FOOTNOTES1Mr. Ross, the author of the “Fur Hunters of the Far West,” in his “History of the Red River Settlement,” makes mention of a storm very similar to the one described above. In that instance the party were camping out on the plains; three tents were struck by the lightning, and two men, a woman, and two children killed. Several horses and dogs were also killed. The rain fell in such torrents, that in the course of a few minutes the flood of water was so great that two small children narrowly escaped being drowned. A summer rarely passes in Red River without the loss of several lives by lightning.2About the year 1835 the colony passed into the possession of the Hudson’s Bay Company, by purchase from Lord Selkirk’s executors. This, however, made but little change in its condition, the government having been exercised by the Company, for Lord Selkirk and his executors, from the first foundation of the colony.3The pemmican used in the Arctic expeditions was manufactured in England of the best beef, with currants, raisins, and sugar; very different to the coarse stuff which is the staff of life in the Hudson’s Bay territories.4Fat seems to be thesummum bonumin everything, according to Indian and half-breed tastes. They say, “What a fine horse! he’s as fat as possible!” “What a fine woman! how fat she is!” and the same of men, dogs, and everything. And fat is very important in that country. It is the most valuable part of food in winter, and horses and dogs will not stand work in the cold, unless fat.5These Indians believe in one “Great Spirit,” or more literally “Perfect Spirit,” the Manitou proper, and a great number of inferior spirits, or lesser Manitous. They appear to address their invocations principally to the latter.6The skin of a skunk, which had been thrown aside near our hut, gave out no scent when the frost was very severe, but on the least abatement of the cold, its odour was perceptible. From the variations in the intensity of the smell we could judge very closely of the warmth of the weather. The scent is by no means so disagreeable as it is generally represented, and only when very powerful is it at all disgusting. The Indians use the gland which furnishes the secretion as a cure for headache, and other maladies.7From Dr. Rae, who crossed by the same pass the following summer, we learnt that a report had reached Edmonton to the effect that we had all been murdered by the Assiniboine, who was returning rich in the possession of our horses and property.8Hugh Miller explains the formation of peat-mosses in Scotland in a similar manner. The timber felled by the Romans to make roads through the forest dammed up the watercourses; pools were thus formed, which were gradually converted into mosses by the growth and decay of aquatic plants.9The bighorn is something like an ordinary sheep, but with very large head, and curling horns of enormous size. The “mouton blanc” resembles the common goat, but has soft, white hair, more like wool. The Indians of British Columbia weave beautiful blankets of this material. Both the “mouton blanc” and “gris” frequent the highest crags, and are active as the chamois.10The Iroquois are Canadian Indians, so celebrated in our war with the French in Canada. They are perhaps the most expert canoemen in the world, and were employed by Sir George Simpson and other governors of the Hudson’s Bay Company, in their journeys from Canada through the Hudson’s Bay territories, most of which were performed by water. Many stayed behind at the different forts, and at this day Iroquois half-breeds are met with at the Company’s forts even in British Columbia.11According to the observations of Dr. Rae, with small aneroid barometer.12Dr. Rae.13Lieut. Palmer, R.E.14See reports of Captain Palliser’s expedition, published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for 1860.15Journal of Royal Geographical Society for 1860; Dr. Hector’s Report.16From the observations of Dr. Rae.17From the observations of Dr. Rae.18There is a most striking difference, however, between the general physique and features of the two sexes amongst the true Red Indians. The men are tall, and their features bold and prominent, the nose being generally Roman. The women are generally rather short, their faces rounder, and the nose squat. This difference was well shown in the case of The Assiniboine and his wife, of whom excellent portraits are given in the Frontispiece.19Chinook is a jargon which was invented by the Hudson’s Bay Company for the purpose of facilitating communication with the different Indian tribes. These were so numerous, and their languages so various, that the traders found it impossible to learn them all, and adopted the device of a judicious mixture of English, French, Russian, and several Indian tongues, which has a very limited vocabulary; but which, by the help of signs, is readily understood by all the natives, and serves as a common language.20Vide“Prize Essay on British Columbia,” by the Rev. R. C. L. Brown, M.A., Minister of St. Mary’s, Lilloet.21Vide“Overland Route to British Columbia,” by Henry Youle Hind, M.A., F.R.G.S., and “Narrative of Canadian Exploring Expedition,” by the same Author; also Captain Palliser’s Report in the “Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for 1860.”22VideDr. Rathray, “Vancouver Island, and British Columbia.”23A grass-widow in America is a woman who has separated or been divorced from her husband.
