[33]Instead of tracing the Nelson River from its source to the sea, it will be expedient to annex a map of the river from Lake Winnipeg to the Gull Lake, shewing also the portages, &c.; and this part of the river may be taken as a sample of the whole.
[34]The badge of his dignity among the Indians.
[35]The title by which he distinguished the officers of the ship from the gentlemen of the factory.
[36]A very expressive name given by the Indians to spirituous liquors, signifying Mad-Water.
[37]Whilst this Journal was preparing for the press, the following article appeared in many of the Daily Prints.
“Intelligence has been received, by a late arrival from Canada, of the entire dispersion of the Colony founded by Lord Selkirk, in conjunction with the Hudson’s-Bay Company, on the River Asnaboyne, in the interior of the N. W. Continent of America. Disputes with the Metiffs of the Country, a race of people between Canadians and Indians, inflamed the natural jealousy which the latter have always felt, relative to the agricultural encroachments on their hunting-grounds in the interior, and, we understand, compelled his Lordship’s Governor to abandon the establishment which had been made.”—“About one hundred and forty settlers were conveyed by the Canadian traders to Lake Superior, on their way to Canada; and the remainder are supposed to have gone to Hudson’s Bay, with a view of finding a passage to Great Britain.
“The Governor, Mr. McDonald, and a Sheriff, also appointed by Lord Selkirk (Mr. Spencer), were brought down prisoners to Montreal; the one for having granted, the other for having executed, a warrant, under the authority of which, provisions, the property of Canadian traders, were seized during the preceding winter, for the maintenance of the colonists; and these gentlemen were admitted to bail in the Courts of Lower Canada, to take their trials for this alleged offence.”
Whatever may be the decision of the Judges on this trial, the Metiffs will have succeeded in their malevolent intention, that of destroying all prospect of the Colony ever arriving to a flourishing condition.
[38]See Pinkerton’s Geography.
[39]Here Mr. Pinkerton, although perfectly correct in every other respect, has fallen into the same error as other geographers; namely, in peopling Hudson’s Bay with Esquimaux: whereas, the Cree Indians, who inhabit the Bay, are not savage, take no care of their eyes, and are clothed by the European traders.