMAUX. KILLING A POLAR BEAR. YORK FACTORY.\nEMBARKED FOR THE RED RIVER COLONY. DIFFICULTIES OF THE NAVIGATION.\nLAKE WINIPEG. MUSKEGGOWUCK, OR SWAMP INDIANS. PIGEWIS, A CHIEF OF THE\nCHIPPEWAYS OR SALTEAUX TRIBE. ARRIVAL AT THE RED RIVER. COLONISTS.\nSCHOOL ESTABLISHED. WOLF-DOGS. INDIANS VISIT FORT DOUGLAS. DESIGN OF\nA BUILDING FOR DIVINE WORSHIP.\n\n\nOn the 27th of May, 1820, I embarked at Gravesend, on board the\nHonourable Hudson's Bay Company's ship, the Eddystone; accompanied by\nthe ship, Prince of Wales, and the Luna brig, for Hudson's Bay. In my\nappointment as Chaplain to the Company, my instructions were, to reside\nat the Red River Settlement, and under the encouragement and aid of the\nChurch Missionary Society, I was to seek the instruction, and endeavour\nto meliorate the condition of the native Indians.\n\nThe anchor was weighed early on the following morning, and sailing with\na fine breeze, the sea soon opened to our view. The thought that I was\nnow leaving all that was dear to me upon earth, to encounter the perils\nof the ocean, and the wilderness, sensibly affected me at times; but my\nfeelings were relieved in the sanguine hope that I was borne on my way\nunder the guidance of a kind protecting Providence, and that the\ncircumstances of the country whither I was bound, would soon admit of\nmy being surrounded with my family. With these sentiments, I saw point\nafter point sink in the horizon, as we passed the shores of England and\nScotland for the Orkneys.\n\nWe bore up for these Isles on the 10th of June, after experiencing\nfaint and variable winds for several days: and a more dreary scene can\nscarcely be imagined than they present to the eye, in general. No tree\nor shrub is visible; and all is barren except a few spots of cultivated\nground in the vales, which form a striking contrast with the barren\nheath-covered hills that surround them. These cultivated spots mark the\nresidence of the hardy Orkneyman in a wretched looking habitation with\nscarcely any other light, (as I found upon landing on one of the\nislands) than from a smoke hole, or from an aperture in the wall,\nclosed at night with a tuft of grass. The calf and pig were seen as\ninmates, while the little furniture that appeared, was either festooned\nwith strings of dried fish, or crossed with a perch for the fowls to\nroost on.\n\nA different scene, however, presented itself, as we anchored the next\nday in the commodious harbour of Stromness. The view of the town, with\nthe surrounding cultivated parts of the country, and the Hoy Hill, is\nstriking and romantic, and as our stay here was for a few days, I\naccepted an invitation to the Manse, from the kind and worthy minister\nof Hoy, and ascended with him the hill, of about 1620 feet high.\n\nThe sabbath we spent at sea was a delight to me, from the arrangement\nmade by the captain for the attendance of the passengers and part of\nthe crew on divine worship, both morning and afternoon. Another sabbath\nhad now returned, and the weather being fair, all were summoned to\nattend on the quarter deck. We commenced the service by singing the Old\nHundredth Psalm, and our voices being heard by the crews of several\nships, lying near to us at anchor, they were seen hurrying on deck from\nbelow, so as to present to us a most interesting and gratifying sight--\n\n    \"We stood, and under open sky adored\n    The God, that made both 'seas,' air, earth, and heaven.\"\n\nThere appeared to be a solemn impression; and I trust that religion was\nfelt among us as a divine reality.\n\nJUNE 22.--The ships got under weigh to proceed on our voyage; and as we\npassed the rugged and broken rocks of Hoy Head, we were reminded of the\nfury of a tempestuous ocean, in forming some of them into detached\npillars, and vast caverns; while they left an impression upon the mind,\nof desolation and danger. We had not sailed more than one hundred miles\non the Atlantic before it blew a strong head wind, and several on board\nwith myself were greatly affected by the motion of the ship. It threw\nme into such a state of languor, that I felt as though I could have\nwillingly yielded to have been cast overboard, and it was nearly a week\nbefore I was relieved from this painful sensation and nausea, peculiar\nto sea sickness.\n\nWithout any occurrence worthy of notice we arrived in Davis's Straits\non the 19th of July, where Greenland ships are sometimes met with,\nreturning from the whale fishery, but we saw not a single whaler in\nthis solitary part of the ocean. The Mallemuk, found in great numbers\noff Greenland, and the \"Larus crepidatus,\" or black toed gull,\nfrequently visited us; and for nearly a whole day, a large shoal of the\n\"Delphinus deductor,\" or leading whale, was observed following the\nship. The captain ordered the harpoons and lances to be in readiness in\ncase we fell in with the great Greenland whale, but nothing was seen of\nthis monster of the deep.\n\nIn approaching Hudson's straits, we first saw one of those beautiful\nfeatures in the scenery of the North, an Iceberg, which being driven\nwith vast masses of ice off Cape Farewell, South Greenland, are soon\ndestroyed by means of the solar heat, and tempestuous force of the sea.\nThe thermometer was at 27 deg. on the night of the 22nd, with ice in the\nboat; and in the afternoon we saw an iceblink, a beautiful effulgence\nor reflection of light over the floating ice, to the extent of forty or\nfifty miles. The next day we passed Resolution Island, Lat. 61 deg. 25',\nLong. 65 deg. 2' and all was desolate and inhospitable in the view over\nblack barren rocks, and in the aspect of the shore. This being Sunday,\nI preached in the morning, catechized the young people in the\nafternoon, and had divine service again in the evening, as was our\ncustom every sabbath in crossing the Atlantic, when the weather would\npermit: and it afforded me much pleasure to witness the sailors at\ntimes in groups reading the life of Newton, or some religious tracts\nwhich I put into their hands. The Scotch I found generally well and\nscripturally informed, and several of them joined the young people in\nreading to me the New Testatament, and answering the catechetical\nquestions. In our passage through the Straits, our progress was impeded\nby vast fields of ice, and icebergs floating past us in every form of\ndesolate magnificence. The scene was truly grand and impressive, and\nmocks imagination to describe. There is a solemn and an overwhelming\nsensation produced in the mind, by these enormous masses of snow and\nice, not to be conveyed in words. They floated by us from one to two\nhundred feet above the water, and sometimes of great length, resembling\nhuge mountains, with deep vallies between, lofty cliffs, and all the\nimposing objects in nature, passing in silent grandeur, except at\nintervals, when the fall of one was heard, or the crashing of the ice\nstruck the ear like the noise of distant thunder.\n\nWhen nearly off Saddle Back, with a light favourable breeze, and about\nten miles from the shore, the Esquimaux who, visit the Straits during\nsummer, were observed with their one man skin canoes, followed by women\nin some of a larger size, paddling towards the ship. No sooner was the\nsail shortened than we were surrounded by nearly two hundred of them:\nthe men raising their paddles as they approached us, shouting with much\nexultation, 'chimo! chimo! pillattaa! pillattaa!' expressions probably\nof friendship, or trade. They were particularly eager to exchange all\nthat they apparently possessed, and hastily bartered with the\nEddystone, blubber, whalebone, and seahorse teeth, for axes, saws,\nknives, tin kettles, and bits of old iron hoop. The women presented\nimage toys, made from the bones and teeth of animals, models of canoes,\nand various articles of dress, made of seal skins, and the membranes of\nthe abdomen of the whale, all of which displayed considerable ingenuity\nand neatness, and for which they received in exchange, needles, knives,\nand beads. It was very clear that European deception had reached them,\nfrom the manner in which they _tenaciously_ held their articles till\nthey _grasped_ what was offered in barter for them; and immediately\nthey got the merchandise in possession, they licked it with their\ntongues, in satisfaction that it was their own. The tribe appeared to\nbe well-conditioned in their savage state, and remarkably healthy. Some\nof the children, I observed, were eating raw flesh, from the bones of\nanimals that had been killed, and given them by their mothers, who\nappeared to have a strong natural affection for their offspring. I\nthrew one of them a halfpenny, which she caught; and pointing to the\nchild she immediately gave it to him with much apparent fondness. It\nhas been supposed that in holding up their children, as is sometimes\nthe case, it is for barter, but I should rather conclude that it is for\nthe purpose of exciting commiseration, and to obtain some European\narticle for them. A few of the men were permitted to come on board, and\nthe good humour of the captain invited one to dance with him: he took\nthe step with much agility and quickness, and imitated every gesture of\nhis lively partner. The breeze freshening, we soon parted with this\nbarbarous people, and when at a short distance from the ship, they\nassembled in their canoes, each taking hold of the adjoining one, in\napparent consultation, as to what bargains they had made, and what\narticles they possessed, till a canoe was observed to break off from\nthe group, which they all followed for their haunts along the shores of\nTerra Neiva, and the Savage Islands. Having a copy of the Esquimaux\nGospels from the British and Foreign Bible Society, it was my wish to\nhave read part of a chapter to them, with a view to ascertain, if\npossible, whether they knew of the Moravian Missionary establishment at\nNain, on the Labrador coast; but such was the haste, bustle, and noise\nof their intercourse with us, that I lost the opportunity. Though they\nhave exchanged articles in barter for many years, it is not known\nwhether they are from the Labrador shore on a summer excursion for\nkilling seals, and the whale fishery, or from the East main coast,\nwhere they return and winter.\n\nThe highest point of latitude we reached in our course, was 62 deg.\n44'--longitude 74 deg. 16', and when off Cape Digges we parted company with\nthe Prince of Wales, as bound to James's Bay. We stood on direct for\nYork Factory, and when about fifty miles from Cary Swan's Nest, the\nchief mate pointed out to me a polar bear, with her two cubs swimming\ntowards the ship. He immediately ordered the jolly-boat to be lowered,\nand asked me to accompany him in the attempt to kill her. Some axes\nwere put into the boat, in case the ferocious animal should approach us\nin the attack; and the sailors pulled away in the direction she was\nswimming. At the first shot, when within about one hundred yards, she\ngrowled tremendously, and immediately made for the boat; but having the\nadvantage in rowing faster than she could swim, our guns were reloaded\ntill she was killed, and one of the cubs also accidentally, from\nswimming close to the mother; the other got upon the floating carcase,\nand was towed to the side of the ship, when a noose was put around its\nneck, and it was hauled on board for the captain to take with him\nalive, on his return to England.\n\nAUGUST 3.--We fell in with a great deal of floating ice, the weather\nwas very foggy, and the thermometer at freezing point. The ship\noccasionally received some heavy blows, and with difficulty made way\nalong a vein of water. On the 5th we were completely blocked in with\nice, and nothing was to be seen in every part of the horizon, but one\nvast mass, as a barrier to our proceeding. It was a terrific, and\nsublime spectacle; and the human mind cannot conceive any thing more\nawful, than the destruction of a ship, by the meeting of two enormous\nfields of ice, advancing against each other at the rate of several\nmiles an hour. \"It may easily be imagined,\" says Captain Scoresby,\n\"that the strongest ship can no more withstand the shock of the contact\nof two fields, than a sheet of paper can stop a musket-ball. Numbers of\nvessels since the establishment of the Whale Fishery have been thus\ndestroyed. Some have been thrown upon the ice. Some have had their\nhulls completely thrown open, and others have been buried beneath the\nheaped fragments of the ice.\"--\n\nSunday, the 6th.--Text in the morning 1st book Samuel, 30th chapter,\nlatter part of the 6th verse. The weather was very variable, with much\nthunder and lightening; which was awful and impressive. On the 12th the\nthermometer was below freezing point, and the rigging of the ship was\ncovered with large icicles. Intense fogs often prevailed, but of very\ninconsiderable height. They would sometimes obscure the hull of the\nship, when the mast head was seen, and the sun was visible and\neffulgent.\n\nIn the evening of the 13th, the sailors gave three cheers, as we got\nunder weigh on the opening of the ice by a strong northerly wind, and\nleft the vast mass which had jammed us in for many days. The next day\nwe saw the land, and came to the anchorage at York Flatts the following\nmorning, with sentiments of gratitude to God for his protecting\nProvidence through the perils of the ice and of the sea, and for the\nlittle interruption in the duties of my profession from the state of\nthe weather, during the voyage.\n\nI was kindly received by the Governor at the Factory, the principal\ndepot of the Hudson's Bay Company, and on the sabbath, every\narrangement was made for the attendance of the Company's servants on\ndivine worship, both parts of the day. Observing a number of half-breed\nchildren running about, growing up in ignorance and idleness; and being\ninformed that they were a numerous offspring of Europeans by Indian\nwomen, and found at all the Company's Posts; I drew up a plan, which I\nsubmitted to the Governor, for collecting a certain number of them, to\nbe maintained, clothed, and educated upon a regularly organized system.\nIt was transmitted by him to the Committee of the Hudson's Bay Company,\nwhose benevolent feelings towards this neglected race, had induced them\nto send several schoolmasters to the country, fifteen or sixteen years\nago; but who were unhappily diverted from their original purpose, and\nbecame engaged as fur traders.\n\nDuring my stay at this post, I visited several Indian families, and no\nsooner saw them crowded together in their miserable-looking tents, than\nI felt a lively interest (as I anticipated) in their behalf. Unlike the\nEsquimaux I had seen in Hudson's Straits, with their flat, fat, greasy\nfaces, these '_Swampy Crees_' presented a way-worn countenance, which\ndepicted \"Suffering without comfort, while they sunk without hope.\" The\ncontrast was striking, and forcibly impressed my mind with the idea,\nthat Indians who knew not the corrupt influence and barter of\nspirituous liquors at a Trading Post, were far happier, than the\nwretched-looking group around me. The duty devolved upon me, to seek to\nmeliorate their sad condition, as degraded and emaciated, wandering in\nignorance, and wearing away a short existence in one continued\nsuccession of hardships in procuring food. I was told of difficulties,\nand some spoke of impossibilities in the way of teaching them\nChristianity or the first rudiments of settled and civilized life; but\nwith a combination of opposing circumstances, I determined not to be\nintimidated, nor to \"confer with flesh and blood,\" but to put my hand\nimmediately to the plough, in the attempt to break in upon this heathen\nwilderness. If little hope could be cherished of the adult Indian in\nhis wandering and unsettled habits of life, it appeared to me, that a\n_wide_ and _most extensive field_, presented itself for cultivation in\nthe instruction of the native children. With the aid of an interpreter,\nI spoke to an Indian, called Withaweecapo, about taking two of his boys\nto the Red River Colony with me to educate and maintain. He yielded to\nmy request; and I shall never forget the affectionate manner in which\nhe brought the eldest boy in his arms, and placed him in the canoe on\nthe morning of my departure from York Factory. His two wives, sisters,\naccompanied him to the water's edge, and while they stood gazing on us,\nas the canoe was paddled from the shore, I considered that I bore a\npledge from the Indian that many more children might be found, if an\nestablishment were formed in British Christian sympathy, and British\nliberality for their education and support.\n\nI had to establish the principle, that the North-American Indian of\nthese regions would part with his children, to be educated in white\nman's knowledge and religion. The above circumstance therefore afforded\nus no small encouragement, in embarking for the colony. We overtook the\nboats going thither on the 7th of September, slowly proceeding through\na most difficult and laborious navigation. The men were harnessed to a\nline, as they walked along the steep declivity of a high bank, dragging\nthem against a strong current. In many places, as we proceeded, the\nwater was very shoal, and opposed us with so much force in the rapids,\nthat the men were frequently obliged to get out, and lift the boats\nover the stones; at other times to unload, and launch them over the\nrocks, and carry the goods upon their backs, or rather suspended in\nslings from their heads, a considerable distance, over some of the\nportages. The weather was frequently very cold, with snow and rain; and\nour progress was so slow and mortifying, particularly up Hill River,\nthat the boats' crews were heard to execrate the man who first found\nout such a way into the interior.\n\nThe blasphemy of the men, in the difficulties they had to encounter,\nwas truly painful to me. I had hoped better things of the Scotch, from\ntheir known moral and enlightened education; but their horrid imprecations\nproved a degeneracy of character in an Indian country. This I lamented\nto find was too generally the case with Europeans, particularly so in\ntheir barbarous treatment of women. They do not admit them as their\ncompanions, nor do they allow them to eat at their tables, but degrade\nthem _merely_ as slaves to their arbitrary inclinations; while the\nchildren grow up wild and uncultivated as the heathen.\n\nThe scenery throughout the passage is dull and monotonous (excepting a\nfew points in some of the small lakes, which are picturesque), till you\nreach the Company's post, Norway House; when a fine body of water\nbursts upon your view in Lake Winipeg. We found the voyage, from the\nFactory to this point, so sombre and dreary, that the sight of a horse\ngrazing on the bank greatly exhilarated us, in the association of the\nidea that we were approaching some human habitation. Our provisions\nbeing short, we recruited our stock at this post; and I obtained\nanother boy for education, reported to me as the orphan son of a\ndeceased Indian and a half-caste woman; and taught him the prayer which\nthe other used morning and evening, and which he soon learned:--\"_Great\nFather, bless me, through Jesus Christ._\" May a gracious God hear\ntheir cry, and raise them up as heralds of his salvation in this truly\nbenighted and barbarous part of the world.\n\nIt often grieved me, in our hurried passage, to see the men employed in\ntaking the goods over the carrying places, or in rowing, during the\nSabbath. I contemplated the delight with which thousands in England\nenjoyed the privileges of this sacred day, and welcomed divine\nordinances. In reading, meditation, and prayer, however, my soul was\nnot forsaken of God, and I gladly embraced an opportunity of calling\nthose more immediately around me to join in reading the scriptures, and\nin prayer in my tent.\n\nOctober the 6th. The ground was covered with snow, and the weather most\nwinterly, when we embarked in our open boats to cross the lake for the\nRed River. Its length, from north to south, is about three hundred\nmiles; and it abounds with sunken rocks, which are very dangerous to\nboats sailing in a fresh breeze. It is usual to run along shore, for\nthe sake of an encampment at night, and of getting into a creek for\nshelter, in ease of storms and tempestuous weather. We had run about\nhalf the lake, when the boat, under a press of sail, struck upon one of\nthese rocks, with so much violence as to threaten our immediate\ndestruction. The idea of never more seeing my family upon earth, rushed\nupon my mind; but the pang of thought was alleviated by the\nrecollection that life at best was short, and that they would soon meet\nme in 'brighter worlds,' whither I expected to be hurried, through the\nsupposed hasty death of drowning. Providentially however we escaped\nbeing wrecked; and I could not but bless the God of my salvation, for\nthe anchor of hope afforded me amidst all dangers and difficulties and\npossible privations of life.\n\nAs I sat at the door of my tent near a fire one evening, an Indian\njoined me, and gave me to understand that he knew a little English. He\ntold me that he was taken prisoner when very young, and subsequently\nfell into the hands of an American gentleman, who took him to England,\nwhere he was very much frightened lest the houses should fall upon him.\nHe further added that he knew a little of Jesus Christ, and hoped that\nI would teach him to read, when he came to the Red River, which he\nintended to do after he had been on a visit to his relations. He has a\nmost interesting intelligent countenance, and expressed much delight at\nmy coming over to his country to teach the Indians. We saw but few of\nthem in our route along the courses of the river, and on the banks of\nthe Winipeg. These are called Muskeggouck, or Swamp Indians, and are\nconsidered a distinct tribe, between the Nahathaway or Cree and\nSaulteaux. They subsist on fish, and occasionally the moose deer or\nelk, with the rein deer or caribou, vast numbers of which, as they swim\nthe river in spring and in the fall of the year, the Indians spear in\ntheir canoes. In times of extremity they gather moss from the rocks,\nthat is called by the Canadians 'tripe de roche,' which boils into a\nclammy substance, and has something of a nutritious quality. The\ngeneral appearance of these Indians is that of wretchedness and want,\nand excited in my mind much sympathy towards them. I shook hands with\nthem, in the hope that ere the rising generation at least had passed\naway, the light of Christianity, like the _aurora borealis_ relieving\nthe gloom of their winter night, would shed around them its heavenly\nlustre, and cheer their suffering existence with a scriptural hope of\nimmortality.\n\nIn crossing the Winipeg, we saw almost daily large flocks of wild fowl,\ngeese, ducks, and swans, flying to the south; which was a sure\nindication to us that winter was setting in with severity to the north.\nIn fact it had already visited us, and inflicted much suffering from\ncold; and it was with no small delight that we entered the mouth of Red\nRiver, soon after the sun rose in majestic splendour over the lake, on\nthe morning of the 13th of October. We proceeded to Netley Creek to\nbreakfast, where we met Pigewis the chief of a tribe of Saulteaux\nIndians, who live principally along the banks of the river. This chief\nbreakfasted with the party, and shaking hands with me most cordially,\nexpressed a wish that \"more of the stumps and brushwood were cleared\naway for my feet, in coming to see his country.\" On our apprising him\nof the Earl of Selkirk's death, he expressed much sorrow, and appeared\nto feel deeply the loss which he and the colony had sustained in his\nLordship's decease. He shewed me the following high testimony of his\ncharacter, given him by the late Earl when at Red River.\n\n    \"The bearer, Pigewis, one of the principal chiefs of the Chipewyans,\n    or Saulteaux of Red River, has been a steady friend of the\n    settlement ever since its first establishment, and has never\n    deserted its cause in its greatest reverses. He has often exerted\n    his influence to restore peace; and having rendered most essential\n    services to the settlers in their distress, deserves to be treated\n    with favour and distinction by the officers of the Hudson's Bay\n    Company, and by all the friends of peace and good order.\"\n\n                        (Signed.)    SELKIRK.\n\n    Fort Douglas, July 17, 1820.\n\nAs we proceeded, the banks were covered with oak, elm, ash, poplar, and\nmaple, and rose gradually higher as we approached the Colony, when the\npraries, or open grassy plains, presented to the eye an agreeable\ncontrast with the almost continued forest of pine we were accustomed to\nin the route from York Factory. On the 14th of October we reached the\nsettlement, consisting of a number of huts widely scattered along the\nmargin of the river; in vain did I look for a cluster of cottages,\nwhere the hum of a small population at least might be heard as in a\nvillage. I saw but few marks of human industry in the cultivation of\nthe soil. Almost every inhabitant we passed bore a gun upon his\nshoulder and all appeared in a wild and hunter-like state. The\ncolonists were a compound of individuals of various countries. They\nwere principally Canadians, and Germans of the Meuron regiment; who\nwere discharged in Canada at the conclusion of the American war, and\nwere mostly Catholics. There was a large population of Scotch emigrants\nalso, who with some retired servants of the Hudson's Bay Company were\nchiefly Protestants, and by far the most industrious in agricultural\npursuits. There was an unfinished building as a Catholic church, and a\nsmall house adjoining, the residence of the Priest; but no Protestant\nmanse, church, or school house, which obliged me to take up my abode at\nthe Colony Fort, (Fort Douglas,) where the 'Charge d'Affaires' of the\nsettlement resided; and who kindly afforded the accommodation of a room\nfor divine worship on the sabbath. My ministry was generally well\nattended by the settlers; and soon after my arrival I got a log-house\nrepaired about three miles below the Fort, among the Scotch population,\nwhere the schoolmaster took up his abode, and began teaching from\ntwenty to twenty-five of the children.\n\nNov. the 8th.--The river was frozen over, and the winter set in with\nseverity. Many were harnessing and trying their dogs in sledges, with a\nview to _trip_ to Pembina, a distance of about seventy miles, or to the\nHunters' tents, on the plains, for buffaloe meat. The journey generally\ntakes them a fortnight, or sometimes more, before they return to the\nsettlement with provisions; and this rambling and uncertain mode of\nobtaining subsistence in their necessity, (the locusts having then\ndestroyed their crops,) has given the settlers a fondness for\n_tripping_, to the neglect of improving their dwellings and their\nfarms. The dogs used on these occasions, and for travelling in carioles\nover the snow, strongly resemble the wolf in size, and frequently in\ncolour. They have pointed noses, small sharp ears, long bushy tails,\nand a savage aspect. They never bark, but set up a fierce growl, and\nwhen numerous about a Fort, their howling is truly melancholy. A doubt\ncan no longer exist, that the dogs brought to the interior of these\nwilds by Europeans, engendered with the wolf, and produced these dogs\nin common use. They have no attachment, and destroy all domestic\nanimals. They are lashed to a sledge, and are often _brutally_\ndriven to travel thirty or forty miles a day, dragging after them a\nload of three and four hundred pounds weight. When fat, they are eaten\nby the Canadians as a great delicacy; and are generally presented by\nthe Indians at their feasts.\n\nMany Indian families came frequently to the Fort, and as is common, I\nbelieve, to all the aborigines were of a copper colour complexion, with\nblack coarse hair. Whenever they dressed for any particular occasion,\nthey anointed themselves all over with charcoal and grease, and painted\ntheir eyebrows, lips and forehead, or cheeks, with vermillion. Some had\ntheir noses perforated through the cartilage, in which was fixed part\nof a goose quill, or a piece of tin, worn as an ornament, while others\nstrutted with the skin of a raven ingeniously folded as a head dress,\nto present the beak over the forehead, and the tail spreading over the\nback of the neck. Their clothing consisted principally of a blanket, a\nbuffaloe skin, and leggings, with a cap, which hung down their back,\nand was fastened to a belt round the waist. _Scoutaywaubo_, or fire\nwater, (rum) was their principal request; to obtain which they appeared\nready to barter any thing, or every thing they possessed. The children\nran about almost naked, and were treated by their parents with all the\ninstinctive fondness of animals. They know of no restraint, and as they\ngrow up into life, they are left at full liberty to be absolute masters\nof their own actions. They were very lively, and several of them had\npleasing countenances which indicated a capacity for much intellectual\nimprovement. Most of their ears were cut in large holes, to which were\nsuspended various ornaments, but principally those of beads. Their\nmothers were in the practice of some disgusting habits towards them\nparticularly that of devouring the vermin which were engendered from\ntheir dirty heads. They put into their mouths all that they happen to\nfind, and will sometimes reserve a quantity, and present the choice\ncollection as a _bonne bouche_ to their husbands.\n\nAfter a short stay at the settlement, they left us to roam through the\nforests, like animals, without any fixed residence, in search of\nprovisions, till the rivers open in the following spring, when they\nreturn to the Company's Post, and trade with the skins and furs which\nthey have taken in hunting.\n\nDecember the 6th. My residence was now removed to the farm belonging to\nthe late Earl of Selkirk, about three miles from Fort Douglas, and six\nfrom the school. Though more comfortable in my quarters, than at the\nFort, the distance put me to much inconvenience in my professional\nduties. We continued, however, to have divine service regularly on the\nSabbath; and having frequently enforced the moral, and social\nobligation of marriage upon those who were living with, and had\nfamilies by Indian, or half caste women, I had the happiness to perform\nthe ceremony for several of the most respectable of the settlers, under\nthe conviction, that _the institution of marriage, and the security\nof property, were the fundamental laws of society_. I had also many\nbaptisms; and with infants, some adult half-breeds were brought to be\nbaptized. I endeavoured to explain to them simply and faithfully the\nnature and object of that Divine ordinance; but found great difficulty\nin conveying to their minds any just and true ideas of the Saviour, who\ngave the commission, on his ascension into heaven \"To go and teach all\nnations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and\nof the Holy Ghost.\" This difficulty produced in me a strong desire to\nextend the blessing of education to them: and from this period it\nbecame a leading object with me, to erect in a central situation, a\nsubstantial building, which should contain apartments for the\nschool-master, afford accommodation for Indian children, be a\nday-school for the children of the settlers, enable us to establish a\nSunday school for the half-caste adult population who would attend, and\nfully answer the purpose of a church for the present, till a brighter\nprospect arose in the colony, and its inhabitants were more\ncongregated. I became anxious to see such a building arise as a\nProtestant land-mark of Christianity in a vast field of heathenism and\ngeneral depravity of manners, and cheerfully gave my hand and my heart\nto perfect the work. I expected a willing co-operation from the Scotch\nsettlers; but was disappointed in my sanguine hopes of their cheerful\nand persevering assistance, through their prejudices against the\nEnglish Liturgy, and the simple rites of our communion. I visited them\nhowever in their affliction, and performed all ministerial duties as\ntheir Pastor; while my motto, was--Perseverance.