Niagara, Lachine, St. Paul, Crow-Wing.

Towards the close of 1858, while visiting at the house of a friend, I happened to mention my desire to travel to some part of the world where good sport could be met with among the larger animals, and where, at the same time, I might recruit my health" by an active open-air life in a healthy climate.

Why not go to the Hudson's Bay country? "said one, who of all men was perhaps the best qualified to speak, exercising as he did a very powerful influence in the councils of the great Company that dominated those enormous territories in British North America. "The country is full of large game, such as buffalo, bears, and deer; the climate is exactly what you require. If you decide on it," continued Mr. E. "I will write to the Governor, Sir George Simpson, and ask him to advise you as to your plans and arrangements. On the part of the Company, I can safely promise you every assistance it can give."

The more I considered this proposal, the better it pleased me. Such an opportunity seemed far too good to be lost; so, not long afterwards, I renewed the subject in correspondence with Mr. E., and with many thanks availed myself of his tempting offer.

It was settled that my departure should be towards the end of the following spring, to enable me to meet Sir George in Canada, in time to accompany him thence in his annual journey to Fort Garry, the capital of the Red River Settlement. This place was to be the base of my independent expedition to the plains and mountains of the Far West.

On the 15th of April, 1859, I sailed from Liverpool in the Cunard steamer Africa, then under the command of Captain Anderson.* She was a paddle-wheel vessel, and, though not fast, had the merit of being more steady in a rolling sea than screw-steamers usually are. However, I was not sorry to leave her, when, on the afternoon of the 28th, we made our arrival at New York.

I found myself most comfortable at the Brevoort House, an excellent hotel on Fifth Avenue, recommended to me by Mr. K fellow passenger, to whose kindness I was in many ways indebted; but I did not linger long in the bustling city, though very hospitably treated there, having little business to detain me, and being anxious to make sure of reaching Lachine before Sir George's departure, no certain date having been fixed for the commencement of his official journey. I resolved, however, that nothing should prevent me from visiting Niagara; and in adopting this plan I gained the advantage of companionship for part of my way, by travelling thus far with * Captain Anderson of the Africa, who had some little time to occupy before his return voyage, and was glad to employ it by joining me in an expedition to the Falls.

Monday, May 2d. - We set out at an early hour, making our journey by the Erie line, which, after some consideration, we had chosen in preference to the Hudson River route. I know not if we judged rightly, but at the time we saw no reason whatever to regret our choice. 'The Erie line is very beautiful - so runs my journal. . . . 'I stood on the platform outside the carriage for more than an hour, as we went up the Delaware vale, where the scenery is lovely - river, rock, and hill, and endless forest, broken only along the water-side by settlements and partial clearings.

'After leaving Elmira we came to the Seneca Lake, - long and narrow, like a vast river, with its clear blue water bounded by hills displaying well-arranged farms, mingled with woodlands so skillfully disposed by nature as to seem as if placed by the hand of some wonderful landscape-gardener. The sun shone gloriously, and I thought that a more placid, smiling scene of loveliness had never met my eyes.

May 3d - Having passed the previous night at Rochester, the farthest point the trains enabled us to reach, we only arrived at Niagara at about 11 o'clock. The Clifton Hotel was not open, so we took rooms at the Monteagle, a newly established hotel near our Suspension Bridge, and then set forth expedition to behold the wonders of the mighty cataract.

'We looked down from Table Rock, we climbed under the Canadian Falls, we visited the burning well, crossed over to the ferry, stood at the foot of the American Falls, explored Goat Island, and ascended Prospect Tower. As the Falls themselves, I was neither greatly astonished nor much disappointed. Guided by drawings and descriptions, I had imagined beforehand something very near reality, except that the width was greater and the height less than I had expected. I have now seen the famous Niagara, and honestly confess it would give me little concern never to see it again. It is too huge, and the disgustingly obtrusive civilization that crawls over its sides turns my very heart sick. A small name on a map is more easily found than one in letters of excessive size, and so a narrower, higher cataract would strike more sharply on the mental vision, than low-statured, wide-spreading Niagara. Seneca Lake is more lovely and lovable than an endless stretch of becalmed ocean. Is it not supposed that I felt no delight in the beauty and grandeur of the noble cataract? No one could fail to be impressed in beholding an object so sublime, but the impression rests rather on the mind than in the heart.

'Besides the other drawbacks, the rock formation at and near the Fall is poor both in colour and outline: but it is the all-pervading vulgarism which surrounds it that makes the whole scene distasteful to me - so far as such is the case. The Canadian side is not strikingly offensive, but the American side teems with glaring wooden structures hanging over the very precipice, down which, moreover, a staircase enclosed in a hideous wooden box conducts the public to the ferry-boat, or to a small steamer which fizzes about as close to the cataract as it dares to go. Some wretched person has built a mock ruin on a little island that overhangs the Falls.'

May 4th. - I took leave of my companion, and going on alone by rail to Kingston, on Lake Ontario, and thence by steamer down the St. Lawrence, I arrived at Lachine in good time on the evening of the following day.

