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management of the grain, by the Chargè d'Affaires of the Colony, in the dearth of provisions; and from the supply which we have received from Bas la Rivière. The sturgeon season also has been very successful, which has in some measure brightened the countenances of a people, who have passed a long and severe winter, without "the sound of the mill stones, and the light of the candle."

CHAPTER IV.

ARRIVAL OF CANOE FROM MONTREAL.-LIBERAL PROVISION FOR MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENT.-MANITOBAH LAKE. INDIAN GARDENS.-MEET CAPTAIN FRANKLIN AND OFFICERS OF THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION, AT YORK FACTORY.-FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE AUXILIARY

BIBLE

SOCIETY.-HALF-CASTE

CHILDREN.-AURORA

BOREALIS.-CONVERSATION WITH PIGEWIS.GOOD
HARVEST AT THE SETTLEMENT, AND ARRIVAL OF
CATTLE
MASSACRE OF

FROM UNITED STATES.

HUNTERS.-PRODUCE OF GRAIN AT THE COLONY.

On the 20th of June, the light canoe arrived from Montreal, which brought me letters from England; and no one ever received news from a far country, which gladdened the heart more than these letters did mine. My family were all well; and a liberal provision had been made, for a Missionary establishment at the Red River, for the maintenance and education of native Indian children, by the Church Missionary Society. In conveying this information to me, an active friend to the communication of Christianity to the Indians, observes, "I hope

LETTERS FROM ENGLAND.

95

a foundation is now laid to extend the blessings of Christianity, religion, morals, and education, wherever the representative of the Company may set his foot." God grant that it may! and that the Light which first sprang up in Judea, may break forth upon every part of these vast territories, dissipate the present darkness of the natives, and lead them to the enjoyment of "the fulness of the blessings of the gospel of Christ."

All, all, is encouraging to proceed: yet I will not conceal my fears, that expectations may be raised too high, as to the progress that may be made in that vast field of labour which presents itself." There are a great many willows to cut down, and roots to remove," as an Indian chief said to me, when he welcomed me to the country, "before the path will be clear to walk in." The axe, however, is laid to the root of the tree, in the establishment of schools, as the means of instruction and of diffusing Christian knowledge in this moral wilderness; and we may anticipate the hope that numbers will arise to enjoy what they are capable of feeling, the endearments of social life, as well as of moral and religious education.

Soon after the express canoe arrived, a Director of the Hudson's Bay Company and an

96

SCHOOL-HOUSE.

executor of the late Earl of Selkirk, came to the Settlement, via Montreal. I accompanied him to Pembina; and he acted upon the opinion, that the inhabitants of this distant and extreme point of the colony, who were principally hunters, were living too near the supposed line of demarcation, between the British territories and the United States; and that it would be far better for them to remove down to the Forks; where, if the industry of the colonists was more concentrated, it would tend more to their protection and prosperity. Many promised to comply with this suggestion. On our return, I took the opportunity of opening, with divine service, the building (though it was not finished) which was intended as a school-house, and a temporary place for divine worship; and, at the same time, baptized two of the boys who had been under my charge, one as James Hope, and the other as Henry Budd; they being able to read the New Testament, repeat the Church Catechism, and to understand the chief truths of the Christian Religion.

JULY 18. We have the satisfaction of seeing the new sown grain promise well for a crop ; and great hopes are entertained that it will this year escape the ravages of the locusts.

INDIAN GARDENS.

97

Under this sanguine expectation, I left the colony, with the Director, on the 22d, on my annual visit to York Factory, taking the route of Manitobah Lake. As we passed this fine and extensive sheet of water, we saw occasionally some beautiful points, or bluffs of wood, and the most striking and romantic scenery that can be presented to the eye. The waters abound with fish; and the alluvial soil of some parts, near the banks of the lake, promises every encouragement to the active industry of the agriculturist. A tribe of Indians, who traverse this part of the country, have gardens, in which they grow potatoes and pumpkins; and were encouragement given them, by the presence and superintendence of a Missionary, in the cultivation of the soil, and the assistance of a plough and seed corn, afforded them from the Colony, with the view to establish them in a village, there is little doubt, that they would gradually, or indeed soon, become so far civilized, as to promote the formation of a school among them for the education of their children. We proceeded on our way, through the Dauphin River, into Lake Winipeg, and arrived at Norway House, in about a week after we left the Settlement.

When within about fifty miles of York

H

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