FOOTNOTES1Mr. Ross, the author of the “Fur Hunters of the Far West,” in his “History of the Red River Settlement,” makes mention of a storm very similar to the one described above. In that instance the party were camping out on the plains; three tents were struck by the lightning, and two men, a woman, and two children killed. Several horses and dogs were also killed. The rain fell in such torrents, that in the course of a few minutes the flood of water was so great that two small children narrowly escaped being drowned. A summer rarely passes in Red River without the loss of several lives by lightning.2About the year 1835 the colony passed into the possession of the Hudson’s Bay Company, by purchase from Lord Selkirk’s executors. This, however, made but little change in its condition, the government having been exercised by the Company, for Lord Selkirk and his executors, from the first foundation of the colony.3The pemmican used in the Arctic expeditions was manufactured in England of the best beef, with currants, raisins, and sugar; very different to the coarse stuff which is the staff of life in the Hudson’s Bay territories.4Fat seems to be thesummum bonumin everything, according to Indian and half-breed tastes. They say, “What a fine horse! he’s as fat as possible!” “What a fine woman! how fat she is!” and the same of men, dogs, and everything. And fat is very important in that country. It is the most valuable part of food in winter, and horses and dogs will not stand work in the cold, unless fat.5These Indians believe in one “Great Spirit,” or more literally “Perfect Spirit,” the Manitou proper, and a great number of inferior spirits, or lesser Manitous. They appear to address their invocations principally to the latter.6The skin of a skunk, which had been thrown aside near our hut, gave out no scent when the frost was very severe, but on the least abatement of the cold, its odour was perceptible. From the variations in the intensity of the smell we could judge very closely of the warmth of the weather. The scent is by no means so disagreeable as it is generally represented, and only when very powerful is it at all disgusting. The Indians use the gland which furnishes the secretion as a cure for headache, and other maladies.7From Dr. Rae, who crossed by the same pass the following summer, we learnt that a report had reached Edmonton to the effect that we had all been murdered by the Assiniboine, who was returning rich in the possession of our horses and property.8Hugh Miller explains the formation of peat-mosses in Scotland in a similar manner. The timber felled by the Romans to make roads through the forest dammed up the watercourses; pools were thus formed, which were gradually converted into mosses by the growth and decay of aquatic plants.9The bighorn is something like an ordinary sheep, but with very large head, and curling horns of enormous size. The “mouton blanc” resembles the common goat, but has soft, white hair, more like wool. The Indians of British Columbia weave beautiful blankets of this material. Both the “mouton blanc” and “gris” frequent the highest crags, and are active as the chamois.10The Iroquois are Canadian Indians, so celebrated in our war with the French in Canada. They are perhaps the most expert canoemen in the world, and were employed by Sir George Simpson and other governors of the Hudson’s Bay Company, in their journeys from Canada through the Hudson’s Bay territories, most of which were performed by water. Many stayed behind at the different forts, and at this day Iroquois half-breeds are met with at the Company’s forts even in British Columbia.11According to the observations of Dr. Rae, with small aneroid barometer.12Dr. Rae.13Lieut. Palmer, R.E.14See reports of Captain Palliser’s expedition, published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for 1860.15Journal of Royal Geographical Society for 1860; Dr. Hector’s Report.16From the observations of Dr. Rae.17From the observations of Dr. Rae.18There is a most striking difference, however, between the general physique and features of the two sexes amongst the true Red Indians. The men are tall, and their features bold and prominent, the nose being generally Roman. The women are generally rather short, their faces rounder, and the nose squat. This difference was well shown in the case of The Assiniboine and his wife, of whom excellent portraits are given in the Frontispiece.19Chinook is a jargon which was invented by the Hudson’s Bay Company for the purpose of facilitating communication with the different Indian tribes. These were so numerous, and their languages so various, that the traders found it impossible to learn them all, and adopted the device of a judicious mixture of English, French, Russian, and several Indian tongues, which has a very limited vocabulary; but which, by the help of signs, is readily understood by all the natives, and serves as a common language.20Vide“Prize Essay on British Columbia,” by the Rev. R. C. L. Brown, M.A., Minister of St. Mary’s, Lilloet.21Vide“Overland Route to British Columbia,” by Henry Youle Hind, M.A., F.R.G.S., and “Narrative of Canadian Exploring Expedition,” by the same Author; also Captain Palliser’s Report in the “Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for 1860.”22VideDr. Rathray, “Vancouver Island, and British Columbia.”23A grass-widow in America is a woman who has separated or been divorced from her husband.
