MOTHERHOOD IN THE WEST.

MOTHERHOOD in the West is as charming as it is in the East. The Canadian Occident yields not the palm to the lands of the Orient in the quaintness and beauty of its pictures and poems of domestic life.

Ceremonia Apache de Kiana

On a beautiful summer day we wandered among the lodges of the dwellers in the wilderness, in search of health and knowledge. The buffalo-skin lodges were richly painted, and scalp-locks hung adown their sides. Indian child-life sported freely upon the green sward of the prairie, heedless of any danger, and dogs innumerable, of many breeds and colors, howled and growled at the pale-faced intruders into the privacy of their domain.

The dodging of heads and the peering of eyes through the holes in the lodges made a welcome visit somewhat uncomfortable ; but there is no royal road to learning, so we must go the way of all the earth in gaining wisdom, even in an Indian camp. We might have chosen prettier spots, but we could not have found any more interesting. Upon the ground, outside of a beautifully painted buffalo-skin lodge, decorated by the hand of the Queen Mother of the lodge, sat a young woman, still under sweet sixteen, nursing a tender babe, snugly hidden within a neatly-embroidered moss-bag. With the becoming modesty of the Indian women, she hung her head as we passed by; and yet we could not help noticing the mother's smile upon her countenance, while upon ours might have been noticed a tinge of pity for the condition of bondage of one so young.

It was a chubby babe, with a fair countenance ; and we could not help admiring the papoose, and secretly encouraging the pride which dwelt in the young mother's heart. She was busily plying her needle, embroidering a pair of moccasins, apparently for her lord, judging from the size of them and their shape.

Not being desirous of intruding, we journeyed on until we reached the lodge of Strangling Wolf, an old friend, and, after the usual salutations, we glanced around the lodge to secure a seat from the curling smoke, which hung low, owing to the holes in the lodge, and, from experience, we cared not to try the experiment of standing up longer than our eyes could bear the pain of the smoke. Our talk resumed the wonted strain, narrating the news of the day, and then falling back upon the wonderful days of yore, so full of the romantic deeds of the brave ancestors of the red men. While thus beguiling the time, a faint cry was emitted from a tiny bundle near at hand, and a young woman, with a rueful countenance, turned around to wait upon her babe. We had known her as a young woman of a lively disposition, and were unable to account for the sudden change in her deportment; but we were not long left in mystery, for, as we watched her tending her charge, a smile flitted over our faces, when a second parcel moved, and emitted a sound similar to the first. Ah ! here was the secret of the sad countenance. An evil had befallen them in the shape of twins. What evil genius was presiding over their camp ? or why should the gods thus send sorrow upon them ? "Boys?" "No; worse than that, a thousandfold worse than twin boys. Twins ! Girls ! " The father morosely gazed upon the tiny strangers, who were unwelcome guests in that home; and not a merry heart was there in that lodge. Fain would we have lingered, but, beating a hasty retreat, we repaired homeward, musing by the way on the strange customs which prevail amongst different peoples of the earth. In a thoughtful mood we wandered, gathering the prairie flowers which grew in our path, when, upon raising our eyes, we beheld a native woman of less than thirty years, homeward plodding her weary way with her babe strapped upon her shoulders, as her hands were fully occupied, carrying two pails overflowing with water from the swift-flowing river. Poor drudge! And is there no help for her in this life and no hope ? Trudging along, she murmured not; and yet she was a victim of premature old age. An aged woman at less than thirty years ! It was she who had painted the scenes on the outside of the buffalo-skin lodge, so skilfully done, that the pale-faced stood in admiration listening to the interpretation of this book of history, which told the story of the heroism of her lord and master. It is ever thus Festal songs fell upon our ears, and we turned toward the lodge from whence they proceeded, to learn that young men and old were making merry over a victory, while the mothers sat around the camp dressing hides, cooking food, and smoking their tiny pipes. These were not the peace pipes or the medicine pipes of the men, but the small pipes usually owned by the women. The children gathered near, and the urchins gently took the pipes from their mother's hands, delighted to take a whiff or two, and then to resume their sport.

And such is life!

The dull monotonous beating of the medicine man's drum awakened us from the reverie into which we had fallen, when gazing upon the scene of the camp, and we slowly wended our way toward the lodge of sorrow. A frail woman sat nursing a sick child, and sad and careworn was that gentle face of the native woman. Her mother's heart beat for her darling in his sickness, and she mourned because he rallied not. Oftentimes had the pale-faced ladies asked "solemnly and sincerely, "Do the Indian mothers love their children ? " Behold, for answer, the tears tricklingadown that mother's face. Soon, alas! too soon; the little form will be wrapped up in its blanket robe, and laid to rest in the crotch of a tree, mourned by the sad woman who sits in the lodge.

The sun was fast sinking as we hastened homeward, anxious to cross the turbulent stream before darkness had quite fallen upon us, but we suddenly ceased our rapid pace to listen to the Indian woman's coronach, as it floated upon the evening air. A poor woman paced to-and-fro, singing a sad wailing song, in which we could detect the name of her offspring, and the pathetic words, "Come back! Come back to me!"

Slowly we approached to add our sympathy, and there stood none other than our loved friend Apawakas, with hair unkempt and cut short, bereft of her clean native dress, clothed in an old dirty garment, and without any covering for her head or feet, she stood for a moment, and then slowly paced to-and-fro, uttering the sad wail for her lost child. Her sole garment reached a little below the knee, and we saw with grief the clotted blood upon her legs.

Responsive to the customs of her people, her legs had been cut with a knife and the blood, as it trickled down, was allowed to remain. Her left hand she held transfixed, and then we saw that one of the fingers had been cut off by the first joint. Within the palm of the hand was placed a piece of wood to keep the fingers in position, and some wood ashes had been sprinkled over the bloody member. Unwashen, shunned and in deep sorrow, Apawakas sought the place where her dead child had been laid, and sang the Indian coronach.

With saddened hearts we sought repose that night, grateful that our lot had been cast in a brighter part of our fair Dominion.

HEAD GEAR.

Hats and caps are very necessary articles of clothing, worn and appreciated by all the civilized nations, and by many of the savage tribes of men. Every nation has its own peculiar style of head-dress—from the Oriental turban to the distinctive cap of the patriotic Scot.

Even different stations in life are designated by the style of hat worn. The jester's "sugar-loaf" cap with its bell, the clerical "wide awake," the military "helmet," the jolly tar's "bonnet and ribbons," and the Romish "cardinal's hat," whose color denoted that he was ready to "spill his blood for the sake of Jesus Christ."

There was a period in the Roman history when the wearer of a hat was a free man, and the slave was prohibited from having any covering on his head.

Amongst the Indian tribes, the head was oftentimes uncovered, some wearing long hair, ornamented with various kinds of finery, and the scalp painted. Others did not allow the hair to grow long, but plucked it out by the roots, or rubbed a heated stone upon the scalp, destroying the hair, leaving a portion of the crown divided into two parts, which were braided and fastened with ribbons.

When going to feasts the hair was fantastically decorated, and much pride taken in having it properly arranged. Carelessness in this, however, as in other matters, was prevalent amongst the red men, as well as the more-highly privileged people of the earth.

There are chaplets, made of twigs and leaves woven together, worn by the young men undergoing torture at the sun dance of the Black feet. When the native priest is preparing a young man to fulfil his vow to the sun, he takes the chaplet in his left hand, and passes his right hand above and around it four times, muttering some prayers as he performs the ceremony. When he has finished this consecration of the chaplet he places it on the head of the young man. Here is a wreath for the Indian hero who has been successful in his war exploits, and has fitted himself to stand before the medicine pole to offer his sacrifice to the sun. It is not the crown of the runner in the Grecian Games, but it is as sacred, if not more so, in the eyes of the red men of the plains.

The war cap, with its long glowing pendant of eagles* feathers, and its strange besons, is a treasure that can seldom be purchased by the white man, for its proud owner boasts of his prowess, and declares with the utmost complacency, that so long as he wears this prize he is invincible in war. I have gazed upon the war bonnets of the Sioux and Blackfoot Indians. I have wished that for a time they could speak, so they might declare, the story of their wanderings, the history of the wars and thrilling adventures of the people, and thus give an insight into the customs of a race whose civilization is rapidly passing away before the advancing strides of the white race. The eagle feathers worn in the hair or cap were used to denote acts of courage or success in war. They had significant markings, designating the fact of the wearer having been wounded with an arrow or gun, an enemy having been killed by him, and other acts of bravery. The wearing of the feather was a privilege enjoyed by warriors. Besons, or charms, were worn by the Blackfeet upon the head, consisting of the heads or bodies of birds or animals, representing the tutelary spirit of the wearer. They were believed to afford protection in time of danger and to ensure success.

