The whole plain was covered with a luxuriant crop of the vetch or wild pea, almost as nutritious a food for cattle and horses as oats. As we drew near to the Saskatchewan, we had to cross as many as five creeks with steep and lofty banks, the last in particular being a stream scarcely twenty feet in span between rugged declivities about two hundred feet in height....
On arriving in front of Edmonton, which was on the opposite bank of the Saskatchewan, we notified our approach by a volley of musketry, which was returned by the cannon of the fort....
Edmonton is a well-built place, something of a hexagon in form. It is surrounded by high pickets and bastions, which, with the battlemented gateways, the flagstaffs, etc., give it a good deal of a martial appearance; and it occupies a commanding situation, crowning an almost perpendicular part of the bank, about two hundred feet in height. The river is nearly as wide as at Carlton, while the immediate banks are well wooded, and the country behind consists of rolling prairies.
This fort, both inside and outside, is decorated with paintings and devices to suit the tastes of the savages that frequent it. Over the gateways are a most fanciful variety of vanes; but the hall, of which both the ceiling and the walls present the gaudiest colours and the most fantastic sculptures, absolutely rivets the astonished natives to the spot with wonder and admiration. The buildings are smeared with a red earth found in the neighbourhood, which, when mixed with oil, produces a durable brown.
The vicinity is rich in mineral productions. A seam of coal, about ten feet in depth, can be traced for a very considerable distance along both sides of the river....
[ 41. THE MOHAWK INDIANS IN ONTARIO (1842).]
Source.—Letters from America, by John Robert Godley. London, 1844.
Within two miles of Brantford (which is called after Brandt the Indian chief) is a village which may be termed the headquarters of the Mohawk tribe of Indians. They lost their possessions in the States by adhering to Great Britain in the revolutionary war, and received in compensation a settlement here of 160,000 acres: since that time they have decreased considerably, and now consist of not more than 2200 souls. I went over to the Indian village on Sunday morning, and attended Divine service in their church; it was performed according to the forms of the English Church, but in the Mohawk language, with the exception of the sermon, which the clergyman delivered in English, and which was translated with wonderful fluency, sentence after sentence, by an Indian interpreter who stood beside him. It was good, practical, and well adapted to the audience, who listened with the most unfailing attention, though the plan of proceeding made it necessarily very long: the Indian language, too, is far more prolix than ours, at least the sentences as translated were at least three times as long as in the original delivery; the singing was particularly good in point of time and harmony, but the airs were somewhat monotonous. Two children were baptised during the service, one of them ensconced in a bark cradle, which fitted it accurately, and was attached in a curious manner to a board so as to be carried easily upon the mother's back. There were about 120 Indians present; the men, with one or two exceptions, dressed like Europeans, but the women wearing their native costume, which is rather becoming: it consists of a calico or linen tunic reaching to the knee, below which appears a petticoat of blue cloth, generally embroidered with red and white bead-work, the legs are covered with a kind of buskin of blue cloth, and the feet with mocassins; over all is a large robe or mantle, of blue cloth also, thrown loosely round the shoulders; completing a dress which, at this time of year, must be dreadfully hot and heavy: the head is without any other covering except very thick black shining hair. Those of the men who have not adopted the European costume wear instead of trousers a tunic and leggings which reach half-way up the thigh.