Civil and religious liberty was granted to the Canadians; and in the words of the writer of the Political Annals of Canada, “previous history affords no example of such forbearance and generosity on the part of the conquerors towards the conquered—forming such a new era in civilized warfare, that an admiring world admitted the claim of Great Britain to the glory of conquering a people, less from views of ambition and the security of her other colonies, than from the hope of improving their situation, and endowing them with the privileges of freedom.”
After the more stirring and scientific discoveries of civilized navigators and adventurers, it will not be uninteresting to present the simple story of an Indian chief, who crossed the continent without compass or chart, and with no resources but his courage and native talent for expedient; and in this rude way, made discoveries which would thrill the bosom of the most romantic navigator. The story was told by the chief himself (through an interpreter), to the gentleman who reported it, in the following words, to the Historical Society of Quebec:—
“I had lost my wife, and all the children whom I had by her, when I undertook my journey towards the sun-rising. I set out from my village, contrary to the inclination of all my relations, and went first to the Chicasaws, our friends and neighbours. I continued among them several days, to inform myself whether they knew whence we all came,—they, who were our elders; since from them came the language of the country. As they could not inform me, I proceeded on my journey. I reached the country of the Chasuanous, and afterwards went up the Wabash, or Ohio, almost to its source, which is in the country of the Iroquois, or Five Nations. I left them, however, towards the north; and during the winter, which in that country is very severe, and very long, I lived in a village of the Abenaquis, where I contracted an acquaintance with a man somewhat older than myself, who promised to conduct me, the following spring, to the Great Water. Accordingly, when the snows were melted, and the weather was settled, we proceeded eastward; and, after several days’ journey, I at length saw the Great Water, which filled me with such joy and admiration that I could not speak. Night drawing on, we took up our lodging on a high bank above the water, which was sorely vexed by the wind, and made so great a noise that I could not sleep. Next day, the ebbing and flowing of the water filled me with great apprehension; but my companion quieted my fears, by assuring me that the water observed certain bounds, both in advancing and retiring. Having satisfied our curiosity in viewing the Great Water, we turned to the village of the Abenaquis, where I continued the following winter; and after the snows were melted, my companion and I went and viewed the great fall of the river St. Lawrence, at Niagara, which was distant from the village several days’ journey. The view of this great fall at first made my hair stand on end, and my heart almost leap out of its place; but afterwards, before I left it, I had the courage to walk under it. Next day we took the shortest road to the Ohio; and my companion and I cutting down a tree on the banks of the river, we formed it into a pettiauger, which served to conduct me down the Ohio and the Mississippi; after which, with much difficulty, I went up our small river, and at length arrived safe among my relations, who were rejoiced to see me in good health.
The Plains of Abraham, near Quebec.
(The spot where General Wolfe fell.)
“This journey, instead of satisfying, only served to excite my curiosity. Our old men, for several years, had told me that the ancient speech informed them that the Red-men of the north came originally much higher and much farther than the source of the river Missouri; and as I had longed to see, with my own eyes, the land from whence our first fathers came, I took my precautions for my journey westwards. Having provided a small quantity of corn, I proceeded up along the eastern bank of the river Mississippi, till I came to the Ohio. I went up along the bank of this last river, about the fourth part of a day’s journey, that I might be able to cross it without being carried into the Mississippi. There I formed a cayeux, or raft of canes, by the assistance of which I passed over the river; and next day meeting with a herd of buffaloes in the meadows, I killed a fat one, and took from it the fillets, the bunch, and the tongue. Soon after I arrived among the Tamaroos, a village of the nation of the Illinois, where I rested several days, and then proceeded northwards to the mouth of the Missouri, which, after it enters the great river, runs for a considerable time without intermixing its muddy waters with the clear stream of the other. Having crossed the Mississippi, I went up the Missouri, along its northern bank; and after several days journey, I arrived at the nation of the Missouris, where I staid a long time, to learn the language that is spoken beyond them. In going along the Missouri, I passed through meadows a whole day’s journey in length, which were quite covered with buffaloes.
“When the cold was past, and the snows were melted, I continued my journey up along the Missouri, till I came to the nation of the West, or the Canzas. Afterwards, in consequence of directions from them, I proceeded in the same course near thirty days; and at length I met with some of the nation of the Otters, who were hunting in that neighbourhood, and were surprised to see me alone. I continued with the hunters two or three days, and then accompanied one of them, and his wife, who was near her time of lying in, to their village, which lay far off, betwixt the north and west. We continued our journey along the Missouri for nine days, and then we marched directly northwards for five days more, through the country of the Otters, who received me with as much kindness as if I had been of their own nation. A few days after we came to the Fine River, which runs westward in a direction contrary to that of the Missouri. We proceeded down this river a whole day, and then arrived at the village. A party of the Otters were going to carry a calumet of peace to a nation beyond them, and we embarked in a pettiauger, and went down the river for eighteen days, landing now and then, to supply ourselves with provisions. When I arrived at the nation, who were at peace with the Otters, I staid with them till the cold was past, that I might learn their language, which was common to most of the nations that lived beyond them.
“The cold was hardly gone, when I again embarked on the Fine River; and in my course I met with several nations, with whom I generally staid but one night, till I arrived at the nation that is but one day’s journey from the Great Water on the West. This nation live in the woods, about the distance of a league from the river, from their apprehension of bearded men, who come upon their coasts in floating villages, and carry off their children to make slaves of them. These men were described to be white, with long black beards that came down to their breasts. They were thick and short, had large heads, which were covered with cloth;—they were always dressed, even in the greatest heats; their clothes fell down to the middle of their legs, which with their feet were covered with red or yellow stuff. Their arms made a great fire and a great noise; and when they saw themselves outnumbered by Red-men, they retired on board their large pettiauger—their number sometimes amounting to thirty, but never more.
“Those strangers came from the sun-setting, in search of a yellow stinking wood, which dyes a fine yellow colour; but the people of this nation, that they might not be tempted to visit them, had destroyed all those kind of trees. Two other nations in their neighbourhood, however, having no other wood, could not destroy the trees, and were still visited by the strangers; and being greatly incommoded by them, had invited their allies to assist them in making an attack upon them the next time they should return. The following summer I accordingly joined in this expedition; and after travelling five long days’ journey, we came to the place where the bearded men usually landed, where we waited seventeen days for their arrival. The Red-men, by my advice, placed themselves in ambuscade to surprise the strangers; and accordingly, when they landed to cut the wood, we were so successful as to kill eleven of them, the rest immediately escaping on board two large pettiaugers, and flying westward upon the Great Water.
“Upon examining those whom we had killed, we found them much smaller than ourselves, and very white: they had a large head, and in the middle of the crown the hair was very long. Their head was wrapped in a great many folds of stuff, and their clothes seemed to be made neither of wool nor silk: they were very soft, and of different colours. Two only, of the eleven who were slain, had fire arms, with powder and ball. I tried their pieces, and found that they were much heavier than ours, and did not kill at so great a distance.