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nVISIT THE SCHOOL. LEAVE THE FORKS FOR QU'APPELLE. ARRIVAL AT BRANDON\nHOUSE. INDIAN CORPSE STAGED. MARRIAGES AT COMPANY'S POST. BAPTISMS.\nDISTRIBUTION OF THE SCRIPTURES. DEPARTURE FROM BRANDON HOUSE.\nENCAMPMENT. ARRIVAL AT QU'APPELLE. CHARACTER AND CUSTOMS OF STONE\nINDIANS. STOP AT SOME HUNTERS' TENTS ON RETURN TO THE COLONY. VISIT\nPEMBINA. HUNTING BUFFALOES. INDIAN ADDRESS. CANADIAN VOYAGEURS. INDIAN\nMARRIAGES. BURIAL GROUND. PEMICAN. INDIAN HUNTER SENDS HIS SON TO BE\nEDUCATED. MOSQUITOES. LOCUSTS.\n\n\nJANUARY 1, 1821.--I went to the school this morning, a distance of\nabout six miles from my residence, to examine the children, and was\nmuch pleased at the progress which they had already made in reading.\nHaving addressed them, and prayed for a divine blessing on their\ninstruction: I distributed to those who could read a little book, as a\nreward for their general good conduct in the school. In returning to\nthe farm, my mind was filled with sentiments of gratitude and love to a\ndivine Saviour for his providential protection, and gracious favour\ntowards me during the past year. He has shielded me in the shadow of\nhis hand through the perils of the sea and of the wilderness from\nwhence I may derive motives of devotion and activity in my profession.\nThousands are involved in worse than Egyptian darkness around me,\nwandering in ignorance and perishing through lack of knowledge. When\nwill this wide waste howling wilderness blossom as the rose, and the\ndesert become as a fruitful field! Generations _may_ first pass away;\nand the seed of instruction that is now sown, may lie buried, waiting\nfor the early and the latter rain, yet, the sure word of Prophecy, will\never animate Christian liberality and exertion, in the bright prospect\nof that glorious period, when Christianity shall burst upon the gloomy\nscene of heathenism, and dispel every cloud of ignorance and\nsuperstition, till _the very ends of the earth_ shall see the\nsalvation of the Lord.\n\nAs I returned from divine service at the Fort, to the farm, on the 7th,\nit rained hard for nearly two hours, which is a very unusual thing\nduring winter in this northern latitude. We have seldom any rain for\nnearly six months, but a continued hard frost the greater part of this\nperiod. The sky is generally clear, and the snow lies about fifteen, or\nat the utmost eighteen inches deep. As the climate of a country is not\nknown by merely measuring its distance from the equator, but is\naffected differently in the same parallel of latitude by its locality,\nand a variety of circumstances, we find that of Red River, though\nsituated in the same parallel, far different from, and intensely more\ncold than, that of England. The thermometer is frequently at 30 deg. and\n40 deg. below zero, when it is only about freezing point in the latter\nplace. This difference is probably occasioned by the prevailing\nnorth-westerly wind, that blows with piercing keenness over the rocky\nmountains, or Andes, which run from north to south through the whole\nContinent, and over a country which is buried in ice and snow.\n\nAs my instructions were to afford religious instruction and consolation\nto the servants in the active employment of the Hudson's Bay Company,\nas well as to the Company's retired servants, and other inhabitants of\nthe settlement, upon such occasions as the nature of the country and\nother circumstances would permit; I left the Forks[1] in a cariole\ndrawn by three dogs, accompanied by a sledge with two dogs, to carry\nthe luggage and provisions, and two men as drivers, on the 15th of\nJanuary, for Brandon House, and Qu'appelle, on the Assiniboine River.\nAfter we had travelled about fifteen miles, we stopped on the edge of a\nwood, and _bivouacked_ on the snow for the night. A large fire was\nsoon kindled, and a supply of wood cut to keep it up; when supper being\nprepared and finished, I wrapped myself in my blankets and buffaloe\nrobe, and laid down with a few twigs under me in place of a bed, with\nmy feet towards the fire, and slept soundly under the open canopy of\nheaven. The next morning we left our encampment before sunrise; and the\ncountry as we passed presented some beautiful points and bluffs of\nwood. We started again early the following morning, which was intensely\ncold; and I had much difficulty in keeping my face from freezing, on my\nway to the encampment rather late in the evening, at the '_Portage de\nPraire_.' In crossing the plain the next morning, with a sharp head\nwind, my nose and part of my face were frozen quite hard and white. I\nwas not conscious of it, till it was perceived by the driver, who\nimmediately rubbed the parts affected well with snow, and restored the\ncirculation, so that I suffered no inconvenience from the circumstance,\nbut was obliged to keep my face covered with a blanket as I lay in the\ncariole the remaining part of the day.\n\n      [1] So called from the junction of the Assiniboine River with the\n      Red River.\n\nOn the 19th we were on the march as early as half past four, and had a\nsharp piercing wind in our faces, which drifted the snow, and made the\ntrack very bad for the dogs. This greatly impeded our progress; and our\nprovisions being short, I shot some ptarmigans, which were frequently\nseen on our route. We perceived some traces of the buffaloe, and the\nwolf was frequently seen following our track, or crossing in the line\nwe were travelling. Jan. 20. We started at sunrise, with a very cold\nhead wind; and my favourite English watch dog, Neptune, left the\nencampment, to follow us, with great reluctance. I was apprehensive\nthat he might turn back, on account of the severity of the morning; and\nbeing obliged to put my head under the blanket in the cariole, I\nrequested the driver to encourage him along. We had not pursued our\njourney however more than an hour, before I was grieved to find that\nthe piercing keenness of the wind had forced him to return; and the\npoor animal was probably soon after devoured by the wolves.\n\nWe arrived at Brandon House, the Company's provision post, about three\no'clock; and the next day, being Sunday, the servants were all\nassembled for divine worship at eleven o'clock: and we met again in the\nevening at six, when I married the officer of the post, and baptized\nhis two children. On the following morning, I saw an Indian corpse\nstaged, or put upon a few cross sticks, about ten feet from the ground,\nat a short distance from the fort. The property of the dead, which may\nconsist of a kettle, axe, and a few additional articles, is generally\nput into the case, or wrapped in the buffaloe skin with the body, under\nthe idea that the deceased will want them, or that the spirit of these\narticles will accompany the departed spirit in travelling to another\nworld. And whenever they visit the stage or burying-place, which they\nfrequently do for years afterwards, they will encircle it, smoke their\npipes, weep bitterly, and, in their sorrow, cut themselves with knives,\nor pierce themselves with the points of sharp instruments. I could not\nbut reflect that theirs is a sorrow without hope: all is _gross\ndarkness_ with them as to futurity; and they wander through life\nwithout the consolatory and cheering influence of that gospel which has\nbrought life and immortality to light.\n\nBefore I left this post, I married two of the Company's servants, and\nbaptized ten or twelve children. As their parents could read, I\ndistributed some Bibles and Testaments, with some Religious Tracts\namong them. On the 24th, we set off for Qu'appelle, but not without the\nkind attention of the officer, in adding two armed servants to our\nparty, from the expectation that we might fall in with a tribe of Stone\nIndians, who had been threatening him, and had acted in a turbulent\nmanner at the post a few days before. In the course of the afternoon,\nwe saw a band of buffaloes, which fled from us with considerable\nrapidity. Though an animal apparently of a very unwieldy make, and as\nlarge as a Devonshire ox, they were soon out of our sight in a laboured\ncanter. In the evening our encampment was surrounded by wolves, which\nserenaded us with their melancholy howling throughout the night: and\nwhen I first put my head from under the buffaloe robe in the morning,\nour encampment presented a truly wild and striking scene;--the guns\nwere resting against a tree, and pistols with powder horns were hanging\non its branches; one of the men had just recruited the fire, and was\ncooking a small piece of buffaloe meat on the point of a stick, while\nthe others were lying around it in every direction. Intermingled with\nthe party were the dogs, lying in holes which they had scratched in the\nsnow for shelter, but from which they were soon dragged, and harnessed\nthat we might recommence our journey. We had not proceeded far before\nwe met one of the Company's servants going to the fort which we had\nleft, who told us that the Indians we were apprehensive of meeting had\ngone from their track considerably to the north of our direction. In\nconsequence of this information we sent back the two armed servants who\nhad accompanied us. In the course of the day we saw vast numbers of\nbuffaloes; some rambling through the plains, while others in sheltered\nspots were scraping the snow away with their feet to graze. In the\nevening we encamped among some dwarf willows; and some time after we\nhad kindled the fire, we were considerably alarmed by hearing the\nIndians drumming, shouting, and dancing, at a short distance from us in\nthe woods. We immediately almost extinguished the fire, and lay down\nwith our guns under our heads, fully expecting that they had seen our\nfire, and would visit us in the course of the night. We dreaded this\nfrom the known character of the Stone Indians, they being great\nthieves; and it having been represented to us, that they murdered\nindividuals, or small parties of white people, for plunder; or stripped\nthem, leaving them to travel to the posts without clothing, in the most\nsevere weather. We had little sleep, and started before break of day,\nwithout having been observed by them. We stopped to breakfast at the\n_Standing Stone_, where the Indians had deposited bits of tobacco,\nsmall pieces of cloth, &c. as a sacrifice, in superstitious expectation\nthat it would influence their manitou to give them buffaloes and a good\nhunt. Jan. 27th. soon after midnight, we were disturbed by the\nbuffaloes passing close to our encampment: we rose early, and arrived\nat Qu'appelle about three o'clock. Nearly about the same time, a large\nband of Indians came to the fort from the plains with provisions. Many\nof them rode good horses, caparisoned with a saddle or pad of dressed\nskin, stuffed with buffaloe wool, from which were suspended wooden\nstirrups; and a leathern thong, tied at both ends to the under jaw of\nthe animal, formed the bridle. When they had delivered their loads,\nthey paraded the fort with an air of independence. It was not long\nhowever before they became clamorous for spiritous liquors; and the\nevening presented such a bacchanalia, including the women and the\nchildren, as I never before witnessed. Drinking made them quarrelsome,\nand one of the men became so infuriated, that he would have killed\nanother with his bow, had not the master of the post immediately rushed\nin and taken it from him. The following day, being Sunday, the servants\nwere all assembled for divine worship, and again in the evening. Before\nI left the fort, I married several of the Company's servants, who had\nbeen living with, and had families by, Indian or half-caste women, and\nbaptized their children. I explained to them the nature and obligations\nof marriage and baptism; and distributed among them some Bibles and\nTestaments, and Religious Tracts.\n\nWith the Indians who were at the Fort, there was one of the Company's\nservants who had been with the tribe nearly a year and a half, to learn\ntheir language as an interpreter. They were very partial to him, and\ntreated him with great kindness and hospitality. He usually lived with\ntheir chief, and upon informing him who I was, and the object for which\nI came to the country, he welcomed me by a hearty shake of the hand;\nwhile others came round me, and stroked me on the head, as a fond\nfather would his favourite boy. On one occasion, when I particularly\nnoticed one of their children, the boy's father was so affected with\nthe attention, that with tears he exclaimed, \"See! the God takes notice\nof my child.\" Many of these Indians were strong, athletic men, and\ngenerally well-proportioned; their countenances were pleasing, with\naquiline noses, and beautifully white and regular teeth. The buffaloe\nsupplies them with food, and also with clothing. The skin was the\nprincipal, and almost the only article of dress they wore, and was\nwrapped round them, or worn tastefully over the shoulder like the\nHighland plaid. The leggins of some of them were fringed with human\nhair, taken from the scalps of their enemies; and their moccassins, or\nshoes, were neatly ornamented with porcupine quills. They are notorious\nhorse-stealers, and often make predatory excursions to the Mandan\nvillages on the banks of the Missouri, to steal them. They sometimes\nvisit the Red River for this purpose, and have swept off, at times,\nnearly the whole of our horses from the settlement. Such indeed is\ntheir propensity for this species of theft, that they have fired upon,\nand killed the Company's servants, close to the forts for these useful\nanimals. They run the buffaloe with them in the summer, and fasten them\nto sledges which they drag over the snow when they travel in the\nwinter; while the dogs carry burdens upon their backs, like packs upon\nthe pack-horse. It does not appear that chastity is much regarded among\nthem. They take as many wives as they please, and part with them for a\nseason, or permit others to cohabit with them in their own lodges for a\ntime, for a gun, a horse, or some article they may wish to possess.\nThey are known, however, to kill the woman, or cut off her ears or\nnose, if she be unfaithful without their knowledge or permission. All\nthe lowest and most laborious drudgery is imposed upon her, and she is\nnot permitted to eat till after her lord has finished his meal, who\namidst the burdensome toil of life, and a desultory and precarious\nexistence, will only condescend to carry his gun, take care of his\nhorse, and hunt as want may compel him. During the time the interpreter\nwas with these Indians the measles prevailed, and carried off great\nnumbers of them, in different tribes. They often expressed to him a\nvery low opinion of the white people who introduced this disease\namongst them, and threatened to kill them all, at the same time\nobserving, that they would not hurt him, but send him home down the\nMissouri. When their relations, or children of whom they are\npassionately fond, were sick, they were almost constantly addressing\ntheir manitou drumming, and making a great noise; and at the same time\nthey sprinkled them with water where they complained of pain. And when\nthe interpreter was sick, they were perpetually wanting to drum and\nconjure him well. He spoke to them of that God and Saviour whom white\npeople adore; but they called him a fool, saying that he never came to\ntheir country, or did any thing for them, \"_So vain were they in\ntheir imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened._\"\n\nJAN. 30.--We left Qu'appelle to return to the colony, and stopped for\nthe night at an encampment of Indians, some of whom were engaged as\nhunters for the company. They welcomed me with much cordiality to their\nwigwams. We smoked the calumet as a token of friendship; and a\nplentiful supply of buffaloe tongues was prepared for supper. I slept\nin one of their tents, wrapt in a buffaloe robe, before a small fire in\nthe centre, but the wind drawing under it, I suffered more from cold\nthan when I slept in an open encampment. As we were starting the next\nmorning I observed a fine looking little boy standing by the side of\nthe cariole, and told his father that if he would send him to me at the\nSettlement by the first opportunity, I would be as a parent to him,\nclothe him, and feed him, and teach him what I knew would be for his\nhappiness, with the Indian boys I had already under my care. We\nproceeded, and after we had travelled about three hours, the whole\nscene around us was animated with buffaloes; so numerous, that there\ncould not be less, I apprehend, than ten thousand, in different bands,\nat one time in our view. It took us nearly the whole day to cross the\nplain, before we came to any wood for the night. We resumed our journey\nat the dawn of the following morning, and after travelling about three\nhours we stopped at a small creek to breakfast: as soon as we had\nkindled the fire, two Indians made their appearance, and pointing to\nthe willows, shewed me a buffaloe that they had just shot. They were\nvery expert in cutting up the animal, and ate some of the fat, I\nobserved, with a few choice pieces, in a raw state. Soon afterwards I\nsaw another Indian peeping over an eminence, whose head-dress at first\ngave him the appearance of a wolf: and, fearing some treachery, we\nhurried our breakfast and started.\n\nFEB. 2.--The night was so intensely cold that I had but little sleep,\nand we hurried from our encampment at break of day. The air was filled\nwith small icy particles; and some snow having fallen the evening\nbefore, one of the men was obliged to walk in snow shoes, to make a\ntrack for the dogs to follow. Our progress was slow, but we persevered,\nand arrived at Brandon house about four o'clock. We saw some persons at\nthis post, who had just come from the Mandan villages: they informed us\nof the custom that prevails among these Indians, as with many others,\nof presenting females to strangers; the husband his wife or daughter,\nand the brother his sister, as a mark of hospitality: and parents are\nknown to lend their daughters of tender age for a few beads or a little\ntobacco! During our stay, a Sunday intervened, when all met for divine\nworship in the morning and evening, and I had an opportunity of\nbaptizing several more children, whose parents had come in from the\nhunting grounds, since my arrival at the Post, in my way to Qu'appelle.\nOn the 5th we left the fort, and returning by the same track that we\ncame, I searched for traces of my favourite lost dog, but found none.\nThe next morning I got into the cariole very early, and the rising sun\ngradually opened to my view a beautiful and striking scenery. All\nnature appeared silently and impressively to proclaim the goodness and\nwisdom of God. Day unto day, in the revolutions of that glorious orb,\nwhich shed a flood of light over the impenetrable forests and wild\nwastes that surrounded me, uttereth speech. Yet His voice is not heard\namong the heathen, nor His name known throughout these vast territories\nby Europeans in general, but to swear by.----Oh! for wisdom, truly\nChristian faith, integrity and zeal in my labours as a minister, in\nthis heathen and _moral desert_.\n\nFEB. 9.--The wind drifted the snow this morning like a thick fog, that\nat times we could scarcely see twenty yards from the cariole. It did\nnot stop us however in our way, and I reached the farm about five\no'clock, with grateful thanks to God, for protecting me through a\nperilous journey, drawn by dogs over the snow a distance of between\nfive and six hundred miles among some of the most treacherous tribes of\nIndians in this northern wilderness.\n\nMARCH 4.--The weather continues very cold, so as to prevent the women\nand the children from attending regularly divine service on the\nSabbath. The sun however is seldom obscured with clouds, but shines\nwith a sickly face; without softening at all at present, the piercing\nnorth-westerly wind that prevails throughout the winter.\n\nA wish having been expressed to me, that I would attend a general\nmeeting of the principal settlers at Pembina, I set off in a cariole\nfor this point of the Settlement, a distance of nearly eighty miles, on\nthe 12th. We stopped a few hours at the Salt Springs, and then\nproceeded on our journey so as to reach Fort Daer the next morning to\nbreakfast; so expeditiously will the dogs drag the cariole in a good\ntrack, and with a good driver. We met for the purpose of considering\nthe best means of protection, and of resisting any attack that might be\nmade by the Sioux Indians, who were reported to have hostile intentions\nagainst this part of the colony, in the Spring. They had frequently\nkilled the hunters upon the plains; and a war party from the\nMississippi, scalped a boy last summer within a short distance of the\nfort where we were assembled; leaving a painted stick upon the mangled\nbody, as a supposed indication that they would return for slaughter.\n\nThe 18th being the Sabbath, I preached to a considerable number of\npersons assembled at the Fort. They heard me with great attention; but\nI was often depressed in mind, on the general view of character, and at\nthe spectacle of human depravity and barbarism I was called to witness.\nDuring my stay, I went to some hunter's tents on the plains, and saw\nthem kill the buffaloe, by crawling on the snow, and pushing their guns\nbefore them, and this for a considerable distance till they got very\nnear the band. Their approach to the animals was like the appearance of\nwolves, which generally hover round them to devour the leg-wearied and\nthe wounded; and they killed three before the herd fled. But in hunting\nthe buffaloes for provisions it affords great diversion to pursue them\non horseback. I once accompanied two expert hunters to witness this\nmode of killing them. It was in the spring: at this season the bulls\nfollow the bands of cows in the rear on their return to the south,\nwhereas in the beginning of the winter, in their migration to the\nnorth, they preceded them and led the way. We fell in with a herd of\nabout forty, on an extensive prarie. They were covering the retreat of\nthe cows. As soon as our horses espied them they shewed great spirit,\nand became as eager to chase them as I have understood the old English\nhunter is to follow the fox-hounds in breaking cover. The buffaloes\nwere grazing, and did not start till we approached within about half a\nmile of them, when they all cantered off in nearly a compact body. We\nimmediately threw the reins upon the horses' necks, and in a short time\nwere intermingled with several of them. Pulling up my horse I then\nwitnessed the interesting sight of the hunters continuing the chase,\ntill they had separated one of the bulls from the rest, and after\ndriving it some distance, they gallopped alongside and fired upon the\nanimal, with the gun resting upon the front of the saddle. Immediately\nit was wounded, it gave chase in the most furious manner, and the\nhorses aware of their danger, turned and cantered away at the same pace\nas the buffaloe. While the bull was pursuing them, the men reloaded\ntheir guns, which they do in a most expeditious manner, by pouring the\ncharge of powder into the palm of their hand half closed, from a horn\nhung over the shoulder, and taking a ball from the pouch that is\nfastened to their side, and then suddenly breaking out of the line,\nthey shot the animal through the heart as it came opposite to them. It\nwas of a very large size, with long shaggy hair on the head and\nshoulders, and the head when separated from the carcase was nearly as\nmuch as I could lift from the ground.\n\nThe Indians have another mode of pursuing the buffaloes for\nsubsistence, by driving them into a pound. They make the inclosure of a\ncircular form with trees felled on the spot, to the extent of one or\ntwo hundred yards in diameter, and raise the entrance with snow, so as\nto prevent the retreat of the animals when they have once entered. As\nsoon as a herd is seen in the horizon coming in the direction of the\npound, a party of Indians arrange themselves singly in two opposite\nlines, branching out gradually on each side to a considerable distance,\nthat the buffaloes may advance between them. In taking their station at\nthe distance of twenty or thirty yards from each other, they lie down,\nwhile another party manoeuvre on horseback, to get in rear of the\nband. Immediately they have succeeded they give chace, and the party in\nambush rising up as the buffaloes come opposite to them, they all\nhalloo, and shout, and fire their guns, so as to drive them, trampling\nupon each other, into the snare, where they are soon slaughtered by the\narrow or the gun.\n\nThe buffaloe tongue, when well cured, is of excellent flavour, and is\nmuch esteemed, together with the _bos_, or hump of the animal, that is\nformed on the point of the shoulders. The meat is much easier of\ndigestion than English beef; and many pounds of it are often taken by\nthe hungry traveller just before he wraps himself in his buffaloe robe\nfor the night without the least inconvenience.\n\nOn my return to the Fort, I had an opportunity of hearing from a chief\nof a small tribe of Chipewyans, surrounded by a party of his young men,\na most pathetic account, and a powerful declaration of revenge against\nthe Sioux Indians, who had tomahawked and scalped his son. Laying his\nhand upon his heart as he related the tragical circumstance, he\nemphatically exclaimed, 'It is _here_ I am affected, and _feel_ my\nloss;' then raising his hand above his head, he said, 'the spirit of my\nson cries for vengeance. It must be appeased. His bones lie on the\nground uncovered. We want ammunition: give us powder and ball, and we\nwill go and revenge his death upon our enemies.' Their public speeches\nare full of bold metaphor, energy and pathos. \"No Greek or Roman orator\never spoke perhaps with more strength and sublimity than one of their\nchiefs when asked to remove with his tribe to a distance from their\nnative soil.\" 'We were born,' said he, 'on this ground, our fathers lie\nburied in it, shall we say to the bones of our fathers, arise, and come\nwith us into a foreign land?'\n\nOne of the Indians left his wampum, or belt, at the Fort as a pledge\nthat he would return and pay the value of an article which was given to\nhim at his request. They consider this deposit sacred and inviolable,\nand as giving a sanction to their words, their promises and their\ntreaties. They are seldom known to fail in redeeming the pledge; and\nthey ratify their agreements with each other by a mutual exchange of\nthe wampum, regarding it with the smoking of tobacco, as the great test\nof sincerity.\n\nIn conducting their war excursions, they act upon the same principle as\nin hunting. They are vigilant in espying out the track of those whom\nthey pursue, and will follow them over the praries, and through the\nforests, till they have discovered where they halt; when they wait with\nthe greatest patience, under every privation, either lurking in the\ngrass, or concealing themselves in the bushes, till an opportunity\noffers to rush upon their prey, at a time when they are least able to\nresist them. These tribes are strangers to open warfare, and laugh at\nEuropeans as fools for standing out, as they say, in the plains, to be\nshot at.\n\nOn the 22nd I reached the Farm, and from the expeditious mode of\ntravelling over the snow, I began to think, as is common among the\nIndians, that one hundred miles was little more than a step, or in fact\nbut a short distance. It often astonished me to see with what an\nunwearied pace, the drivers hurry along their dogs in a cariole, or\nsledge, day after day in a journey of two and three hundred miles. I\nhave seen some of the English half-breeds greatly excel in this\nrespect. Many of the Canadians however are very expert drivers, as they\nare excellent _voyageurs_ in the canoe. There is a native gaiety, and\nvivacity of character, which impel them forward, and particularly so,\nunder the individual and encouraging appellation of '_bon homme_.' When\ntripping, they are commonly all life, using the whip, or more commonly\na thick stick, barbarously upon their dogs, vociferating as they go\n\"_Sacres Crapeaux_,\" \"_Sacree Marne_,\" \"_Saintes Diables_,\" and\nuttering expressions of the most appalling blasphemy. In the rivers,\ntheir canoe songs, as sung to a lively air and chorus with the paddle,\nare very cheerful and pleasing. They smoke immediately and almost\nincessantly, when the paddle is from their hands; and none exceed them\nin skill, in running the rapids, passing the portages with pieces of\neighty and ninety pounds weight upon their backs, and expeditiously\nperforming a journey of one thousand miles.\n\nAPRIL 1.--Last Friday I married several couples, at the Company's Post;\nnearly all the English half-breeds were assembled on the occasion, and\nso passionately fond are they of dancing, that they continued to dance\nalmost incessantly from two o'clock on Friday afternoon, till late on\nSaturday night. This morning the Colony Fort was nearly thronged with\nthem to attend divine service; and it was my endeavour to address them,\nwith plainness, simplicity, and fidelity. There was much attention;\nbut, I fear, from their talking, principally, their mother tongue, the\nIndian language, that they did not comprehend a great deal of my\ndiscourse. This is the case also, with a few of the Scotch Highland\nsettlers, who speak generally the Gaelic language.\n\nMarriage, I would enforce upon all, who are living with, and have\nchildren by half-caste, or Indian women. The apostolic injunction is\nclear and decisive against the too common practice of the country, in\nputting them away, after enjoying the morning of their days; or\ndeserting them to be taken by the Indians with their children, when the\nparties, who have cohabited with them, leave the Hudson's Bay Company's\nterritories.[2] And if a colony is to be organized, and established in\nthe wilderness, the moral obligation of marriage must be felt. It is\n\"the _parent_,\" said Sir William Scott, \"not the _child_ of civil\nsociety.\" Some _form_, or religious rite in marriage is also requisite,\nand has generally been observed by enlightened and civilized nations.\nIt is a civil contract in civil society, but the sanction of religion\nshould be superadded. The ancients considered it as a religious\nceremony. They consulted their imaginary gods, before the marriage was\nsolemnized, and implored their assistance by prayers, and sacrifices;\nthe gall was taken out of the victim, as the seat of anger and malice,\nand thrown behind the altar, as hateful to the deities who presided\nover the nuptial ceremonies. Marriage, by its original institution[3]\nis the nearest of all earthly relations, and as involving each other's\nhappiness through life, it surely ought to be entered upon by\nprofessing Christians, with religious rites, invoking heaven as a party\nto it, while the consent of the individuals is pledged to each other,\nratified and confirmed by a vow.\n\n      [2] 1 Corin. vii. 12.\n\n      [3] Gen. ii. 24.