Arrive Fort Garry.

Fort Garry, as we approached it, seemed to me a very considerable place. It was then, as I believe it is now, a great parallelogram of lofty stone walls with circular bastion towers, within which compass stood rows of storehouses in line with the sides, while, rectangularly to these, ranges of more important buildings occupied the central space, facing this way and that towards the opposite ends of the oblong. On entering the enclosure we rode up to the principal house, where we were received by Dr. Bunn, the medical resident at the Fort; we had been previously met near the ferry by Mr. Fortescue, the second in charge, as representative of his chief, Mr. MacTavish, who was then temporarily absent; and very comfortable rooms were prepared for us in the large and spacious mansion which for a while was to form our home.

As two o'clock struck we sat down to an excellent dinner, at which, besides the gentlemen already mentioned, our party comprised three of the Company's clerks - Mr. Bridgeman, Mr. Watson, and Mr. Kennedy; also another traveller from the old country, Mr. Boyd, an English gentleman, who was resting here for a few days on his return journey, after a lengthened visit to the great camp of the half-breeds during the continuance of their winter buffalo-hunt.

It was a large party, - a pleasant one I am sure we all found it, and wished for no change in its number; unfortunately, however, it soon had to suffer a serious diminution, for, a few days after our arrival. Sir George's official duties called him away to Norway House, at the northern extremity of Lake Winnipeg, there to preside at the general meeting of the Company's chief officers, - an assemblage annually held to arrange the business for each ensuing year. Before his departure he occupied much of his time in forwarding my intended expedition, heartily interesting himself in all its details, and giving me invaluable assistance and advice; among other benefits, he was good enough to leave with me his own canoe man, Toma, one of the trustiest and best of fellows.

I felt melancholy when the hour of leave-taking arrived; when farewells had to be exchanged with my much-valued friends Sir George and Mr. Hopkins. Our acquaintance had been but brief, as dates might limit it, but amidst such journeyings as we had shared, a week does more for intimacy than months might do elsewhere. To me, their companionship had been all that was kindly and agreeable, and mine, I trust, had to some extent been the same to them.

* It took me a full fortnight to complete my preparations, notwithstanding the great help I received from Dr. Rae and Mr. Mactavish - I might indeed say, from every member of the Company's establishment, for all vied with one another in kind offices. There were men to engage, horses and carts to buy, stores of every kind to lay in, - a thousand things, in short, to do, which waste time more than anyone could fancy who has not gone through the same experience.

I was impatient to set off, for summer in this land is a very fleeting season; but, putting that aside, the days slipped pleasantly by. The Protestant Bishop of Rupert's Land (then Bishop Anderson), and Bishop Tache of the Roman Catholic see of St. Boniface, were both good enough to call on me, and part of my time was passed in returning their visits and those of some of the other principal residents.

The Red River Settlement at that time consisted of a series of small farms and holdings, more or less thickly placed along the two banks of the river from which it derives its name. At Fort Garry, where there were houses enough to form a sort of scattered town, the population was sharply divided by the river into two distinct sections, the Scotch and English settlers and their half-breeds occupying the western bank, while the French Canadians, whether pure or half-breed, occupied the right or eastern bank.

On Monday the 6th, a very agreeable hour was passed by Dr. Rae and myself in visiting the Roman Catholic nunnery, following an introduction to the Lady Superior afforded us by Bishop Taches' kindness. It was chiefly an educational establishment, managed by the nuns, who, I believe, were Sisters of Charity. They wore an extremely quaint and pretty dress. The close-fitting gown was of fawn-coloured cotton, with sleeves square and open at the wrist. Over the gown was a dark blue cotton petticoat, with small white spots, which, reaching only to within six inches from the ground, showed a narrow strip of fawn colour beneath. A heavy kerchief of black material covered the shoulders, and was crossed over the bosom; a black poke-bonnet, above a plain white cap, completed the costume. A gilt crucifix hung from a girdle around the waist. Moccasins were worn instead of shoes, according to the universal custom of the country, to which even the bishops conformed. These excellent nuns educated about forty children, mostly from among the French population. We had whom Sister C to the pleasure of seeing a few of the pupils, very obligingly sent for, asking them to give us some specimens of their progress in music. Two nice-looking dark girls of fourteen first came in, and played several pieces on a piano-forte, - which, I confess, it surprised me to see in this remote and inaccessible land; then two pretty little fair-haired children took their place, and, like the others, played in a pleasing and very creditable manner. The institution was universally spoken of as most useful and popular, and as being in all respects remarkably well conducted.