1Mr. Ross, the author of the “Fur Hunters of the Far West,” in his “History of the Red River Settlement,” makes mention of a storm very similar to the one described above. In that instance the party were camping out on the plains; three tents were struck by the lightning, and two men, a woman, and two children killed. Several horses and dogs were also killed. The rain fell in such torrents, that in the course of a few minutes the flood of water was so great that two small children narrowly escaped being drowned. A summer rarely passes in Red River without the loss of several lives by lightning.
1Mr. Ross, the author of the “Fur Hunters of the Far West,” in his “History of the Red River Settlement,” makes mention of a storm very similar to the one described above. In that instance the party were camping out on the plains; three tents were struck by the lightning, and two men, a woman, and two children killed. Several horses and dogs were also killed. The rain fell in such torrents, that in the course of a few minutes the flood of water was so great that two small children narrowly escaped being drowned. A summer rarely passes in Red River without the loss of several lives by lightning.
2About the year 1835 the colony passed into the possession of the Hudson’s Bay Company, by purchase from Lord Selkirk’s executors. This, however, made but little change in its condition, the government having been exercised by the Company, for Lord Selkirk and his executors, from the first foundation of the colony.
2About the year 1835 the colony passed into the possession of the Hudson’s Bay Company, by purchase from Lord Selkirk’s executors. This, however, made but little change in its condition, the government having been exercised by the Company, for Lord Selkirk and his executors, from the first foundation of the colony.
3The pemmican used in the Arctic expeditions was manufactured in England of the best beef, with currants, raisins, and sugar; very different to the coarse stuff which is the staff of life in the Hudson’s Bay territories.
3The pemmican used in the Arctic expeditions was manufactured in England of the best beef, with currants, raisins, and sugar; very different to the coarse stuff which is the staff of life in the Hudson’s Bay territories.
4Fat seems to be thesummum bonumin everything, according to Indian and half-breed tastes. They say, “What a fine horse! he’s as fat as possible!” “What a fine woman! how fat she is!” and the same of men, dogs, and everything. And fat is very important in that country. It is the most valuable part of food in winter, and horses and dogs will not stand work in the cold, unless fat.
4Fat seems to be thesummum bonumin everything, according to Indian and half-breed tastes. They say, “What a fine horse! he’s as fat as possible!” “What a fine woman! how fat she is!” and the same of men, dogs, and everything. And fat is very important in that country. It is the most valuable part of food in winter, and horses and dogs will not stand work in the cold, unless fat.
5These Indians believe in one “Great Spirit,” or more literally “Perfect Spirit,” the Manitou proper, and a great number of inferior spirits, or lesser Manitous. They appear to address their invocations principally to the latter.
5These Indians believe in one “Great Spirit,” or more literally “Perfect Spirit,” the Manitou proper, and a great number of inferior spirits, or lesser Manitous. They appear to address their invocations principally to the latter.
6The skin of a skunk, which had been thrown aside near our hut, gave out no scent when the frost was very severe, but on the least abatement of the cold, its odour was perceptible. From the variations in the intensity of the smell we could judge very closely of the warmth of the weather. The scent is by no means so disagreeable as it is generally represented, and only when very powerful is it at all disgusting. The Indians use the gland which furnishes the secretion as a cure for headache, and other maladies.
6The skin of a skunk, which had been thrown aside near our hut, gave out no scent when the frost was very severe, but on the least abatement of the cold, its odour was perceptible. From the variations in the intensity of the smell we could judge very closely of the warmth of the weather. The scent is by no means so disagreeable as it is generally represented, and only when very powerful is it at all disgusting. The Indians use the gland which furnishes the secretion as a cure for headache, and other maladies.
7From Dr. Rae, who crossed by the same pass the following summer, we learnt that a report had reached Edmonton to the effect that we had all been murdered by the Assiniboine, who was returning rich in the possession of our horses and property.
7From Dr. Rae, who crossed by the same pass the following summer, we learnt that a report had reached Edmonton to the effect that we had all been murdered by the Assiniboine, who was returning rich in the possession of our horses and property.
8Hugh Miller explains the formation of peat-mosses in Scotland in a similar manner. The timber felled by the Romans to make roads through the forest dammed up the watercourses; pools were thus formed, which were gradually converted into mosses by the growth and decay of aquatic plants.
8Hugh Miller explains the formation of peat-mosses in Scotland in a similar manner. The timber felled by the Romans to make roads through the forest dammed up the watercourses; pools were thus formed, which were gradually converted into mosses by the growth and decay of aquatic plants.