\n\nIncestuous cohabitation is common with the Indians, and in some\ninstances, they will espouse several sisters at the same time; but so\nfar from adopting the custom of others in presenting their wives, or\ndaughters as a mark of hospitality due to a stranger, the Chipewyans or\nSaulteaux tribe of Red River, appear very jealous of them towards\nEuropeans. There is something patriarchal in their manner of first\nchoosing their wives. When a young man wishes to take a young woman to\nlive with him; he may perhaps mention his wishes to her, but generally,\nhe speaks to the father, or those who have authority over her. If his\nproposal be accepted, he is admitted into the tent, and lives with the\nfamily, generally a year, bringing in the produce of his hunting for\nthe general mess. He then separates to a tent of his own, and adds to\nthe number of wives, according to his success and character as a\nhunter. The Indians have been greatly corrupted in their simple and\nbarbarous manners, by their intercourse with Europeans, many of whom\nhave borne scarcely any other mark of the Christian character than the\nname; and who have not only fallen into the habits of an Indian life,\nbut have frequently exceeded the savage in their savage customs. When a\nfemale is taken by them, it does not appear that her wishes are at all\nconsulted, but she is obtained from the lodge as an inmate at the Fort,\nfor the prime of her days generally, through that irresistible bribe to\nIndians, rum. Childbirth, is considered by them, as an event of a\ntrifling nature; and it is not an uncommon case for a woman to be taken\nin labour, step aside from the party she is travelling with, and\novertake them in the evening at their encampment, with a new-born\ninfant on her back. It has been confidently stated that Indian women\nsuffer more from parturition with half-breed children than when the\nfather is an Indian. If this account be true, it can only be in\nconsequence of their approach to the habits of civilized life, exerting\nan injurious influence over their general constitution. When taken to\nlive with white men, they have larger families, and at the same time\nare liable to more disease consequent upon it, than in their wild and\nwandering state. They have customs, such as separation for forty days\nat the birth of a child, setting apart the female in a separate lodge\nat peculiar seasons, and forbidding her to touch any articles in common\nuse, which bear a strong resemblance to the laws of uncleanness, and\nseparation commanded to be observed towards Jewish females. These\nstrongly corroborate the idea, that they are of Asiatic origin;\ndescended from some of the scattered tribes of the children of Israel:\nand through some ancient transmigration, came over by Kamtchatka into\nthese wild and extensive territories. When they name their children, it\nis common for them to make a feast, smoke the calumet, and address the\nMaster of life, asking him to protect the child, whom they call after\nsome animal, place, or object in nature, and make him a good hunter.\nThe Stone Indians add to the request, a good horse-stealer. The women\nsuckle their children generally, till the one supplants the other, and\nit is not an uncommon circumstance to see them of three or four years\nold running to take the breast. They have a burial ground at the\nSettlement, and usually put the property of the deceased into the grave\nwith the corpse. If any remains, it is given away from an aversion they\nhave to use any thing that belonged to their relations who have died.\nSome of the graves are very neatly covered over with short sticks and\nbark as a kind of canopy, and a few scalps are affixed to poles that\nare stuck in the ground at the head of several of them. You see also\noccasionally at the grave, a piece of wood on which is either carved or\npainted the symbols of the tribe the deceased belonged to, and which\nare taken from the different animals of the country.\n\nAPRIL 6.--One of the principal settlers informed me this morning, that\nan Indian had stabbed one of his wives in a fit of intoxication at an\nencampment near his house. I immediately went to the Lodge to inquire\ninto the circumstance, and found that the poor woman had been stabbed\nin wanton cruelty, through the shoulder and the arm, but not mortally.\nThe Indians were still drunk, and some of them having knives in their\nhands, I thought it most prudent to withdraw from their tents, without\noffering any assistance. The Indians appear to me to be generally of an\ninoffensive and hospitable disposition; but spirituous liquors, like\nwar, infuriate them with the most revengeful and barbarous feelings.\nThey are so conscious of this effect of drinking, that they generally\ndeliver up their guns, bows and arrows, and knives, to the officers,\nbefore they begin to drink at the Company's Post; and when at their\ntents, it is the first care of the women to conceal them, during the\nseason of riot and intoxication.\n\nA considerable quantity of snow fell on the night of the 12th, and the\nweather continuing very cold, it is not practicable yet to begin any\noperations in farming. Though I see not as yet any striking effects of\nmy ministry among the settlers, yet, I trust, some little outward\nreformation has taken place, in the better observance of the Sabbath.\n\nMAY 2.--The rivers have broken up this spring unusually late, and the\nice is now floating down in large masses. The settlers, who went to\nPembina and the plains, for buffaloe meat in the Fall, are returning\nupon rafts, or in canoes formed by hollowing the large trunks of trees:\nmany of them are as improvident of to-morrow as the Indians, and have\nbrought with them no dried provisions for the summer. This is not the\ncase however with the Scotch, who have been provident enough to bring\nwith them a supply of dried meat and pemican for a future day. The\ndried meat is prepared by cutting the flesh of the buffaloe thin, and\nhanging it on stages of wood to dry by the fire; and is generally tied\nin bundles of fifty or forty pounds weight. It is very rough, and\ntasteless, except a strong flavour of the smoke. Pemican is made by\npounding the dried meat, and mixing it with boiled fat, and is then put\ninto bags made of buffaloe skin, which weigh about eighty and a hundred\npounds each. It is a species of food well adapted to travelling in the\ncountry; but so strongly cemented in the bag, that when it is used, it\nis necessary to apply the axe; and very much resembles in appearance\ntallow-chandler's grease.\n\nThe 10th.--The plains have been on fire to a considerable extent for\nseveral days past, and the awful spectacle is seen this evening,\nthrough the whole of the northern, and western horizon. Idle rumours\nprevail that the Sioux Indians will attack the Settlement; which\nunhappily unsettle the minds, and interrupt the industry of the\ncolonists. But none of these things move me, in carrying on my plans,\nand making arrangements to erect a substantial building, sixty feet by\ntwenty. The Red River appears to me, a most desirable spot for a\nMissionary establishment, and the formation of schools; from whence\nChristianity may arise, and be propagated among the numerous tribes of\nthe north. The settlers are now actively employed in preparing to sow\nthe small lots of land which they have cleared: but this season is\nshort from the great length of the winter.--The 20th being Sunday more\nthan one hundred of them assembled at the Fort for divine service; and\ntheir children from the school were present for public examination.\nThey gave general satisfaction in their answers to questions from the\n\"Chief Truths of the Christian Religion, and Lewis's Catechism.\"--Text\nProverbs iii. 17.\n\nBy the arrival of the boats from Qu'appelle, on the 25th, I received\nthe little Indian boy, I noticed, when leaving the Hunter's Tents,\nduring my excursion to that quarter in January last. Soon after my\ndeparture, the father of the boy observed, that \"as I had asked for his\nson, and stood between the Great Spirit and the Indians, he would send\nhim to me;\" and just before the boats left the Post for the Red River,\nhe brought the boy, and requested that he might be delivered to my\ncare. Thus was I encouraged in the idea, that native Indian children\nmight be collected from the wandering tribes of the north, and educated\nin \"the knowledge of the true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent.\"\n\nEvery additional Indian child I obtained for this purpose, together\nwith the great inconvenience of having no place appropriated for public\nworship, gave a fresh stimulus to exertion in erecting the proposed\nbuilding. There was but little willing assistance however, towards this\ndesirable object; as few possessed any active spirit of public\nimprovement; and the general habits of the people being those of\nlounging and smoking, were but little favourable to voluntary\nexertions.\n\nSturgeon are caught at this period, from sixty to one hundred pounds\nweight and more, in great abundance at the Settlement; and also for\nabout a month in the fall of the year, a little below the rapids\ntowards the mouth of the river. The oil of this fish is sometimes used\nas lamp oil by the settlers; and the sound, when carefully and quickly\ndried in the shade, by hanging it upon a line in a good breeze, forms\nisinglass, the simple solution of which in water makes a good jelly,\nand may be seasoned by the addition of syrup and wine, or of the\nexpressed juices of any ripe fruit. The roe is often cooked immediately\nit is taken from the fish; but, when salted and placed under a\nconsiderable pressure until dry, it forms the very nutritious article\nof food named _caviare_. They generally afford us an abundant supply of\nprovisions for about a month or five weeks; and when they leave the\nriver, we have usually a good supply of cat fish, weighing about seven\nor eight pounds each, and which are taken in greater or less quantities\nfor the most part of the summer months.\n\nJune the 20th. The canoes arrived from Montreal, _via_ Lake Superior,\nand brought me the gratifying intelligence, in letters from England,\nthat my family were all well. It was my intention that they should have\nembarked with me in my mission to this country, but circumstances\nprevented it; and now that I was surrounded with unexpected\ndifficulties, situated in the very heart of an Indian territory, most\ndifficult of access, and without military protection, I deemed it most\nadvisable that they should defer the voyage, in the hope that another\nyear might lessen these difficulties, and bring a better arrangement\nfor the prosperity of the colony. I could undergo privations, and enter\nupon any arduous official duties, for the best interests of the natives\nand the settlers; but I could not subject Mrs. West (and infant\nchildren) to the known existing trials of the country, whose useful\ntalents would otherwise have greatly aided me in the formation and\nsuperintendence of schools.\n\nJuly 2nd. An agreeable change has taken place in the scenery around us;\nthe trees are breaking into leaves, and many plants are in blossom,\nwhere, but a short time ago, everything bore the aspect of winter. But\nthis almost sudden and pleasing change has brought an unceasing\ntorment: night and day we are perpetually persecuted with the\nmosquitoes, that swarm around us, and afford no rest but in the\nannoying respiration of a smoky room. They hover in clouds about the\ndomestic cattle, and drive them (almost irritated to madness) to the\nsmoke of fires lighted with tufts of grass for their relief. The trial\nof this ever busy and tormenting insect is inconceivable, but to those\nwho have endured it. We retire to rest, enveloped in clothes almost to\nsuffocation, but the musquitoe finds its way under the blankets,\npiercing with its envenomed trunk, till we often rise in a fever. Nor\nare we relieved from this painful scourge until the return of a slight\nfrost, in the beginning of September.\n\n20th. The weather is extremely hot, the thermometer more than 90 deg. above\nzero. Vegetation is making an astonishingly rapid progress, and the\ngrain in its luxuriant growth upon a rich soil, presents to the eye the\nfairest prospects of a good harvest. But the locust, an insect very\nlike the large grasshopper, is beginning to make sad ravages, by\ndestroying the crops, as it has done for the last three years, at the\nSettlement. These insects multiply so rapidly, that they soon\noverspread the land, or rather the whole country; and had not a wise\nProvidence limited their existence to a year, they would no doubt (if\npermitted to increase) soon destroy the whole vegetative produce of the\nworld. They seem to devour, not so much from a ravenous appetite, as\nfrom the rage of destroying every vegetable substance that lies in the\nway; and their work of destruction is frequently so regular in a field\nof corn, as to have the appearance of being cut with a scythe. Where\nthey are bred, from eggs that are deposited in the earth the autumn\nbefore, they stop during the months of April, May, and June; towards\nthe latter end of July, they get strong, and have wings, when they rise\ntogether, sometimes so numerous as to form a black cloud, which darkens\nthe rays of the sun. Their first direction is against the wind, but\nafterwards they appear to be driven by its course, and fall, as a\nscourge, as they become exhausted by flight. \"_The land may be as the\ngarden of Eden before them, but behind them it is a desolate\nwilderness._\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nNORWAY HOUSE. BAPTISMS. ARRIVAL AT YORK FACTORY. SWISS EMIGRANTS.\nAUXILIARY BIBLE SOCIETY FORMED. BOAT WRECKED. CATHOLIC PRIESTS. SIOUX\nINDIANS KILLED AT THE COLONY. CIRCULATION OF THE SCRIPTURES AMONG THE\nCOLONISTS. SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS. FISHING UNDER THE ICE. WILD FOWL.\nMEET THE INDIANS AT PEMBINA. THEY SCALP AN ASSINIBOINE. WAR DANCE.\nCRUELLY PUT TO DEATH A CAPTIVE BOY. INDIAN EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE\nFOR THE EDUCATION OF HIS CHILD. STURGEON.\n\n\nThe late Earl of Selkirk having suggested that, \"In the course of each\nsummer, it would be proper that the minister should visit the Hudson's\nBay Company's factory at Norway House, and also at York Fort, as a\ngreat number of their servants are assembled at these places, for a few\nweeks in summer, and have no other opportunity for any public religious\ninstruction;\" I left the settlement on the first of August, and met, at\nNorway House, one of the Directors of the Hudson's Bay Company, and a\ngentleman of the North West, on their route from Montreal to York Fort,\nto make arrangements for the future trade of the country, in consequence\nof a coalition between the two Companies. This was a circumstance which\nI could not but hail, as highly encouraging in the attempt to better\nthe condition of the native Indians, and likely to remove many of the\nevils that prevailed during the ardour of opposition.\n\nThe 12th of August, being Sunday, we had divine service; after which I\nbaptized between twenty and thirty children, and married two of the\nCompany's officers. On the 14th, we left this Post, and arrived at York\nFactory, the 27th, where we found a considerable number of Swiss\nfamilies, who had left their country, as emigrants to the Red River\nColony. They shewed me a prospectus, which had been circulated in the\nSwiss Cantons, by a gentleman who had been in Canada, but had never\nseen the Settlement; and were anxious in their inquiries whether it was\nrising to prosperity. They appeared to me to be a different description\nof settlers, from what the colony, in its infancy of improvement, was\nprepared to receive; as consisting principally of watchmakers and\nmechanics. The hardy husbandman was the character we wanted; who would\nwork his persevering way through the thickets, clear the surface, and\nspread cultivation around us; and not easily repine if a storm overtook\nhim in the wilderness.\n\nDuring my stay at the Factory, several marriages and baptisms took\nplace; and it was no small encouragement to me, in my ministerial\nlabours, to have the patronage and cordial co-operation of the Director\nI had the pleasure of meeting, in establishing an Auxiliary Bible\nSociety, for \"Prince Rupert's Land and the Red River Settlement.\" It\nwas formed with great liberality on the part of the Company's officers,\nwho met on the occasion; and more than one hundred and twenty pounds\nwere immediately subscribed, in aid of an institution, (the British and\nForeign Bible Society,) which justly challenges the admiration of the\nworld. Pure in its principle, and simple yet mighty in operation, it is\ndiffusing blessings through the four quarters of the globe: Europe,\nAsia, Africa, and America, are partakers of its bounty; and the tide of\nits beneficent liberality is flowing towards all nations, kindreds,\ntongues, and complexions of our fellow men, that they may read in their\nown tongues the wonderful works of God.\n\nWe cheered the Director, with the most cordial feelings of regard, as\nhe stepped into the boat, on the morning of the 13th of September, to\nembark in the Prince of Wales, on his return to England; and immediately\n afterwards, I set off on my return to the Red River. We overtook the\n second division of boats, with the Swiss emigrants, on the 20th,\n slowly proceeding, and greatly harassed with the difficulties of the\n navigation. They informed us, that one of their party was accidentally\n drowned, soon after they left the Factory; and that several of their\n children had died on the passage. We were late on our return to the\n colony, and under considerable apprehensions that the rivers would be\n frozen over before our arrival. We experienced very cold weather the\n beginning of October; and our encampment at night was frequently\n covered with snow. One of the Swiss got his feet dreadfully frozen,\n from the careless neglect of not taking off his shoes and socks to\n dry, before he lay down to rest. In crossing Winipeg Lake, one of the\n boats was wrecked, but providentially no lives were lost. This\n accident, however, detained us in an encampment for six or seven days;\n and having scarcely any other subsistence than a little boiled barley,\n I experienced at times the most pressing hunger. Every one rambled in\n pursuit of game, but generally returned unsuccessful. One evening, a\n servant brought in from his day's hunt a large horned owl, which was\n immediately cooked, and eagerly despatched. The next day, I was\n walking along the shore with my gun, when the waves cast at my feet\na dead jack-fish; I took it up, and felt, from the keenness of my\nappetite for animal food, as though I could have immediately devoured\nit, notwithstanding it bore the marks of having been dead a considerable\ntime. At this moment, I heard the croaking of a raven, and placing the\nfish upon the bank, as a bait, I shot it from behind a willow, where I\nhad concealed myself, as it lighted upon the ground; and the success\nafforded me a welcome repast at night.\n\nWe reached the mouth of the Red River on the 2nd of November, and found\nour friend Pigewis, the Indian chief, at his old encampment. He\nreceived us most hospitably, giving us a good supply of dried sturgeon.\nOur hungry party put the liberality of the Indians to the test, but it\ndid not fail; as I believe it seldom does, in their improvidence of\ntomorrow. I landed at Fort Douglas on the 4th, and could not but\nrecount the mercies of God in my safe return. They have followed me\nthrough many a perilous, and trying scene of life; and I would that a\nsense of a continual protecting Providence in the mercy of Redemption,\nmay ever actuate me in whatsoever things may tend to the promotion of\nthe happiness, and of the _best interests_ of my fellow men, in the\njourneyings of my life, through a disordered and distracted world.\n\nNo sooner had the Swiss emigrants arrived, than many of the Germans,\nwho had come to the Settlement a few years ago from Canada, and had\nhouses, presented themselves 'in search of a wife,' and having fixed\ntheir attachment with acceptance, they received those families, in\nwhich was their choice, into their habitations. Those who had no\ndaughters to afford this introduction, were obliged to pitch their\ntents along the banks of the river, and outside the stockades of the\nFort, till they removed to Pembina in the better prospect of provisions\nfor the winter. Those of the Germans, who were Catholics, applied to\nthe Canadian Catholic Priests to solemnize their marriage; but they\nrefused, because their intended wives were Protestants; and such was\ntheir bigotry in this matter, in refusing to marry a Catholic to a\nProtestant, that they expressed an opinion, that a Catholic could not\nbe present, even as a witness, \"_sine culpa_\"[4] when I performed the\nmarriage ceremony, \"_inter Catholicos et Haereticos_.\"[5]\n\n      [4] Without blame.\n\n      [5] Between Catholics and Heritics.\n\nThe locusts which had begun the work of destruction at my leaving the\nColony for York Factory, had completely destroyed the crops; and during\nmy absence, a party of Sioux Indians, came to Fort Douglas, in\nexpectation, it was said, of receiving presents from the stores. It was\nthought advisable to promise them some goods, on their returning\npeaceably to their own country, and they manifested no other than a\npeaceable disposition to all parties. The Saulteaux Indians, however,\nof Red River, between whom and the Sioux nation, a hostile feeling has\nexisted from time immemorial, became very irritable; and a small party\nof them fired upon a straggling party of the Sioux, in a garden on the\nPoint below the Colony Fort; they killed two, and wounded a third; and\nfled with such precipitation by swimming the river, and running through\nthe willows, as to escape the vengeance, and almost the view of those\nwho survived. It is the glory of the North American Indian to steal\nupon his enemies like a fox, to attack like a tiger, and flee after the\nattack like a bird. The Indians were not seen any more till after the\nSioux had left the settlement, who went away murmuring, that powder and\nball had been given, as they said, at the Fort, to the Saulteaux, to\nkill them. In fact they had formed a deep laid scheme to scalp the\nperson in charge of Fort Douglas, in the absence of the 'Charge\nd'Affaires' of the Colony, and were only prevented carrying it into\nexecution by one of the party giving information to a person at the\nFarm, as to their intentions. They buried those who were shot near the\nStockades of the Fort, and for more than a week after they were gone,\nthe Saulteaux, in their savage fondness to exhibit the scalp in their\nwar-dance, and obtain possession of the toes and fingers of the slain,\nmade several attempts by night to disturb the graves, but were\nprevented getting these trophies, by a watch that was kept.\n\nNOVEMBER 11.--The winter is again set in with severity, and I have been\ngreatly disappointed in not having the building so far finished, as to\nhave accommodated the schoolmaster with a residence, as well as to have\nafforded a place for divine worship before this period. He is now\nresident with the Indian boys, at the Post which formerly belonged to\nthe North West Company: but being so far distant from the body of the\nProtestant settlers his number of scholars is not so large as it was,\nnor have we so many on the Sabbath, for divine worship as formerly. The\ndifficulties which we have hitherto met with in obtaining provisions,\nand the mode of procuring them, have formed the character of the\nColonists principally into that of hunters and fishermen; so that\nlabourers are not obtained but at a high remunerating price, or at a\ndollar a day each. A circulating medium would no doubt reduce the price\nof labour. It has frequently been requested by the settlers, and would\nrelieve them from many unpleasant circumstances arising from barter and\npayment by bills.\n\nI found the Scriptures at some of the Company's Posts I visited, most\nof the copies of which had been sent into the country, together with\nthe Book of Common Prayer, by one of the Directors, who ever expressed\nto me a lively interest for its moral improvement: and the liberal\nsupply which I had received from the British and Foreign Bible Society,\nin several different languages, enabled me to circulate many copies of\nthe Bible among the colonists, in _English_, _Gaelic_, _German_,\n_Danish_, _Italian_, and _French_. They were gratefully received by\nthem in general, and by none more so than the Highlanders, one of whom\non receiving a Gaelic Bible well remarked, \"that one word in the heart\nwas worth more than the whole volume in the pocket neglected.\" The\nCatholic priests, however, opposed this circulation, and one of them\ncalled on a Catholic, to whom I had given a Bible at his own particular\nrequest, and after anathematizing our great reformer, asked him to give\nit up. The man refused with this pointed and pertinent question, \"From\nwhence, Sir, do you get your knowledge of religion?\" In this refusal,\nhe acted upon the enlightened principle, that we derive all true\nsentiments in religious subjects from the Bible, and the Bible alone;\nand that the exercise of private judgment in the possession of the\nBible, was the birth-right privilege of every man. Therein is contained\nthe great charter of salvation, and the awful code of divine\ncommunication to the human race. \"A Bible then to every man in the\nworld,\" is the sentiment we would encourage, in opposition to such a\npriestly objection, that is contrary to the liberal conduct of more\nenlightened Catholics, and manifestly opposed to scriptural examples,\nand the divine command of the Founder of Christianity himself. The\nEunuch was _reading the scriptures_, searching for, and inquiring after\ndivine truth, when Philip received a commission from heaven to \"join\nhimself to his chariot.\" The Saviour gave an authoritative command to\nthe Jews to \"_search the scriptures_,\" and it is recorded of Timothy\nthat \"_from a child he had known the Holy Scriptures_.\" They are the\nmeans of affording that instruction which man's wisdom cannot teach,\nwhile they bear every mark of a divine revelation, in a manner worthy\nof God, and plain to the meanest capacity.\n\nI had given a French Testament to one of the Canadians, whom I married\nto a Swiss Protestant, which excited the farther active prejudice of\nthe Catholic priest. He called on him, and requested that he might have\nit, but the Canadian objected, saying, that as his wife was a\nProtestant, she wished to read it. He then asked to borrow it,\npromising to return the Testament in a few days, and took it home with\nhim. I had written on the inside of the cover--\n\n    The man's name.\n    From the British and Foreign Bible Society.\n    \"Sondez les Ecritures.\" St. Jean, v. 39.\n\nA short time after it was returned, the Canadian shewed me the remarks\nwhich the priest had written, and gave me the Testament, at my request,\nin exchange for a Bible.\n\nOver the above text, the Catholic priest wrote, \"Lisez avee soin les\nEcritures, mais ne les explicuez point d'apres vos lumieres,\" and\nimmediately following my name, which I had put at the bottom of the\ncover: \"Si _quelquun_ necoute pas l'Eglise regardez le comme un Paien,\net un Publicain.\" Matth. xviii. 17; adding the following observations:\n\"Dans ce livre, on ne dit pas un mot de la penitence qui afflige le\ncorps. Cependant il est de foi qu'elle est absolument necessaire au\nsalut apres le peche, c'est a l'Eglise de J. C. qu'il appartient de\ndeterminer le sens des Ecritures.\"\n\nThe prejudices which the Canadian priests at the Colony express against\nCatholics marrying Protestants must tend to weaken the religious and\nmoral obligation of the marriage contract, as entered into between\nthem. I have known the priests refuse to marry the parties of the above\ndifferent persuasions, at the time that they were co-habiting together,\nas though it were better for them to live in fornication, than that\nthey should violate the rigid statutes of the Papal see.\n\nI married a couple a short time ago, and afterwards found that the\npriest had been unwearied in calling upon the woman who was a professed\nProtestant, and never ceased to repeat to her their opinions of\nheretics, till, with the persuasion of her husband, they prevailed upon\nher to be re-baptized, and re-married by them in the _nominal_\nprofession of the Catholic faith. And I was assured by a Swiss\ngentleman at the Settlement, who had married a Catholic from Montreal,\nthat some months after their marriage, one of the priests called upon\nhis wife, and told her that it would have been better for her to have\nmarried a heathen, than a Protestant. A heathen, he said, might be\nconverted to the Catholic faith, and be saved, but little hope could be\nentertained of a Protestant. These circumstances prove that Popery, as\nit now exists, at least in this quarter of the globe, is not contrary\nto what it was in the days of the Reformation.\n\nChristmas is again returned, and appears to be generally known amongst\nus, as in Europe, only as a season of intoxication. Will not the very\nheathen rise up in judgment, at the last day, and condemn such a gross\nperversion of the supposed period of the Redeemer's birth; the\nknowledge of whose name, they have hitherto been unacquainted with. We\nhad divine service at the Fort:--text, Luke ii. 8-11. The Indian boys\nrepeated some hymns, and joined in the singing Hallelujah! to the\n\"Emmanuel, which being interpreted, is, God with us.\" I meet with many\ndiscouraging circumstances in my ministerial labours; but my path is\nsometimes cheered with the pleasing hope, that they are not altogether\nin vain; and that the light of Christianity will break in upon the\nheathen darkness that surrounds me. _The promises of God are\nsure_; and when cast down, I am not disheartened.\n\nJANUARY 1, 1822.--Oh thou God of mercy, as thou hast brought me\nhitherto, be pleased to support and direct me in the wilderness; order\nmy footsteps, and make my path acceptable to thyself--\"Hoping all\nthings, may I endure all things,\" in the desire of usefulness, as I\nproceed in the journey of life, and be endued with a Spirit of Love,\nand of a sound mind, as year after year revolves over my head.\n\nThe 16th. We are suffering great privations at the Settlement. Very\nlittle buffaloe meat has been obtained from the plains, and our\nprincipal subsistence is from grain boiled into soup. Few have either\npepper, salt, flour, or vegetables. One of the Swiss was lately frozen\nto death on the plains; and a Meuron settler returning to the colony\nwith a horse sledge of provisions perished also from the severity of\nthe winter.\n\nFEB. 14.--Times do not yet wear a more favourable aspect, and most of\nthe settlers are upon an allowance of a pint of wheat each a day.\nSometimes a few fish are taken with nets, from under the ice, which are\nput down by making holes at the distance of about fifteen or twenty\nfeet from each other, and affixing the net line to a pole of this\nlength, by which the net is drawn in the water from one opening to the\nother, till it is easily set. The fish that are caught, are pike,\nperch, and a species of herring, called gold-eyes, and for which an\nexorbitant price is frequently paid. The northern Indians angle for\nfish in winter, by cutting round holes in the ice about a foot or two\nin diameter, and letting down a baited hook. This is always kept in\nmotion to prevent the water from freezing, and to attract the fish to\nthe spot. Immediately they take a fish, they scoop out the eyes and\nswallow them, thinking them as great a delicacy as the European does\nthe oyster.\n\nMy professional duties calling me to Pembina, I left the Farm in a\ncariole on the 20th, and was sorry to find on my arrival many Swiss\nfamilies suffering from the want of a regular supply of provisions from\nthe plains. This was occasioned in a great measure from the\nirregularity and eagerness with which the hunters pursued the buffaloes\nimmediately they made their appearance. Had they suffered some of the\nleading bands to have passed in the direction they were going towards\nthe Settlement, instead of pursuing and turning them as soon as they\nwere seen in the horizon, others would probably have followed, and\nplenty of provisions had been obtained. But the fugitive supplies of\nthe chase are generally a poor dependance; and the colony will be\ngreatly encouraged should the domestic cattle that have been purchased\narrive from the United States. The difficulties which the Swiss\nemigrants have had to encounter, and the severity of the climate have\ndisheartened many of them from settling in the country, and they have\ndetermined on going to a settlement on the Ohio in the Spring. They\nattended divine service on the Sabbath during my stay, and expressed\nmuch gratitude for my reading to them the French Testament and the\nministerial duties I performed among them.\n\nI returned to the Farm, where a report reached me, which was in\ncirculation, upon strong grounds of suspicion, that a most deliberate\nand barbarous murder had been committed by one of the half-breeds on a\nCanadian freeman. He was supposed to have been instigated to the bloody\ndeed by a woman he lived with, and whom he received from the Canadian\nfor so many buffaloes as provision. Evidence however was wanting, it\nwas thought, that would justify his being sent down to Montreal, or to\nEngland for trial, to convict him there; as there was no criminal\njurisdiction established within the territories of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany.\n\nMARCH 25.--The thaw has come on unexpectedly early, and caused many of\nthe hunters to return from the plains with scarcely any provisions.\nThere were a few tame buffaloes that had been reared in the colony,\nwhich have been slaughtered, and to save as much seed corn as possible,\nthe allowance of grain is given out to the settlers with the most rigid\neconomy by the Charge d'Affaires. There was a general shout to day in\nthe Settlement at the sight of some swans and geese, as the sure\nharbingers of Spring, and of immense flocks of wild fowl, that bend\ntheir course in the Spring to the north, as in the fall of the year\nthey fly to the south. It was indeed a cheerful sight, as nearly all\nthe feathered tribe leave us during a long and severe winter. In this\nseason, we hear only, and that but very seldom the croaking of the\nraven, the chattering of the magpie, or the tapping of the woodpecker.\nBut as summer bursts upon us, the call of the whip-poor-will is heard\nin the dusk of the evening, and the solitude of the woods is enlivened\nwith a rich variety of birds, some of which dazzle the eye with the\nbeauty of their colours. They have no notes however in their gay\nplumage, or melody of sound, which catch, and delight the ear. The wild\nfowl are mere birds of passage at the Red River, and but few were shot,\nas they passed over the colony, for our relief, in the want of\nprovisions. Our numbers increased almost daily, from the return of the\nsettlers from the plains, and it was the general opinion that it would\nbe far better to kill all the horses and dogs in the Settlement for\nfood, than distribute the whole of the grain, so as to be without seed\ncorn.\n\nAPRIL 5.--One of the chief officers of the Hudson's Bay Company\narrived, and gave us the welcome promise, (before we were actually\ndriven to the above extremity,) that the Colony should receive some\nwheat to sow from the Company's Post at _Bas la Riviere_, on Lake\nWinepeg, where there is a good farm, and the crops had escaped the\nravages of the locusts. When cheered by this prospect, the information\nreached us, that a party of Sioux Indians were on their way to the\nSettlement. As their intentions in visiting us were not known, and\nbeing apprehensive that more blood would be shed by the Saulteaux if\nthey came down to Fort Douglas, it was resolved that two boats should\nbe manned to prevent if possible their proceeding any farther than\nPembina. It was far better to present an imposing force to them on the\nborders of the colony, than to suffer them to come down amongst us,\nwhere we should have been completely in their power, in our scattered\nhabitations. At the request of the chief officer I accompanied the\nboats, and set off with him for the Company's Post at Pembina, about\nthe middle of May. We arrived on the Friday, and soon after divine\nservice on the Sunday morning the Sioux Indians were seen marching over\nthe plains, with several colours flying, towards the Colony Fort, which\nwas immediately opposite to that of the Company. When at the distance\nof about five hundred yards from us, they halted, and a Saulteaux\nIndian who happened to be at Pembina, immediately stripped himself\nnaked, and rushed towards them as a proof of his courage. They received\nhim with a cold reserve, while some of them pointed their guns close to\nhis body. He then mingled with the party, and we conducted them to the\nColony Fort, as is customary when Indians are supposed to visit with\npeaceable and friendly intentions.\n\nAs soon as they had entered the Fort they placed two sentinels at the\ngate, one with a bow and arrows, and the other with a gun. There was\nsomething like military discipline among them, which they had probably\nlearned during the late American war, in which they were engaged by the\nEnglish; many of them were of a remarkably fine stature, and\nwell-proportioned, but more formed for agility than strength. Their\ncountenances were stamped with a fierce and barbarous expression, and\nbeing all armed with either long knives, tomahawks, guns, or bows, they\nsoon encircled and formed a guard for the Chief of their party. After a\nshort time, they became very restless, and searched every corner and\nouthouse of the Fort, under the suspicion that some treacherous attack\nmight be made upon them. A few of them then crossed over to the\nCompany's Post, and no idea was entertained but that they would conduct\nthemselves peaceably. Liquor was given them at both posts; and as I was\nstanding within the stockades of that of the Company, at eight o'clock\nin the evening, a Chief of the party named Wanatou, came in apparently\nintoxicated, and snatching a gun from an Indian who stood near him, he\nfired it with ball in a manner that indicated some evil design. Leaving\nthe Fort he wrestled with another for his gun which he fired in the\nair, and went immediately to the other post, where it was supposed they\nhad taken up their quarters for the night. A guard being mounted, we\nretired to rest, but were disturbed about eleven o'clock with the cry,\nthat the Sioux Indians had shot and scalped an Assiniboine, who with\ntwo others had travelled a considerable distance to smoke the calumet\nwith them at Pembina. The bloody and unsuspected deed was committed by\nWanatou, whose intention was to have killed the other two had they not\nimmediately fled, because some one, or a party of their nation had\nstolen a horse from him about a year before. As soon as the scalp was\ntaken they all started for the plains with this notorious Chief, who\nhad shed the blood of ten or twelve Indians and Americans before; and\nwho bore the marks of having been several times pierced with balls by\nhis enemies. It was formerly the custom to cut off the heads of those\nwhom they slew in war, and to carry them away as trophies; but these\nwere found cumbersome in the hasty retreat which they always make as\nsoon as they have killed their enemy; they are now satisfied with only\ntearing off the scalp. This is usually taken from the crown of the\nhead, of a small circular size; sometimes however they take the whole\ninteguments of the skull, with which they ornament their war jackets\nand leggins, or twist into a brush for the purpose of keeping off the\nmosquitoes. The scalp is their glory and triumph, and is often carried\nby women stretched upon a stick, and hung with various articles so as\nto make a jingle to men when they perform the war-dance.\n\nThis is very animated and striking, as they generally dance completely\narmed, and with gestures to represent their mode of going to war, their\nattack upon their enemy, the scalping of those who are slain, and their\ntriumphant return as conquerors. They go through these evolutions in\nsuch a wild and savage manner as frequently to excite the fears of the\nEuropean, who witnesses the war dance, lest it should terminate, in a\nbloody conflict, and the death of most of the party.\n\nWe returned to the Forks, after having seen a party of half-breeds set\noff with their horses and carts for buffaloe meat, in the same\ndirection the Sioux Indians were gone. They were advised not to follow\ntheir track so immediately; but the want of provisions led them to\nneglect this advice; and in about a fortnight afterwards we were\ninformed, that they had been fired upon in their encampment in the dawn\nof the morning (the time when Indians generally make their attack) that\ntwo of them were killed, a third mortally wounded, and that all their\nhorses were stolen. It was strongly suspected though never ascertained\nas a fact, that this savage deed was committed by the Indians who had\nso recently left Pembina; as well as the scalping of one of the\nCompany's servants who was killed a short time afterwards within a mile\nof the Fort.\n\nThe Sioux are a great nation, spread over a vast tract of country,\nbetween the Missisippi and Pembina; along the banks of the Missouri,\nand towards the Saskashawan. They are divided into numerous tribes,\ncalled Sisatoones, Yanktoons, Wapatoones, and others, with the\nAssiniboines or Stone Indians, who are recognized as descendents or\nseceders, by a similarity of language and customs. On the banks of the\nMississippi and Missouri rivers they have small villages, where they\ngrow Indian corn, pumpkins, and water melons; but they live principally\non the plains in the chase of the buffaloe. Their language is very\nguttural and difficult, and superstitious ceremonies and customs\nprevail amongst them which are similar to those observed by the\nTartars. The Sioux, like the Tartars, sometimes offer water as a symbol\nof peace and safety to a stranger, or of pardon to an offender, which\nstrongly corroborates the idea that they were originally from Asia.\nSome time ago I was informed by an officer, who had numbers of them\nunder his influence in the American war, that a Sioux Indian was doomed\nto die for an offence which he had committed, and taking his station\nbefore the tribe, and drawing his blanket over his face, in expectation\nof the fatal shot, the Chief stepped forward and presented some water\nto him, as a token of pardon, when he was permitted again to join the\nparty. They consider it also as a very bad omen in common with the\nTartars, to cut a stick that has been burnt by fire, and with them they\nconsign every thing to destruction, though it be their canoe, as\npolluted, if it be sprinkled with the water of animals. And it is a\nremarkable fact, that the laws of separation and uncleanness, being\nforty days for a male child and eighty for a female, observed by these\nIndians, exactly correspond with the Levitical law imposed upon the\nJews in the birth of their children.\n\nThey are truly barbarous, like the Indians in general, towards their\ncaptive enemies. The following circumstance, as related to me by an\nIndian woman, whom I married to one of the principal settlers, and who\nwas a near relation of one of the women who was tomahawked by a war\nparty of Sioux Indians, some time ago, is calculated to fill the mind\nwith horror. They fell upon four lodges belonging to the Saulteaux, who\nhad encamped near _Fond du Lac_, Lake Superior, and which contained the\nwives and children of about twelve men, who were at that time absent a\nhunting; and immediately killed and scalped the whole party, except one\nwoman and two or three of the children. With the most wanton and savage\ncruelty, they proceeded to put one of these little ones to death, by\nfirst turning him for a short time close before a fire, when they cut\noff one of his arms, and told him to run; and afterwards cruelly\ntortured him, with the other children, till he died.\n\nIt is almost incredible the torture to which they will sometimes put\ntheir prisoners; and the adult captives will endure it without a tear\nor a groan. In spite of all their sufferings, which the love of cruelty\nand revenge can invent and inflict upon them, they continue to chaunt\ntheir death song with a firm voice; considering that to die like a man,\ncourting pain rather than flinching from it, is the noblest triumph of\nthe warrior. In going to war, some time ago, a Sioux chief cut a piece\nof flesh from his thigh, and holding it up with a view to animate and\nencourage the party who were to accompany him to the ferocious\nconflict, told them to see how little he regarded pain, and that,\ndespising torture and the scalping knife and tomahawk of their enemies,\nthey should rush upon them, and pursue them till they were\nexterminated; and thereby console the spirits of the dead whom they had\nslain.\n\nIt does not appear that cannibalism is practised by any of the North\nAmerican Indians; on the contrary, the eating of human flesh is held in\ngreat abhorrence by them: and when they are driven to eat it, through\ndire necessity, they are generally shunned by other Indians who know\nit, and who often take their lives secretly. It is not an uncommon\npractice, however, for them to cut flesh from their captives, and, when\ncooked to eat small bits of it, as well as to give some to their\nchildren, with a little of their blood, no doubt under the idea that it\nwill give them courage, and a spirit of hatred and revenge against\ntheir enemies. What can calm these ferocious feelings, and curb this\nsavage fury of the passions in the torturous destruction of defenceless\nwomen and sucking infants? what, but the introduction and influence of\nChristianity, the best civilizer of the wandering natives of these\ndreary wilds, and the most probable means of fixing them in the pursuit\nof agriculture, and of those social advantages and privileges to which\nthey are at present strangers.\n\nMAY 24.--By the arrival of the boats from Qu'appelle, I received\nanother little Indian boy for admission into the school; and felt\nencouraged in the persuasion, that should we extend our travels among\nthe Indians, and make known to them our simple object in visiting them\nas Missionaries, many probably among the different tribes who traded at\nthe Company's Posts, would be gradually led to give up their children\nfor education. I had now several under my care, who could converse\npretty freely in English, and were beginning to read tolerably well,\nrepeating the Lord's prayer correctly. The _primary_ object in teaching\nthem, was to give them a _religious_ education; but the use of the bow\nwas not to be forgotten, and they were hereafter to be engaged in\nhunting, as opportunities and circumstances might allow. As agriculture\nwas an important branch in the system of instruction, I had given them\nsome small portions of ground to cultivate; and I never saw European\nschoolboys more delighted than they were, in hoeing and planting their\nseparate gardens. Nor were the parents of these boys insensible to the\ncare and kindness that were shewn to them. I was told by one of the\nCompany's officers, that before he left Qu'appelle for the colony, he\nsaw the father of the boy I had received from the Indian tents, after\nmy visit to that quarter, and asked him to part with a fine horse that\nhe was riding, which he refused to do, saying that he kept it for the\n\"Black Robe,\" a name by which they distinguished me from the Catholic\npriests, whom they call the \"Long Robe,\" for taking care of his boy. He\nrepeated his application for the horse, with the tempting offer of some\nrum; but the Indian was firm in his intention of keeping it, as a\npresent for kindness shewn to his child. This was gratitude; and I left\ndirections, in my absence from the Settlement, that should he bring it\ndown, he should be treated with all possible kindness; and amply repaid\nwith blankets, or any useful European articles that he might want and\nwhich could be procured, in return for the gift of his horse.\n\nIt was now hinted to me, that the interest I was taking in the\neducation of the native children, had already excited the fears of some\nof the chief factors and traders, as to the extent to which it might be\ncarried. Though a few conversed liberally with me on the subject, there\nwere others who were apprehensive that the extension of knowledge among\nthe natives, and the locating them in agricultural pursuits, where\npracticable, would operate as an injury to the fur trade. My reply on\nthe contrary was, that if Christian knowledge were gradually diffused\namong the natives throughout the vast territory of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany, from the shores of the Atlantic to those of the North Pacific,\nit would best promote the honour and advantages of all parties\nconcerned in the fur trade, and which I was persuaded was the general\nenlightened opinion of the Directors in London.\n\nThe 28th. The Settlers have been busily employed of late in getting in\ntheir seed corn, and much more has been sown than was expected a short\ntime ago, from the prudent management of the grain, by the Charge\nd'Affaires of the Colony, in the dearth of provisions; and from the\nsupply which we have received from _Bas la Riviere_. The sturgeon\nseason also has been very successful, which has in some measure\nbrightened the countenances of a people, who have passed a long and\nsevere winter, without \"_the sound of the mill stones, and the light\nof the candle_.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nARRIVAL OF CANOE FROM MONTREAL. LIBERAL PROVISION FOR MISSIONARY\nESTABLISHMENT. MANITOBAH LAKE. INDIAN GARDENS. MEET CAPTAIN FRANKLIN\nAND OFFICERS OF THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION, AT YORK FACTORY. FIRST\nANNIVERSARY OF THE AUXILIARY BIBLE SOCIETY. HALF-CASTE CHILDREN. AURORA\nBOREALIS. CONVERSATION WITH PIGEWIS. GOOD HARVEST AT THE SETTLEMENT,\nAND ARRIVAL OF CATTLE FROM UNITED STATES MASSACRE OF HUNTERS. PRODUCE\nOF GRAIN AT THE COLONY.\n\n\nOn the 20th of June, the light canoe arrived from Montreal, which\nbrought me letters from England; and no one ever received news from a\nfar country, which gladdened the heart more than these letters did\nmine. My family were all well; and a liberal provision had been made,\nfor a Missionary establishment at the Red River, for the maintenance\nand education of native Indian children, by the Church Missionary\nSociety. In conveying this information to me, an active friend to the\ncommunication of Christianity to the Indians, observes, \"I hope a\nfoundation is now laid to extend the blessings of Christianity,\nreligion, morals, and education, wherever the representative of the\nCompany may set his foot.\" God grant that if may! and that the Light\nwhich first sprang up in Judea, may break forth upon every part of\nthese vast territories, dissipate the present darkness of the natives,\nand lead them to the enjoyment of \"_the fulness of the blessings of\nthe gospel of Christ_.\"\n\nAll, all, is encouraging to proceed: yet I will not conceal my fears,\nthat expectations may be raised too high, as to the progress that may\nbe made in that vast field of labour which presents itself.--\"There are\na great many willows to cut down, and roots to remove,\" as an Indian\nchief said to me, when he welcomed me to the country, \"before the path\nwill be clear to walk in.\" The axe, however, is laid to the root of the\ntree, in the establishment of schools, as the means of instruction and\nof diffusing Christian knowledge in this moral wilderness; and we may\nanticipate the hope that numbers will arise to enjoy what they are\ncapable of feeling, the endearments of social life, as well as of moral\nand religious education.\n\nSoon after the express canoe arrived, a Director of the Hudson's Bay\nCompany and an executor of the late Earl of Selkirk, came to the\nSettlement, via Montreal. I accompanied him to Pembina; and he acted\nupon the opinion, that the inhabitants of this distant and extreme\npoint of the colony, who were principally hunters, were living too near\nthe supposed line of demarcation, between the British territories and\nthe United States; and that it would be far better for them to remove\ndown to the Forks; where, if the industry of the colonists was more\nconcentrated, it would tend more to their protection and prosperity.\nMany promised to comply with this suggestion. On our return, I took the\nopportunity of opening, with divine service, the building (though it\nwas not finished) which was intended as a school-house, and a temporary\nplace for divine worship; and, at the same time, baptized two of the\nboys who had been under my charge, one as James Hope, and the other as\nHenry Budd; they being able to read the New Testament, repeat the\nChurch Catechism, and to understand the chief truths of the Christian\nReligion.\n\nJULY 18.--We have the satisfaction of seeing the new sown grain promise\nwell for a crop; and great hopes are entertained that it will this year\nescape the ravages of the locusts. Under this sanguine expectation, I\nleft the colony, with the Director, on the 22d, on my annual visit to\nYork Factory, taking the route of Manitobah Lake. As we passed this\nfine and extensive sheet of water, we saw occasionally some beautiful\npoints, or bluffs of wood and the most striking and romantic scenery\nthat can be presented to the eye. The waters abound with fish; and the\nalluvial soil of some parts, near the banks of the lake, promises every\nencouragement to the active industry of the agriculturist. A tribe of\nIndians, who traverse this part of the country, have gardens, in which\nthey grow potatoes and pumpkins; and were encouragement given them, by\nthe presence and superintendence of a Missionary, in the cultivation of\nthe soil, and the assistance of a plough and seed corn, afforded them\nfrom the Colony, with the view to establish them in a village, there is\nlittle doubt, that they would gradually, or indeed soon, become so far\ncivilized, as to promote the formation of a school among them for the\neducation of their children. We proceeded on our way, through the\nDauphin River, into Lake Winipeg, and arrived at Norway House, in about\na week after we left the Settlement.\n\nWhen within about fifty miles of York Fort, two Indians paddled their\ncanoe to the side of the boat, and requested that I would take a little\nboy, who was with them, under my charge. This I consented to do, if\nthey would bring him to me on my return to the Colony; and I threw him\na blanket, as he was almost naked, and suffering apparently from cold.\nIn landing at the Factory, I had the pleasure of meeting Captain\nFranklin, and the gentlemen of the Northern Land Expedition, recently\nreturned from their arduous journey to the mouth of the Coppermine\nRiver, and waiting for the return of the Company's ship to England. An\nEsquimaux Indian, who accompanied the expedition as one of the guides,\nnamed Augustus, and who survived the supposed fate of his companion,\nJunius,[6] often came to my room, and interested me with his\nconversation in English, which was tolerably well understood by him,\nfrom the instructions he had received during his travels. He belongs to\na tribe that annually visits Churchill Factory, from the northward; and\noften assures me, that \"Esquimaux want white man to come and teach\nthem;\" and tells me, that they would \"make snow house, good, properly,\nfor him in winter; and bring plenty of musk oxen and deer for him to\neat.\" Captain Franklin expressed much interest for this harmless race\nof Indians: and having spoken to the Governor of this northern\ndistrict, I have resolved upon visiting Churchill, next July, in the\nhope of meeting the tribe on their visit to that Factory, and to obtain\ninformation, as to the practicability of sending a schoolmaster amongst\nthem, or forming a school for the education of their children.\n\n      [6] See Captain Franklin's Journey to the Coppermine River, Vol.\n      II. p. 270, second edition.\n\nDuring my stay at the Factory, we held the first anniversary meeting of\nthe Auxiliary Bible Society, and were warmly assisted by Captain\nFranklin and the gentlemen of the expedition. It appeared that the\namount of donations and annual subscriptions for the past year, i.e.\nfrom Sept. 2nd, 1821, when the Society was first formed, to Sept. 2nd,\n1822, was 200_l._ 0_s._ 6_d._ the whole of which sum was remitted to\nthe parent institution in London; and the very encouraging sum of sixty\npounds was subscribed at the meeting, towards the collection for the\nsecond year.\n\nThere were but few persons who came out by the ship for the Colony this\nyear, as the succession of difficulties we had met with, had lessened\nthe encouragement to emigrate to this quarter. Among those who came,\nhowever, was a young woman, as the intended wife of the schoolmaster,\nwho was appointed by the Church Missionary Society, to assist in\nteaching at the Mission Establishment at Red River. I obtained a little\nboy and girl from an Indian tent at the Factory, to accompany her, in\naddition to those who were already there. The features of the boy bore\na strong resemblance to those of the Esquimaux: but there was a shade\nof difference between the little girl, and Indians of entire blood,\nwhich was particularly seen in the colour of her hair. It was not of\nthat jet black, which is common with the Indians in general, and which\nis the case with many of the children belonging to the tribes, or\nindividual families who visit, or are much about the different\nFactories. I often met with half-caste children, whose parents had died\nor deserted them; who are growing up with numbers at the different\nposts in great depravity. Should their education be neglected, as it\nhas hitherto been, and should they be led to \"_find their grounds_,\"\nwith the Indians, it cannot be a matter of surprise, if at any time\nhereafter they should collectively or in parties, threaten the peace of\nthe country, and the safety of the trading Posts.\n\nSEPT. 4.--The Indians who brought the boy in the canoe to the boat on\nmy way to the Factory met me on my return, and he is taking his passage\nwith the other two children to the Settlement. Though I have now made\nthe voyage several times from York Fort to the Colony, I do not find\nthat the labour and difficulty of the way are at all relieved. Some\nparts of the tracking ground might evidently be improved by cutting\naway the willows at the edges of the river; and the track over a few of\nthe portages might also be made better; some of the large stones\nlikewise might be removed when the water is low, which is expeditiously\ndone by digging a large hole by the side and undermining them; when\nthey are rolled over and buried. But to improve the passage materially,\nappears to me to be impracticable, from the shallowness of the water,\nand the rapidity of the current in many of the rivers. We saw that\nbeautiful phenomenon called the '_Aurora Borealis_,' or the northern\nlights, on most clear evenings, consisting of long columns of clear\nwhite light, shooting across the heavens with a tremulous motion, and\naltering slowly to a variety of shapes. At times they were very\nbrilliant, and appeared suddenly in different parts of the sky, where\nnone had been seen before. It has been observed, that this phenomenon\nis not vivid in very high latitudes, and that its seat appears to be\nabout the latitude of 60 deg..\n\nMany of the Indians have a pleasing and romantic idea of this meteor.\nThey believe the northern lights to be the spirits of their departed\nfriends dancing in the clouds, and when they are remarkably bright, at\nwhich time they vary most in form and situation, they say that their\ndeceased friends are making merry.\n\nThe northern Indians call the Aurora Borealis \"Edthin, i.e. Deer, from\nhaving found that when a hairy deer-skin is briskly stroked with the\nhand in a dark night, it will emit many sparks of electrical fire as\nthe back of a cat will.\"\n\nOn the 5th of October we reached the encampment of Pigewis, the chief\nof the Red River Indians; and on pitching our tents for the night a\nlittle way farther up on the banks of the river, he came with his\neldest son and another Indian and drank tea with me in the evening. It\nwas the first time that I had met with him, since I received the\nencouraging information from the Church Missionary Society, relative to\nthe Mission School at the Colony, and I was glad of the opportunity of\nassuring him, through the aid of an interpreter, who was of our party,\n\"that many, very many in my country wished the Indians to be taught\nwhite man's knowledge of the Great Spirit, and as a proof of their love\nto them, my countrymen had told me to provide for the clothing,\nmaintenance, and education of many of their children; and had sent out\nthe young person whom he then saw to teach the little girls who might\nbe sent to the school for instruction.\" Though not easily persuaded\nthat you act from benevolent motives; he said _it was good!_ and\npromised to tell all his tribe what I said about the children, and that\nI should have two of his boys to instruct in the Spring, but added,\nthat 'the Indians like to have time to consider about these matters.'\nWe smoked the calumet, and after pausing a short time, he shrewdly\nasked me what I would do with the children after they were taught what\nI wished them to know. I told him they might return to their parents if\nthey wished it, but my hope was that they would see the advantage of\nmaking gardens, and cultivating the soil, so as not to be exposed to\nhunger and starvation, as the Indians generally were, who had to wander\nand hunt for their provisions. The little girls, I observed, would be\ntaught to knit, and make articles of clothing to wear, like those which\nwhite people wore; and all would be led to read the Book that the Great\nSpirit had given to them, which the Indians had not yet known, and\nwhich would teach them how to live well and to die happy. I added, that\nit was the will of the Great Spirit, which he had declared in His Book,\n'that a man should have but one wife, and a woman but one husband.' He\nsmiled at this information, and said that 'he thought that there was no\nmore harm in Indians having two wives than one of the settlers,' whom\nhe named. I grieved for the depravity of Europeans as noticed by the\nheathen, and as raising a stumbling block in the way of their receiving\ninstruction, and our conversation closed upon the subject by my\nobserving, that 'there were some very bad white people, as there were\nsome very bad Indians, but that the good book condemned the practice.'\n\nWe had an unusually fine passage from the Factory; and in our approach\nto Fort Douglas, we were cheered with the sight of several stacks of\ncorn standing near to some of the settlers houses, and were informed,\nnot only of a good harvest, but also of more than a hundred and fifty\nhead of cattle having arrived at the colony, from the Illinois\nterritory. These were encouraging circumstances, and I saw with\npeculiar pleasure, a stack of wheat near the Mission School, which had\nbeen raised, with nearly two hundred bushels of potatoes, from the\nground that we had cultivated near it; and having purchased two cows\nfor the establishment, our minds were relieved from anxiety as to\nprovisions for the children during the winter, as well as from the\nquantity of grain that might be collected, till another harvest. Our\nfears were kept alive however, as to the safety of the Settlement, by\nbeing informed of another horrid massacre of four hunters, a woman, and\na little girl, on the plains near Pembina, by the Sioux Indians. Their\nbodies were dreadfully mangled, and the death of the little girl was\nattended with atrocious barbarity. When the Indians first approached\nand made their attack on the party, she concealed herself under one of\nthe carts; but hearing the screams of her friends as the savages were\nbutchering them, she ran from the place of her concealment, and was\nshot through with an arrow as she was running to escape. The frequent\nmassacre of the hunters by the Sioux Indians, and the constant alarm\nexcited at the Settlement, by reports that they would come down with\nthe savage intention of scalping us call for some military protection.\nA small party stationed at the Colony, would not only be the means of\nenforcing any civil process in the punishment of delinquents among the\nColonists, but afford that security in their habitations, which would\nstimulate them to make improvements, and to a more active industry upon\nthe soil, while it would have the best effect upon the minds of the\nIndians at large.\n\nNOV. 4.--A party of hunters have just returned, bringing in some\nvenison of the red deer, or stag, which is sometimes killed at the\ndistance of about ten or twelve miles from the Colony. It is\nastonishing with what keenness of observation they pursue these\nanimals: their eye is so very acute, that they will often discern a\npath, and trace the deer over the rocks and the withered leaves, which\nan European passes without noticing, or being at all aware, that any\nhuman being or game have directed their course before him. They\ndistinguish the cardinal points by the terms, sun-rise, sun-set, cold\ncountry, and warm country; and reach any destined point over the most\nextensive plains with great accuracy, or travel through the thickest\nwoods with certainty, when they have nothing to direct them but the\nmoss that grows on the north side of the trunks of the trees, and their\ntops bending towards the rising sun.