Fort Garry was amply provided with churches, for besides the two great edifices known as the cathedrals, there was a large place of worship for the Presbyterians, who formed a numerous and important body. I used in general to attend service at the Protestant Cathedral, where the Bishop himself officiated. Its interior was of extreme plainness, but one thinks little of that where all is simple and without pretense. Though the Presbyterian psalms and hymns were not in use, by the congregation, - it was easy to see that the Scottish race prevailed in the tunes and the manner of singing so forcibly recalling the sober, deliberate fashion of my own country, that I could scarcely believe myself thousands of miles away in the innermost heart of America.

On the Assiniboine, a mile or two off, there is another Episcopalian settlement, named St. James's. I walked there one afternoon with Dr. Rae, and called on the Rev. Mr. Taylor, the incumbent, who showed us the church, - a pretty though simple building, the interior ornamented with texts and other designs, all painted by himself, - then hospitably invited us to tea. In the parsonage drawing room, our attention was called to a picture of the Queen (a formerly well-known portrait from the Illustrated London News), which had been framed and conspicuously hung on the wall. It appeared that Indians often came expressly to see it, having strong feelings of loyalty to the sovereign; one old chief especially, a recent visitor there, had insisted on being allowed to kiss her Majesty's portrait in token of his loving homage.

Thursday, the 10th of June, was a notable day at Fort Garry. The first steamer that had yet navigated the Red River made her appearance that morning, bringing two or three passengers from Minnesota. "Anson Northup" was the name of this small, shabby, stern-wheel boat, mean and insignificant in itself, but important as the harbinger of new developments of what Americans are pleased to call civilization.

Crowds of Indians stood silently on the shore, watching the arrival of this strange portentous object. They thought little about what an ominous a sight it was for them, fraught with presages of ruin for all their wandering race! I do not know whether these natives were Cree's or Ojibway's. They were an ugly, hard-featured set. One woman only had some good looks, and these chiefly consisted of the marvellous whiteness and regularity of her teeth. Like many of the others, she carried a child on her back carefully wrapped up in the folds of her thick blanket, and looking warm and comfortable in its nest. A few Cree families had made their small encampment on the prairie outside, near the Fort; they were dirty, gypsy - like people, neither handsome, interesting, nor picturesque. I observed one of the little boys driving his father's horses home by shooting blunt arrows at them with all the force of a by-no-means despicable bow. From his childhood, the Indian learns inhumanity to animals.

By the 14th all my preparations were complete. I was fortunate in securing the services of a thoroughly competent guide - that is to say, head man - in John McKay, a younger brother of our energetic leader from Crow-wing. Under him were four men belonging to his district - Morrison McBeath and Donald Matheson, of unmixed Sutherland shire descent; George Kline,* of the French-Canadian race; and James Short, whom I have already spoken of - all of them picked men, perfectly up to their work, excellent fellows in every possible respect. Besides this Red River party, there was Duncan Robertson, who came with me from Scotland; also Sir George's canoe-man, Thomas Ariwakenha, the Iroquois, commonly known as Toma, whose duties consisted in driving the wagon, cooking my meals, and, along with Duncan, acting as my special attendant.

Under the charge of this efficient brigade there was gathered together a very considerable amount of property of every sort and kind - horses and vehicles, weapons, provisions, and stores - three new two-wheel carts, and the four-wheel wagon already mentioned, all filled to the brim with various sorts of baggage; my canvas tent (the same one I had used before), a large new tent for the men, oil- cloth squares, blankets, clothes and other personal goods; bales of tea and sugar, sacks of flour and rice; biscuits, jam, and eggs, and dried tongues in plenty to keep us in food till we got fresh meat in the buffalo country; many pounds of the Company's excellent flat " plug " tobacco for myself and my men; an immense 90 lb. roll of the rather coarser twist, for the especial benefit of the Indians. Then we had a great number of goods of another description, - such as a large copper box of rifle powder, kegs of common powder, bullets, shot, and caps; a variety of weapons; axes, hammers, saws, a canteen, a portable table, and a camp stool, cooking utensils, etc.; in short, we were provided with more than every requisite for the plains, besides extra supplies to furnish the customary presents to any Indian parties we might chance to meet.

