Fort Pelly.

December 9th. - 'Fort Pelly, pleasantly situated on rising ground, is a new, square, white-washed cottage with small dormer windows in the roof, and offers better accommodation than any house I have seen since leaving Red River. Various out-houses for stores, etc., surround it at the back and sides, but the Saulteaux Indians of the district are so peaceable that no stockade has been thought necessary. Looking from the front windows the eye ranges over a large extent of flat country, swamp and willows first, and then an interminable border of poplars interspersed with pines.

'In the immediate foreground stand the remains of the old Fort, partly occupied by the servants and partly converted into cattle-houses. Not far off flows the Assiniboine, here an insignificant stream scarce twenty yards wide, and not deep. In spring there is water enough for boats, but in summer the channel is nearly dry.

'Mr. Murray has given me a very comfortable room and obligingly invited me to form one of his family parties. We shall have to stay here a long time, as dogs are scarce, and win have to be sent for to various places, - travelling farther with horses is out of the question, in this deep snow.

'The weather has become really warm, the sun quite oppressive. Not an atom of ice on beards and moustaches, the state of which I find the best thermometer.

'Read a very curious story from Blackwood's Magazine called the "Haunted House." ["The Haunters and the Haunted" - one of Lord Lytton's most perfect and interesting works, though perhaps too melodramatic in the prophetical scene towards the end.]

December I0th. - 'A lovely day - too warm in fact. Mr. Murray tells me that this has been an unprecedentedly cold opening of winter. The mercury has constantly frozen in his thermometer, on some days he believes the temperature to have been 40° below zero.

'Walked out to see the horses and cattle. All my beasts look the better for their rest. I have given Ned to Mr., Murray, that he may be carefully tended and well used - as will certainly be the case. There is a well-shaped bull, a cross between Ayrshire and Shorthorn, there are also a number of cows, some pure Ayrshires, - about seventy altogether. They farm a little, growing potatoes and barley; turnips will also grow but are not cultivated to any extent.

'In the afternoon I took my gun, and went out on snowshoes with Mr. Macdonald, a clerk in the Company's service, of recent appointment, little more than a year has passed since he left- his home in Inverness-shire, near Mr. E --- Highland deer-forest We had a pleasant walk, but saw no game.

Sunday, December 11th. - There was morning service as usual at the old Fort, conducted by the Rev. Mr. Settee - a gentleman of Cree origin, who had been appointed to the spiritual charge of this district by the Church Missionary Society. I was interested in hearing of his relationship with his mother the well-known Newton, the poet Cowper's friend, his granddaughter of Newton's father, who lived near Hudson's Bay during the last two years of his life.

'Mr. Settee is an agreeable man and a good missionary but here, as in most places, the Indians obstinately refuse to be Christians, though many of them are ready enough to submit to the ceremony of baptism There appears to be no foundation for the idea that the Indians are panting for religious instruction, and that nothing is wanted for their general conversion but a larger supply of zealous missionaries and the establishment of a few more schools. Certain tribes, or sections of tribes, are no doubt less unteachable than the rest, these, however, form decidedly exceptional cases.

'The service at the old Fort was attended by all my men, and some of the Company's servants, but I did not observe any Indians - indeed there are few of them in the neighbourhoods just now.

'In the evening we had a visit from "Clippy", an old Indian hanger-on about the place, who reported that his brother had shot a moose. These animals are tolerably plentiful in the district, but red deer (wapiti) are not found in any numbers nearer than Fort Ellice. Lynxes and foxes are common, wolves rare, and buffalo never come within several days march'.

'A few nights ago, Mr. Murray heard his dog barking incessantly for no apparent reason. Happening next morning to open a half-finished storehouse, the dog rushed furiously in, - but came out again with still greater quickness; upon a which his master looked into the shed, and there beheld the cause of the disturbance, in the shape of a wolverine, who after his nocturnal prowling's had taken refuge in this convenient hiding-place. The beast was slowly retreating, with his face to the door 'through which the dog had entered, but an ounce of shot soon tamed his courage by ending his life.