\n\nThe 18th. The attendance on divine worship is much improved on the\nSabbath, from the accommodation the building affords, and I hope to\ncomplete it in the ensuing spring. We have a considerable number of\nhalf-caste children, and some adult Indian women, married to Europeans,\nwho attend a Sunday-school, for gratuitous instruction; and I have no\ndoubt that their numbers will increase considerably in the spring.\nThese children have capacity, and would rival Europeans, with the like\ninstruction, in the developement of their mental faculties. Extensive\nplans might be devised, and carried into effect, if patronized by an\nactive co-operation, which would ultimately result in producing great\nbenefits to the half-caste population, and the Indians in general.\nThere is an opening for schools on the banks of the Saskashawan, where\nthe soil is good for cultivation, as well as on the banks of the\nAthabasca river; and frequent applications reached me to forward their\nestablishment in those quarters, under the prospect of their being\nsupported through the produce that might be raised from the soil, and\nthe supplies to be obtained from the waters and the chase.\n\nThe winter has again set in, and many of the settlers are threshing out\ntheir crops; and from the best information I can obtain, the return of\nwheat has been from twenty to twenty-five bushels per acre. Barley, may\nbe stated at the same produce: but where sown in small quantities, and\nunder particular cultivation, I have heard of thirty, forty, and fifty\nfold being reaped. Taking the average of the general crop, however, I\nthink it may be fairly stated at the above increase, without the\ntrouble of manuring. That useful article of food, the potatoe thrives\nwell, and returns upon an average thirty bushels for one. Indian corn\nis grown; and every kind of garden vegetable, with water melons, and\npumpkins, comes to great perfection, when spared by the locusts. Some\nhave raised the tobacco plant, but it has not yet met with a fair\ntrial, any more than the sowing of hemp and flax. I failed in the\nexperiment of sowing some winter wheat, which I brought with me from\nEngland; but I attribute this failure, to its being sown in an exposed\nsituation, and too early in the autumn, the plant having been of too\nluxuriant a growth, before the severe frosts came on.--If sown in\nsheltered spots, and later in the season, there is every probability of\nits surviving the winter, which would be of great advantage in\nagriculture, from the short period we have for preparing the land and\nsowing it in spring. We have no fruit trees, but if introduced, they\nwould no doubt thrive at the Colony. We get a few raspberries in the\nwoods, and strawberries from the plains in summer; and on the route to\nYork Factory, we meet with black and red currants, gooseberries, and\ncranberries. There is a root which is found in large quantities, and\ngenerally called by the settlers, the Indian potatoe. It strongly\nresembles the Jerusalem artichoke, and is eaten by the natives in a raw\nstate; but when boiled it is not badly flavoured. The characteristic\nimprovidence of the Indians, and their precarious means of subsistence,\nwill often reduce them to extreme want, and I have seen them collecting\nsmall roots in the swamps, and eating the inner rind of the poplar\ntree, and having recourse to a variety of berries, which are found in\nabundance in many parts of the country.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nCLIMATE OF RED RIVER. THERMOMETER. PIGEWIS'S NEPHEW. WOLVES. REMARKS\nOF GENERAL WASHINGTON. INDIAN WOMAN SHOT BY HER SON. SUFFERINGS OF\nINDIANS. THEIR NOTIONS OF THE DELUGE. NO VISIBLE OBJECT OF ADORATION.\nACKNOWLEDGE A FUTURE LIFE. LEFT THE COLONY FOR BAS LA RIVIREE. LOST\nON WINIPEG LAKE. RECOVER THE TRACK, AND MEET AN INTOXICATED INDIAN.\nAPPARENT FACILITIES FOR ESTABLISHING SCHOOLS WEST OF ROCKY MOUNTAINS.\nRUSSIANS AFFORDING RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION ON THE NORTH WEST COAST OF\nNORTH AMERICA. RUMOURS OF WAR AMONG THE SURROUNDING TRIBES WITH THE\nSIOUX INDIANS.\n\n\nJANUARY 1, 1823.--Once more I have to record the goodness of God in\npreserving my life, and granting me the invaluable blessing of health\nthroughout the past year.\n\n    \"God of my life! to thee belong\n    The thankful heart, the grateful song.\"\n\nMay my days be spent with renewed ardour and watchfulness in my\nChristian profession; never yielding to supineness and discouragements\nin my Ministerial labours, and toils in the wilderness. Of all men, the\nMissionary most needs strong faith, with a simple reliance upon the\nprovidence and promises of God in the trials that await him. His path\nis indeed an arduous one. Many unexpected circumstances will oppose his\nconscientious endeavours to fulfil his calling; and difficulties will\nsurround him in every shape, so as to put his patience, his hopes of\nusefulness and steady perseverance severely to the test. He will often\nexclaim in the deep conviction of his mind, who is sufficient for the\ngreat undertaking?--Experience in the Missionary field has convinced\nme, that there are indeed but _few among a thousand_ qualified for the\ndifficult and exalted work. If that eminent Missionary, St. Paul,\nabounding in zeal, and in all the graces of the Spirit, thought it\nneedful to solicit the prayers of the Churches that \"the word of the\nLord might run, and have free course,\" how earnest ought our entreaties\nto be of all friends of missions to \"pray for us,\" who, _if we feel\naright_, must feel our own insignificance, in our labours among the\nheathen, and in our services to the Christian church, when compared\nwith the labours of the Apostles, or with those of a Swartz, a Brainerd,\nor a Martyn.\n\nThe climate of Red River is found to be remarkably healthy, and the\nstate of the weather may be pretty accurately ascertained from the\nfollowing table for the last two years. We know of no epidemic, nor is\na cough scarcely ever heard amongst us. The only cry of affliction, in\nbreathing a sharp pure air, that creates a keen appetite, has been,\n'_Je n'ai rien pour manger_,' and death has rarely taken place amongst\nthe inhabitants, except by accident and extreme old age. It is far\notherwise, however with the natives of the country, who from the\nhardships and incessant toil they undergo in seeking provisions, look\nold at forty, and the women at a much earlier age: while numbers die,\nat an early stage of their suffering existence, of pulmonary\nconsumptions. These are so common, that they may be considered as the\nunavoidable consequence of privations and immoderate fatigue, which\nthey endure in hunting and in war; and of being continually exposed to\nthe inclemency of the seasons.\n\nCLIMATE OF RED RIVER\n\nTHERMOMETER.\n\n+---------+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+\n|         |     |      |      |      |      |      |      | Aver-| Aver-|\n|  Month  |     | A.M. | A.M. |  M.  |  M.  | P.M. | P.M. |  age |  age |\n|   and   |     |Below |Above |Below |Above |Below |Above |Below |Above |\n|  Year   |Date |   deg.   |   deg.   |   deg.   |   deg.   |   deg.   |   deg.   |   deg.   |   deg.   |\n+---------+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+\n|1821.    |     |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |\n|         |     |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |\n|January  | 23  |  24  |  ..  |  16  |  ..  |  26  |  ..  |  22  |  ..  |\n|February |  2  |  30  |  ..  |  25  |  ..  |  28  |  ..  |  28  |  ..  |\n|March    | 17  |   5  |  ..  |  ..  |  13  |   5  |  ..  |  ..  |   1  |\n|April    |  9  |  ..  |  10  |  ..  |  18  |  ..  |  17  |  ..  |  15  |\n|         |     |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |\n|May      |  8  |  ..  |  50  |  ..  |  77  |  ..  |  77  |  ..  |  68  |\n|June     |  3  |  ..  |  72  |  ..  |  84  |  ..  |  88  |  ..  |  81  |\n|July     | 28  |  ..  |  76  |  ..  |  91  |  ..  |  90  |  ..  |  85  |\n|August   |  3  |  ..  |  70  |  ..  |  84  |  ..  |  88  |  ..  |  84  |\n|September|  4  |  ..  |  58  |  ..  |  68  |  ..  |  70  |  ..  |  65  |\n|October  | 25  |  ..  |  45  |  ..  |  62  |  ..  |  65  |  ..  |  27  |\n|         |     |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |\n|November | 26  |   5  |  ..  |  16  |  ..  |  16  |  ..  |  12  |  ..  |\n|December | 17  |  38  |  ..  |  15  |  ..  |  16  |  ..  |  23  |  ..  |\n|---------+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------|\n|1822.    |     |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |\n|         |     |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |\n|January  | 28  |  34  |  ..  |  25  |  ..  |  25  |  ..  |  28  |  ..  |\n|February |  3  |  32  |  ..  |  19  |  ..  |  23  |  ..  |  25  |  ..  |\n|March    | 13  |  ..  |   7  |  ..  |  25  |  ..  |  10  |  ..  |  14  |\n|April    |  8  |  ..  |   5  |  ..  |  18  |  ..  |  21  |  ..  |  15  |\n|         |     |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |\n|May      | 28  |  ..  |  65  |  ..  |  77  |  ..  |  78  |  ..  |  73  |\n|June     |  9  |  ..  |  68  |  ..  |  76  |  ..  |  76  |  ..  |  73  |\n|July     | 21  |  ..  |  75  |  ..  |  87  |  ..  |  81  |  ..  |  81  |\n|August   |  8  |  ..  |  74  |  ..  |  83  |  ..  |  84  |  ..  |  80  |\n|September| 13  |  ..  |  59  |  ..  |  79  |  ..  |  78  |  ..  |  72  |\n|October  |  4  |  ..  |  54  |  ..  |  72  |  ..  |  71  |  ..  |  66  |\n|         |     |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |      |\n|November | 29  |  24  |  ..  |   2  |  ..  |  15  |  ..  |  14  |  ..  |\n|December | 14  |  49  |  ..  |  25  |  ..  |  28  |  ..  |  34  |  ..  |\n+---------+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+\n\nI have selected the day in each month of the year, when the thermometer\nwas at the lowest and highest degree of Zero; which will give a general\nidea of the change of the state of the air. Though I have been informed\nof the thermometer having been several degrees higher and lower at the\nColony, than here stated, the winter is nearly the same, as to the time\nit sets in and breaks up, as that of Montreal; but the frost is rather\nmore intense, with less snow, and a clearer air. During the winter\nmonths, a north-westerly wind, which is synonymous in this quarter of\nthe globe, with excessive cold, generally prevails; and even in sultry\nweather, the moment that the wind veers from the south to that quarter,\nits chilling influence is immediately felt in the sudden transition\nfrom heat to cold. In summer, a southerly wind blows commonly with\nconsiderable heat, and often in heavy gales, is accompanied with\nviolent torrents of rain, and much thunder.\n\nThe 4th.--The Indians around us generally divide into small parties for\nthe better support of their families during the winter months; and in\ntheir rambling existence in search of animals for provisions. Pigewis\nand a few others, occupying two lodges, called on me to-day, saying\nthat they were starving. The woods which they generally hunted were\nburnt to a great extent during the last autumn, and they had only\nkilled a bear, and a few martins, with occasionally a rabbit, as a\nsubsistence for the last two months. This was their report, though they\noften deceive in their lounging habits of begging at your residence. I\nassisted them with a little Indian rice and some potatoes, on their\npromise to strike their tents, and proceed to some other hunting\ngrounds on the following day. When they visit under these destitute\ncircumstances, they are often exceedingly troublesome, acknowledging no\nright of restraint in being shut out from your presence; they enter\nyour dwelling without ceremony, and covet almost every thing that they\nsee. With a view, therefore, to keep them from my room in the evening,\nI sent some tea and sugar with a little flour, for the purpose of\ntaking my tea with them in one of their tents. I was accompanied by one\nof the Indian boys from the school as an interpreter, who now acted\nwell in that capacity, from the great progress he had made in speaking\nEnglish, and found them all encircling a small fire, by the side of\nwhich they had placed a buffaloe robe for me to sit down upon. The pipe\nwas immediately lighted by an Indian whom we generally call 'Pigewis's\nAid-de-Camp;' and having pointed the stem to the heavens and then to\nthe earth, he gave the first whiff to the Master of Life, and\nafterwards handed it to me. Pigewis then delivered what I understood to\nbe an address to the Great Spirit, and the party seated around him used\nan expression, apparently of assent, in the middle and conclusion of\nhis speech. Though addressing an unknown God, what a reflection does\nhis conduct, in returning thanks for his short and precarious supplies,\nto the Master of Life, cast upon multitudes who profess Christianity\nand the knowledge of the true God, and yet daily partake of the\nbounties of his providence, without any expression of gratitude, or\nwhose only return, is to live in the known violation of his laws, and\nto blaspheme his holy name, in the midst of his goodness towards them!\n\nPigewis breakfasted with me on the following morning; and his general\nremarks in conversation gave me, as they had done before, a favourable\nopinion of his penetration and mental ability. The active efforts of\nhis mind, however, are confined principally to those objects which\nimmediately affect his present wants or enjoyments. Savages talk of the\nanimals that they have killed, and boast of the scalps that they have\ntaken in their war excursions; but they form no arrangement, nor enter\ninto calculation for futurity. They have no settled place of abode, or\nproperty, or acquired wants and appetites, like those which rouse men\nto activity in civilized life, and stimulate them to persevering\nindustry, while they keep the mind in perpetual exercise and ingenious\ninvention. Their simple wants are few, and when satisfied they waste\ntheir time in listless indolence; and are often seen lying on the\nground for whole days together, without raising their heads from under\nthe blanket, or uttering a single word. The cravings of hunger rouse\nthem; and the scarcity of animals that now prevails in many parts of\nthe country, is a favourable circumstance towards leading them to the\ncultivation of the soil; which would expand their minds, and prove of\nvast advantage, among other means, in aiding their comprehension of\nChristianity. It must, not be expected, however, that the Indians will\neasily forsake a mode of life that is so congenial to man, in his\nnatural love of ease and indolence and licentious freedom. Necessity,\nin a measure, must compel them to do this; _but the children may be\neducated, and trained to industry upon the soil_, in the hope that they\nmay be recovered from their savage habits and customs, to see and enjoy\nthe blessings of civilization and Christianity. This object is highly\nimportant, and no means should be spared in attempting its accomplishment,\nwhere practicable. Where is our humanity and Christian sympathy, and\nhow do we fulfil the obligations which Christianity has enforced, if we\ndo not seek to raise these wandering heathen, who, with us, are immortal\nin their destiny, from a mere animal existence to the partaking of the\nprivileges and hopes of the Christian religion?\n\nBefore Pigewis left me, his sister arrived, who was then living with a\nvery lazy bad Indian, and asked me to take her eldest boy, whose father\nwas dead, into the school. Though much above the usual age of admission\nupon the establishment, I consented to receive him; and they both took\nan affectionate leave of him, remarking that they were sure I should\nkeep him well. The whole party then set off towards some fresh hunting\ngrounds, and it was my hope and expectation that I should see nothing\nmore of them till the spring. The boy was comfortably clothed, and he\nappeared to be well satisfied with the rest at the school, and had\nbegun to learn the English alphabet, when, to my surprise, I found the\nmother, with the Indian, in my room, in about a week after they had\nleft the Settlement with Pigewis, saying that they had parted from him\nin consequence of their not being able to obtain any provision; and\nthat \"they thought it long\" since they had seen the boy. He was\npermitted to go from the school-house to their tent, which they had\npitched near me in the woods, almost daily without restraint, till at\nlength he refused to return. I repeated my request for him without\neffect; and having my suspicion excited, that they would take him away\nfor the sake of the clothing and blankets which I had given him, I\ndetermined upon having them again, as an example to deter others from\npractising the like imposition. The parties were angry at my\ndetermination, and looking upon the medicine bag that was suspended on\nthe willows near the tent, and which is carried by most of the Indians,\nas a sacred depository for a few pounded roots, some choice bits of\nearth, or a variety of articles which they only know how to appreciate\nwith superstitious regard, they told me that \"they had bad medicine for\nthose who displeased them.\" I insisted, however, on the return of the\narticles I had given to the boy, and obtained them; at the same time\npromising that if he would go back to the school-house, he should have\nhis clothes again; but added, that \"it would never be allowed for\nIndians to bring their children to the school, which was established to\nteach them what was for their happiness, merely for the purpose of\ngetting them clothed and provided with blankets, and then to entice\nthem to leave it.\"\n\nJAN. 20.--The severity of the winter has driven a number of wolves to\nhover about the Settlement in search of provisions; they are perfectly\nharmless however, as they are met singly, and skulk away like a dog\nconscious of having committed a theft. But in packs, they kill the\nhorses, and are formidable to encounter. In the pursuit of buffaloes\nand the deer on the plains, they are known to form a crescent, and to\nhurry their prey over precipices, or upon the steep muddy banks of a\nriver, where they devour them. No instance has occurred of their having\nseized any of the children of the settlers, though they sometimes kill\nand eat the carcases of the dogs close to their houses.\n\nFEBRUARY 3.--It appears that I have given great offence to one of the\nremaining Swiss emigrants, for refusing to baptize, at his immediate\nrequest, the child of his daughter, born of fornication, and cast away\nby her, as living in adultery. I deeply lamented the circumstance, but\nfelt the obligation to defer the administration of the sacrament, from\nthe conviction that the profligacy of the case called for an example\nwhich might deter others among the Swiss from acting in the like\nmanner; and at the same time be a public expression of disapprobation,\non my part, of such unblushing depravity, in the eyes of a numerous\nyoung people growing up at the Colony. Unless chastity be considered as\na virtue, what hope can be entertained of forming any organized\nsociety? and if the Colonists fearlessly commit crimes, because they\nhave stepped over a certain line of latitude; and live in a wild\nprofligacy, without the curb of civil restraint, the Settlement can\nhold out but faint hopes of answering in any way the expectations of\nits patrons. Till morality and religion form its basis, disappointment\nmust follow. Nor can I imagine that the system taught by the Canadian\nCatholic priests will avail any thing materially in benefitting the\nmorals of the people; they are bigotted to opinions which are\ncalculated to fetter the human mind, to cramp human exertion, and to\nkeep their dependants in perpetual leading-strings. Their doctrine is--\n\n    \"Extra Ecclesiam Romanam, salus non esse potest.\"[7]\n\n      [7] There is no salvation beyond the pale of the Roman Church.\n\nThey appear to me to teach Christianity only as a dry system of\necclesiastical statutes, without a shadow of spirituality. While they\nmultiply holidays, to the interruption of human industry, as generally\ncomplained of by those who employ Canadians, they lightly regard the\nSabbath; and sanction the practice of spending the evenings of this\nsacred day at cards, or in the dance. In their tinkling service of\nworshipping the elevated host as the very God himself, they fall down\nalso in adoration to the Virgin Mary, addressing her, as--\n\n    \"Reine des Cieux!\n    Intercedez pour nous,\n    Mere de Dieu!\"\n\nand proudly arrogate to the Church of Rome, the absolute interpretation\nof Scripture; forbidding the people to examine whether she does it\nrightly or not. I thank God that I am a Protestant against such\nidolatry and ecclesiastical tyranny!\n\nThe able and enlightened remarks of that renowned general and eminent\nstatesman, Washington, in his farewell address to the people of the\nUnited States, relative to the well-being of a nation, are equally\napplicable to the existence and prosperity of a Colony: \"Of all the\ndispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity (he\nobserved), religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain\nwould that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labour to\nsubvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of\nmen and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man,\nought to respect and cherish them. A volume would not trace all their\nconnexions with private and public felicity. Let it be simply asked,\nWhere is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the\nsense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the\ninstruments of investigation in the courts of justice? And let us with\ncaution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained\nwithout religion. Whatever be conceded to the influence of refined\neducation, or minds of a peculiar structure; reason and experience\nforbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of\nreligious principle.\"\n\nA daughter has driven her aged Indian father, lashed, in his buffaloe\nrobe, on a sledge, to the Colony. He appeared to be in a very weak and\ndying state, and has suffered much from the want of provisions. I was\nmuch pleased with this instance of filial affection and care. Sometimes\nthe aged and infirm are abandoned or destroyed; and however shocking it\nmay be to those sentiments of tenderness and affection, which in\ncivilized life we regard as inherent in our common nature, it is\npractised by savages in their hardships and extreme difficulty of\nprocuring subsistence for the parties who suffer, without being\nconsidered as an act of cruelty, but as a deed of mercy. This shocking\ncustom, however, is seldom heard of among the Indians of this\nneighbourhood; but is said to prevail with the Chipewyan or Northern\nIndians, who are no sooner burdened with their relations, broken with\nyears and infirmities, and incapable of following the camp, than they\nleave them to their fate. Instead of repining they are reconciled to\nthis dreadful termination of their existence, from the known custom of\ntheir nation, and being conscious that they can no longer endure the\nvarious distresses and fatigue of savage life, or assist in hunting for\nprovisions. A little meat, with an axe, and a small portion of tobacco,\nare generally left with them by their _nearest relations_, who in\ntaking leave of them, say, that it is time for them to go into the\nother world, which they suppose lies just beyond the spot where the sun\ngoes down, where they will be better taken care of than with them, and\nthen they walk away weeping. On the banks of the Saskashawan, an aged\nwoman prevailed on her son to shoot her through the head, instead of\nadopting this sad extremity. She addressed him in a most pathetic\nmanner, reminding him of the care and toil with which she bore him on\nher back from camp to camp in his infancy; with what incessant labour\nshe brought him up till he could use the bow and the gun; and having\nseen him a great warrior, she requested that he would shew her\nkindness, and give a proof of his courage, in shooting her, that she\nmight go home to her relations. \"I have seen many winters, she added,\nand am now become a burden, in not being able to assist in getting\nprovisions; and dragging me through the country, as I am unable to\nwalk, is a toil, and brings much distress:--take your gun.\" She then\ndrew her blanket over her head, and her son immediately deprived her of\nlife: in the apparent consciousness of having done an act of filial\nduty and of mercy.\n\nThe old man who was brought to the Settlement, by his daughter for\nrelief soon recovered, so as to become exceedingly troublesome by\ncoming almost daily to my room. I succeeded at length in starting them\nfor some hunters' tents on the plains, where they expressed a wish to\ngo, if supplied with provisions to carry them there, by killing a small\ndog, and giving it to them for food. An ox would not have been more\nacceptable to a distressed European family than this animal was to\nthese Indians. But on leaving me two more families came to my residence\nin a state of starvation. Necessity had compelled them to eat their\ndogs, and they themselves were harnessed to their sledges, dragging\nthem in a most wretched and emaciated condition. One of the men\nappeared to be reduced to the last stage of existence, and upon giving\nhim a fish and a few cooked potatoes, such was his natural affection\nfor his children, that, instead of voraciously devouring the small\nportion of food, he divided it into morsels, and gave it to them in the\nmost affectionate manner. His children from their appearance had\npartaken of by far the largest share of that scanty supply which he had\nlately been able to obtain in hunting. They pitched their tents at a\nshort distance below in the woods, and the poor man came to me next\nmorning with the request that I would bleed him for a violent pain\nwhich he complained of in his side. This I refused to do, and gave him\na note to the medical gentleman of the Colony, promising to call on him\nthe next day. When I saw him I found that he had not delivered the\nnote, but had bled himself in the foot with the flint from his gun, and\nspoke of having experienced considerable relief. The party were\ndreadfully distressed for provisions, and had actually collected at\ntheir tents the remains of a dog which had died, with part of the head\nof a horse, that had been starved to death in the severity of the\nwinter, and which was the only part of the animal that was left by the\nwolves. The head of the dog was boiling in the kettle, and that of the\nhorse was suspended over it, to receive the smoke of the fire in the\npreparation for cooking; while the children were busily employed in\nbreaking some bones which they had picked up, with an axe, and which\nthey were sucking in their raw state for their moisture. This was the\nsuffering extremity not of lazy bad Indians, but of those who bore the\ncharacter of good hunters, and were particularly careful of their\nfamilies; and I fear it is the case of many more from the exhausted\nstate of animals in the neighbourhood of Red River: and from the\nfrequent fires that occur in the plains, which extend also to the\ndestruction of the woods.\n\nTowards the conclusion of the month we had another melancholy proof of\nthe Indians suffering extreme want from the few animals that were to be\nmet with during the winter. An Indian with his wife on their arrival\ngave me to understand that they had been without food for twenty days,\nand had lost their three children by starvation. Their appearance was\nthat of a melancholy dejection, and I had my suspicions excited at the\ntime that they had eaten them. This was confirmed afterwards by the\nbones and hands of one of the children being found near some ashes at a\nplace where they said they had encamped, and suffered their misery. It\nappears that two of their children died from want, whom they cooked and\neat, and that they afterwards killed the other for a subsistence in\ntheir dire necessity. I asked this Indian, as I did the other, whether\nfrom having suffered so much, it was not far better to do as the white\npeople did and cultivate the ground; he said, \"Yes;\" and expressed a\ndesire to do so if he could obtain tools, seed wheat and potatoes to\nplant. Though it is the character of the savage to tell you what he\nwill do in future at your suggestion, to prevent the calamity which he\nmay be suffering from want of food or the inclemency of the weather,\nand as soon as the season becomes mild, and the rivers yield him fish,\nor the woods and plains provisions, to forget all his sufferings, and\nto be as thoughtless and improvident as ever as to futurity; yet, I\nthink that a successful attempt might be made by a proper superintendance,\nand a due encouragement to induce some of the Indians of this quarter\nto settle in villages, and to cultivate the soil. The voice of humanity\nclaims this attention to them, under their almost incredible privations\nat times: but prejudices may exist in the country which prevent this\ndesirable object being carried into effect. There was a time when the\nIndians themselves had begun to collect into a kind of village towards\nthe mouth of the Red River, had cultivated spots of ground, and had\neven erected something of a lodge for the purpose of performing some of\ntheir unmeaning ceremonies of ignorance and heathenism, and to which\nthe Indians of all the surrounding country were accustomed at certain\nseasons to repair; but fears were entertained that the natives would be\ndiverted from hunting furs to idle ceremonies, and an effectual stop\nwas put to all further improvement, by the spirit of opposition that\nthen existed in the country between the two rival Fur Companies.\n\nMARCH 10.--The ringing of the Sabbath bell now collects an encouraging\ncongregation; and some of us, I trust, could experimentally adopt the\nlanguage of the Psalmist, in saying, \"I was glad when they said unto\nus, let us go into the house of the Lord.\"--My earnest prayer to God\nis, that I may exercise a _spiritual_ ministry; and faithfully\npreach those truths which give no hope to fallen man, but that which is\nfounded on God's mercy in Christ. I often felt rejoiced in spirit in\nthe prospect of doing good amidst the wild profligacy of manners that\nsurrounded me, and of making known the doctrines and precepts of\nChristianity, where Christ had never before been named. Several adult\nmarried Indian women attended the Sunday School, with many half-caste\nchildren to be taught to read, and to receive religious instruction,\nwhich gave me an opportunity of ascertaining what the notions of the\nIndians were concerning the flood and the creation of the world. They\nappeared either to be ignorant, or unwilling to relate any traditionary\nstories that they might have as to the original formation of the world,\nbut spoke of an universal deluge, which they said was commonly believed\nby all Indians. When the flood came and destroyed the world, they say\nthat a very great man, called Waesackoochack, made a large raft, and\nembarked with otters, beavers, deer, and other kinds of animals. After\nit had floated upon the waters for some time, he put out an otter, with\na long piece of shagganappy or leathern cord tied to its leg, and it\ndived very deep without finding any bottom, and was drowned. He then\nput out a beaver, which was equally unsuccessful, and shared the same\nfate. At length he threw out a musk-rat, that dived and brought up a\nlittle mud in its mouth, which Waesackoochack took, and placing in the\npalm of his hand, he blew upon it, till it greatly enlarged itself, and\nformed a good piece of the earth. He then turned out a deer that soon\nreturned, which led him to suppose that the earth was not large enough,\nand blowing upon it again its size was greatly increased, so that a\nloom which he then sent out never returned. The new earth being now of\na sufficient size, he turned adrift all the animals that he had\npreserved. He is supposed still to have some intercourse with and power\nover them as well as over the Indians, who pray to him to protect them\nand keep them alive. Sir Alexander Mackenzie, in speaking of the\nChipewyan or Northern Indians, who traverse an immense track of\ncountry, to the north of the Athabasca lake, says, \"that the notions\nwhich these people entertain of the creation are of a singular nature.