Sir George Simpson welcomed me very cordially to Hudson's Bay House, where a room was put at my disposal; and in this large, plain, comfortable dwelling, I passed the next three days, which were made most agreeable to me by the hospitable attentions of Mr. and Mrs. Mackenzie, then permanently resident at that Post. I also received much kindness, in various ways, from many different quarters.

Monday, May 9th. - We fairly set out on our journey towards the distant regions of the west, making our departure from Lachine about 6 A.M., by the early morning train. The party consisted of Sir George Simpson; Mr. Hopkins, his secretary; and Mr. Cameron, an officer in the Company's service, - who was only going with us to St. Paul. Our attendants were four in number - James Murray, Sir George's servant, a Shetlander; my own man, Duncan Robertson, a Perthshire highlander, who acted as one of my gamekeepers when at home in Scotland; lastly Baptist and Toma, two Iroquois voyageurs, who had been constantly employed as Sir George's canoe-men on his previous expeditions to Red River by the usual Canadian route.

That night we slept in Toronto, where, at the Eossin Hotel, we were met by Mr. Kane, author of The Wanderings of an Artist in North America, also by Dr. Rae, the well-known Arctic explorer. *The latter was to travel with the following day, but only as far as Hamilton; he hoped, however, to join us afterwards at St. Paul, and thence accompany our party to Red River.

Having passed Tuesday night at Detroit, we set off for Chicago by morning train on the 11th. - 'A very fine hot day. The trees, which in the easterly Canadian districts were leafless, are here half-covered with foliage. The farther west we go, the finer the land and the more flourishing the towns. A few western-looking men got into the train, - tall, powerful, active, of the lymphatic-sanguine type. Each carried a long rifle and wore a wallet on his back. Fine cattle (like Herefords) to be seen after crossing into the States . . . .'

Chicago is a finely built town of 120,000 inhabitants. It is situated on Lake Michigan - a true inland sea. Today the water was smooth as a mirror, and of a beautiful colour between blue, green, and grey. While taking a sherry- cobbler at the bar of the Richmond Hotel, I talked to the German who keeps the cigar store there. He tells me there are from 30,000 to 40,000 Germans in this town; but, for his part, he says, he wishes he were back in Hanover.'

May 12th. - Leaving Chicago in the morning, we travelled by way of Madison and Prairie du Chien, and embarking on the Milwaukie steamer, pursued our journey up the stream of the Mississippi River. - 'The country after leaving the Chicago prairie is undulating: of limestone formation, producing stunted oak instead of the pine and soft deciduous wood of Canada. The snake fence is less common here, and owing to its absence, and the use of plain post and rail instead, also to the prevalence of oak copses, the landscape looks far more English. The whole country is now much flooded, the water being higher than has been known since (I think) 1826. Sir George doubts if we shall be able to get on beyond St. Paul, - it will be a wet ride at all events. The Mississippi was in high flood, submerging most of the willows that grow on its banks, which themselves are a series of picturesquely wooded hills, with horizontal strata of limestone rock cropping out here and there.

'We arrived at St. Paul, the chief town of Minnesota, at 11 P.M. on Friday the 13th, and put up at the Fuller House, an immense but not uncomfortable hotel of the regular American type.

May 14 - Sir George was made so uneasy by continued inundation, a notion which the flooded state of the Mississippi seemed to confirm, that he began to talk of returning, and canoeing it as usual by Lake Superior, instead of attempting the new route. We hardly supposed him in earnest, and at any rate expected to stay a few days longer, on the chance of the arrival of the Red River men who were bringing us carts and horses from Fort Garry; to our great surprise, however, he suddenly announced his resolve to set out that very afternoon, giving us only three hours to complete our preparations. He had heard that Kitson, an American fur trader, whose party had left just two days before for the north, was still halted at Crow-wing, about 130 miles distant, and, dreading the floods, he intended to try to overtake him, to get help from his people in crossing the many swamps and rivers that- lay in our road.

So early a start was most inconvenient to all of us, for we had reckoned on time to make a few necessary purchases. I was by far the chief sufferer, having much to provide myself with for my long future journey - I wanted to buy horses, I required a wagon and double harness, and various other things not likely to be got so well, if at all, elsewhere. My guns and saddle too, which were on their way from Canada in bond, had not yet arrived, but there was no help for it, we were all bound to obey our leader, even if we thought his decisions doubtful or mistaken.

At 3 P.M., accordingly, we all set out in a roughly built, but light and easy wagon and four, with ranges of seats in the char-Or-lanc fashion and a stout canvas tilt and curtains protecting us around and overhead. Our journey, however, was destined for a speedy finish, for on reaching St. Anthony, after a seven-mile stage, the first person who greeted us was James McKay, the leader of the party we had been expecting from Red River. His report was reassuring: he had found the country everywhere passable, the roads in good order, and the swamps tolerably free from water, though the rivers were unusually swollen. There was nothing, in short, to stop our journey and no reason to anticipate serious difficulty or delay.