The wolverine - called by the French, carcajou - is an animal of the weasel tribe, somewhat like a skunk in form, but a great deal larger. His body is about the size of an ordinary pointer's; he has short, immensely strong legs armed with great claws, his snout is short and rather upturned, his mouth furnished with powerful teeth, his tail is short, black and bushy; his fur, chiefly of a dark-brown grey, is long and handsome, though not of much value.

'No beast is so cunning as the wolverine - the fox is a sucking dove compared to him. He laughs traps to scorn, taking the bait away without getting caught, as cleverly as could any human being - more so indeed than some, for there are persons who habitually get more trap than bait during their lifelong trespass in this world's preserves.

'Where he haunts it is useless to store meat on stages, for, beaver-like, he cuts through great trees with his teeth and soon brings down any edifice of wood. His courage is dauntless, he flees neither from man nor beast and woe to the dog that comes within reach of his jaws.

'Wolverines live in pairs, and it is said that when one is killed the other invariably finds its way to the place of slaughter; a long time may elapse, but sooner or later it makes its appearance there for the benefit of the hunters - like the Hindoo widow immolating herself on her husband's corpse.' *

December 12th. - 'Snowstorm all day. Old Clippy came again, and walking straight into my room, without knocking, made a request for tea and sugar; of which a small present soon gladdened the heart of the poor old man. He has none of the sort of pride that generally belongs to the Indian character. Mr. Murray one day reproved him for going into private rooms without warning, telling him that everybody should knock at the door in such cases - "Oh yes," said Clippy," but I am nobody, I am nothing, I am such a very poor creature."'

December 13th. - 'Colder day - a few degrees below zero. Went through the stores, - not many furs just now. This is the great battlefield between the Company and the free traders, and the Indians consequently get many presents to keep them to their allegiance. One chief, for example, lately got articles to the value of fifty skins (upwards of £6 in value) and the inferior men receive large presents also. The Company has regular tariff prices in each district, which are never departed from, and any Indian to whom particular favour is meant receives a suitable present, but neither gets more for his furs nor pays less for his supplies than the tariff directs.

'Free competition would do the Indians more harm than good, for any advantage they might gain from the under-selling of rival traders could only last a few years, and would be much outweighed by the evils following the unchecked distribution of immense quantities of spirits. A powerful Company, moreover, has the means of supplying goods to a district, far cheaper and more regularly than can be done by private hands, - and there is a strong guarantee for their moderation, in those natural promptings of self-interest which keep sagacious men from killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

'In the Missouri country, some years ago, when several rival companies existed, the selling price of goods, as compared with their cost price, seems to have been about six times greater than that fixed by the Hudson's Bay Company's general tariff, which reserves a very narrow margin of profit, so narrow indeed that on certain articles there is a loss.

'It is a mistake to suppose that spirits are supplied to the Indians in large quantities from the Company's stores. In the northern districts spirits are not allowed to enter the country; and in no case are they a medium of traffic for furs, though in the southern districts rum is exchanged for provisions, which cannot be got on other terms.

'It is only when the Indian is in communication with free traders that he becomes a regular drunkard, those who deal only with the Company confining themselves (or rather, being confined) to two grand "regales" in the course of the year, the first when they receive their supplies before the hunting season, the second when they return with the products of the chase. Morally this custom must be injurious to them, physically it is harmless, nay beneficial, for the sickness following their intemperance relieves them from the bile caused by their excessive consumption of fat meat when buffalo are plentiful.

'Too strong a distinction cannot be drawn between the relations of the Indians with the Company in the northern and southern districts - in the former, the Company is all-powerful, and rules its submissive subjects with a mild and equitable sway; in the latter, free traders of every sort press hard upon it, and flood the country with bad whisky, while the independent Indians, roaming the plains in great bands, are too strong to be controlled by the handfuls of men at the Forts, whom, so far from obeying, they often put in fear of their lives.'