\nThey believe that the globe was at first one vast and entire ocean,\ninhabited by no living creature except a mighty bird, whose eyes were\nfire, whose glances were lightning, and the clapping of whose wings was\nthunder. On his descending to the ocean, and touching it, the earth\ninstantly arose, and remained on the surface of the waters. They have\nalso a tradition amongst them, that they originally came from another\ncountry, inhabited by very wicked people, and had traversed a great\nlake, where they suffered much misery, it being always winter, with ice\nand deep snow. At the Copper-Mine River, where they made the first\nland, the ground was covered with copper. They believe also that in\nancient times their ancestors lived till their feet were worn out with\nwalking, and their throats with eating. They describe a deluge, when\nthe waters spread over the whole earth, except the highest mountains,\non the tops of which they preserved themselves.\" There appears to be a\ngeneral belief of a flood among all the tribes of this vast continent;\nand the Bible shews me from whence spring all those fables, and wild\nnotions which they entertain; and which prevail in other parts of the\nheathen world upon these subjects. They are founded upon those events\nwhich the sacred scriptures record, and which have been corrupted by\ndifferent nations, scattered and wandering through the globe as the\ndescendants of Noah, without a written language. The Hindoo therefore\nin his belief that the earth was actually drawn up at the flood, by the\ntusks of a boar, and that it rests at this hour on the back of a\ntortoise: and the North American Indian in his wild supposition that\nWaesackoochack, whose reputed father was a snake, formed the present\nbeautiful order of creation after the deluge, by the help of a\nmusk-rat, afford no inconsiderable proof that the Bible is of far\ngreater antiquity than any other record extant in the world, and that\nit is indeed of divine origin. While its sacred page therefore informs\nand decides my judgment by the earliest historic information, may its\nprinciples influence my life in all Christian practice, and joyful\nexpectation of the world to come, through faith in Him, whom it records\nas the Redeemer of mankind; and in whom believing \"there is neither\nbarbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free.\"\n\n    'One song employs all nations, and all sing,\n    Worthy the Lamb! for he was slain for us.\n    The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks\n    Shout to each other; and the mountain-tops,\n    From distant mountains catch the flying joy;\n    Till, nation after nation taught the strain,\n    Earth rolls the rapturous hosannah round.'\n\nI could never discover that the Indians among whom I travelled had any\nthing like a visible object of adoration. Neither sun, moon, nor stars,\nappear to catch their attention as objects of worship. There is an\nimpression upon their minds, of a Divine Being, whom they call the\n_Great Spirit_, whom they ignorantly address, and suppose to be too\ngood even to punish them. Their general idea is, that they are more\nimmediately under the influence of a powerful _Evil Spirit_. Experience\nhas taught them this melancholy fact, in the trials, sufferings,\nafflictions, and multiform death which they undergo; and therefore\ntheir prayers are directed to him, when any severe calamity befalls\nthem. To avert his displeasure, they often have recourse to\nsuperstitious practices, with the most childish credulity; and will\ndrum and dance throughout a whole night, in the hope of bringing relief\nto the sick and dying. They know not that the great enemy of man's\nhappiness and salvation, is a chained enemy, and a captive to Him who\ntriumphed in his resurrection and ascension to glory, and under the\ncontrol and permissive will of Him, whom they denominate Keetchee\nManitou, or Great Spirit; and, consequently they are enslaved to all\nthat is pitiable in ignorance and superstition. Acknowledging the being\nof a God, the uncultivated minds of these savages have led them to\nshrink from the thoughts of annihilation, and to look forward with hope\nto a future life. They have no idea however of intellectual enjoyments;\nbut a notion prevails among them, that at death they arrive at a large\nriver, on which they embark in a stone canoe; and that a gentle current\nbears them on to an extensive lake, in the centre of which is a most\nbeautiful island, in the sight of which they receive their judgment. If\nthey have died courageously in war, they are particularly welcomed in\nlanding upon the island, where they, with skilful hunters, enjoy\nperpetual spring and plenty, and live with all the good in an eternal\nenjoyment of sensual pleasures. If they die with their hands imbrued\nwith the blood of their countrymen, and are lazy bad characters, the\nstone canoe sinks with them, leaving them up to their chins in water,\nthat they may for ever behold the happiness of the good, and struggle\nin vain to reach the island of bliss.\n\nThe 17th. I left the Colony in a cariole, to visit the Company's Post\nat Bas la Riviere; we stopped the night, near the mouth of the Red\nRiver, and crossed the point of Lake Winipeg, on the ice, the following\nday, in time to reach the Fort the same evening. It is pleasantly\nsituated by a fine sheet of water; and is the way the canoes take their\nroute to Fort William, Lake Superior, and Montreal. During my stay, the\nofficer of the Post gave me the much admired fish of the country,\ncalled by the Indians, _tittameg_, and by the Americans, _white-fish_.\nIts usual weight is about three or four pounds; but it is caught in\nsome of the lakes of a much larger size; and, with the sturgeon, is a\nprincipal article of food, and almost the only support of some of the\nestablishments. Before I left, the officer was married to one of the\nbest informed and most improved half-caste women I had seen. She was\nthe daughter of one of the chief factors, who was particularly fond of\nhis family; and afforded an instance of superiority of character among\nthis class of people, from the care and instruction which she had\nreceived. The Metifs, or, as they are sometimes called, Bois brules,\nhave displayed the most striking ability as steersmen of boats, through\nthe most difficult rapids, and in the navigation of the rivers; and if\nadvantages were given them in education, they have capacities of\nusefulness which might adorn the highest stations of civilized life. Of\nthe moral degradation, however, of these people, in common with that of\nthe Canadian voyageurs, it is difficult to exhibit an accurate picture.\nSuffice it to say, that it is a degradation which, in some respects,\nexceeds even that of the native Indian himself.\n\nIn starting from the Company's Post, on my return to the Colony, it was\nmy hope that we should cross the point of Winipeg Lake to the mouth of\nthe Red River, in one day, as we had done in our way thither; but about\ntwo o'clock in the afternoon, I perceived, as I was in the cariole,\nthat the driver had mistaken his way. I told him of his error, but he\npersisted in the opinion that he was right, and drove on till the\nevening closed upon us, without his finding the entrance to the Red\nRiver. Night came on, and the dogs were exhausted with fatigue, which\nobliged us to stop, though not before one of them contrived to slip his\nhead out of the collar. It happened that we were near some wood on the\nedge of the lake, but in reaching it we sank in soft drift snow up to\nthe middle; and it was a considerable time before we could make our\npreparations for the night, under the spreading branches of a pine\ntree. We got but little rest from the small fire that we were able to\nmake, and from our bad encampment. The next morning, I found that the\ndriver was greatly embarrassed in his idea of our exact situation, and\nhe led me throughout the day from one point of wood to another, over\nthe ice, on the borders of the lake, in a directly contrary way to that\nin which we ought to have gone. We had no food for our dogs, and on\ncoming to our encampment for the night, the animals were completely\nworn out with fatigue; and what added to our trials, was the loss of\nthe flint, which the man dropped in the snow, the first time he\nattempted to strike the steel to kindle a fire. After some difficulty\nwe succeeded, with a small gun-flint, which I found in my pocket, and\nwe bivouacked upon the snow, before an insufficient fire, from the\nscanty wood we were able to collect. It was my wish to have divided the\nlittle provision that remained with the dogs, as they had eaten nothing\nfor two days, and I considered them scarcely able to move with the\ncariole the next morning, at the same time intending to kill one of\nthem the following evening, to meet our wants, should we not succeed in\nrecovering our track. The driver assured me, however, that they would\ngo another day without giving up. From the conversation I had with him,\nbefore we started on the following morning, I found that he had no\nknowledge of our situation on the extensive lake before us, and\nsupposed that the Red River lay to the north, while I thought, from the\ncourse of the sun, that it was to the south, and insisted upon his\ntaking that direction, which we did accordingly; and after a laborious\nand rather anxious day's toil, we saw some points of small and\nscattered willow bushes, like those which I knew to be near the\nentrance of the river. This providentially proved to be the case,\notherwise our trials must have been great; the driver having become\nnearly snow-blind, and incapable of driving the dogs, and the weather\nbecoming more intensely cold and stormy. It may easily be conceived\nwhat our feelings were, in recovering a right track, after wandering\nfor several days upon an icy lake, among the intricate and similar\nappearances of numerous and small islands of pine. They were those, I\ntrust, of sincere gratitude to God; and I often thought what a wretched\nwanderer was man in a guilty world, without the light of Christianity\nto guide, and its principle to direct his steps. Infidelity draws a\nveil around him, and shrouds all in darkness as to a future life. All,\nall is uncertainty before him, as the tempest-tossed mariner without a\ncompass, and the wearied wandering traveller without a chart or guide.\nLet me then prize the scriptures more, which have \"God for their\nauthor, truth unmingled with error for their subject, and salvation for\ntheir end.\" They are the fountains of interminable happiness, where he\nwho hungers and thirsts after righteousness, may be satisfied; and when\nreceived in principle and in love, are a sure and unerring guide,\nthrough a wilderness of toil and suffering, to the habitations of the\nblessed, \"not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.\"\n\nAs we passed along the river towards the Settlement, we met an\nintoxicated Indian, who had been drinking at the grave of his child,\nwhom he had buried in the fall of the year. In going to the spot, I\nfound that all the snow and the grass had been removed, and that a\nnumber of Indians, with Pigewis, had encircled the place where the body\nhad been deposited; and, as is their custom, they smoked the calumet,\nwept, and sacrificed a little of what they possessed to the departed\nspirit of the child. They do this, under the idea that the deceased may\nwant these articles in the world whither they are gone; and it is very\naffecting occasionally to hear the plaintive and mournful lamentations\nof the mother at the grave of her child, uttering in pitiful accents,\n\"Ah! my child, why did you leave me! Why go out of my sight so early!\nWho will nurse you and feed you in the long journey you have undertaken!\"\nThe strength of natural affection will sometimes lead them to commit\nsuicide, under the idea that they shall accompany the spirit, and nurse\ntheir departed child in the other world. This persuasion, that the\nspirits of the deceased want the same attendance in their new station\nas in the present life, is so deeply rooted in the minds of the\nIndians, that the _Carriers_, west of the Rocky Mountains, sometimes\nburn the widow; and a chief, on the North-West coast of America,\nsacrificed a human victim, who was a slave, on the death of his son. In\nsome provinces of America, historians have mentioned that, upon the\ndeath of a Chief, a certain number of his wives, and of his slaves who\nhad been taken in war, were put to death, and interred together with\nhim, that he might appear with the same dignity in the world of\nspirits, and be waited upon by the same attendants. Some have solicited\nthe honour to die, while others have fled, as marked for victims, under\nthis cruel and superstitious practice.\n\nAPRIL 4.--On my arrival at the Church Mission House for divine worship,\na poor Indian widow with five children, asked me to admit two of the\nboys into the schools, which I immediately did, and particularly wished\nher to leave the two girls also, one about six, and the other eight\nyears of age; but she would not comply with my request. The boys were\nvery wild and troublesome, and often ran away from the school to their\nmother, who was generally living about the Settlement. They were\ngetting at length however better reconciled, and had begun to be\nattached to the schoolmaster, when I was informed the Catholics were\nprejudicing her mind against the school; and that some of the women of\nthat persuasion had told her, that I was collecting children from the\nIndians with the intention of taking them away to my country. This idea\nwas spread amongst them, and an Indian calling at my residence told me\nthat he would give his boy to the school, if I would not leave them, as\nhe understood I intended to do. In vain did I tell him, that in going\nhome to see my wife and children I should be glad to return and bring\nthem with me, to assist me in teaching those of his country; and that\non my going away, my brother Minister would come, and love, and take\ncare of the Indian children as I did. He was not satisfied, and took\nhis boy away with him, saying he must wait, and see what was to be\ndone. The Saulteaux woman took her two boys away clandestinely, saying,\nas I was afterwards informed, that \"they would be all the same as dead\nto her, if what she had heard was true,\" and though I had not an\nopportunity of seeing her afterwards, she had the honesty to return the\nchildren's clothes which I had given to them. These circumstances with\nothers that had occurred, convinced me that it would be far better to\nobtain children for the school, from a distance than from the Indians\nin the immediate neighbourhood of the Colony, as all those children who\nwere under our charge, and whose parents were more remote, soon became\nreconciled to restraint, and were happy on the establishment. This\ndesirable object might soon be obtained by visiting the different\ntribes of Indians, more especially were there a powerful interest\nexcited in favour of the Native School Establishment at Red River, by\nthe officers at the different Trading Posts.\n\nIn the attempt however to spread the knowledge of Christianity among\nthe natives, it appears that the least expensive mode of proceeding and\nof ensuring the most extensive success for the Missionary is, to visit\nthose parts of the country where they are stationary, and live in\nvillages during the greater part of the year. He should direct his way\nand persevering attention towards the rocky mountains, and the\nColumbia. He may meet with difficulties and obstacles such as have\ntried the faith and patience of Missionaries in other parts of the\nheathen world, but let him persevere through the aid of the Company's\nofficers, who may introduce him to the Indians trading at their\nrespective Posts. Near to the foot of the rocky mountains the Indians\nare known to dwell in their villages nearly nine months of the year.\nDuring these months they live on salmon, either dried or taken fresh\nfrom the rivers. They are not ferocious, but very indolent, and where\nthis is the case, are generally very licentious; but as they are\nstationary for so long a period, an attempt might be made through the\nco-operation of the Company's Officer, to lead them to cultivate the\nsoil, which at certain points will grow turnips, cabbages, and barley:\nthis produce, with the natural resources of the country would greatly\nencourage an establishment for the education of their children\nthroughout the year: to the support of which the Indians themselves\nmight greatly contribute, and which would be attended with the most\nbeneficial results. In following the track towards the North Pacific\nOcean, the climate is much milder than to the East of the mountains,\nand a vast encouragement would be found in seeking to benefit the\nnatives, from their being strangers to the intoxicating draught of\nspirituous liquors, in barter for their articles of trade. So little\nacquainted with the effects of intoxication are some of the Indians in\nthis quarter, that the following circumstance was related to me by an\nOfficer from the mouth of the Columbia. A Chief who had traded but\nlittle with Europeans came to the Fort with two of his sons, and two\nyoung men of his tribe. During their stay the servants made one of his\nsons drunk. When the old man saw him foaming at the mouth, uttering the\nmost incoherent expressions, and staggering under the power of the\nintoxicating draught, he immediately concluded that he was mad, and\nexclaimed, 'Let him be shot.' It was some time before he could be\npacified, which was only effected in a measure by his being assured,\nthat he would see his son recovered from the disorder of his faculties.\nAnd when the aged Chief saw him again restored to his right mind, and\nfound him capable of conversing, he manifested the greatest joy.\n\nThe Columbia presents every advantage in forming a settlement for the\nnatives or others, particularly so to the south of its entrance to the\nsea, on the banks of the Willammette River. The soil is excellent; fish\nand wild fowl are found in abundance, and a good supply of indigenous\nanimals is met with from the praries, or natural meadows. The summer\nmonths are very pleasant, but those of winter are frequently rainy, and\nsubject to heavy fogs, which may occasionally render it unhealthy. The\nChinnook Indians are six months in villages in the neighbourhood of the\nCompany's Post, Fort George, at the mouth of the Columbia, and afford\nfacilities, with other surrounding tribes for the benevolent attempt of\nintroducing the knowledge of Christianity among them. In their war\nexcursions they adopt a different mode of warfare to that of the Red\nRiver Indians, and those towards the Atlantic coast, by openly taking\nthe field against their enemies; and keeping their prisoners alive for\nslaves. These are numerous among some of the tribes; and many might be\nobtained, without purchasing them, for religious instruction. In fact\nthere appear to be many points in this vast territory where there is a\nprospect of establishing well-conducted missions to the great and\nlasting benefit of the natives. But the object should be pursued upon a\nregular and persevering system, and while the Missionary needs the\nactive co-operation of the resident Officer in his arduous engagement\nwith the Indians; no idle prejudice should ever prevent his endeavours\nto civilize and fix them in the cultivation of the soil where it may be\neffected.\n\nThe Russians it appears are affording religious instruction in the\nestablishment of schools for the education of half-caste children, with\nthose of the natives in their Factories on the North-west coast of\nNorth America. A gentleman informed me that he saw, at their\nEstablishment at Norfolk Sound, a priest and a schoolmaster, who were\nteaching the children, and instructing the natives, not as the Spanish\npriests do, at Fort St. Francisco, in South America, by taking them by\nforce, and compelling them to go through the forms and ceremonies of\n_their_ religion, but by mild persuasion and conviction; and the\nreport of their success in general is, that a considerable number of\nsavages of the Polar Regions have been converted to Christianity.[8]\n\n      [8] Since my return to England I have been favoured with the\n      following communication from a gentleman, who travelled in\n      Siberia, to promote the object of the British and Foreign Bible\n      Society, in the general circulation of the Scriptures; and\n      which-corroborates the above report. \"The Russians have made many\n      proselytes to the Greek Church, (he observes,) from among the\n      natives of the North-West coast of North America, and two\n      different supplies of copies of the Scriptures in the Slavonian\n      and modern Russ languages have been forwarded to that quarter,\n      for the use of their settlements there, by the Russian Bible\n      Society.\"\n\nMAY 23.--The Settlers have been very industrious in getting in their\nseed corn; but the weather has been, and continues to be very cold,\nwith a strong north and north-easterly wind, which has cheeked\nvegetation; and the woods around us still wear the dark hue of winter.\nWe now take a plentiful supply of sturgeon, and with the return of the\nfeathered tribe we are much annoyed by myriads of blackbirds that\ndestroy a good deal of the new sown grain, as well as when it is ripe\nfor harvest. Multitudes of pigeons also now appear, and unless they are\ncontinually shot at, they devour the fruits of husbandry. They fly by\nmillions, and are often seen extending to a vast distance like a cloud;\nwhen one flock has passed another succeeds, and we often profit by this\nkind gift of Providence, by shooting them in their migrations, as\nexcellent food.\n\nThere is a general talk among the surrounding tribes of Indians, of\ngoing to war against the Sioux nation. A strong band of the\nAssiniboines are directing their course towards Pembina; and Pigewis,\nwho is by no means a war Chief, is setting off in that direction to\njoin them. Their rage of vengeance towards the Sioux Indians appears to\nknow no bounds; but the scalp of some poor solitary individuals among\nthem will probably terminate the campaign. They cannot keep long\ntogether in numerous parties from the want of foresight to provide for\ntheir subsistence; and accordingly a little more than a week's absence\nbrought Pigewis back again, with his party, without their having seen\nan enemy, and in the destitute condition of being without food and\nmoccassins.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nPROGRESS OF INDIAN CHILDREN IN READING. BUILDING FOR DIVINE WORSHIP.\nLEFT THE COLONY. ARRIVAL AT YORK FORT. DEPARTURE TOR CHURCHILL\nFACTORY. BEARS. INDIAN HIEROGLYPHICS. ARRIVAL AT CHURCHILL. INTERVIEW\nWITH ESQUIMAUX. RETURN TO YORK FACTORY. EMBARK FOR ENGLAND. MORAVIAN\nMISSIONARIES. GREENLAND. ARRIVAL IN THE THAMES.\n\n\nJUNE 2.--I have been adding two small houses to the Church Mission\nSchool, as separate sleeping apartments for the Indian children, who\nhave already made most encouraging progress in reading, and a few of\nthem in writing. In forming this Establishment for their religious\neducation, it is of the greatest importance that they should be\ngradually inured to the cultivation of the soil, and instructed in the\nknowledge of agriculture. For this purpose I have allotted a small\npiece of ground for each child, and divided the different compartments\nwith a wicker frame. We often dig and hoe with our little charge in the\nsweat of our brow as an example and encouragement for them to labour;\nand promising them the produce of their own industry, we find that they\ntake great delight in their gardens. Necessity may compel the adult\nIndian to take up the spade and submit to manual labour, but a child\nbrought up in the love of cultivating a garden will be naturally led to\nthe culture of the field as a means of subsistence: and educated in the\nprinciples of Christianity, he will become stationary to partake of the\nadvantages and privileges of civilization. It is through these means of\ninstruction that a change will be gradually effected in the character\nof the North American Indian, who in his present savage state thinks it\nbeneath the dignity of his independence to till the ground. What we\nvalue in property, and all those customs which separate us from them in\na state of nature, they think lightly of, while they conclude that our\ncrossing the seas to see their country is more the effect of poverty\nthan of industry. To be a _man_, or what is synonymous with them, to be\na great and distinguished character, is to be expert in surprising,\ntorturing, and scalping an enemy; to be capable of enduring severe\nprivations; to make a good hunter, and traverse the woods with\ngeographical accuracy, without any other guide than the tops of the\ntrees, and the course of the sun. These are exploits which, in their\nestimation, form the hero, and to which the expansion of their mind is\nconfined. Their intellectual powers are very limited, as they enter\ninto no abstruse meditations, or abstract ideas; but what they know in\nthe narrow range of supplying their wants, and combating with their\nfellow men, they know thoroughly, and are thereby led to consider\nthemselves the standard of excellence. In their fancied superior\nknowledge they are often heard to remark, when conversing with the\nEuropean, \"You are almost as clever as an Indian.\" They must be\neducated before they can be led to comprehend the benefits to be\nreceived from civilization, or ere a hope can be cherished that their\ncharacters will be changed under the mild influence of the Christian\nreligion. Man is as his principles are, and wandering under the\ninfluence of those savage-taught habits, in which he has been nurtured,\nwhich tend to harden the heart, and narrow all the sources of sympathy,\nthe character of the North American Indian is bold, fierce,\nunrelenting, sanguinary, and cruel; in fact, a man-devil in war,\nrejoicing in blood, exulting in the torments he is inflicting on his\nvictim, and then most pleased when his inflictions are most exquisite.\nWe should not be astonished at this character, so repugnant to the\nsympathies of our nature, nor should we conclude too hastily against\nhim,--he also has his sympathies, and those of no common order. He also\nloves his parent that begat him, and his child whom he has begotten,\nwith intense affection; he is not without affection from nature; but\nperverted principle has perverted nature; and as his principle is, so\nis his practice. Our surprise ceases when we learn that he is trained\nup in blood, that he is catechized in cruelty, and that he is\ninstructed not in slaughter only, but in torment. Nothing that has life\nwithout the pale of his own immediate circle not only does not escape\ndestruction, but is visited with torment also inflicted by his infant\nhand. If his eye in passing by the lake observes the frog moving in the\nrushes he instantly seizes his victim, and does not merely destroy it,\nbut often ingeniously torments it by pulling limb from limb. If the\nduck be but wounded with the gun, his prey is not instantly despatched\nto spare all future pain, but feather is plucked out after feather, and\nthe hapless creature is tormented on principle. I have frequently\nwitnessed the cruelty with which parents will sometimes amuse their\nchildren, by catching young birds or animals, that they may disjoint\ntheir limbs to make them struggle in a lingering death. And a child is\noften seen twisting the neck of a young duck or goose, under the\nlaughing encouragements of the mother for hours together, before it is\nstrangled. At one moment he satisfies the cravings of nature from the\nbreast of his mother, and instantly rewards the boon with a violent\nblow perhaps on the very breast on which he has been hanging. Nor does\nthe mother dare resent the injury by an appeal to the father. He would\nat once say that punishment would daunt the spirit of the boy. Hence\nthe Indian never suffers his child to be corrected. We see then the\nsecret spring of his character. He is a murderer by habit, engendered\nfrom his earliest age; and the scalping knife and the tomahawk, and the\nunforgiving pursuit of his own enemy, or his father's enemy, till he\nhas drenched his hands in, and satiated his revenge with his blood, is\nbut the necessary issue of a principle on which his education has been\nformed. The training of the child forms the maturity of the man.\n\nOur Sunday school is generally attended by nearly fifty scholars,\nincluding adults, independent of the Indian children; and the\ncongregation consists upon an average of from one hundred to one\nhundred and thirty persons. It is a most gratifying sight to see the\nColonists, in groups, direct their steps on the Sabbath morning towards\nthe Mission house, at the ringing of the bell, which is now elevated in\na spire that is attached to the building. And it is no small\nsatisfaction to have accomplished the wish so feelingly expressed by a\ndeceased officer of the Company. \"_I must confess_, (he observed) _that\nI am anxious to see the first little Christian church and steeple of\nwood, slowly rising among the wilds, to hear the sound of the first\nsabbath bell that has tolled here since the creation._\" I never\nwitnessed the Establishment but with peculiar feelings of delight, and\ncontemplated it as the dawn of a brighter day in the dark interior of a\nmoral wilderness. The lengthened shadows of the setting sun cast upon\nthe buildings, as I returned from calling upon some of the Settlers a\nfew evenings ago; and the consideration that there was now a landmark\nof Christianity in this wild waste of heathenism, raised in my mind a\npleasing train of thought, with the sanguine hope that this Protestant\nEstablishment might be the means of raising a _spiritual_ temple to\nthe Lord, to whom \"the heathen are given as an inheritance, and the\nutmost parts of the earth as a possession.\"\n\nI considered it as a small point gained, to have a public building\ndedicated to religious purposes, whose spire should catch the eye, both\nof the wandering natives, and the stationary Colonists. It would have\nits effect on the population generally. The people of England look with\na degree of veneration to the ancient tower and lofty spire of the\nEstablishment; and they are bound in habitual attachment to her\nconstitution, which protects the monument and turf graves of their\nancestors. And where the lamp of spiritual Christianity burns but dimly\naround her altar, it cannot be denied, that even her established rites\nand outward form have some moral effect on the population at large.\n\nOn the 10th, I addressed a crowded congregation, in a farewell\ndiscourse, from the pulpit, previous to my leaving the Colony for the\nFactory: and having administered the sacrament to those who joined\ncordially with me in prayer, that the Missionary who was on his way to\nofficiate in my absence, might be tenfold, yea a hundred fold, more\nblessed in his ministry than I had been, I parted with those upon the\nChurch Mission Establishment with tears. It had been a long, and\nanxious, and arduous scene of labour to me; and my hope was, as about\nto embark for England, that I might return to the Settlement, and be\nthe means of effecting a better order of things.\n\nThe weather was favourable on the morning of our departure; and\nstepping into the boat the current soon bore us down the river towards\nLake Winipeg. As the spire of the church receded from my view, and we\npassed several of the houses of the Settlers, they hailed me with their\ncordial wishes for a safe voyage, and expressed a hope of better times\nfor the Colony. Then it was that my heart renewed its supplications to\nthat God,\n\n    --'who is ever present, ever felt,\n    In the void waste, as in the city full,'\n\nfor the welfare of the Settlement, as affording a resting place for\nnumbers, after the toils of the wilderness in the Company's service,\nwhere they might dwell, through the divine blessing, in the broad\nday-light of Christianity; and being bound to the country from having\nfamilies by native women, might find the protection and advantages of\ncivilized life.