There was one deficiency, according to some people's notions: I took no wine or spirits with me, nor allowed any to be taken, except a few bottles of rum. But little use was made even of this, and I afterwards left the greater part of it at Fort Carlton. What troubles and difficulties this saved me from I can only guess - from a great many, no doubt. We ought, however, to have had a small store of brandy for medicinal purposes. Indeed, I rather felt the want of stimulants when exhausted by hard work in the mountains.

To draw the wagon there were four horses - my former purchases, Paul and Anthony, and two white horses of much the same size as these, the one called Lane and the other Wawbe, which, in Cree, means "white." For the carts, there were seven smaller beasts, the biggest of them scarcely more than a pony. Their names were as follows Deserter, Nez-Blanc, Gris, Mouldy, Spot, Bleu, and Little Black - uninteresting animals all, that cost on an average about £13 apiece. As this list may indicate, the half-breeds generally name their horses according to colour or marling or other peculiarity, but sometimes after a former owner {e.g. Lane); sometimes, also, though more rarely, after a circumstance or a place, or occasionally in an altogether unmeaning way. Then there were two buffalo runners - a silver-tailed white pony, afterwards known as Waupoose (the Rabbit), a name suggested by his remarkable countenance; and "Great Black," a large, well-bred horse, - which, with the last mentioned, I bought from James McKay, - reputed the fastest runner in the settlement, but too unmanageable to be generally useful. Last, but best, came my favourite riding ponies, Morgan and his companion Vermont.

My guns and saddle had not arrived at St. Paul before we departed from that place; so, by Sir George's directions, John McKay and another man had waited there to receive them and immediately bring them on. The things soon came to hand, upon which MacKay made rapid work, and reached Fort Garry just four days later than we did. It was with anxiety that I opened the gun cases, but, excepting a few trifling rust spots, my precious weapons had taken no harm, after all the risks of damage they had rim since I parted from them at the New York Custom House.

As I afterwards discovered, half the number would have served my purpose, for, having little means to judge what was needful, I had been erring far too zealously on what seemed the safer side.

Of all the armament, I held in infinite preference a pair of two-grooved double-barreled rifles, by Purdey. A better pair no maker could turn out. They have been immensely used, and in pretty trying service sometimes, but to this day they remain as good as when I first handled them some eighteen or nineteen years ago. They carry a medium-sized, but very deadly, conical ball. My other rifle was one of large bore, by Dickson in Edinburgh; a good one, I believe, but, on account of its weight, I hardly ever used it, not finding bullets of great size to be required. I had also a pair of excellent Purdey shotguns, of No. 12 gauge, which, at close quarters, could throw round bullets most effectively. Besides these, I took a five-chambered revolving rifle, and a pistol of the same description, of the Colt manufacture. The latter I never used; the former shot well, but I disliked it for reasons afterwards mentioned. These were the only breech-loaders I possessed, that sort of weapon being little employed for sporting purposes until a year or two afterwards.

My men had various guns and rifles of their own; none were worth much, except a highly serviceable double-barreled gun belonging to McKay, of the best possible pattern for general use in that country. It was as thick in the metal as a rifle and carried a bullet accurately to more than a hundred yards, and as its bore was of the size (28) universal in the Company's trade, supplies of the ball could be got anywhere and almost from any person. Small as these bullets are - for, being round, they had none of the expansion of a conical ball, especially a flanged one such as that shot by my rifles, which were really but little different in the gauge - they are large enough, if well directed, to kill any beast in America; stores of them, moreover, can be carried in little bulk - an inestimable advantage for the ordinary hunter.

This handy and neatly finished gun, which was made in London at a trifling cost [£12 if I rightly remember], could also throw shots with a power that I have never seen equalled. Good as my Purdey smooth bores were, McKay used to kill ducks at distances fairly beyond my range.

During the march I generally carried a rifle resting on a rolled-up waterproof strapped to my saddle bow, soon learning to poise it so that it almost steadied itself; and McKay invariably carried his gun, balancing it similarly between his own body and the high front peak of his narrow Spanish saddle. My men also kept their weapons within reach, several guns and rifles always lying loaded in the carts, ready in case of an emergency; and all of the party were furnished with more or less formidable knives, some even with good-sized military swords that had once formed part of the equipment of a Rifle Corps. We were, in short, a strongly armed and sufficiently numerous company, able to bid defiance to any such small Indian band as that of the Pillagers of Lake Otter-tail.