9The bighorn is something like an ordinary sheep, but with very large head, and curling horns of enormous size. The “mouton blanc” resembles the common goat, but has soft, white hair, more like wool. The Indians of British Columbia weave beautiful blankets of this material. Both the “mouton blanc” and “gris” frequent the highest crags, and are active as the chamois.
9The bighorn is something like an ordinary sheep, but with very large head, and curling horns of enormous size. The “mouton blanc” resembles the common goat, but has soft, white hair, more like wool. The Indians of British Columbia weave beautiful blankets of this material. Both the “mouton blanc” and “gris” frequent the highest crags, and are active as the chamois.
10The Iroquois are Canadian Indians, so celebrated in our war with the French in Canada. They are perhaps the most expert canoemen in the world, and were employed by Sir George Simpson and other governors of the Hudson’s Bay Company, in their journeys from Canada through the Hudson’s Bay territories, most of which were performed by water. Many stayed behind at the different forts, and at this day Iroquois half-breeds are met with at the Company’s forts even in British Columbia.
10The Iroquois are Canadian Indians, so celebrated in our war with the French in Canada. They are perhaps the most expert canoemen in the world, and were employed by Sir George Simpson and other governors of the Hudson’s Bay Company, in their journeys from Canada through the Hudson’s Bay territories, most of which were performed by water. Many stayed behind at the different forts, and at this day Iroquois half-breeds are met with at the Company’s forts even in British Columbia.
11According to the observations of Dr. Rae, with small aneroid barometer.
11According to the observations of Dr. Rae, with small aneroid barometer.
12Dr. Rae.
12Dr. Rae.
13Lieut. Palmer, R.E.
13Lieut. Palmer, R.E.
14See reports of Captain Palliser’s expedition, published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for 1860.
14See reports of Captain Palliser’s expedition, published in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for 1860.
15Journal of Royal Geographical Society for 1860; Dr. Hector’s Report.
15Journal of Royal Geographical Society for 1860; Dr. Hector’s Report.
16From the observations of Dr. Rae.
16From the observations of Dr. Rae.
17From the observations of Dr. Rae.
17From the observations of Dr. Rae.
18There is a most striking difference, however, between the general physique and features of the two sexes amongst the true Red Indians. The men are tall, and their features bold and prominent, the nose being generally Roman. The women are generally rather short, their faces rounder, and the nose squat. This difference was well shown in the case of The Assiniboine and his wife, of whom excellent portraits are given in the Frontispiece.
18There is a most striking difference, however, between the general physique and features of the two sexes amongst the true Red Indians. The men are tall, and their features bold and prominent, the nose being generally Roman. The women are generally rather short, their faces rounder, and the nose squat. This difference was well shown in the case of The Assiniboine and his wife, of whom excellent portraits are given in the Frontispiece.
19Chinook is a jargon which was invented by the Hudson’s Bay Company for the purpose of facilitating communication with the different Indian tribes. These were so numerous, and their languages so various, that the traders found it impossible to learn them all, and adopted the device of a judicious mixture of English, French, Russian, and several Indian tongues, which has a very limited vocabulary; but which, by the help of signs, is readily understood by all the natives, and serves as a common language.
19Chinook is a jargon which was invented by the Hudson’s Bay Company for the purpose of facilitating communication with the different Indian tribes. These were so numerous, and their languages so various, that the traders found it impossible to learn them all, and adopted the device of a judicious mixture of English, French, Russian, and several Indian tongues, which has a very limited vocabulary; but which, by the help of signs, is readily understood by all the natives, and serves as a common language.
20Vide“Prize Essay on British Columbia,” by the Rev. R. C. L. Brown, M.A., Minister of St. Mary’s, Lilloet.
20Vide“Prize Essay on British Columbia,” by the Rev. R. C. L. Brown, M.A., Minister of St. Mary’s, Lilloet.
21Vide“Overland Route to British Columbia,” by Henry Youle Hind, M.A., F.R.G.S., and “Narrative of Canadian Exploring Expedition,” by the same Author; also Captain Palliser’s Report in the “Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for 1860.”
21Vide“Overland Route to British Columbia,” by Henry Youle Hind, M.A., F.R.G.S., and “Narrative of Canadian Exploring Expedition,” by the same Author; also Captain Palliser’s Report in the “Journal of the Royal Geographical Society for 1860.”
22VideDr. Rathray, “Vancouver Island, and British Columbia.”
22VideDr. Rathray, “Vancouver Island, and British Columbia.”
23A grass-widow in America is a woman who has separated or been divorced from her husband.
23A grass-widow in America is a woman who has separated or been divorced from her husband.
(Larger)General Map of BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.
(Larger)
General Map of BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.