As I sat in a lodge of one of my native friends he took out his bonnet, placed it on my head and explained the several parts of it. Taking from his medicine bag the head of a squirrel, and fastening it on the front of the head-dress, he said that in war there was given to him power, through the virtue of this charm, which would make him invincible. The warriors might pursue him, and his enemies discharge their rifles, but the bullets would pass by on either side and leave him unhurt. The tail feathers of the eagle were fastened to the pendant, as proof of the prowess of the man. The bonnet was made to fit the head of the wearer, and the pendant was about three feet long. The influences of modern civilization have introduced the head dresses of the white people. Upon the heads of the natives may be seen the cowboy's sombrero, the soft felt hat, with the crown cut into shreds falling over the sides of the hat, affording ventilation and adding a new style of ornament, ministering to the vanity of the brave; the "stove-pipe" hat, decked with various colored ribbons; and the fur cap, which has in former years covered the brain of some worthy judge in the east.

Whilst attending an Indian feast some years ago amongst the Piegan Indians, I could hardly retain my gravity when

I saw an old Indian with a large Scotch cap of the Tam o' Shanter style, amongst the singers in the lodge. Instead of the gentle strains of "Ye Banks and Braes o' Bonnie Doon," there fell upon my ears the native greeting, "Hi! hi!" and the monotonous music of the camps.

Native head-dresses, made of sweet grass braided, are worn by the men. The Blackfoot and the Cree women have no covering for their heads. Within the past few years some of them wrap a handkerchief over the head, and this is the only thing which I have seen worn among them.

One of the strangest caps made came under my observation a short time ago. When I entered a chiefs lodge, and had been shown my seat, there sat beside me a large goose, so lifelike that I concluded a native taxidermist had arisen in the land of the lodges. Lifting it gently in my hands, I soon learned that it was a new hat, made for the chief by one of his wives!

The ladies of the towns and cities who delight to wear in their hats the feathered songsters of the woods need dote no longer on their ability to follow the fashions, for the red man can far excel in the variety of his head-dress, of which he feels proud.

The young men of the camp are very careful of their hair, often spending more than an hour combing and braiding it. They wear their hair long among the western tribes, and the front of it is cut short and combed down on the forehead, or allowed to grow upright, or rolled in a ball and fastened in front by some ornament. The ends of the plaits of hair are fastened with thread, small ribbon or a piece of fur, and ornaments, consisting of brass beads or any handy article, are placed in it. The wheels of an old brass clock, and even the disc of a pendulum, have been used for this purpose.

Horns were used among some of the tribes by the chiefs as symbolic of power. Masks were also worn resting on the head, and sometimes covering the whole face, for the purpose of amusement, as the false face of the white people, or for shamanistic purposes. The half-breeds cut their hair to half length, between that worn by the white men and Indians, without thinning it, so that it is very thick, and for head-dresses they wear generally common cloth or fur caps or small felt hats.

The masks worn by the Haidas for dancing are made of wood, ornamented with mother-of-pearl. They are fastened on the head, and are ornamented with feathers; while from behind, hanging down to the feet, is a strip of cloth about two feet wide, covered with ermine skins. These masks represent the human face and birds.

Upon ordinary occasions, when uninfluenced by civilization, the natives of the west wear no covering on the head, but deck their hair with the hair of animals dyed. Rapidly, however, are they imitating the white people in their styles of head-dress.

AMULETS.

Savage tribes have ever lived in superstitious dread of the powers of nature, afraid of spirits dwelling in stones, rivers, caves, trees and mountains, and this fear has caused them to resort to means of propitiating the spirits and ensuring protection in times of danger. It is but a step from security, safety from the evils which may afflict body, mind and soul inflicted by the spirits, to that of protection against human foes, and obtaining power to peer into the future and find articles which are lost. Hence arose the origin of fetiches, amulets, and talismans.

The fetich is generally an object in nature supposed to possess great power for good or evil, which becomes worthy of veneration, and is therefore worshipped. Through the help of the fetich protection against danger is secured, and assistance given to the worshipper in the performance of certain acts. Sometimes the fetich is a representation of some natural object, and then it is closely allied to the amulet or charm.

The amulet is essentially a charm deposited in the home or carried about the person, as a household god, or a tutelary spirit.

Savage people have not been alone in their attempts to invoke the aid of the dwellers in the realm of spirits, for there linger survivals of stages of savagery among the civilized races of men

The Oriental races have, from earliest times, believed in the use of charms as a preservative against evil.

The Greeks and Romans made their amulets of gems, necklaces of coral and shells, and crowns of pearls.

In Ireland the sick were passed by their friends through the " girdle of St. Bridget," that they might be healed; red thread, which is symbolic of lightning, was placed on churns to prevent the milk from being bewitched and yielding no butter.

Brand says: " About children's necks the wild Irish hung the beginning of St. John's Gospel, a crooked nail of a horseshoe, or a piece of a wolf's skin, and both the suckling child and nurse were girt with girdles, finely plaited with woman's hair."

Spells and incantations were in frequent use among the Irish, suryivals lingering still in some of the country districts. The genius of Sir Walter Scott seized upon many of these survivals in Scotland, revealing superstition allied with intellectual power. As the Great Unknown lay sick, his piper, John Bruce, spent a whole Sabbath selecting twelve stones from twelve south-running streams that his master might sleep on them and be healed. Not wishing to hurt the feelings of the good man he caused him to be informed that the recipe was infallible, but that it might prove infallible, it was necessary that they be wrapped in the petticoat of a widow who wished never to marry again. The Highland piper gave up the pursuit in despair.

Medical folk-lore gives many interesting facts relating to cures effected through the superstitious belief of persons in the efficacy of harmless objects.

Lady Duff Gordon once gave an old Egyptian woman a powder wrapped up in a fragment of the Saturday Review. She informed her benefactress that although she had not been able to wash off all the fine writing on the paper, the small amount she had scraped off and taken had done her a great deal of good.

A NATIVE FISHING CAMP ON SLAVE RIVER.

As great faith as this was shown by a laborer who came to Dr. John Brown, of Edinburgh, and received a prescription from him, with the injunction, "Take that, and come back in a fortnight, when you will be well." At the end of that time the patient returned with a happy countenance and perfectly well. Dr. Brown was pleased, and said, "Let me see what I gave you."

"Oh, I took it, doctor," said the man.

"Yes, I know you did; but where is the prescription?"

"I swallowed it," he replied.

He had made a pill of the paper and taken it, with the belief that it would cure him.

In the north-east of Scotland it is believed that you can increase the supply of milk at your neighbor's expense, by gathering the dew off his pasture and rinsing the milk-pans with it.

In Shetland it is customary to call in the help of one of the wise folk who understand the art of casting the "urested thread," to cure a sprain. A thread spun from black wool, having nine knots in it, is tied around the sprained leg or arm, and while performing this act the wise person utters some unintelligible words. In Chambers' "Fireside Stories" we read : " During the time the operator is putting the thread around the afflicted limb he says, but in such a. tone of voice as not to be heard by the bystanders, nor even by the person operated upon: ' The Lord rade, and the foal slade; he lighted and he righted; set joint to joint, bone to bone, and sinew to sinew. Heal, in the Holy Ghost's name !'"

Witches in Scotland, it was thought, could supply themselves with the milk of their neighbor's cows if they had a small quantity of hair from the tail of each animal. They would twist the hair into a rope and tie a knot on it for each animal which had supplied some hair.

In the National Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is a "flat, oblong stone, four inches long by two and three-quarters wide, and less than a quarter of an inch in thickness, notched on the sides, and pierced with two holes, one and a half inches apart, formerly used as a charm for the cure of diseases in Islay, Argyleshire."

Belief in charms remains in some parts of England, survivals of superstition of former days. It was believed in the north of England that the hangman's rope was a certain remedy for headache. In Hampshire a sure cure for ague was effected by running a thread through nine or eleven snails, saying as each snail was threaded, "Here I leave my ague." After being threaded the snails were held over the fire until they were frizzled, and as they were destroyed the ague disappeared. A common remedy in England for the cure of warts was to tie as many knots in a hair as there were warts, and to throw the hair away. Boys going in to swim tied the skin of an eel about the naked leg to prevent cramp.*

Belief in charms is prevalent among other tribes and races not enjoying such an advanced stage of civilization as the inhabitants of the nations mentioned. The Dutch missionaries found among the Papuans a belief in a universal spirit, represented by various malevolent powers residing in the woods, clouds, sea and storm. These lesser deities were ever ready to inflict injury on men; and the people, to secure protection against their attacks, erected rude images which represented their dead ancestors, whose spirits were supposed to reside in them. The male figures held a spear and shield, and the females a snake. These fetiches were worshipped, and the people resorted to them for safety against the attacks of their nature gods.

