A Half-Breed Ball.

Being invited to attend a ball at the residence of M. Pierrette Pirouette, in the parish of St. Francois Xavier, given in honour of the betrothal of his daughter Pauline, I am anxiously expectant of its delights for the intervenient three days.

I draw a mental picture of the daughter Pauline, by surmounting the customary attire of the country with a softened shade of her progenitors' features and inserting an additional intensity into the blackness of her eye. I conceive, furthermore, the fiance of the now matrimonially moribund maiden, in black corduroys, moccasins, and sky-blue capote. His features are cut in the aboriginal mould, and he smokes perennial harouge in a pipe with a china bowl. I also portray, in my mental picture gallery, the manner of their courtship, in which the fond maiden, whose brothers are given to the chase, succumbs to deeds of desperate daring performed on the hunting field by the youth of her choice, who is likewise nomadic in his habits.

In anticipation, I depict the contents of my friend Pierrette's larder; and, revelling upon the marrow-fat of the bison, and the nose of the moose, perform gastronomic feats upon the basted ribs of the antelope, worthy of a Patagonian. I even mentally congratulate the blushing Pauline upon the discrimination displayed in her choice and am repaid by thanks expressed in a composition of four languages. I also express my sense of approval to the bridegroom expectant and am at once invited to imbibe. In effect, I am afflicted with a species of mental phantasmagoria until the eventful day arrives and brings reality in the shape of the dog-sled with its attendant driver, which is to convey me over the twenty-four miles of prairie intervening between my residence and the scene of festivities.

I place the archives of the consulate, committed to my care by a confiding Government, under the guardianship of an intelligent half-breed; who, not knowing the difference between a certified invoice and a passport, is more than likely to describe the first comer in want of a copy of the latter as a carcajou.

As affairs of this description, in this northern climate, are likely to continue for the space of three or more days, it behooves me to make preparations commensurate with the duration of my stay, and I accordingly place a small quantity of "renewed woollen" in a receptacle borrowed for that purpose. I dress in the habiliments of rejoicing usually worn upon occasions of this nature, and find myself encased in a fine-cloth capote of cerulean hue, and ornamented with brass buttons; black-cloth trousers, supported by a variegated sash, the fringed ends of which hang about the knees in a bewildering manner.

Being unable to control the canine specimens attached to my sled with any degree of satisfaction to myself, I surrender all authority in that matter to the copper-visaged driver of dogs running at my side. I find, at the outset, considerable difficulty in retaining an equilibrium, owing to the peculiar structure of the sled, and the constant lurching from side to side which it affects; and am, on one or, two occasions, precipitated into snow-banks from which, such is the internal arrangement of the sled, I am unable to extricate myself, and am, in consequence, dragged along face downward, until the driver restores me to a perpendicular position.

During the progress of the drive, I observe that my attendant appears intimately acquainted with every passer-by, and invariably addresses each as his brother. I am at a loss to discover the necessity of so general a recognition of relationship, until I ascertain it to be the current coin of courtesy in his grade of society. My attendant has, furthermore, a playful manner of addressing his dogs in relays of profanity, discreetly veiled by being delivered in the heathen tongues; and, entertaining a special hatred of his wheel-dog, he flicks him constantly with the sharp thongs of his whip. There is, also, an implicit faith on his part in my ability to understand the dialects of the Six Nations, and he addresses me, from time to time, in any one which his fancy may dictate.

I become gradually more accustomed to the motion of the sled but am still possessed with a vague sense of insecurity until the half-breed seizes the rope at the end of the conveyance, which he uses as a rudder. I am next seized with the idea that my attendant who is running at the rate of six miles an hour, in his efforts to keep up with the dogs not being endowed with the constitution of a government mule, may by some possibility become short of wind, and leave me to accomplish the remainder of the distance alone; but am soon reassured by the sublimated state which his profanity attains.

On reaching the house, I am discharged from the sled by some occult process known to the driver, and experience the sensation of having been packed away in a case, and taken suddenly out to be aired.

The yard surrounding the house, and the reception, is already crowded by my host's relatives and invited friends, who are walking promiscuously about, and talking hilariously. When my benumbed limbs have become sufficiently supple to effect an entrance, I am at once surrounded by the guests, who give expression to their delight in a variety of ways and conduct me to an adjoining chamber, beseeching me to enter and disrobe and be refreshed. Encompassed as I am, it is no easy matter to reach the apartment, where I find my host, surrounded by discarded raiment and bottles, standing in state.