On hearing this, Sir George, who had full confidence in McKay's judgment, at once decided to go back; there being now no object in joining Kitson, who, as matters had turned out, was probably by that time well on his way; so we gladly stepped into the wagon again, and returned to our old quarters at St. Paul.

James McKay accompanied us. His appearance greatly interested me, both from his advantages and because he was the first Red River man that I had yet beheld. A Scotsman, though with Indian blood on the mother's side, he was born and bred in the Saskatchewan country, but afterwards became a resident near Fort Garry, and entered the Company's employ. Whether as guide or hunter, he was universally reckoned one of their best men. Immensely broad-chested and muscular, though not tall, he weighed eighteen stone; yet despite his stoutness, he was exceedingly hardy and active, and a wonderful horseman.

His face somewhat Assyrian in type is very handsome: short, delicate, aquiline nose; piercing dark grey eyes; long dark-brown hair, beard, and moustaches; white, small, regular teeth; and tanned to red bronze from exposure to weather. He was dressed in Red River style - a blue cloth "capot" (hooded frock-coat) with brass buttons; red-and-black flannel shirt, which served also for waistcoat; black belt round the waist; buff leather moccasins on his feet; trousers of brown and white striped home-made woollen stuff.

'I had never come across a wearer of moccasins before, and it amused me to watch this grand and massive man pacing the hotel corridors with noiseless footfall, while excitable little Yankees in shiny boots creaked and stamped about like so many busy steam engines.

At St. Anthony we also met Captain Blakiston, of the Royal Artillery, who had arrived with McKay, on his return from the Government Exploring Expedition, in which he had been associated with Captain Palliser. He, likewise, was for the most part dressed in Red River fashion and bore very evident traces of two years of severe work in the far west. There was another important addition to our party that evening - Dr. Rae, who had fortunately found himself able to carry out his intention of joining us. We were now to be fellow travellers, as far at any rate as Fort Garry.

Monday, May l8th. - After trying several horses, of all sorts and kinds, belonging to various owners, I bought from the Messrs. Burbank a pair of large stout brown wagon - ponies, for which I paid about £70 in dollars; also a very good young bay horse of the same description, but larger, being 15 hands high, for about 40 guineas. I succeeded in getting an excellent new hickory wagon, light and strong, for £17, and a useful second-hand set of wagon harnesses, also at a sufficiently reasonable price. With some searching, I then discovered a saddle of the English shape, very badly made in every respect, but I was glad to buy it for £5, for it was the only one to be heard of Elsewhere there were only Spanish saddles, than which no more detestable invention can be imagined. The rider might as well attempt to sit inside a pitchfork.

I was more fortunate in my next purchase, consisting of a pair of exceedingly handsome ponies, a little under 14 hands in height, which I bought for about £30 apiece. Both of them were Vermont-bred, and having been regularly driven together by their former owner during long excursions in the forests, they had become great friends and were never happy when parted from each other's society. The slighter one, a quiet, thoroughbred-looking bright bay, with very small and peculiar ears, I called Vermont, from the place of his nativity; the other, a dark brown, with black points and a white blaze on his front face, - a noble little horse with most splendid action, as gentle as a lamb, but full of fire and spirit, - I named Morgan, after the celebrated breed from which he came. The brown wagon horses, it was settled, were to be thenceforth known as Paul and Anthony, the young bay horse as Don.

May 11th. - Sir George Hopkins and I made an expedition to see the Minnehaha Falls, which had become so celebrated through Longfellow's beautiful poem. Our drive was pleasant in itself, but disappointing as regarded its main object, for the river - which bounds in one clear shoot over a limestone rock some 50 feet in height - is a very insignificant stream, although at its fullest at the time we saw it. The scene is pretty, but no more; it would have little interest were it not associated with Hiawatha's story.

May 18 - Off at last. We travelled in the same hired char-a-banc with a canvas top, the "stage" in which we made our former fruitless journey to St. Anthony. Our road led up the course of the Mississippi, through flat uninteresting prairies, over which we jolted for many a weary hour till we reached Sauk Rapids, where we took up our night's abode at the Hyperborean Hotel. The landlord, a Canadian with a Scottish wife, was a very good-humoured obliging host; he and his wife exerted themselves for our comfort with much zeal and energy. After dinner, I tried a well-bred, handsome horse, highly praised by his owner, and spoken of as likely to answer well for buffalo-running. He was fast enough, certainly, but both awkward and restive, so I did not buy him, though rather advised to do so, rightly supposing that a half-broken animal would add too much to the difficulties of an unfamiliar sport.

May 19th. - The next day's travelling, still over level plains only partially settled, brought us to Crow-wing, a village of no great size, where we took our final leave of the stage, as we descended from it at the door of Morrison's Inn. Awaiting us there we found James McKay, with everything arranged and ready for a start the next morning at the earliest signs of dawn.