Medical charms are used by the Afghans. A remedy for jaundice consists of a twig from a fig tree cut into forty pieces, breathed upon by the wise men, strung together, and hung around the neck of the sick man. The patient is enjoined to abstain from food for about ten days. During a thunderstorm drums are beaten that the person sick with small-pox may not hear the thunder, lest he might become deaf. Amulets, with strange figures written upon them by the medicine men, are hung around the neck or fastened upon the bedpost, that the sickness may be driven away.

The native priest among the negroes of the Gold Coast ties a parcel of ropes, coral and other articles around the head, arms, legs and body of the new-born infant, that it may be protected against accidents and disease. The witches of Lapland sold magic cords, having a number of knots, by opening which the shipmasters could obtain, according to directions, the kind of wind they desired. They confessed that they tied a linen towel with three knots in the name of the devil, spat upon them, and then called the name of him who was doomed to destruction.

Among the American Indians, belief in amulets is universal. Sacred cords, medicine head-dresses and shirts, and various

BIRD AMULET OF STONE (HALF DIAMETER).

kinds of articles worn upon the person or applied to it, are supposed to ensure protection against enemies and disease.

During a period of sickness in our Blood Indian camp, as I sat in one of the lodges, an old medicine-man had the people send their children to him. As they stood near him, he took a garment which had been prayed over, and rubbed the body of each, omitting not a single part. They were then supposed to be fully protected from an attack of the prevailing disease. Amulets of birds and animals were fastened upon the headdresses of the warriors, to protect them in times of danger. Men and women wore small bags around their necks, containing charms, to protect them against disease and the evil deeds of their enemies, and to help them to foretell the future, or find anything which they had lost.

Ceremonial objects of stone have been found in the Huron ossuaries in Canada, in great abundance. A large number of them are made of Huronian slate. These ceremonial stones are shaped in the form of animals, birds, butterflies, bars, axes, and other objects in nature and art. Some of them are good specimens of native manufacture, evidencing the skill of the workers, and the value set upon these relics. Generally they have a hole in them for the insertion of a handle for suspension to some part of the person. Some of these, if not the most of them, must have been used as amulets.

Visitors to the camps of the natives would never observe them, as they were, in general, worn next the skin, and hidden from view by the garments. This is the case at the present day among the Crees and Blackfoots with the personal

BIRD AMULET (FULL SIZE).

amulet, which must be distinguished from the charm used at dances, feasts, the sun dance, and in times of war and sickness.

A few personal charms have I seen during my residence among the Indians, and these were shown me by those who were my dearest friends. The amulet was carried in a small bag, or in the pocket, by women after adopting the dress of the white people. Some of the women among the tribes of British Columbia still carry about their person the amulet, which is never exposed to the gaze of another, will not be sold, or, if lost, makes the person very unhappy.

Some of the stone relics were, no doubt, used as amulets, and others for the purpose of adornment. We seldom read in books written by travellers of these ceremonial stone objects, because they would never be permitted to see them, nor make a drawing of them. A good collection of these stone relics can be seen in the museum of the Canadian Institute, Toronto, in various stages of manufacture, and from different localities in the Dominion.*

A pictograph, drawn by the Dakota Indians near Fort Snelling, Minnesota, exhibits an article resembling a war-club, with a handle, held by an Indian in an upright position in front of another Indian, who has a drawn bow directed toward his enemy. Evidently the ceremonial war-club was used as an amulet to protect the possessor in the hour of danger.

Regarding this pictograph, Colonel Mallery says: " The head of the fetich is a grooved stone hammer of moderate size,

BIRD AMULET (HALF DIAMETER).

measuring from an inch and a half to as much as five inches in length. A withe is tied about the middle of the hammer in the groove provided for the purpose, having a handle of from two to four feet in length. The latter is frequently wrapped with buckskin or rawhide to strengthen it, as well as for ornamental purposes. Feathers attached bear mnemonic marks or designs, indicating marks of distinction, perhaps fetichistic devices, not understood. These objects are believed to possess the peculiar charm of warding off an enemy's missiles when held upright before the body. In the pictograph made by the Dakota Indian, the manner of holding it, as well as the act of shooting an arrow by an enemy, is shown with considerable clearness The interpretation was explained by the draftsman himself. Properties are attributed to this instrument similar to those of the small bags prepared by the shaman, which are carried suspended from the neck by means of strings or buckskin cords."

Ceremonial axes and hammers have been dug up in localities inhabited by the Indians in Canada, made of stone so fragile that they could not be used for offensive purposes. We would judge from their construction that they were employed as amulets, protecting them from the attacks of their enemies. Beads of malachite were used by the Apaches, a bead of this "blue stone," or mineral, being attached to a bow or gun, would make it shoot accurately. To it belonged also the power of bringing rain, and of helping the medicine man in his art of healing and divination. Our western Indians have been known to wear around their necks stones made of various shapes. Diseased children in Brittany were wont to be passed through the dalmeus in order to effect a cure.

Amulets were sometimes made of bone. Among the Blackfeet I have seen necklaces, made of the bones of animals, worn by the men. Necklaces were also made of bears' claws. Sometimes a child's dress was ornamented with bears' teeth, which seemed to be for the purpose of adornment, although I have sometimes thought that they might have served also as a charm. Some of the articles were used as ornaments more than amulets, .as I was allowed to touch them, and they were worn on all -occasions. They were not held as sacred as the amulet worn next the body or carried in the small bag. Bones are sometimes found in Indian localities in Central Ontario and in the North-West, with perforations. Some of these I have seen used among the Blackfeet for the purpose of making strings of leather. The Indian women used various implements of bone in preparing hides, making moccasins and other articles for wear. Holes were made in bone to be used as charms. Pieces of human skulls were also carried on the person, having holes made in them for suspension. As the native lover carried .about with him an image of the maiden he wooed, having holes

in it, and when absent in the forest took a small piece of wood, inserting it in the hole representing the heart, believing that the young woman would have her heart touched, yearning after him and returning his love, may there not have been a similar reason, said to be entertained at the present time among the Indians of Cape Croker, for the existence of these perforations in the bones, some of them believing that the holes stuffed with poisonous substances would enable the operator to generate disease or work evil upon the bodies of persons who were at enmity with him. The trepanned skulls give evidence of a belief in persons being possessed by spirits when they were sick, as in epilepsy, and the perforations were made in the skulls to permit the expulsion of the spirit. The persons who survived this treatment were looked upon as mystical people, and when they died, portions of the skull were worn as amulets. Fragments of human skulls were worn as ornaments, as well as amulets.

The Apaches made amulets of lightning-struck wood, generally pine, cedar or fir from the tops of the mountains, which was shaven fine and made to resemble the human form. These were fastened to the cradles of infants and around the necks of children, and sometimes they were carried in the phylacteries of the men. The Ojibway, Sioux and other tribes made medicine-bags of human skin and necklaces of fingers of their enemies, which they used for talismanic purposes. Lingams, made of burnt clay, are worn by the women of some of the tribes of British Columbia, who also carry on their person little images made of stone, wood or cloth, symbolic of the giver of life.*

Amulets have been made of gold and other metals among the various races of men, but iron has gained the prominence as a charm against witchcraft and disease. The Romans drove nails into the walls of their cottages as security against the plague.

Because of the popular belief in horses as luck-bringers, and the finding of old iron as a good omen, there, in all likelihood, arose the use of the horseshoe as a talisman protecting the home and the persons inhabiting it from the evil influences of witches and the powers of evil. The crescent shape of the horseshoe added to the popular belief in its virtue. During the latter part of the last century, and the beginning of the present, a horseshoe was nailed over the threshold of most of the houses in the west of London, England, but most of these had disappeared about the middle of the present century.

Lord Nelson nailed a horseshoe to the mast of the Victory.

This popular belief is found among the superstitious of several countries, and has widely spread over Canada and the United States.

Amongst the early settlers in the Bay of Quinte District, Ontario, the fireside tales related on the long winter evenings were oftentimes of that weird character which made the listeners tremble as they journeyed homeward in the darkness, through rough paths in the backwoods. The sighing of the wind became the voice of a ghost, and the woods were peopled with elves, which the heated imagination of the backwoodsman saw or heard among the trees. The horseshoe was placed over the door of the cottage of the early settler as a protection against evil; and when some witch was injuring the health or destroying the property belonging to himself or one of his friends, the horseshoe was made red-hot and plunged into a vessel containing cream ready to be churned, which was believed to be effectual in breaking the charm. Medicine-cords, head-dresses, bags and shirts, with symbolic designs, were used by some of the native tribes as amulets. These were used in religious feasts, some of them being employed in a public manner that the spectators could see, but they were sacred, and none but those qualified would be allowed to touch them. Amulets were sometimes placed in the vicinity of the lodge, as well as on the person, to afford protection from disease.