\n\nWith light favourable winds we soon crossed the Lake and arrived at\nNorway House, and such is generally the quickness of the passage from\nthis point to York Factory, that in the rapid stream of the rivers, a\nloaded boat will reach the depot in a few days, which will take three\nor four weeks to return with excessive toil, from the strength of the\nopposing current. It appears dangerous to the inexperienced traveller\nto run the rapids in the passage to the Factory, but it is seldom\nattended with any serious accident. The men who have charge of the\nboats are generally experienced steersmen, and it is an interesting\nsight to see them take the rush of water with their boats, and with\ncool intrepidity and skill direct the sweep, or steer-oar to their\narrival in safety at the bottom of a rapid of almost a perpendicular\nfall of many feet, or through a torrent of water of a quarter of a mile\nor more in length. Sometimes, however the boats strike in the violence\nof their descent, so as to cause a fracture, and hurry the crew to pull\nashore to save the cargo from damage. This accident befel us several\ntimes in our passage down, but a kind Providence protected us, and we\narrived in safety at York Factory.\n\nImmediately on my arrival, I made arrangements for fulfilling my\nMissionary engagement to visit the Esquimaux at Churchill, the\nCompany's most northern Post on the Bay. It was the advice of Captain\nFranklin, that I should walk the distance of about one hundred and\neighty miles, from York Fort to that Factory, as I might be delayed in\na canoe, by the vast quantities of floating ice in the Bay, so as not\nto meet these Indians in time. I followed this advice, and having\nengaged one of the Company's servants, with an Indian who was an\nexcellent hunter, we set off on our expedition, on the morning of the\n11th of July, accompanied by two Indians, who had come express from\nChurchill, and were returning thither. It was necessary that we should\nembark in a boat, to cross the North River; and in rowing round the\nPoint of Marsh, we perceived a brightness in the northern horizon, like\nthat reflected from ice, usually called the _blink_, and which led\nus to suppose that vast fields of it were floating along the coast in\nthe direction that we were going. It happened to be low water when we\ncrossed the mouth of the river, so that the boat could not approach\nnearer than about a mile from the shore, which obliged us to walk this\ndistance through the mud and water, to the place where we made our\nencampment for the night, and where the mosquitoes inflicted their\ntorments upon us. We were dreadfully annoyed by them, from the swampy\ncountry we had to traverse, and I was glad to start with the dawn of\nthe following morning, from a spot where they literally blackened a\nsmall canvass tent that was pitched, and hovered around us in clouds so\nas to render life itself burdensome. The day, however, afforded us very\nlittle relief, while walking, nearly ancle deep in water, through the\nmarshes; and such was their torture upon the poor animals, that we\nfrequently saw the deer coming out of the woods, apparently almost\nblinded and distracted with their numbers, to rush into the water on\nthe shore for relief. This gave an opportunity to the hunter to kill\ntwo of them in the course of the afternoon, so that we had plenty of\nvenison, and a good supply of wild fowl, which he had shot for our\nevening repast. We started at sunrise the next morning, after having\nhad but little sleep, as I had been wrapped in my blanket almost to\nsuffocation, to escape in a degree the misery of our unceasing torment.\nTowards noon, we had much better walking than we had before met with,\nand were relieved from the mosquitoes by a change of wind blowing cold\nfrom off the ice, which was now seen from the horizon to the shores of\nthe bay. The relief to us was like a cessation from an agony of pain;\nand as the hunter had just killed another deer, and the wild fowl flew\naround us in abundance, we pitched the tent, and halted for several\nhours, and refreshed ourselves with sleep, after the irritation and\nalmost sleepless nights that we had endured. We were on the march again\nat five o'clock; and after we had forded Stoney River, we came upon the\ntrack of a polar bear. The Indian hunter was very keen in his desire to\nfall in with it, and I lamented that I had not an opportunity of seeing\nhim engage the ferocious animal, which seemed to have taken a survey of\nthe party, and to have gone into the wood a short distance from us. The\nbears are now coming off the ice in the Bay, on which they have been\nfor several months past, to live upon seals, which they catch as they\nlie sleeping by the sides of the holes in the drift ice, when it\ndissolves or is driven far from shore. They seek their food among the\nsea-weed and every trash that is washed up along the coast, or go upon\nthe rocks, or to the woods, for berries, during the summer months.\nSavage, however, as this animal is, it is not so much dreaded by the\nIndians as the grizzly bear, which is more ferocious and forward in his\nattack. These are found towards the Rocky Mountains, and none but very\nexpert hunters like to attack them. A gentleman who was travelling to a\ndistance on the plains to the West of the Red River Colony, told me of\na narrow escape he once had, with his servant boy, in meeting a grizzly\nbear. They were riding slowly along, near the close of the day, when\nthey espied the animal coming from the verge of a wood in the direction\ntowards them. They immediately quickened the pace of their horses, but\nbeing jaded with the day's journey, the bear was soon seen to gain upon\nthem. In this emergency, he hit upon an expedient, which was probably\nthe means of saving their lives. He took the boy, who was screaming\nwith terror, behind him, and abandoned the horse that he rode. When the\nferocious animal came up to it, the gentleman, who stopped at some\ndistance, expected to see the bear rend it immediately with his paws;\nbut to his surprise, after having walked round and smelt at the horse,\nas it stood motionless with fear, the bear returned to the wood, and\nthe horse was afterwards recovered without injury.\n\nThe morning of the 14th was very cold, from the wind blowing off the\nice in the Bay; and when we stopped to breakfast, I was obliged to put\na blanket over my shoulders, as I stood by the fire, for warmth. The\ncomfortable sensation however was, that we were free from the annoyance\nand misery of the mosquitoes; cold, hunger, and thirst, are not to be\ncompared with the incessant suffering which they inflict. We waded\nknee-deep through Owl River, in the afternoon of the 15th. The weather\nwas cold, and nothing was to be seen in the Bay but floating ice. It\nwas rather late before we pitched the tent, and we met with some\ndifficulty in collecting a sufficient quantity of drift wood on the\nshore, to kindle a fire large enough to boil the kettle, and cook the\nwild fowl that we had shot. The next day we forded Broad River, on the\nbanks of which we saw several dens, which the bears had scratched for\nshelter: and seeing the smoke of an Indian tent at some distance before\nus, in the direction we were going, we quickened our step, and reached\nit before we stopped to breakfast. We found the whole family clothed in\ndeer-skins, and upon a hunting excursion from Churchill. The Indian, or\nrather a half-breed, was very communicative, and told me that though he\nwas leading an Indian life, his father was formerly a master at one of\nthe Company's Posts, and proposed accompanying our party to the\nFactory. He had two sons, he said, who were gone in the pursuit of a\ndeer; and, on quitting the encampment to travel with us, he would leave\nsome signs for them to follow us on their return. They were the\nfollowing, and drawn upon a broad piece of wood, which he prepared with\nan axe.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n    6      5      4      3      2      1\n\n    1. To intimate that the family was gone forward.\n    2. That there was a Chief of the party.\n    3. That he was accompanied by a European servant.\n    4. And also by an Indian.\n    5. That there were two Indians in company.\n    6. That they should follow.]\n\nIt is a common custom with the Indians to paint hieroglyphic characters\non dressed buffaloe skins or robes; and a variety of figures are drawn\non many of those which they barter at the Company's Posts. In the\nrepresentation of a victory achieved over an enemy, the picture of the\nChief is given, with the mark of his nation, and those of the warriors\nwho accompanied him. A number of little images point out how many\nprisoners were taken; while so many human figures without heads shew\nthe number who were slain. Such are the expressive signs of a barbarous\npeople, in recording their war exploits, and communicating information\nwithout the knowledge of letters and the art of printing.\n\nWe proceeded, after the wife had put some kettles upon the back of a\nmiserable looking dog, and had taken her accustomed burden, the tent\nwith other articles, on her own. The little ones were also severally\nladen with a knapsack, and the whole had the appearance of a camp of\ngypsies moving through the country.\n\nThe 17th. Before we struck our tents this morning, the signs which the\nold man left upon the piece of wood yesterday, brought his two sons,\nwhom he had left hunting, and who had walked nearly the whole of the\nnight to overtake us. We had now no provisions but what we shot on our\njourney, and the addition to our party made every one active in the\npursuit of game as it appeared. The next day we passed Cape Churchill,\nand came to a tent of Chipewyan or Northern Indians. The question was\nnot asked if we were hungry, but immediately on our arrival the women\nwere busily employed in cooking venison for us; and the men proposed to\ngo with us to Churchill. As soon as we had finished eating, the tent\nwas struck, and the whole party proceeded, with the old man a-head,\nwith a long staff in his hand, followed by his five sons and two\ndaughters, and the rest of us in the train, which suggested to my mind\nthe patriarchal mode of travelling. The 19th, our progress was slow,\nfrom being again annoyed with mosquitoes, in a bad track, through a wet\nswampy ground. As soon as we had passed the beacon, which was erected\nas a landmark to the shipping that formerly sailed to Churchill, as the\nCompany's principal depot, before its destruction by Perouse, two of\nthe Indians left us, to take a circuit through some islands by the sea,\nto hunt for provision. We pitched our tents early, in expectation that\nthey would join us, but we saw nothing of them that evening. It is\ncustomary, as we were then travelling, to take only one blanket, in\nwhich you roll yourself for the night, without undressing. On laying\ndown, upon a few willow twigs, I soon afterwards felt so extremely\ncold, from the wind blowing strong off a large field of ice drifted on\nthe shore, that I was obliged to call the servant to take down the\ntent, and wrap it round me, before I could get any sleep. The sudden\nvariation of the weather, however, gave me no cold, nor did it\ninterrupt a good appetite, which the traveller in these regions usually\nenjoys.\n\nHad we not been delayed by the absence of the Indians a hunting we\nmight have reached the Factory to-day, the 20th. They came in from\ntheir excursion at the time we were taking our breakfast, but without\nmuch success. They had killed an Arctic fox that supplied them with a\nmeal, and a few ducks which they brought to our encampment, among which\nwas the Eider duck, so remarkable for the beautiful softness of its\ndown. In the evening one of the Chipewyan Indians, sent me some dried\nvenison; and the next morning early we arrived at Churchill. The\nEsquimaux, Augustus, who accompanied Captain Franklin to the shores of\nthe Polar Sea, came out to meet us, and expressed much delight at my\ncoming to see his tribe, who were expected to arrive at the Factory\nevery day. He had not seen his countrymen since he acted as one of the\nguides in that arduous expedition, and intended to return with them to\nhis wife and children, laden with presents and rewards for his tried\nand faithful services.\n\nJULY 25.--The servants, with the Officers, assembled for divine\nservice, and laborious as is the office of a Missionary, I felt\ndelighted with its engagements; and thought it a high privilege to\n_visit even_ the wild inhabitants of the rocks with the _simple\ndesign_ of extending the Redeemer's kingdom among them; and that in\na remote quarter of the globe, where probably no Protestant Minister\nhad ever placed his foot before. The next day a northern Indian leader,\ncame to the Fort with his family; and upon making known to him the\nobject of my journey to meet the Esquimaux, he cheerfully promised to\ngive up one of his boys, a lively active little fellow, to be educated\nat the Native School Establishment at the Red River. He appeared very\ndesirous of having his boy taught more than the Indians knew; and\nassisted me in obtaining an orphan boy from a widow woman, who was in a\ntent at a short distance, to accompany his son. I told him that they\nmust go a long way, (Churchill being about a thousand miles distant\nfrom the Colony) but that they would be taken great care of. He made no\nobjection, but said that they should go, and might return when they had\nlearnt enough. This was a striking instance of the confidence of an\nIndian, and confirmed the opinion that they would part with their\nchildren to those in whom they thought they could justly confide, and\nto whose kind tuition they were persuaded they could safely entrust\nthem. The Company's boats were going to York Factory, and would take\nthem there; where, on my return, I expected to meet my successor as a\nMinister to the Settlement, on his arrival from England by the ship;\nand who would take them under his care in continuing the voyage to the\nschool. \"Religion, (says Hearne) has not as yet began to dawn among the\nNorthern Indians; for, though their conjurors do indeed sing songs and\nmake long speeches to some beasts and birds of prey, as also to\nimaginary beings, which they say assist them in performing cures on the\nsick, yet they, as well as their credulous neighbours, are utterly\ndestitute of every idea of practical religion.\"\n\nThe Company's present Establishment is about five miles up the river,\nfrom the point of rock at its entrance where the ruins of the old\nFactory are seen; which was the point Hearne started from on his\njourney to the Coppermine River, in the year 1770; and which was blown\nup by Perouse about the year 1784. It appears to have been strongly\nfortified, and from its situation must have been capable of making a\nformidable resistance to an enemy; and it can never cease to be a\nmatter of surprise that it should have been surrendered without firing\na shot. The walls and bastions are still remaining, which are strewed\nwith a considerable number of cannon, spiked, and of a large calibre.\nAugustus used to visit this point every morning, in anxious expectation\nthat his countrymen would arrive by the way of the coast, in their seal\nskin canoes. One day he returned to the Factory evidently much agitated;\nand upon inquiry I found that there was an Esquimaux family in a tent\nby the shore, under one of the rocks, one of whom had greatly alarmed\nhim with the information, that soon after he left his tribe with\nJunius, (who is supposed to have perished as a guide in the Arctic\nExpedition,) one of Junius's brothers took his wife, and thinking that\nAugustus was displeased with him, and that he possessed the art of\nconjuring, had determined upon his death, and that this superstitious\nnotion had so preyed upon his spirits as to terminate his existence.\nThis circumstance, he added, had led a surviving brother to threaten\nrevenge, and supposing that he might come to the Factory with the\nEsquimaux who were expected, he advised him to be on his guard. The\nnext day, July the 29th, Augustus returned to the point of rock on the\nlook out, but not without having first requested a brace of pistols,\nloaded his musket, and fixed his bayonet, yet nothing was seen of his\ncountrymen. The next morning I accompanied him to the Esquimaux tent,\nwith an interpreter, under the idea that I might obtain some\ninteresting information; and was much pleased to find the family living\nin the apparent exercise of social affection. The Esquimaux treated his\nwife with kindness; she was seated in the circle who were smoking the\npipe, and there was a constant smile upon her countenance, so opposite\nto that oppressed dejected look of the Indian women in general. I asked\nthe Esquimaux of his country: he said it was good, though there was\nplenty of cold and snow; but that there was plenty of musk oxen and\ndeer; and the corpulency of the party suggested the idea that there was\nseldom a want of food amongst them. I told him that mine was better, as\ngrowing what made the biscuit, of which they were very fond, and that\nthere was much less cold, and that we saw the water much longer than\nthey did. Observing that the woman was tattooed, I asked him when these\nmarks were made, on the chin, particularly, and on the hands. His reply\nwas, when the girls were marriageable, and espoused to their husbands;\nwho had generally but one wife, though good hunters had sometimes two.\nWishing to know whether they ever abandoned the aged and the infirm to\nperish like the Northern Indians, he said, never; assuring me that they\nalways dragged them on sledges with them in winter to the different\npoints where they had laid up provisions in the autumn, 'en cache;' and\nthat they took them in their canoes in summer till they died. Knowing\nthat some Indians west of the rocky mountains burn their dead, I asked\nhim if this custom prevailed with the Esquimaux, he said, no; and that\nthey always buried theirs. The name of this Esquimaux was\n_Achshannook_, and as Augustus could write a little, which he had been\ntaught during the time he was with the expedition, I gave him my\npencil, that the other might see what I wished to teach the Esquimaux\nchildren, as well as to read white man's book, which told us true of\nthe Great Spirit, whom the Esquimaux did not know, and how they were to\nlive and die happy. The woman immediately caught up her little girl\nabout five years of age, and holding her towards me manifested the\ngreatest delight, with Achshannook, at the wish I had expressed of\nhaving the Esquimaux children taught to write and read the book. They\noften pointed in the direction the others were coming, and gave me to\nunderstand that they would soon arrive. We returned to the Fort, and\nwalking by the side of the river we saw numbers of white whales which\nfrequent it at this season of the year, and many of which are harpooned\nfrom a boat that is employed, and usually carries three or four of the\nCompany's servants. The harpooner killed one to-day, which measured\nfourteen feet long, and eight in girth, and weighed it was supposed a\nton weight. The blubber is boiled at the Fort, and the oil sent to\nEngland as an article of the Company's trade. When the Esquimaux visit\nus from the tent, they generally go to the spot where the carcases of\nthe whales are left to rot after the blubber is taken, and carry away a\npart, but generally from the fin or the tail; they have been known,\nhowever, to take the maggots from the putrid carcase, and to boil them\nwith train oil as a rich repast. They are extremely filthy in their\nmode of living. The Esquimaux who was engaged at the Fort as an\ninterpreter, used to eat the fish raw as he took them out of the net,\nand devour the head and entrails of those that were cooked by the\nCompany's servants. And it is their constant custom, when their noses\nbleed by any accident to lick their blood into their mouths and swallow\nit.\n\nThough the beaver, which furnishes the staple fur of the country, is\nnot common in this immediate neighbourhood, an Indian was successful\nenough to kill one at a short distance down the river, which he brought\nto the Fort. It was roasted for dinner, and proved of excellent\nflavour, though I could not agree that the tail, which was served up in\na separate dish, was of that superior taste it is generally considered\nto be. The sagacity of this animal has often been described; and I have\nfrequently been surprised at the singular construction of their houses,\nthe care with which they lay up their provision of wood, and the mode\nin which they dam up the water near their habitations. They cut with\ntheir teeth sticks of a considerable size, and when larger than they\nare able to drag, they contrive to fell them on the bank, so that they\nmay fall and float down the stream to the place where they design to\nmake the dam; and then entwine them with willow twigs, which they\nplaster with mud, so as effectually to obtain a head of water.\n\nWe met again on the Sabbath for divine worship on both parts of the\nday, as we had done on the previous Sunday. As the Esquimaux did not\nmake their appearance, we began to think that the ice in the Bay might\nhave prevented their coming to the Factory. We were relieved from our\ndoubts however, on the 2nd of August, by Augustus running to the Fort\nwith the information that his countrymen were seen coming along in\ntheir canoes. He waited till he ascertained that Junius's brother, who\nwas said to have threatened his life, was not of the party, and then\nwent to meet them. Some of them came over the rocks with the canoes\nupon their heads, as being a much nearer way to the Company's Post from\nthe spot where they left the Bay, than following the course of the\nriver. Their number, with a small party that came soon afterwards, was\nforty-two men, who brought with them a considerable quantity of the\nArctic fox skins, musk-ox, and deer skins, with those of the wolf and\nwolverine, together with sea-horse teeth, and the horn of a sea-unicorn\nabout six feet long for barter at the Company's Post. In appearance\nthey strongly resembled each other, and were all clothed with deer-skin\njackets and lower garments of far larger than usually Dutch size, made\nof the same material. Their stature was low, like that of the wife of\nthe Esquimaux at the tent who was not five feet in height. They were\nall very broad set, with remarkably small eyes, low foreheads, and of a\nvery fine bronze complexion. A few of the men however were nearly six\nfeet in stature, and of a strong robust make. As soon as they had\nbartered the articles which they brought with them for those they\nrequested in return, which were guns, ammunition, beads, and blankets\nprincipally, they were informed that I had travelled a long way to see\nthem, and to have some talk with them.\n\nThe next day, they gathered round me, and with Augustus and an\ninterpreter, I was enabled to make the object of my visit to them well\nunderstood. I told them that I came very far across the great lake,\nbecause I loved the Esquimaux; that there were very many in my country\nwho loved them also, and would be pleased to hear that I had seen them.\nI spoke true. I did not come to their country, thinking it was better\nthan mine, nor to make house and trade with them, but to enquire, and\nthey must speak true, if they would like white man to make house and\nlive amongst them, to teach their children white man's knowledge, and\nof the Great and Good Spirit who made the world. The sun was then\nshining in his glory, and the scenery in the full tide of the water\nbefore us was striking and beautiful; when I asked them, if they knew\nwho made the heavens, the waters, and the earth, and all things that\nsurrounded us, so pleasing to our sight? their reply was, 'We do not\nknow whether the Person who made these things is dead or alive.' On\nassuring them that I knew, and that it was my real wish that they and\ntheir children should know also the Divine Being, who was the Creator\nof all things; and on repeating the question, whether they wished that\nwhite man should come and give them this knowledge, they all\nsimultaneously expressed a great desire that he should, laughing and\nshouting, \"heigh! heigh! augh! augh!\" One of them afterwards gave me a\nmap of the coast which they traversed, including Chesterfield Inlet,\nand which he drew with a pencil that I lent him, with great accuracy,\npointing out to me the particular rivers where the women speared salmon\nin the rapids in summer, while the men were employed in killing the\ndeer, as they crossed in the water some points of the Inlet; or were\nhunting on the coast, catching seals. Being provident, and not so\nregardless of the morrow as the Indians in general, they lay up\nprovisions at these different places for the winter, and probably\nseldom suffer from want of food; nor are they long in summer without\ntheir favourite dish of the flesh and fat of the seal, mixed with train\noil as a sauce, which they prefer to salmon; and when not mixed with\ntheir food, they drink the oil as a cordial.\n\nThe Esquimaux often surrounded me in groups, during their stay at the\nFactory, and cordially shaking hands, were fond of saying, that the\nNorthern Indians, or Chipewyans, sprang from dogs, but that they were\nformerly as white men. I encouraged them in the idea that we were\noriginally of the same parents, but that they being scattered, we knew\nnow a great deal more than they did, and therefore came to see if it\nwere possible to teach their children our knowledge, for their\nhappiness, and also themselves, if it were their desire. They appeared\nto be quite overjoyed at this conversation, and laughed heartily,\nshouting, \"Heigh! heigh!\" saying, (as the interpreter expressed it,)\n\"We want to know the Grand God.\"\n\nI told them that there were stones on the edge of the water, in their\ncountry, and that with a little wood, a house might be made like what\nthey saw at the Fort. Should I, or any other person, ever come from\nacross the great lake, to build this house, where their children might\nlive, and be taught what I had told them; I asked if they would assist\nto bring the stones, and help to raise the building. They signified\ntheir willingness by shouting again in their usual manner. I mentioned\nthe above circumstance, as conceiving it to be practicable and\nadvisable, from the best information I could obtain, that the first\nattempt to form an establishment on the shores of the Bay, to educate\nthe children of the Esquimaux, should be made at Knapp's Bay, or, as\ncalled by the Esquimaux, Aughlinatook. Augustus's tribe traverse this\npart of the coast, which is about two hundred miles north of Churchill;\nfrom whence the frame of the building and some dry provisions in casks\nmight be taken in boats, to maintain the party, at first making the\nsettlement, independent of the common resources of the country, and of\nthe Esquimaux; and a communication kept up with the Company's Post,\nwhich might easily be done, both in summer and winter. It is said that\nthe word, difficulty, is not known in the English Military dictionary,\nand surely ought not to be found in that of the Missionary; and a\nmission undertaken to the Esquimaux, upon the plan suggested, conducted\nwith prudence, intrepedity, and perseverance, can leave little doubt as\nto its ultimate success. They tied knots upon a sinew thread, tieing a\nknot for each child as it was named, to inform me, at my request, of\nthe number of children they had belonging to their tribe, and which\nthey would bring to the school for instruction. The number on the sinew\nthread was sixty-two boys and sixty-four girls. Whenever I spoke to\nthem about provisions, they uniformly said that they would bring\nplenty; but should the establishment be made, a small number of\nchildren would at first of course be taken, and increased in proportion\nas the resources of the country, and the supplies afforded by the\nEsquimaux towards the support of their children, were pretty accurately\nascertained. It is true that they live in a country, as those do on the\nLabrador coast, of hopeless barrenness, and endure almost a perpetual\nwinter's blast; but the success of the faithful devoted Moravian\nMissionaries, on the coast of Labrador, and on that of Greenland, in\ntheir labours, privations, and perseverance, to impart the knowledge of\nChristianity, which has been blessed of God to the salvation of the\nEsquimaux, holds out every encouragement to the intrepid Missionary, in\nhis attempts to benefit, with Christian instruction, those on the\nshores of Hudson's Bay.\n\n    'Cold is the clime, the winds are bleak,\n      And wastes of trackless snow,\n    Ye friends of our incarnate God!\n      Obscure the paths ye go.\n\n    'But hearts more cold, and lusts more fierce,\n      And wider wastes of sin,\n    Ye Preachers of redeeming love!\n      Obscure the soul within.\n\n    'Yet go: and though both poles combine,\n      To freeze the sinner's soul,\n    The sinner's soul shall yield to grace,\n      For grace can melt the pole.\n\n    'Then blow ye winds, and roll ye waves,\n      Your task assigned perform:\n    The God of grace is nature's God,\n      And rides upon the storm.\n\n    'Nature and Providence obey\n      The dictates of his grace;\n    Go! for each drop subserves his cause\n      Each atom has its place.'\n\nA few of the Esquimaux who came to the Fort, were from Chesterfield\nInlet, and proposed to return, before the other party left us for\nKnapp's Bay. Before they started, Augustus was very desirous that I\nshould see his countrymen conjure; and bringing a blanket and a large\nknife, he assured me that one of them would swallow the knife, and not\ndie; or fire a ball through his body, leaning upon a gun, without being\ninjured. I understood that he was to perform this jugglery with the\nblanket round him, which I objected to, if I saw it; but told him that\nI had great objections to such deceptions and art, by which they\nimposed on each other; and observed, that if his countrymen could\nreally conjure, they should conjure the whales to the shore, which were\nthen sporting in the river before us. He was not pleased, however, with\nmy refusal, and it was with difficulty that I prevented the exhibition.\nWhen the party left us, they encircled me, and said that they would\ntell all of their tribe what had been mentioned about teaching the\nEsquimaux children white man's knowledge of the Great Spirit. They\ninformed me that a great many of the Esquimaux meet in summer about\nChesterfield Inlet; that some come down from the great lake to the\nnorth, and that they had met some, who had seen two very large canoes\nwhen there was no ice; and when one of these canoes stood in towards\nthe shore where they were, they were so alarmed as to run off over the\nrocks, and that they did not return till the big canoes were out of\nsight towards where the sun rises. This information led me to suppose\nthat they were the Discovery Ships, under the command of Captain Parry;\nand to conjecture that the ice had been a barrier to his progress in\nsearch of a North-West Passage, and that he was returning down the Bay\nto England. The object of the Esquimaux in meeting from different\ntribes at Chesterfield Inlet every year, is to barter with those\nprincipally who trade at Churchill Factory, and also with some Northern\nIndians, who exchange what European articles they may have for\nfish-hooks made of bone, and sinew lines, and skins. I then shook hands\nwith them, and gave to each individual a clasp-knife, some tobacco, and\na few beads, to take with them to their wives, with which they were\nmuch pleased, telling me, not to be afraid to come to their country, as\nEsquimaux would treat me well.\n\nAUGUST 7.