After the first greetings are over, and I have swallowed the fiery compound provided for the inner man, I pause to take a mental note of the surroundings. I observe that my host appears already in some measure overcome by the labours of reception, and is arrayed in garments of a bewildering variety of colour, his hair ornamented by one solitary feather. My host's relatives are making themselves useful as far as lies in their power, and are endeavouring to renew their exhausted energies by frequently bearing away the empty bottles into an adjoining room to be refilled. I remark that all the apartments are thick with smoke. There is a continuous series of applications to a box, placed upon a chair, containing a mixture of cut tobacco and the bark of the grey willow, and the odour arising there from is of an extremely pungent and aromatic nature. Of furniture in the house, there is none worth mentioning; furniture in this latitude is represented by a few stools, deal tables, and wooden trunks. I note that the female portion of the assembly is distributed about in positions of charming freedom; some sitting on the laps of the male guests, others surrounding the male necks with their arms, and yet others laughing and chatting with a sweet, in constant air among themselves.

I remark that the guests, of both sexes, are of varied shades of colour, from the clear, deep copper, to the delicate blond, but that all possess the same unvarying black hair and eyes. Furthermore, the language spoken is polyglot, being an admixture of French, English, and several Indian dialects. Well as I am acquainted with myself, I am amazed at the consummate hypocrisy I display in assuming an intimate acquaintance with them all when my rascally driver has given it out as an indisputable fact.

At this point, I become conscious that the bewitching Pauline, the fairest of maidens, is regarding me with a fixed stare. At my request, her venerated progenitor presents me, when she kisses me upon the cheek. Being reminded of biblical as well as French custom on this point, I at once turn the other cheek, which she salutes in a like manner. As I do not observe that she blushes, or that her father objects, I conclude it to be one of the customs of the country, and inwardly rejoiced at the bliss which is yet in store.

Mademoiselle Pauline introduces me to her betrothed, a dark youth, with the straight features of the aboriginal, who seems rather overcome with his felicity, and talks feelingly to me of sa petite Pauline, and, on my congratulations, overwhelms me with proffers of service.

I note that the conviviality of the guests is only interrupted by the accession of a new arrival; that the females smile sweetly upon him, and the men play about him in a boisterous manner. The new arrival is surrounded as I have been, and conducted into the chamber of robes and refreshments, where his conductors join him in festive libations to his health. This excites a spirit of emulation among the guests, and each arrival is accompanied by an increased number of ushers, who strive to do him honour. It is further productive of an excited and affectionate state of feeling; the females are hugged more frequently and thoroughly, and certain exuberant spirits betray an inclination to cut pigeon wings without a musical accompaniment.

The betrothed of Pauline comes to me, and talks earnestly and incoherently of son ange de son coeur, and clings to my buttons with charming familiarity.

I am inducted by the gushing Pauline into the depths of the back kitchen, to pay my respects to her mother, with whom I have a previous acquaintance. She receives me with cordiality and embraces me with a knife and fork in her hands, which endangers the safety of my visual organs to an alarming extent. I am, however, appeased by an osculatory performance on both cheeks, which would have been infinitely more agreeable coming from her daughter. I am assured of the excellence of the repast to be served, by the delicious odour arising from the kettles, and from the numerous spits turning slowly before the huge fireplace, and of its prospective extent, by the joints of bison, and the multiplicity of the smaller game displayed upon the dresser.

I am reminded of there being "a time to dance," by the gathering of the guests in the apartments devoted to that exercise, and by the tuning up of a mangy and enervated violin, which produces a sensation on the tympanum not unlike the filing of a saw. The musician, too, seems to suffer from a chronic attack of St. Vitus's dance, confined to the head, and thumps monotonously upon the floor, with moccasined feet, keeping time to his music.