The Rev. Mr. Cowley, Anglican clergyman, laboring among the Cree Indians, mentions a case of this kind which came

under his observation. He says: "One day I saw something hanging on a tree, and went to look at it. It consisted of twenty small rods, peeled and painted red and black, and fastened together in a plane with cords of bark. A piece of tobacco was placed between the tenth and eleventh rods, and the whole was suspended perpendicularly from a branch of the tree. It belonged to the old chief, who told me that when he

INDIAN COPPER ORNAMENT, WITH NATIVE COPPER BEADS (FULL SIZE).

was a young man he lay down to dream, and that, in his dream, the moon spoke to him, and told him to make this charm, and to renew it every new moon, that he might have a long life. He had regularly done so ever since till the preceding summer, when he almost forgot it, and was taken so ill as to be near dying; but he remembered it, his friends did it for him, and he recovered."

Talismans were worn in Naples and Pompeii for the purpose of averting- the influence of the evil eye, and a red hand is stamped on walls by the Arabs in Palestine, to the present day, for the same purpose.

The love powder of the Ojibways was believed to possess the power of compelling persons to love each other, and the hunter's powder of the same people ensured success to the native on his hunting expedition.

Charms were believed to aid the wearer in curing the sick, enable him to And lost articles, peer into the future, foresee the approach of an enemy, bring rain upon the parched crops, and give strength unto the man who trusted in them. Indeed, the faith of the natives in their amulets was so strong that they relied upon them in almost every circumstance, assured that they would be able to overcome any enemy, avert every danger and live happy lives. They were unhappy when they lost them. Many of these superstitions linger amongst all classes in civilized and savage stages of society, showing us how nearly we are related to each other in our popular belief and practice.

DREAMS.

There have been other dreamers as well as the immortal Tinker of Bedford jail. Midnight visions have come to the weary brain of savage and civilized men, as revelations from the spirit land which they could not enter and live. The airy nothings have been real things to our forefathers, and even at the present time men of science are listening intently and striving to interpret the misty shadows of dreamland. Dreaming is a kind of physiological delirium, which takes place when the person is sleeping lightly, and may be induced by a train of ideas preceding the dream. Tile judgment and will are held in suspense, the most fantastic scenes passing before the mind of the most sedate. Generally a slight impression is made upon the memory, and not more than one dream can be remembered which has taken place during one period of sleeping. Sometimes important problems have been solved in dreams, but nothing ever occurs which has not in some way been the possession of the individual.

Science has overthrown many of the superstitions which lingered around dreamland, and dependence upon these dark enchantments has been overthrown ; still there remains, amid all our unbelief, a yearning after the mysteries of the spirit realm,, and we are sometimes influenced in a great measure by the-nature of these fancies of the brain. The dreams of the savage intensified his belief in his nature-gods, and though many of these might not be fulfilled, the single dream realized was sufficient to strengthen his belief. And the savage is not alone im giving credit to the phantasies of the brain upon the same planj. for let a single dream be realized, and we are believers in. dreams, no matter how many have never been fulfilled.

The medicine man of the Apaches is believed to be in communication with spirits, who have selected him when a young man for the position. Each of the shamans or medicine men, has his familiar spirit, who appears to him in a dream, and becomes his counsellor and guide.

Dr. Corbusier says: "It conducts him on a long journey east through the spirit land, in order to initiate him into its mysteries. This journey consumed several nights, the spirit, returning night after night, providing the man be found worthy to continue it until completed. His faith, secrecy, and endurance are tested on these occasions.

"Soon after they start, a great mountain intercepts them, and' those meet him who endeavor to turn him back by telling him that the journey is a perilous one, and that the mountain is too high for him to cross, and he cannot go through it, as it is solid rock, but the spirit encourages him and informs him it is only-earth and he can go through it. If he has faith in what the spirit tells him, and makes the attempt, he easily penetrates the mountain.

"Beyond it they have to cross eight parallel rivers. They then enter a delightful country, the abode of spirits, who occupy houses which face the rising sun. Farther on he visits the beautiful and silent woman, who lives alone in a round white house, the roof of which is formed of the rainbow, and the door faces the east and sparkles under the rays of the rising sun. Here he sees many beautiful rattles, and is taught the use of them. He at length reaches sunrise, and beholds the all-wise and truthful spirit, Se-ma-che, who dwells there. From him he learns how to cure pain, heal wounds, make charms, etc.

"The man is bound to secrecy until he reaches sunrise, when his journey ends, and he is at liberty to proclaim himself a medicine man or pasemache. After this his familiar spirit visits him only when he invokes its aid in chants, accompanied by the rattling of a gourd containing some pebbles."

The spirit of the Navajo shaman, in his dreams, travels to the land of spirits where all is silent, and returns to find the world restored in beauty.

The Blackfoot youth, impressed in his dreams with the idea that he is destined to become a medicine man, sallies forth into the recesses of the mountains', or the secluded coulees, where alone he fasts and prays until he has a vision, which reveals to him his guardian spirit, and the animal in which he dwells. Awaking from his vision he pursues the animal until he kills it, and having stuffed it, preserves it, that he may consult it in times of war and in his duties as medicine man. By the help of the guardian spirit he believes that he can find herbs to help him cure the sick, foretell the future, discover lost articles, and be successful in the art of healing.

The same custom prevails among the Cree Indians.

The Osage Indians believe that dreams are caused through the visits of invisible agents, good and evil, and they are therefore elated or depressed, according to the nature of their dream.

Hunter says that in momentous times, such as the declaration of war, the conclusion of peace and the prevalence of epidemics, the medicine men " impose on themselves long fastings and severe penance; take narcotic and nauseating drugs, envelop themselves entirely in several layers of skins, without any regard to the temperature of the season; and, in a perspiring and suffocating condition, are carried by the people into one of the public lodges, or to some sacred place, where they remain, without the slightest interruption, in a delirium or deep sleep, till the potency of the drug is exhausted. After the performance of this ceremony, while the body is much debilitated, and the mind partially deranged, they proclaim their dreams or phantasms to the astonished multitude as the will or commands of the Great Spirit, made known to them through their intercourse with his ministering agents.

"These pretended oracles are always unfolded in equivocal language, or are made to depend on contingencies; so that if they should not comport with the events which follow, they can charge it to the ignorance or misconduct of the Indians themselves; which is often done, with an assurance and cunning that secures their reputation not only against attack, but even suspicion. They usually predict such things as in the natural order of events would be most likely to take place; such, for instance, as changes in the weather, abundance or scarcity of game, visits from strangers, marriage, sickness, death, etc., and it is perfectly consistent with the doctrine of chances that they should, as they often do, turn out correct. The Indians, however, never take this view of the subject, but, in general, give full credit to the pretensions or absurd ability of their prophets."

The dead relations or enemies who appear to the savage in his eerie visions are real things to him. The foes he contends with, the wild animals he meets and his journey to the spirit land are actual things to him. Schoolcraft says of the Indian mind: "A dream or a fact is alike patent to it." It is his shadow, the other self of the man that engages in these conflicts and travels on these journeys to the land of spirits.

It is evident that the Mound-Builders, from the places where the dream-gods were located with the clan totems, were strong believers in dreams. The belief of the savage that his other self could leave his body in sleep was akin to the possibility of dead friends coming to visit them in their dreams, and demons drawn into the soul with the breath.

Sneezing and yawning were to the savage mind proofs of the nearness of spirits, so that when they sneezed they uttered an invocation to ward them off. The Indians of North-western Canada are afraid of their dead relations, believing that, although they have gone to the Sand Hills, they frequently return.

The Blood Indians have told me that they sometimes hear the spirits in the woods at night hooting like an owl, and they will come to a lodge demanding a smoke. A pipe is then filled and put outside the lodge for the spirits to smoke, and as they are no longer material they do not consume the tobacco, but take the spirit of the tobacco.

Some of my native friends have cautioned me to be careful when passing trees at night where the bodies of the dead were deposited, lest they might attack me, and in order to protect myself have instructed me to whistle or shoot my gun that I might frighten them away.

But the savage is not alone in his belief in dreams, as is shown by the modern dream-books consulted by the peasantry, and the joy experienced by us when a pleasant dream has come to us ; for, while the remembrance of it is retained, it is a real thing to us. Most of us have apparent good faith in marvel and myth, and the old stories of our forefathers are repeated in new forms, although we pride ourselves in our freedom from the power of the enchanting vision.

The youthful Ojibway blackens his face with charcoal and builds a lodge of cedar boughs in a secluded spot, where he fasts and prays until he is thrown into an ecstasy, and beholds in his vision his familiar spirit.

The desire to peer into the future and to learn the secrets of the land of spirits caused the savage to betake himself to this method of sending out his other self in dreams to explore the unseen world. Among the native tribes of Canada there arose the practice of sorcery, and a class of shamans who might fitly be named dreamers, whose object was to behold in visions the mysteries forbidden to the common people. The Apaches consult their guardian spirits in dreams that they may find articles which have been lost.