December 14th. - 'The Indian who was sent for old Cendre brought him in this morning, and I had the pleasure of seeing my favourite again: he looks wretchedly thin, but care may restore him. The men dispatched to Fort Ellice for dogs have also returned, - having lost their way; I shall not be able to start for more than a week.

'Walked a few miles with Mr. Murray, and called on Mr. Settee. Heard an anecdote about a mulatto, the offspring of a Negro and an Indian woman, who when the last eclipse took place, exclaimed - "This is my birthday. That is why I am so dark, - there was no sun when I was born.

Also, another about an Indian (whose name was told me), who was being urged by the missionaries to become a Christian, that he might go to heaven when he died, answered - that he did not wish to become a Christian; and that if he were one, he would rather go to hell, because there, though in pain, he could walk about, whereas in heaven he must sit still and sing psalms all day. I am assured that this story is true and that the Indian spoke in sober earnest, and not in mockery. We are apt to undervalue the acuteness of savages.'

December 15th. - 'Drove a short distance in a horse cariole, but for want of a proper track it swung about like a ship in a storm, and at last upset, rolling Mr. Murray and myself in the snow.

'There is a burying ground near the Fort, used by Indians as well as the Company's people. Over one of the newest graves is fixed a pole, from which are suspended several buttons, a tobacco bag of bark and beads, a piece of tobacco, and a human hand-dried and stuffed. This is the grave of an Indian's wife. She was young, handsome, and apparently healthy, but a concealed disease affected her heart, and one day she fell down in a faint and died. Her husband was drunk at the time, and on coming to himself his grief was terrible. This it might be thought would have cured him of his evil habit, but, on the contrary, as soon as the first paroxysm of grief was over he came and begged for rum, - " because his heart was heavy and he wanted to make it right."

'There was an Indian in the north country who, on meeting with a similar loss, went away into the mountains and lived there for two years without seeing a human being; he then returned, with such an enormous number of marten skins that he was unable to take goods for even half of them, and the rest remained to his credit.

'The Indians are not so healthy a race as is sometimes imagined, stomach and chest complaints frequently occurring, and the women being subject to various female ailments that are common in Europe. As physicians, their own "medicine-men" appear to be useless. When an Indian is ill he generally applies at the nearest Fort, where he obtains good medicine, and medical advice if the Company's officer-in-charge has studied the subject, as he often has. Food and shelter too are sometimes given to him until health is restored.

'In surgical cases, especially in the cure of gunshot wounds, the native doctors are very successful. I was told of two cases well known to the narrator, in one of which an Indian had been shot through the back and the centre of the stomach; in the other, a European had had his arm shattered by the accidental discharge of a gun loaded with buckshot. On both occasions, cures were effected by the application of certain herbs known only to the medicine-men, - who are a sort of masonic brotherhood, consisting of women as well as men, and possessed of secrets which are guarded with the most scrupulous care.'

December 16th. - 'Heard from Mr. Murray the following story, relating to the district he had lived in for many years of his life. There were two trappers who set out on a trapping expedition near the Missouri River, one an American, the other a German, and considered the best rifle shot in the country. Having left their horses and goods concealed in a hollow, they were one-night camping in a roughly made log hut when they were unluckily discovered by a war party of Sioux, who rushed upon them in great force, attempting a surprise. The trappers however were ready, and each killed an Indian at the first shot, which caused the rest to retreat under cover.

'Firing was kept up for some time, till at last the Sioux, having lost six men, drew off a short distance and took shelter on the farther side of a hill.

'The unfortunate trappers now found that their bullets were expended, and believing all hope gone resolved to kill themselves, in order to escape the tortures they knew the Sioux would inflict on them after the loss of so many of their braves. Accordingly, they set fire to the log hut, with the intention of burning themselves to death, but the Indians at once guessed what was happening, returned to the place, and dispatched their victims.