--When the remaining party returned to Knapp's Bay, it was\nproposed by the Master of the Company's Posts, that they should stop\nfor a few days at Seal River, about fifty miles north of Churchill, and\nspear white whales for the blubber. This they readily assented to, and\nthe day after they started, I accompanied the officer in a boat to the\npoint where they were to be employed. We pitched our tents near the\nplace where they rested at night, and were much amused at their\ndexterity in spearing a number of whales on the following day. In the\ncourse of two days they harpooned about forty, so numerous were these\nanimals in the Bay at the mouth of the river. These Esquimaux were not\nunacquainted with habits of cleanliness, for they were no sooner ashore\nfrom spearing whales, than they changed their dirty skin dress for one\nof a newer and cleaner character; and in seating themselves in a\ncircle, around a small fire they had made, I observed that while they\nboiled the skin of the whale, and some partook of it, others were\neating the tail and the fin in a raw state. I never knew natives more\norderly and less troublesome; we were in their power, but so far from\nannoying us, they never even came to our tents, importuning for tobacco\nand other articles, as is generally the case with Indians when near\ntheir own encampment.\n\nWishing to talk with them again on the subject of teaching their\nchildren, I invited to my tent seven of the oldest men among them; and\nrepeated to them the questions which I had put to the whole of them\nbefore. They expressed the same feelings in favour of instruction, and\na hope that I was not afraid to come to their country, promising, when\nwhite man came, not to steal from him, a vice which they are sometimes\nguilty of at the Factory. I found that they believed in a future state;\nand acknowledged that there was a bad Spirit, who made them suffer, and\nto whom they prayed that he would not hurt them. They thought that when\na bad man died, the bad Spirit took him, and put him in a hole under\nground, where there was always fire, but this idea they might have got\nfrom their intercourse with Europeans at the Fort: and when a good man\ndied, they believed that the moon took him up, where he lived as he had\ndone below, only that he had always plenty to enjoy, and less paddling\nto do. In parting with these Indians, as with the others who returned\nto Chesterfield Inlet, I gave to each individual a clasp knife, some\ntobacco, and a few beads to take to their wives; and my prayer to God\nwas, that some effectual step might be taken to communicate to these\nheathen, that knowledge which they appeared desirous of receiving, and\nwhich would ameliorate their condition through a scriptural hope of a\nfuture life.\n\nWe returned to the Factory, along a coast the most dangerous to\nnavigate that can possibly be conceived, from fragments of rocks being\nstudded in the water for miles from the shore, and which are only\nvisible at the reflux of the tide. The safest course to take is to run\nout to sea, and sail along out of sight of land; but this is hazardous\nin an open boat, if the weather be stormy, or the water is much ruffled\nby the wind. The Company lost a boat's crew last fall, as they were\nreturning to Churchill, from one of the points of rock where they had\nbeen to collect geese, which the Indians had shot, and which are salted\nas part of the winter supply of provisions at the Establishment. At\nfirst it was supposed that the boat had been driven out to sea, and all\nhad perished in a most painful manner; but during our stay, an Indian\ncame to the Fort, to inform the officer that the empty boat was lying\non the beach, about six or seven miles to the south of Churchill River.\nHe immediately sent men to the spot, and to search along the coast for\nsome remains at least of the bodies of the crew, but not the least\nappearance of them could be found. The boat filled and went down, with\nthe sail set and fastened to the mast, which was the state in which it\nwas found; but whether she struck upon the point of a sunken rock, or\nswamped at the conflux of the waters off the mouth of the river at the\nreturn of the tide, not a man survived to tell the melancholy tale.\n\nThe 10th.--I began to make preparations for my return to York Factory,\nin the supply of ammunition and a couple of days' provisions for our\njourney. As every thing we took was borne on the back of the men, we\ndeemed this sufficient, with the supply we were likely to obtain in our\nwalk through a country which at this season of the year generally\nabounds with wildfowl. It was painful to see several Indian women in an\ninfirm state of health and lame, continually begging for a little\noatmeal, or picking _tripe de roche_ for a subsistence, being\nunable to follow the tribe they belonged to; and, upon inquiry, I found\nthat it was a common custom among the Chipewyans, to leave the aged,\nthe infirm, and the sick, when supposed incapable of recovery, to\nperish for want! and that one-half of the aged probably die in this\nmiserable condition! The common feelings of humanity suggest the\nquestion,--Could not some establishment be formed, as a hospital for\nthe reception of a certain number at least of the aged and infirm;\ntowards the maintenance of which, the Indians themselves, in bringing\ntheir relations, might be induced to contribute, were it only the tenth\nskin from the produce of their hunting? If this establishment could not\nbe formed near the coast, might not one be made as an experiment on the\nborders of their country in the Athabasca? where grain and Indian corn\nmight be raised towards its support. The subject at least challenges\ninquiry, and is fraught with deep interest, as calling forth the best\nfeelings of benevolence; for a more deplorable situation in existence\ncannot be conceived, than for persons to be deserted in afflictive old\nage, suffering infirmity, and left at the last stage of life to expire\nin want, when, of all other periods in our mortal career, we most need\nattention, and sympathy, and kindness.\n\nThese Indians have a singular custom of wrestling for any woman to whom\nthey are attached; and she has to witness the contest, which consists\nin hauling each other about by the hair of the head, without kicking or\nstriking, till the strongest party carries her off as his prize. And\ninstead of stabbing one another in their quarrels, as is frequently the\ncase with the Southern Indians, these generally decide them by\nwrestling. They may permit a weak man, if he be a good hunter, to keep\nthe object of his choice; but otherwise he is obliged to yield his wife\nto a stronger man, who may think her worth his notice. This barbarous\ncustom I should suppose prevails among the Esquimaux who visit\nChurchill Factory, as they pointed out to me, at the time I saw them, a\nweakly looking man, who they said had his wife taken from him by\nanother of superior strength. They shewed me also how they decided\ntheir quarrels, by each party alternately bending the body in a\nhorizontal position, and receiving from each other a blow of the fist\non the temple or side of the face.\n\nOn the 12th, we left Churchill Factory, and in our track killed plenty\nof wild-fowl, and were again tortured with the mosquitoes, till after\nthe second day's march, when we waded through a low swampy ground,\nfrequently half-leg deep in water, to some dry ridges of land. The wind\nblew again off the ice in the bay, which enabled us to walk without\nmuch annoyance; and in our progress, we often passed large holes, which\nthe bears had scratched in these ridges to lie in, and which, from the\nimpression of their paws on the sand, several had recently left. On the\n17th, we came to a tent of Indians, who were encamped on the shore, for\nthe purpose of killing them, in the front of which was the head of one\nthat they had lately shot, stuck upon some painted sticks, in\nexpression of some superstitious notions respecting the animal. They\nhave a great dread of bears, and are very fond of wearing their claws\nround their necks, ornamented as a necklace, under the idea that they\nshall be preserved from their ferocious attacks. A short time before I\nleft the Red River Colony, a Saulteaux Indian came to my residence with\na necklace strung with some large claws; and prevailing upon him to\npart with it for some tobacco, he addressed it in a very grave speech,\nwhen he took it from his neck, and laid it for me on the table, in\nlanguage to the following effect:--\"My grandfather! you and I have been\ntogether some time--we must now part. Go to that Chief; and in leaving\nme, be not angry, but let me kill buffaloe when I am hungry, and\nanother bear when I meet with it, and then I will make another necklace\nof the claws.\" I smiled at this address, when, looking at me very\nseriously, he said, \"If you offend the bear,\" (I supposed he meant the\nspirit of the bear, whose claws he had given me,) \"the bears will be\nsure to eat you.\"\n\nOn the 18th, some Indians whom we met, told us that they had heard the\ngreat guns of the ship, on her arrival from England, though they had\nnot seen her at anchor. The next day convinced us of the fact; and we\nreached York Factory early the following morning, after having walked\non our return from Churchill, the supposed distance of one hundred and\neighty miles, through a trackless path in swamps and long grass, in\nless than seven days.\n\nHere I had the happiness of meeting the Rev. Mr. Jones, arrived by the\nship, on his way to the Red River Settlement, my fellow-labourer in\nthat situation; to whom I committed the two Chipewyan Indian boys.\nAfter a few days, he proceeded with his little charge to his\ndestination. And may God, whom we serve in the gospel of his Son,\nabundantly bless his exertions, on entering upon a field of anxious and\nlaborious toil, which I have just left, to visit the land of my\nnativity and affection, after an absence of more than three years.\n\nYork Factory, as the principal depot, is rapidly improving in\nappearance, and in the extent of its buildings. A number of the chief\nFactors and Traders meet here every summer, and a council is held for\nthe management of the _Northern Factory_; while another is also\nannually held at Moose, in St. James's Bay, for the direction of the\n_Southern Factory_. This division of the Company's territory, comprises\nthe whole of the country, from the furthest known point to the north to\nthe boundary line of the United States, and from the waters of the\nPacific to those of the Atlantic. In carrying into effect the moral\nimprovement of the country, which has long been contemplated, it would\nbe very desirable that schools should be established at the Company's\nchief depots; where it is presumed provisions might be obtained, for\nthe support at least of a limited number of the half-caste children.\nAnd the most beneficial results might follow the regular performance of\ndivine worship on the Sabbath, by a Clergyman, throughout the summer\nmonths at least, in a building erected and appropriated as a chapel.\nThese are arrangements, which every benevolent mind, truly desirous of\npromoting the best interests of the country, where the progress of\nmoral and religious instruction would be but slow, would rejoice to see\npractically entered upon.\n\nIt may be stated with pleasure that directions have been given to\nlessen the quantity of spirituous liquors in barter with the natives.\nThe baneful effects of such a medium of trade have long been deplored\nby all who have regarded the amelioration of their state, and sought to\nimprove their wandering condition. Cruelty, disease, and premature\ndecay have for centuries past been generated wherever Europeans have\nintroduced the exchange of ardent spirits with the Indians. No act\ntherefore can be more beneficial and humane than that of gradually\naltering a system which is at once so prejudicial to the native, and\ninjurious to the morals of the trader. It is to be hoped that the\nbenevolent intentions of the Honourable Committee will be carried into\nfull effect, together with the resolutions passed in council at York\nFactory, July 1823, for the purpose of improving the moral state, both\nof the Indians and of the European inhabitants of the Company's\nterritory; an event highly interesting to every friend of humanity and\nreligion.\n\nSEPT. 10.--We embarked on board the ship Prince of Wales on her return\nto England, and left the anchorage next day with a favourable wind. The\nweather being moderate, on Sunday the 14th we enjoyed the privilege of\nhaving two full services.\n\nThe 16th.--The wind continues light and favourable, and I have been\nmuch interested in reading Mr. Wilberforce's pamphlet, entitled, \"An\nAppeal in behalf of the Negro Slaves.\" When will men regard each other\nas brethren, connected by the common ties of humanity, and as generally\nresponsible to God, the Judge of all.\n\nSunday, 21st.--When off Cape Charles at the entrance of Hudson's\nstraits, the Thermometer I observed was as low as 24 deg.; and the land as\nwe passed along was covered with snow. The prospect was most chilling\nand dreary. Though it blew fresh, there was not however a heavy swell\nof the sea, which gave us the opportunity of having divine service both\nmorning and afternoon. I felt humbled in going through the Ministerial\nduties of the day; and the experience of my heart imposes on me the\nobligation of labouring more and more after humiliation. What a\nconsolation is it to _know_ that we are saved by hope, even in Him, who\nsitteth upon the circle of the heavens, directing the course of the\nelements--who commandeth the waters and they obey Him.\n\nOn the 23d we encountered a heavy gale of wind, with a short and angry\nsea, insomuch that the ship was covered with waves, and all on board\nwere reeling to and fro, and staggering like a drunken man. Towards\nevening it blew a hurricane; the heavens were black with tempest, and\nall around us appeared awfully dangerous. Self-examination is at all\ntimes profitable and incumbent on the Christian, but when dangers press\naround him in a tumultuous scene of waters, it is peculiarly consolatory\nfor him to find upon examination, that the sheet anchor of his hope is\nwell grounded; and that he has laboured in the cause of his divine Lord\nwith a conscious integrity, though with a conscious imperfection of\ncharacter. It was _well_ said by the wife of a Missionary, in her last\nmoments, when it was observed to her that she was dying a sacrifice in\nthe cause of missions, \"_I would rather_ (said she) _die a penitent\nsinner at the cross of Christ._\" Every day, in the smooth unruffled\ncalm of life, or on the tempestuous ocean of its existence, would I\n_feel_ the sentiment so expressive of the Christian's security, and\nsimple reliance upon the omnipotent arm of the Saviour, as uttered by\nSt. Peter, when ready to sink amidst the threatening waves, \"Lord save\nus, we perish.\"\n\nDuring the 25th we were becalmed off the Upper Savage Islands, amidst\nseveral large icebergs, some of which were stranded on the shore, and\nwould receive the accumulation of another winter's fall of snow, from\nnot being driven out of the Straits into the Atlantic Ocean, where they\nare dissolved. The winter was again setting in with a cold frosty air,\nand frequent snow storms. The next morning the wind freshened, and on\nthe 27th, when we were off Saddle Back, we experienced another heavy\ngale of wind, which was so violent about eight o'clock in the evening,\nthat it broke the mizen top sail yard, while nine of the sailors were\nfurling the sail. Providentially the broken part of the yard slung with\nthe ropes, or every soul must inevitably have perished, from the\nviolent rolling of the ship. A more rough and stormy night could not\nwell be experienced, with the aggravated danger of sailing among a\nnumber of large isles of floating ice; the running foul of one of which\nwould be immediate destruction, as upon a rock.\n\nThe next day the wind moderated, and was favourable, but from the\nrolling of the ship I could only read the morning and evening prayers,\nand that with some difficulty, when we met for divine worship. In the\nevening we approached Resolution Island, and the waters of the Atlantic\nopened to us with the encouraging prospect of having more sea room to\nencounter any storms that we might afterwards meet with. As we left the\nbarren rugged shores of the Straits, and the chain of rocks terminating\nin ragged points on the coast of Labrador, there was a general spirit\nof congratulation; and the prospect of crossing the great Western Ocean\nin safety raised in my mind the ascription of praise uttered by the\nPsalmist, \"Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his\nbenefits.\"\n\nOCT. 4.--We were off Cape Farewell, South Greenland, with strong gales\nof wind. This point called to my mind the labours of the Moravian\nMissionaries who had formed several settlements, the most southern of\nwhich I believe is Lichterau, among the Greenlanders, under far greater\ndifficulties, than are likely to assail the Missionary, in his attempt\nto form an establishment for the instruction of the same race of people\nin the principles of divine truth on the shores of Hudson's Bay, with\nthe aid and co-operation of the Hudson's Bay Company. These pious,\nsimple, devoted Missionaries, have proved that missions to the heathen\non the most inhospitable and barren shores are not visionary schemes,\nbut succeed effectually under the blessing of heaven to the conversion\nof the natives; and they have established the principle, that wherever\nthe waters roll, and however barren the rock on which man is to be\nfound, there man may be benefitted with the saving knowledge and\nblessings of Christianity. The account given of the first Missionaries\nof the United Brethren, whose entrance upon the inhospitable and icy\ncoasts of Greenland was in 1733, among whom was that eminent servant of\nthe mission, Matthew Stach, is truly interesting. Leaving Hernnhutt,\nthey first proceeded to the Danish capital, as Greenland was under that\ngovernment, to obtain the sanction of the King, in their intended\nmission. Their first audience with the Chamberlain was not a little\ndiscouraging, but being convinced, by a closer acquaintance of the\nsolidity of their faith, and the rectitude of their intentions, this\nMinister became their firm friend, and willingly presented their\nmemorial to the King, who was pleased to approve of their design, and\nwrote a letter with his own hand, recommending them to the notice of\nthe Danish Missionary, Egede, who had undertaken a mission to Greenland\nin 1721, but had hitherto accomplished very little in the way of\nsuccess, notwithstanding his indefatigable exertions.\n\nThe Chamberlain also introduced them to several persons distinguished\nby rank and piety, who liberally contributed toward the expense of\ntheir voyage and intended settlement. Being asked one day by his\nExcellency, how they proposed to maintain themselves in Greenland, they\nanswered, that they depended on the labour of their own hands and God's\nblessing; and that not to be burdensome to any one, they would build\nthemselves a house and cultivate the ground. It being objected that\nthey would find no wood to build with, as the country presented little\nbut a face of barren rock. \"Then,\" replied they in a true Missionary\nspirit, \"we will dig into the earth and lodge there.\" \"No,\" said the\nMinister, \"to that necessity you shall not be reduced; you shall take\ntimber with you for building a house; accept of these fifty dollars for\nthat purpose.\" With this and other donations, they purchased poles,\nplanks and laths; instruments for agriculture, and carpenter's work,\ntogether with several sorts of seeds and roots, with provisions. Thus\nequipped, says Crantz, they took an affectionate leave of the Court\nwhere they had been so hospitably entertained, and embarked on the 10th\nof April, on board the King's ship, Caritas, Capt. Hildebrand. The\ncongregation at Hernhutt had already adopted the custom of annually\ncompiling a collection of scripture texts for every day in the year,\neach illustrated or applied by a short verse from some hymn. This text\nwas called the \"daily word,\" it supplied a profitable subject for\nprivate meditation, and a theme for the public discourses. The daily\nword on the morning of their embarkation on a mission which so often\nappeared to baffle all hope, was, '_Faith is the substance of things\nhoped for, the evidence of things not seen._'\n\n    \"We view Him, whom no eye can see,\n    With faith's keen vision stedfastly.\"\n\nIn this confidence they set sail; nor did they suffer themselves to be\nconfounded by any of the unspeakable difficulties of the following\nyears, till they and we at last beheld the completion of what they\nhoped for in faith.\n\nThey sailed by Shetland, April 22nd; and, after an expeditious and\nagreeable voyage, entered Davis's Straits in the beginning of May. Here\nthey encountered a field of floating ice, while enveloped in a thick\nfog; but the next day a terrible storm arose, which dispersed the ice\nand freed them at the same time from their fears. On the 13th they came\nin sight of the coast of Greenland, when a violent tempest of four\ndays' continuance, preceded by a total eclipse of the sun, drove them\nback more than sixty leagues. May 20th, they cast anchor in Ball's\nRiver, after a voyage of six weeks; and joyfully welcomed the snowy\ncliffs and savage inhabitants of a country which had so long been the\nchief object of their wishes. The word of the day was, _The peace of\nGod, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds\nthrough Jesus Christ._ By this they were frequently encouraged to a\npeaceful and believing perseverance, during the first ensuing years,\namidst all the oppositions which they met with, and the slender\nprospect they entertained of the conversion of the heathen.\n\nThe sight of the first Greenlanders, though they could not speak a word\nto them, was accompanied with sensations of lively pleasure; their\npitiable condition pierced them to the heart, and they prayed the Lord,\n_the Light to enlighten the gentiles_, that he would grant them\ngrace, wisdom, and power, to bring some of them at least out of\ndarkness into His marvellous light. Immediately on their landing they\nrepaired to Mr. Egede. He gave them a cordial reception, congratulated\nthem on their undertaking, and promised them his assistance in learning\nthe language. They next fixed on a spot for their building, on the\nnearest habitable part of the coast, to which they afterward gave the\nname of New Hernnhutt; and having consecrated it with prayer began to\nrun up a Greenland hut of stones and sods, in which they might find\nshelter, until they had erected a wooden house. At first the natives\nregarded them with contempt, concluding from the readiness with which\nthey engaged in every kind of manual labour, that they were the\nFactor's servants; and being scattered among the islands and hills to\nfish, catch seals, and hunt deer, while in winter they made journies on\nsledges to their acquaintance upwards of a hundred leagues North or\nSouth; the Brethren had little access to them, and but faint hopes of\nmaking any permanent impression on their minds in their wandering mode\nof existence. Some of the natives, however, paid a visit to them, but\nit was only from curiosity to see their buildings, or to beg needles,\nfish hooks, knives, and other such articles, if not to steal; and no\nproffered advantages could tempt them to remain for a short time at the\nSettlement. Till at length when they understood that the object of\nthese faithful, tried, and persevering Missionaries was not to trade\nwith them, but to make them acquainted with their Creator; and when\nthey observed their modest and gentle carriage, so different from that\nof other Europeans, they paid them more attention, pressed them to come\nto their huts, and promised to return the visit themselves. A more\nfrequent intercourse gradually commenced, and the Greenlanders would\nsometimes spend a night with the Brethren. The motives of their visits\nwere, indeed, glaringly selfish. They wanted either food and shelter,\nor presents of needles and other things. They even bluntly declared,\nthat if the Missionaries would give them no stock-fish, they would no\nlonger listen to what they had to say: and during the winter, which was\nintensely cold, the Brethren could not refuse their request for\nprovisions. They did not altogether discontinue their visits in summer,\nbut they generally came after spending the night in feasting and\nrevelling, too drowsy to support a conversation, or intent only upon\nhearing some news, or on begging or purloining whatever might strike\ntheir fancy. Their pilfering habits made their visits not a little\ntroublesome to the Brethren, but the latter did not wish to frighten\nthem away; and were content for the present, that they came at all,\nespecially as a few of them discovered a satisfaction in being present\nat the evening meetings, though held in German, and made inquiries into\nthe design of them. After a series of trying hardships; and after\nenduring privations for years, they were encouraged in their mission,\nestablished in much long-suffering and patience, by one of the natives\nvisiting them, and desiring to \"see their things.\" They showed him what\nthey had, supposing that he wished to barter some Greenland food for\ntheir iron ware. But after remaining quite silent for some time, he at\nlast said that he had been with the Minister, (Mr. Egede) who had told\nhim wonderful things of _One_, who was said to have created heaven\nand earth, and was called God. Did they know any thing about it? If\nthey did, they should tell him something more, as he had forgotten a\ngood deal. This discourse made a deep impression on their minds. They\ntold him of the creation of man, and the intention it; of the fall and\nconsequent corruption of the human race; of the redemption through\nChrist; of the resurrection; and of eternal happiness and damnation.\nThe poor Greenlander listened very attentively, was present at their\nevening meeting, and slept all night in their tent. Further inquiries\nwere afterwards made among the natives, till the Brethren had their two\nGreenland houses completely filled, and a native congregation\ncollected. The word of the gospel was eventually propagated by the\nMissionaries through a vast extent of country, and its glad tidings\nspread still farther by the savages themselves, so that a numerous\ncompany of Greenlanders have been gathered to Jesus Christ by the\npreaching of his word--moulded into a spiritual congregation by the\noperation of the Holy Ghost (says the above historian,) and furnished\nwith such provisions for its good discipline, both within and without,\nthat amidst all defects, it might in truth be called a living,\nflourishing, fruit-bearing plant of the heavenly Father's planting.\n\nSuch an example of success in Missionary exertions, in the frozen and\nuncultivated regions of Greenland and of Labrador, as the United\nBrethren have set, holds out every encouragement to hope that a mission\nwould succeed among the Esquimaux at Hudson's Bay. They resemble the\nGreenlanders in their aspect, dress, and mode of living; and speaking\nthe same language, it would greatly aid the mission to them, if one or\ntwo Christian natives could be obtained and prevailed upon to join it\nfrom the coast of Greenland. They are shouting from their native rocks\nfor instruction, and have appealed to the Christian sympathy and\nbenevolence of every friend of missions, in language of the same import\nas the call of Macedonia,--\"We want to know the grand God.\"\n\n    \"Shall we, whose souls are lighted\n      With wisdom from on high,\n    Shall we to men benighted\n      The lamp of life deny?\n    Salvation! oh, salvation!\n      The joyful sound proclaim,\n    Till each remotest nation\n      Has learn'd Messiah's name.\n    Waft, waft, ye winds, his story,\n      And you, ye waters, roll,\n    Till, like a sea of glory,\n      It spreads from pole to pole;\n    Till o'er our ransomed nature,\n      The Lamb for sinners slain,\n    Redeemer, King, Creator!\n      In bliss returns to reign.\"\n\n    BISHOP OF CALCUTTA.\n\nThe 5th.--Sunday. The wind has blown hard all day, so as to permit,\nfrom the rolling of the ship, of my only reading the Morning and\nEvening Prayers, for divine worship. I know that God, who made heaven,\nearth, and seas, is not confined to forms of prayer, how ever\nexcellent, any more than to temples made with hands. But as a\nformulary, how full and comprehensive is that of the Church of England!\nand how well adapted to express the feelings of the mind, humbled, and\npenitentially exercised, yet exalted in hope at the throne of a\ncovenant God in Christ Jesus. When the prayers are _prayed_, and not\nmerely read in the cold formality of office, instead of wearying the\nmind by repetition, how often are they the means of arresting our\nwandering thoughts, and awakening a devotional feeling! This effect, I\ntrust, was produced in our minds, as we met together, for the public\nservices of the day, in the cabin of the ship.\n\nFrom the 5th to the 9th, we had stiff gales of wind from the same\nquarter, which caused the sea to roll with a majesty and grandeur that\nI never before witnessed. I stood on the quarterdeck, in admiration of\nthe scene, and of the wonders of God in the deep, as wave rolled after\nwave, occasionally breaking on its _mountainous_ top into a roaring and\nfoaming surge. But while the waves roar and the winds howl around me, I\nam borne in safety through the mighty waters towards the desired haven.\nWhat a fit emblem is this experience of the spiritual and eternal\nsafety of the Christian, in the ark of the covenant, amidst the foaming\nbillows of affliction, the wind of temptation, and every storm of trial\nraised by man in a fallen and disordered world, branded with so many\nmarks of its Creator's displeasure.\n\nWe were prevented from meeting in the cabin, for divine service, on\nSunday the 12th, from its blowing a hard gale, and the violent tossing\nof the ship. We now experienced a sensible alteration in the weather,\nas being much milder; and a couple of black wolves and a bear, which we\nhad on board, were evidently affected by the change of the atmosphere,\nas we were bearing up for the Orkney Isles. On the 15th, we anchored in\nStromness harbour, and, leaving this anchorage on the 17th, we reached\nYarmouth Roads, October the 23d; and through a kind protecting\nProvidence, I landed, on the following day, from the ship, in the\nThames.\n\nSince my departure from England, in May 1820, to this period of my\nreturn, not one accident have I met with, nor have I been called to\nexperience a single day's illness. Though in perils oft by land and by\nsea, and exposed to threatened dangers of the ice, and of the desert,\nstill my life has been preserved.\n\n                     *      *      *      *      *\n\nPraised be the Lord God of my salvation!\n\nIn sending this volume to the press, I feel that I am discharging a\nduty which I owe to the natives of the rocks and of the wilderness,\nwhom I have seen in the darkness and misery of heathenism; and I\nardently desire that the Mission already entered upon, may become the\nmeans of widely extending the knowledge of Christianity among them. I\nhave no higher wish in life, than to spend and be spent in the service\nof Christ, for the salvation of the North American Indians. Not my\nwill, however, but His be done, who alone can direct and control all\nMissions successfully, to the fulfilment of His prophetic word, when\n\"The wilderness shall become a fruitful field,\" and \"the desert shall\nrejoice and blossom as the rose.\"\n\n                     *      *      *      *      *\n\nSince the foregoing sheets were sent to the Printer, very gratifying\nintelligence has been received of the improved state of the Colony; and\na sanguine hope is entertained that several native Indian children from\ndifferent nations will be added to the number of those already upon the\nChurch Mission School establishment at the Red River.\n\n                     *      *      *      *      *\n\nTHE END.","title":"The Substance of a Journal During a Residence at the Red River Colony, British North America: and Frequent Excursions Among the North-West American; Indians, In the Years 1820, 1821, 1822, 1823.","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":46051}