Dr. Corbusier relates an instance of this kind: "A Yavape Indian related to me how one of them found for him a blanket that had been stolen from his uwah. He first presented the man with a buckskin, then described the blanket, told him where he had left it and on what night it was taken. The man went to sleep in order to question his ' familiar.' He had instructed three Indians that when he clapped his hands they must hold him to the ground, with his arms extended at right angles with his body, so that when the spirit came it could not carry him off. They did as he directed, and when he awoke he said that the blanket had been pulled out of the back of the uwah by a man, who buried it in a hole which he had dug in his own uwah, and left it there until the following night, when he dug it up and went in a roundabout way to a certain tree quite a distance off, in which he hid it among the branches. The Indian went to the tree indicated and in it found his blanket.

Charlevoix mentions the fact of some of the tribes in Canada fasting in order that they might have dreams about the animals they were going to hunt, in which they saw the animals and the place where they were to be found. When they had decided to go to war, the leader consulted his familiar spirit in dreams. After starting on the warpath, before entering the territory of the enemy, they held a great feast, and then went to sleep. Those who had dreams went from tent to tent and from fire to fire singing their death songs, in which were incorporated their dreams. After the ceremony was concluded no more fires were lighted and no one spoke except by signs.

Among the Iroquois there prevailed a belief in a race of demons called False-faces, who possessed the power to injure the living. In order to propitiate these evil spirits there was formed a secret organization, called the False-face band. Any person desirous of becoming a member of this organization must have had a dream to that effect and then give a feast, having informed the proper person of his dream ; and the same things were necessary for anyone who was anxious to cease being a member. When a sick person dreamed that he saw a False-face, it was interpreted that it was through the agency of the band of False-faces that he was to be cured.

The position in sleep has something to do with the nature of the dream. Sleeping on the back produces disagreeable dreams, and it has been stated by observers that sleeping on the right side begets reminiscences which are old, and the dreams are apt to be exaggerated, full of vivacity, childish and absurd. When verses are composed during sleep in this position, although they may be correct in form, are lacking in sense, the moral faculties being at work, and the intellectual faculties dormant. Sleeping on the left side the dreams are more intelligent and are concerned with matters of recent date.

Under the influence of dreams have grown religious beliefs and ceremonies. The natives of Canada are depressed when no familiar spirit has been revealed to them, but so soon as there comes a revelation of this kind they become courageous. Among the Delawares sacrificial feasts were held, during which one of the natives danced and sang songs, in which were included some of his dreams. When a boy dreamed that he had seen a large bird of prey, as large as a man, flying northward, which said to him, " Roast some meat for me," he was under obligations to sacrifice the first bear or deer which he killed to that bird. An elaborate ceremony was performed in connection with this sacrifice, and men were appointed to sing their dreams «'it certain times during the feast.

The Zulu believes that when he dreams of deceased relations, it is proof that they are alive, and it is dangerous to awaken a man in a dream, because of the possible absence of his soul, whereby he would die. The Navajo Indians believe in the necessity of having dreams to make known unto them the animals they will be able to kill in their hunting expeditions, and without these dreams they will not become successful hunters. Among the Omaha and other Indian tribes mystery songs are given in dreams.

There have been notable dreams, which have exercised an influence on society and individuals, especially those of Joseph and Nebuchadnezzar. Through some striking dream the whole tenor of the life has been changed.

The biographer of Elizabeth Fry records the influence of a dream as follows: " A curious dream followed her almost nightly, and filled her with terror. She imagined herself to be in danger of being washed away by the sea, and as the waves approached her she experienced all the horror of being drowned. But after she came to the deciding point, or, as she expressed it, ' felt that she had really and truly got real faith,' she was lifted up in her dream above the waves. Secure upon a rock, above their reach, she watched the water as it tossed and roared, but powerless to hurt her. The dream no more recurred; the struggle was ended, and thankful calm became her portion."

Bunyan says: "For often after I had spent this and the other day in sin, I have in my bed been greatly afflicted, while asleep, with the apprehension of devils and evil spirits, who still, as I then thought, labored to draw me away with them, of which I could never be rid."

John Newton believed that God sent him the dream of a precious ring entrusted to his care, afterwards thrown away, and restored to him by a stranger, which led him to become a new man.

Dr. Legge recounts the belief of the Chinese in dreams. From the Charge to Yueh, Minister of Wuting, B.C. 1324-12G4, there reads, "The king said, while I was reverently thinking of the right, I dreamt that God gave me a good assistant who should speak for me. He then minutely recalled the appearance (of the person) and caused search to be made for him everywhere by means of a picture. Yueh, a builder in the wild country of Fu-gen, was found like to it. On this the king made Yueh his Prime Minister, keeping him also at his side."

Homer said that dreams came from Jove, and Tertullian that they were sent by God.

Some famous men have been indebted for their highest ideas to dreams. Lawyers have written out opinions on complicated cases which have come to them during sleep. Problems have been solved by students of mathematics. Poets have composed poems, and sermons have been preached in the visions of the night.

Coleridge relates the fact of having read of a palace built by Khan Kubla in "Purchas' Pilgrimage," and then retired to sleep. He remained to sleep about three hours, during which time he composed not less than two or three hundred lines. When he awoke he sat down to write out the poem, but before it was finished he was called away, and when he returned, the remaining lines had utterly vanished from his memory. The fragment of Kubla Khan remains as a marvellous poem, composed in his dream.

Sir Walter Scott mentions, in his notes to the "Antiquary," the case of a man who was sorely troubled about the payment of some tithe money, which he believed was unjustly charged, having a confused recollection that his father had discharged the debt before he died. In his dreams he thought the shade of his father appeared to him and inquired the cause of his grief, whereupon he stated the facts of his case. The shade of his father told him that the papers were in the possession of an aged lawyer, who was living retired at Inveresk, and that he must seek him out, but as the transaction had occurred several years ago, he would no doubt have forgotten it. He was instructed to call to remembrance the fact that this was the only transaction the lawyer had on his account, and to inform him of the circumstance, that when the father went to pay the account, there was some difficulty in getting change for a Portugal piece of gold, and they repaired to a tavern and drank, out the balance of the account. He sought out the aged lawyer, who had forgotten about the affair until the Portugal gold piece was mentioned, and through this recollection the papers were found and handed over, and then carried to Edinburgh to prove the case.

The Japanese hang their dream pictures in their shrines. When a man dreams of a visit from a fox, which is the messenger of the god Inari, it means good fortune, and he expresses his gratitude by hanging up a picture of his dream. One of these dream pictures represent a sickly woman asleep under a mattress, and a great dream proceeding from her neck. She dreams that she sees herself sitting by her fire-box, when the paper sides are suddenly broken through by an enormous serpent, who seems about to swallow her with his gaping jaws. This woman is a worshipper of the goddess Benten, whose messenger is a snake, and in her dream the snake has swallowed her disease, and the woman is cured.*

Thus we see that civilized and savage alike are influenced by the phantasms of a weary brain. One of the most striking dreams was that of Alexander Duff on the Judgment:

"In vision he beheld numbers without numbers summoned where the Judge was seated on the Great White Throne. He saw the human race advance in succession to the tribunal. He heard sentence pronounced upon men—some condemned to everlasting punishment, others ordained to everlasting life. He was seized with indescribable terror, uncertain what his own fate would be, The doubt became so terrible as to convulse his very frame.

"When his turn for sentence drew near the dreamer awoke, shivering very violently. The experience left an indelible impression on his mind. It threw him into earnest prayer for pardon, and was followed by what he long afterward described as something like the assurance of acceptance through the atoning blood of his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

There is no class of people, however, who place such implicit faith in dreams as the American Indians. Numerous striking examples of the intense belief of the native tribes of Canada on the subject of visions could be given, but one will be sufficient for the purpose. Leland, in his "Algonquin Legends," relates a story told him by an old Passamaquoddy Indian, to the effect that a young man desired to become as wise and brave as his father. His father informed him that he got all his luck from dreams, and that it was possible for him to have such dreams if he would marry a virgin without cohabiting with her. and live with her for seven nights. After thinking over the matter, he asked his father how the matter could be arranged for him. He was told to select a beautiful young woman, anil obtain the consent of her parents to be married to him. Having done so, he was to secure seven bear skins, and get one man to clean one every twenty-four hours, no other person knowing anything about the matter. After being accepted by the parents, he sent the seven bear skins to the young woman, and on being married, they repaired to their wigwam. He slept on the bear skins, and directed the bride to sleep on her own bed. Seven days he remained at home, and then suddenly disappeared, not returning for twenty-five or thirty years, when he came to his father, possessing the power to divine all things by dreams. He had only to take his magic bear skin and sleep on it to dream where good hunting or fishing was to be found.