'It was the Sioux themselves who related the story, adding that a hasty council had already been held behind the hill and a decision taken to ride off, when the smoke and flames rising from the hut revealed the true state of things to their quick perceptions. 'While returning home, this war party met two unarmed men belonging to an American Fort, and instantly killed and scalped them, as a sort of makeweight for their own slain warriors; their conduct, however, was condemned by the Sioux chiefs themselves, who promised the Americans that these murderers should be put to death. Such severe measures were promised (whether actually carried out was not known) because the offenders had contravened a general rule of the tribe - that Europeans living in their country or journeying to it should be well treated, and those only attacked who were found in an enemy's territory or approaching to its borders.'

Sunday, December l8th. - 'Service at the old Fort. . . . In the afternoon read part of the public controversy, on the Roman Catholic and Protestant (Question, between Mr. P-- and Dr. 0--. It is painful to observe the scorn and hatred that pervade the whole of this discussion. How can men devote so much time to the study of Scripture, and for to discover that such diabolical tempers are far more condemned by Christ, than any deviation in matters of opinion? The unbelieving Sadducees were tenderly handled, while those punctilious believers, the whited-sepulchre Pharisees, were overwhelmed with condemnation. 'When will just views of religion prevail in the world, and the minds of thinking men be delivered from the temptations to sheer infidelity which the puerile narrowness of most Christian churches and churchmen so continually provoke and fosters?'

December 19th. - 'At 8 P.M. yesterday the thermometer stood at 21° below zero, and this morning it was yet 11° lower, but the sun came out and made the climate seem almost warm. Unless the wind is blowing, or circumstances oblige one to sit still or ride slowly in the open air, the weather feels hardly colder than on an English frosty day.

'Went with all the men to hunt beaver in the Assiniboine: we were unsuccessful, the animals having left the place at which they were last seen. We had beaver meat at dinner yesterday. It seemed to me rather brown and strong, something like wild goose, - inferior to the beaver we got from the Iroquois at the River McLeod.'

December 20th. - 'A mild morning: 5° degrees below zero, about 11 a.m. Heard for the first time that an expedition was on foot to mark the boundary between British America and the United States. The new-fashioned custom of running boundary lines on parallels of latitude or longitude is very unsatisfactory; it seems far better to put rivers, lakes, and mountains, to their natural use of dividing territories, so that a real instead of a fictitious boundary is obtained.

'Ere another century has passed, the Columbia and South Saskatchewan rivers and Winnipeg Lake may possibly enough take the place of the 48th parallel as the national frontier; the Americans possessing Red River and that central land whose direct communications run through the States, while Britain possesses two powerful colonies on the eastern and western oceans, and retains that vast fur-bearing territory of the north, which, being unfit for settlement, will require no greater facilities of access than at present belong to it in its water communication with Hudson's Bay.

'Along the North Saskatchewan might be formed a chain of settlements sufficiently strong to protect the frontier, maintain communication between Columbia and Canada, and provide means for carrying on such government as the thinly populated northern districts might require. If a Pacific railway were deemed necessary, this appears to me to be the best - perhaps the only feasible - line, as one more southern must pass through hundreds of miles of barren prairie, incapable of growing crops or timber, and scarcely suitable even for grazing purposes.'

('Since writing the above I have seen a map by Mr. Dawson, who surveyed part of the country in the interests of Canada, and I find it to be his opinion, also, that Lake Winnipeg and North Saskatchewan are the true lines for Pacific communication, the route he lays down being identical with that which suggested itself to me.') [Journal note added soon afterwards at Fort Garry. See Hind, - Can. Ex. Exped., vol. ii. p. 222, et seq]

December 23rd - 'Shot a rabbit with my rifle. These animals are more like small hares than rabbits; in summer they are brownish grey, in winter white, with brown ears.'

December 24th - 'Saw my horses for the last time.'

Sunday, December 25th, Christmas Day. - 'Communion service at the old Fort. Two Indians were present, and Mr. Settee addressed them in their own language when giving them the bread and wine.'