A festively-attired youth, with intensely Indian features, proceeds to call off the measures of the dance, in a corruption of the musical language of la belle France. The dances do not partake of the nature of the dreamy waltz, or the mild mazurka, but rather of the wild eccentricities of the jig and physical labour of the reel. The volatile half-breed requires something vigorous and exciting in his amusements. The disciples of Terpsichore, male and female, take positions on the floor, and, after a preliminary courtesy, start in the jig; the remainder of the guests look on with admiring eyes. After a few minutes, a young man jigs across the floor, and usurps the place of the first performer, and the female is shortly relieved by another of her sex, who is soon superseded by yet another. So it continues until all the company has taken turns on the floor. I am matriculating for a stoic, yet confess to irreverent laughter at the trembling forms of the dancers, who perform with a nervous energy and excitement that is indescribable.

At times there is an evident desire exhibited by the favourite performers to test the capacity of their legs and the soundness of their wind, by earnest efforts to dance each other down. On these occasions, the audience becomes intensely sympathetic and encourages their favourite champion with words of superlative endearment. I hear my neighbour apostrophizing the lady thus: "Oh, my little dear! what legs you have got! You are entirely too much for that little frog! When you are done, you shall have a drink, my daughter! Ah, holy Moses, what power! what endurance! You could outrun the deer, mon mignon! Well, will you win, ma bichette? Sacre! you are down, eh?"

Then come the reels, performed by six or eight dancers, who circle about energetically, and, when exhausted, retire and give place to others. There is no cessation, save when the artist, wielding the instrument of Paganini, signifies the parched condition of his throat by becoming slower in his touch.

As the dance continues, the excitement grows more intense, and the civilized and heathen dialects are more inextricably mixed up. The performers are unwearied in their efforts, and, when forced to retire from the field, are covered with perspiration. I am convinced of the democratic nature of the assembly, by seeing my uncivilized driver of dogs embraced in the number of the dancers. But it is becoming infectious.

I am seized with a desire to join in the Terpsichorean maze, and, finding Pauline, I plunge into the intricacies of a reel. I am no match, however, for that matrimonially inclined young woman, and, after a few turns, find myself swinging off at a tangent, like the loose linger of a compass. I am alarmed at the complicated machinery I have set going, but am, ere long, swung off to a wooden chest by the excited Pauline, who exhibits some inclination to encamp on my knees. That being a weak point in my anatomy, I forego the pleasure by sliding quickly to the end of the box, upon which the enthusiastic maiden sits down solidly.

I discover that the gyrations of the dance have produced a dizziness about the head, and a nausea in the stomach, to which I am unaccustomed. As it increases, I "swear off" dancing, and devote my talents to observation and pleasant chats with my friend Pierrette. Employed in this manner, I fail for some time to note the greasy mouths and fingers of many of the guests. When I do so, and the consciousness dawns upon me that these are certain indications of supper, I at once retire to the depths, registering a vow to partake of every dish upon the table.

I am assured that the engaged Pauline, and her fair sisters, do not feed alone upon ambrosia, from witnessing their prowess with knife and fork at the table. What the delicate sex of civilization would think of such an exhibition of carnivorous appetite, is beyond my penetration. The viands consist wholly of meats, flanked by wheaten cakes, baked in the ashes.

My vis-a-vis announces the termination of his meal, by asking the maiden whom he attends whether she is full. She replies that she is full. Imitating their example, I return to the ballroom in a gorged and semi-dormant condition.

The dance continues with unabated vigour, although now well toward morning. I note, however, the mysterious disappearance, from time to time, of the dancers, who reappear at unexpected intervals with a certain frouzy air, which, nevertheless, quickly disappears under the excitement of the dance. Impelled by curiosity, I pursue a retreating form and am led to a distant part of the mansion, where I find, stretched out upon the floor, the recumbent forms of the missing guests. From time to time, as many as are requisite to keep up the festivities, are awakened; and, being forthwith revived with raw spirits, join in the dance with renewed vigor. Passing another apartment, I catch a glimpse of the female guests enjoying a similar siesta and thus learn how the affair continued for so long a period.

On arising in the morning, I am astonished to find the dancers of the previous night replaced by an entirely new set, of more mature age and aspect, who have dropped in to bear the burden of the festivities during the day. On the approach of night again, however, the former set resume their places, and thus it continues for several days.

After three days, I make my adieus to the pleasant family and I am whirled back to civilization by my demoralized driver of dogs, fully satisfied with my experience of a half-breed Indian ball.