Joseph and Daniel were noted interpreters of dreams, and their successors in dream interpretation are to be found in the lodges of the red men. The desire to read the mysteries of the spirit-land, and to know the will of heaven, called into existence, among civilized and savage races, a class of men whose duty it was to interpret the dreams of royal personsages and people of lesser rank. When the red men had dreams which they could not understand they repaired to their shamans, who gave them an interpretation, upon which the dreamers relied without the least doubt. Whenever their dreams were verified, in whole or part, they generally preserved some article connected with the circumstance as a sacred thing to be used as an amulet. In the presence of our midnight visions we are all cowards, despite our protests to the contrary, and though one hundred dreams are never verified, should a single one be partially fulfilled, we are at once believers in dreams. Until the laws affecting this subject are discovered, we shall still remain in a great measure under their influence.

BACCHUS IN CAMP.

Minegeshing, the Christian Chief of the Ojibway Indians, visited some of the cities of the Eastern States a few years ago, and upon his return the minor chiefs of the tribe gathered around him and said: "Tell us what of all you saw was the most wonderful." Deeply he meditated, and then said: "When 1 was in the great church and heard the great organ, and all the pale-faces stood' up and said, ' The Lord is in his holy temple: Let "all the earth keep silent,' I thought the pale-faces have had this religion all these four hundred years, and did not give it to us, and now it is late: that is the most wondeful thing I saw." The chiefs looked upon him and said: "That is, indeed, most wonderful: Now it is late. It is, indeed, noon." The red men hate the double-tongued Indian, and when they have been taught the holier principles and nobler virtues of the Book of God, as possessed by the white man, they fail to understand the non-agreement of his principles with his practice. We do not find in all the native literature of the Indian tribes any Bacchanalian odes and songs in praise of intoxicating drinks. I have listened to Blackfoot songs of love and war, but never have my ears been filled with the maudlin strains of drunken ditties, although many have spoken in its favor and drunk freely of it. The intoxicated Blackfoot, riding wildly over the prairie bereft of clothing, save the breech-cloth, his hair streaming in the wind and his horse covered with lather, has revealed the terrible results which might be expected from the use of liquor among the Indians. Some of these drunken scenes have I witnessed in the camps. When the western natives became intoxicated they began shooting their guns, endangering the lives of the people. The Indians were indebted to the white man for the rum, brandy and whiskey which they drank. The white man called it the "water of life," but the natives did not look so kindly on it, and they named it "fire water," and in a few instances "new milk." In the archives of the seminary of Quebec there is a letter on the liquor question, probably the oldest document relating to that question as it affected Canada. It was written by a French Roman Catholic missionary about 1705, and gave the history of French brandy in Canada. During Bishop Laval's life, and subsequently, there were two parties, one favoring the use of liquor and the other advocating prohibition. The liquor party consisted of the fur traders, who were supported by the French governors: and the prohibition party, the missionaries, who were sustained in their efforts by the Church. Thus was Church and State arrayed against each other. The importers at Quebec sold the stuff to the small fur traders. The missionary making these statements say that the importers adulterated it by putting in salt and water. Modern arguments were in use in those days for the continuance of the traffic. The traders in whiskey said that the traffic in brandy was beneficial to the State on account of the revenue. Brandy was said to be good for the natives, as it protected them from the cold, and as the Dutch and English traders in New York dealt in whiskey, so the French fur traders must deal in brandy, or lose the fur trade, which would be taken up by these foreigners. When the French missionaries were laboring among the Indians, the Canadian red men argued with them in favor of using liquor. They said: "You say God made everything, if He did, then He made brandy: you say also that everything He made He made for men's use, hence he intended that man should drink brandy, how then dare you prohibit brandy?"

The Philadelphia Record exhumed an old petition presented by the Indians to Penn's first Governor, Markham, in 1681. It is as follows: "Whereas the selling of strong liquors was prohibited in Pennsylvania and not in Newcastle, we find it a greater ill-convenience than before, our Indians going down to Newcastle, and there buying rum and making them more •debauched than before in spite of prohibition; therefore we whose names are hereunder written, do desire that prohibition may be taken off, and rum and strong liquors may be sold (in aforesaid province) as formerly until it be prohibited in Newcastle, and in that Government of Delaware.

His mark + Peseink. m m + Nama Seka. m h + Keka Kappan. 1! H + Joon Goras. .. M + Espra Ape.

The Rev. Pere Maillard says, that during the early French regime a West India drug was largely used. When the faithful missionary arrived at a post, the trader took the adulterated liquor and, steeping tobacco in it, treated each of the Indians to a tin cup filled with the liquor, which soon caused them to demand more, and this had to be paid for in furs. The more they drank, the more they wanted, until becoming maddened under its influence they threw off their clothes and ran wildly through the camp, gashing their own bodies, and shooting and stabbing their wives, children and friends. When they had parted with all their furs they obtained more liquor on credit, to be paid in furs after their next hunt, and when unable to obtain credit they sold their wives and daughters, for immoral purposes, to the French soldiers and traders. Pere Maillard states that the Indians had no liking for brandy, as was shown when a party had only a pint or quart, they would give it all to one in order that he might get drunk. To become drunk was their desire in taking the liquor, as they would fast, so that in drinking a stronger effect might be produced.

The traders charged extortionate prices for the liquor and gave short measure. The missionary knew a trader at Three Rivers who obtained fifty bear skins for liquor sufficient to make one of the natives rlrunk for one evening. One trader, who took blankets and small clothes of the Indians as a pledge for debts incurred in drinking, was accustomed to make net profits above expenses of five hundred francs per month. Blankets were sold by the traders for four beaver skins each, and on the day following the purchase, they were bought back for a pint of adulterated brandy. When Bishop Laval arrived in the country in 1659, the Algonquins could muster two thousand warriors, and in 1705, chiefly through the use of brandy, they could not muster two hundred fighting men.

In the early history of the Canadian North-West liquor was used by the native population to a great extent, resulting in debauchery and crime. Henry's Journal says: "A common dram shop in a civilized country is a paradise in comparison to the Indian trade when two or more interests are engaged." Drinking matches were frequently held by the natives, during which serious fights took place, and some of the natives were killed. When Alexander Henry was in the west in 1801-2, stabbing affrays were of frequent occurrence. " An Indian arrived with his family in a small canoe in fifteen days from Leech lake (Minnesota), and brings intelligence from that place of several Saulteaux having murdered each other in a drinking match a few days before he left. This caused a terrible uproar in the camp here, the murdered persons being near relatives of some here. The former would insist upon retaliating, and it was with the greatest trouble that were prevented them by taking away their arms. They were all drunk, and kept up a most terrible crying, screaming, howling and lamenting the death of their relatives. The liquor only tended to augment their false grief."

During these periods of grief at the loss of their friends liquor was frequently used. In this custom they are not alone, for in some parts of Great Britain and Ireland, at the present day, strong drink is used at every domestic festival. Birth, marriages and deaths are occasions upon which visitors are treated to wine, whiskey and other liquors. Henry states the fact of a Saulteaux girl, aged nine years, having died, and the relatives procured a keg of whiskey to assuage their grief, a fathom of cloth to cover, and a quarter of a pound of vermilion to paint the body of the deceased. The Columbia River Indians and the tribes in the interior parts of the country were not addicted to vice as were the eastern tribes. The less the Indians came in contact with the white people the more were they noted for their morality. The chief cause of the depravity of the natives has been intoxicating drink, which was furnished them by the white people, and the example set by the vaunted civilization of the pale-faces led them on to destruction. Some of the native tribes, as the Haidas of British Columbia, have manufactured a native intoxicating drink, from the use of which there has arisen evil consequences. The literature relating to the native tribes of Canada reveals a state of degeneracy from intemperance, Invariably the strong drink has been introduced by white people, and the Indians, isolated and passionate, have drunk to excess. Crime has increased at a rapid rate, and the tribes have decreased in number.

Sometimes the chiefs have used their influence, and by force of native laws and example, the people have been saved. The strongest force on this matter which has been brought to bear on the red men has been the teaching of Christianity. The religion of the Christ has taught them principles which have liberated them from the thraldom of strong drink. Since Peter Jones remonstrated with the Ojibways at one of their annual treaty payments, the Government of the Dominion has never given liquor to them through any of its agents. Intoxicating drink was furnished to the natives at the annual meetings for the distribution of gifts by the agents of the Government, but after the remonstrances of the missionaries this custom was abandoned. In these later days the Caughnawaga Indians, numbering over one thousand seven hundred souls, have held their industrial and agricultural exhibition with the total exclusion of intoxicating drink. Some of the red men at the Pine Ridge Agency, Dakota, have asked the agent to post notices offering a reward of fifty dollars for evidence by which any person is convicted of furnishing liquor to the Indians. Prohibitory measures are the only kind that can justly be applied to the red men in relation to this question, and when these people have become citizens and are no longer the wards of the nation, they will be better prepared for a permit or license system.

OLD TIMES IN THE NORTH-WEST.

It seems but as yesterday that we went as a tenderfoot to the base of the Rocky Mountains, going from Toronto to Colling-Wood, then up the lakes past Prince Arthur's Landing to Duluth, across the prairies by rail to Bismarck, up the Missouri on a steamboat for ten days, to Benton, and over the plains on waggons to the old town of Fort Macleod. Travelling as fast as it was possible to go with the party, yet five weeks elapsed before we stood in the pioneer town of Southern Alberta, Anxious to begin work at once, we were soon out upon the prairie, on a good horse, looking after the welfare of Indians and old-timers. The cowboy had not made his appearance, for the buffaloes were roaming the prairies by tens of thousands. The whiskey-traders' regime had passed away, but the old whiskey forts were still in existence. The ruins of the old Bow Fort, twelve miles beyond Morley, and the Conrad Fort on High River were still standing, and as we gazed on them the thought of other days came before us. At the latter place we led a horse into a fine field of oats, the third volunteer crop in that spot. There was an old fort in the Porcupine Hills, and Fort Kipp at the junction of the Old Man and Belly rivers, better known as the Robbers' Roost, was still standing. Further up on Belly River was Slide Out, where the whiskey traders slid out when the .Mounted Police came into the country, and Stand Off, where the traders kept a band of Indians at bay. In the

A PRAIRIE SCENE.

Pincher Creek district was Lee's trading-post, and near the Piegan Reserv ation a house where the policemen rested with their loads of hay on their way to Macleod.

Having suffered keenly in the winter from cold, it was named Freeze Out. Suggestive names were these in the early days. The most imposing of all the forts, however, was Whoop-Up, at the junction of the Belly and St. Mary rivers, kept by Dave Akers. It was a strongly built palisaded fort, with holes cut in the palisades for the insertion of rifles. The cost of building was said to be eleven thousand dollars. When last we stood within the enclosure, where we have spent some pleasant nights, entertained by our friend Akers, who came to an untimely end, the old bell still hung in its place, but the small cannon lay in a corner of the yard, no longer needed, as in the old days. It was customary to allow only a few Indians within these trading-posts at a time, as it was dangerous for many of them to be congregated together, especially after they had become maddened with liquor. Some of the traders engaged in the whiskey business because of the large profits in the trade, for the Indians having once tasted the whiskey, would give large quantities of robes for a small quantity of the stuff'. There were others, however, who resorted to it for protection, asserting that they were compelled in defence to do so. An organization was formed among the whiskey traders, laws were drawn up for the regulation of their trade, and a company, named the Spitzi Cavalry, composed of the employees, for the purpose of enforcing the laws. There were many rough scenes of rioting, debauchery and killing of Indians witnessed at these places. The life of an Indian was of little worth to some of these men, and though the majority of those whom we met were generous and brave, yet the taw of other days to which we have listened revealed a state of affairs deplorable, indeed. The whiskey was of an inferior quality, and the natives, maddened with it, killed each other, and provoking the white men caused some of them to be killed. The advent of the Mounted Police put an end to the trade in whiskey among the Indians. Some left the country, but others remained and continued trading without the use of liquor. Upon the whole they were a generous lot of men, anxious to make money and esteeming lightly the worth of an Indian.

Scattered throughout the country were a number of trappers, traders and small ranchers, who were popularly called "old-timers." Some of them were freighters, who drove the ox-trains across the prairie from Benton, on the Missouri River. A few of them wore the buckskin shirt, made by Indian or half-breed women. Three large and heavy waggons with canvas covers were fastened together, and drawn by sixteen or eighteen oxen. One of these teams was driven by one man, and several of these teams constituted a train, over which there was one "boss." Occasionally they wore their hair falling upon the shoulders, but this was not a general custom. The lowest type of the old-timer was designated a "squaw-man," from the fact that he had married an Indian woman ; but this was used as a term of contempt, and was not applied generally, as all of these men lived with Indian women, and some of them were, despite their uncouth exterior, men of education and worthy pf respect. They were liberal to a fault, willing to share their last cent and last crust of bread with those who needed help. The old-timers are of three classes: the first comprising the men who have raised themselves to honorable positions in the country, exerting an influence in political and social life. The second class is composed of those who have settled down to farming and cattle raising, and are hard-working and honest citizens. These still retain their independent attitude, begotten by the freedom of the country. Some of them still live with their Indian wives and a numerous progeny of half-breed children, and others have taken unto themselves wives from their homes in the east. Using the significant phraseology of the west and full of information relating to Indians, buffaloes, the country and prairie lore, they are delightful entertainers, and many a pleasant hour is spent by travellers with these worthy pioneers. The third class is found living unsettled lives in small shanties on the rivers, among the foothills, or close to the towns of the west. Occasionally engaged in trapping, loitering in the towns, working in various ways, they eke out a livelihood. Some of them are men of good education, but rovers by nature. They can tell as good^a yarn as any sailor, often drawing upon their imagination for the benefit of a gaping company of tenderfeet. Oftentimes around the camp fire on the prairie and in the log shanty have we listened to humorous stories and thrilling adventures with Indians and buffaloes, related with great zest by these old-timers, and we learned to love them. Although accustomed to use strong language in common conversation, they showed such respect for others that they refrained from its use in our presence. Indeed, amongst old-timers and cowboys, only once during our residence did we hear a man deliberately swear in our company, and he was a man of low type from the Old Land. When an oath escaped unconsciously, an apology was given. Reminiscences of old times in Macleod are still vivid. The old town was built on the mainland, but the river changed its course and an island was formed, at one end of which the town stood. The Mounted Police fort and all the buildings, including the Methodist Church, were built of unhewn logs, daubed regularly once a year with mud. The daubing was quite an interesting operation to the pilgrims from the east. Shortly after our arrival in the town the primitive plastering had to be done upon the house, and the work was new to us, so we engaged a half-breed to do it. The building was a low one-storied house with a shingle roof, and was thirty-six feet long by fifteen wide. The snug sum of thirty dollars had to be paid for the job, which was finished in less than a week. A lesson had been taught which was never forgotten, and that was to give all the clean work to others and attend to the dirty jobs ourselves. The mudding operation was therefore always done by ourselves after that lesson.

Dressed in an old suit of clothes, a hole was dug with a spade and the earth made into the proper consistency, sometimes mixed with a few handfuls of prairie grass. Taking the mud in the hands without gloves, it was thrown into the interstices in the walls, filling them up, and then levelling off with the palm of the hand. Generally two coats of mud were necessary, inside and outside, the second being put on after the first had dried. The finishing operation was done with a cloth and mud made very thin, to fill up the cracks and give a smoothness to the surface. The whole was afterwards whitewashed, and the building looked very respectable, indeed. It was a serious matter to plaster a house in this primitive fashion in the winter time, for then a hole had to be dug deep enough to get below the frost, or the soil had to be carried in frozen chunks into the house, thawed out and made into aboriginal plaster with warm water. Twice we were compelled to do this in the erection of log buildings, and never afterward did we care to repeat the operation. With the exception of four or five buildings in the town all had mud roofs. The shingled buildings were as striking in comparison to the others as the city mansion to the humble workman's cottage. Poles were placed on the outside of the mud roof, and boards, cotton, whitewashed or oiled, were fastened upon the poles to carry the water off. Those who were unable to provide this luxury had to be content with erecting a trough for catching water inside. The inside of the houses were lined with " factory cotton " or any other convenient kind of stuff, stretched tightly on the walls and ceiling and then whitewashed to keep out the cold and give an appearance of comfort and respectability. What happy hours we have often spent in these old log buildings, unmindful of the joys of civilization, for which we had suppressed all desires, only eager to do the work of life, and finding in that greater pleasures than dwelling within the precincts of the great city, amid all the comforts of civilized life and the consolations of kind friends.

The two great events of the year were Christmas and the Fourth of July, the former reminding us of universal kinship through belief, and the latter that Brother Jonathan was our nearest neighbor and Canada a long way off, for although living within the Dominion, there was no communication, except by the Missouri river, all travellers preferring that route to crossing the plains. " Ontario " was a by-word. The majority of the people in the town were Americans.

Business went on as usual on Sundays, there being no Sunday law in the Territories. The first Sunday in town was a specimen of those which we witnessed for two or three years. An ox train, with the bull-whackers, had arrived on Saturday night and camped in the middle of the street. The yokes and the harness of the oxen lay as they had been taken off, the men sat around the fire beside their waggons cooking and eating, heedless of the passers by, except occasionally to pass a joke with some old friend or Indian, and so soon as they had finished their meal they entered heartily upon their work of carrying in the freight, which they had brought for the two trading-posts of the town. The street was crowded with Blackfeet, Bloods, Piegans and Sarcees, and the stores were filled with motley groups and spectators. The bowling alley and billiard rooms were in full operation, the blacksmiths hard at work, and all the people attending to their individual avocations. Sunday evening found an interested congregation of men, with not more than three women, assembled in the log church. There were the Mounted Police in their red coats, the bull-whacker with his leather jacket, the old-timer with an honest face, his hair hanging down on his shoulders, half-breeds and Indians, and three white ladies. Two or three half-breed children were there, and one white boy, the only pale-faced child in town.

In a few weeks day and Sabbath schools were started, amid many difficulties. Some of the scholars could not speak a word of English, and were unable to pronounce some of the letters of the alphabet distinctly. Two or three of the half-breed lads could speak English, Cree and Blackfoot well, and these were used as interpreters. Sometimes a scholar would assert his independence, and the door had to be locked to keep him from running away, and occasionally we had to go to the home to bring one of them—leading him by the hand or carrying him 011 the back, lest he might escape. My wife taught the day school, and I acted as truant officer and caretaker, sweeping out the church, kindling the fire and sawing the wood. Some of these scholars are to-day well-educated, and occupying good positions in the west. Only one service -could be held on Sunday, as the people lay long in bed in

the morning, especially after the Sunday law came into force. Two of our chief helpers in supplying- wood and oil, and in many small temporal affairs in connection with the school and church, were a man named Johnston, better known as "Smiler," who had a broken nose, and loved his "cups" too well for his own good; and Harry Taylor, known as "Kamusi," the proprietor of the hotel and billiard rooms.

Strange stuff, some would say, for helpers in religious matters, but could we refuse assistance from men who, prompted by kindness and interest in the cause, were always willing to lend a hand ? They had no self-interest in the matter, and though we wished that they might enjoy the strength which comes from communion with God, we dared not refuse their help. Indeed, we were glad to call upon them oftentimes for a meal and shelter, when, after removing among the Indians, we had to ride to the village in the winter. Smiler would light the fire and attend to the lamps, and Kamusi would hurry up his meals to his customers in time to attend service.

During a visit east, of my wife for the space of twelve months, residence among the Indians was lonely, indeed. We started from the Reserve for Blackfoot Crossing, one hundred miles distant. When we arrived there, the Canadian Pacific railroad was within ten miles east of the Crossing. Sickness kept us three days at the Crossing, and when we were ready for the journey by rail, we had to travel six miles west to reach the construction train, as the road had been built that distance during our stay. All through Sunday the men worked hard laying rails, and it was a strange sight to see the large number of men laying so easily upon the prairie the iron way, keenly watched by Indians dressed in primitive fashion, who pondered deeply upon the white man's skill in being able to make the "fire waggon" travel swifter than the fastest horse of the red man.

As we were driving swiftly over the prairie the axle of the buckboard broke, and the nearest blacksmith was sixty miles distant. Taking the axle with us we had it repaired at Brandon. We had to pay 011 the construction train for riding in a caboose, which was crowded, the snug sum of eight cents per mile, until we reached Medicine Hat. A colonist car was provided for, which we had to pay first-class fare until we reached Moose Jaw, where we enjoyed the luxury of a first-class carriage, but with definite instructions enforced not to turn the seats. By the time we reached Winnipeg we were worn out for the want of sleep, as it was impossible for us to lie down since we left Blackfoot Crossing. Delightful, however, was it for us to visit again the haunts of civilization and look into the faces of friends of other days. Returning alone I reached Blackfoot Crossing, and in company with a young man of wealthy connections in England, proceeded to get ready for the trip across the prairie to Macleod. The horses, which had been left in charge of an Indian, had been allowed to go astray, and there was nothing left but to hire two horses, with an Indian to bring them back after we had reached our destination. When putting in the mended axle we broke the boxing in the wheel, and in this sad plight we started. As we rolled along the prairie the axle would get heated, and then, without unhitching the horses, we took off the wheel, filled the inside of the hub of the wheel with axle grease, and allowed the broken box to revolve in it. This operation had to be repeated frequently during our journey, but we reached our destination without any mishap.

During our solitary residence on the Reserve we had forgotten to receive instructions about making bread, and our first attempts were very disheartening, tending more to encourage attacks of billiousness than afford amusement. For several weeks, indeed for months, the bill of fare was slightly varied, through failures at bread making, incessant toil in the camps, and frequent visits of Indians, allowing little time for experiments in cooking. Our common resort was to make the inevitable slap-jack, better known amongst our eastern ladies by the name of pancakes. Having made the batter and poured it into a frying-pan, it was held over the fire until sufficiently cooked on one side, then shaking the pan until loosened, the contents were thrown into the air with a force that caused the cake to turn over, and come slap down into the pan, hence the western name of slap-jacks. Well, our bill of fare for a long time consisted of slap-jacks, when we changed it to fried potatoes, and for the remaining days of enforced bachelorhood the bill of fare was as follows: Breakfast: Fried potatoes, bread and tea. Dinner: Bread, tea and fried potatoes. Supper: Tea, fried potatoes and bread.

The first mission house on the Reserve was built of rough, unhewn logs, the walls eight feet high, a mud roof, half a window, mud floor, and a small door. The building was fifteen feet square. This single room was made to do service, for kitchen, drawing-room, dining-room, and bedroom. When any of our friends came to visit us, we stretched curtains across, making temporary partitions, and slept contentedly on the floor. When it rained the water came through the roof, and it was by no means clean. It would drip through the sheets which were fastened up for a ceiling, and everywhere the water soaked through. As this was undesirable, and because lumber could not be purchased to make a floor or a roof, and therefore we could not have eavestroughs outside, the next best thing was to have an eavestrough inside. This was done by attaching a hook to the cotton ceiling with a rope, having a weight at the und. The water ran towards this point, and a vessel placed under the weight caught the water, so that the other parts of our humble habitation were kept dry. For two years we dwelt happily in this shanty, without any yearning after the comforts of civilized life, conscious of the fact that we were in the path of duty, and that was enough. We saw men greedy after filthy lucre, enduring as great privations as we, and we felt that missionaries of the Christ, sustained by a great hope and engaged in an eternal work, should be able to do more than those who were seeking to nourish their flesh-garments and minister to sensual wants.

Because of the long journeys, the hard nature of the work, sleeping in lodges and shanties and on the prairie, it became necessary to lay aside the broadcloth garb of civilization, and anxious for utility and economy, the most serviceable style of

garment was found to be the suit of buckskin. A plain suit was therefore purchased, and with axe, spade and Bible we entered heartily upon the work of helping men toward better lives. It was sometimes our lot to be accosted by a stranger on the prairie, enquiring where our ranch was located. The men of the west designated missionaries "Sky-Pilots" and "Gospel-Grinders," and the gospel was denominated "Soul-Grub."

They were strong believers in muscular Christianity, and the missionary who was able to endure greater hardships than they, sleep on a harder bed, eat as coarse food, ride a wilder horse, and withal keep his life and language pure, was the man they delighted in, and gave to him the right hand of fellow- I ship. They had no liking for the missionary who could smoke a cigar with them, crack a coarse joke, use the slang of the I prairie, and be a "hail fellow well met." They wanted a manly man, who could lead them toward nobler things, and who was not afraid to reprove them severely for their vices. The soft-handed and smooth-tongued preacher was not the man they wished, but a wise, strong-headed and liberal-hearted man was their choice. Side by side with them on the prairie we slept, partaking of their strong coffee, rancid bacon, and slap-jacks.

On the prairie and in the log shanty, Roman Catholic and Protestant, men of every class and creed, waited until we bowed the knee to the Master of men for His kind protection and grace, and before we partook of food they sat oftentimes, hungry, indeed, until a blessing was asked. Native courtesy and goodness of heart prevented them from acting rudely in the missionary's presence, or doing anything to cast reflection upon their common faith. There is no doubt they indulged, when alone, in coarse stories, yet we never heard one during the years we spent* among them. Once we remember a sportive song was being sung by an old timer in Kamusi s hotel, as he was surrounded by a number of his comrades, but as soon as we appeared the verse was unfinished and the song ended in a suppressed laugh. Farewell, my old friends, I love you all, despite your uncouth manners, for beneath the buckskin shirts there beat honest, manly hearts.

Anxious for the welfare of these old-timers, we started a monthly sheet, printed on the printograph, and issued free one hundred copies. It was named Excelsior, and, though unpretentious, and existing for one year only, it may not be too boastful to claim for it the place of being the third paper in the North-West Territories. The Saskatchewan Herald was in existence at Battleford, and the Edmonton Bulletin and Excelsior began in the same month. The tiny sheet was honored with notices by several Canadian papers, including the Globe and Mail, and some English papers, including the London Echo. A public reading-room was started in the little log church, which was well supplied with papers and magazines, and shone for a year or more as a gentle light among the Mounted Police and civilians under the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. During the time we were soliciting subscriptions for the reading-room, we had occasion to call upon the officer commanding Fort Macleod, who had an intense hatred towards missionaries of all churches. We found him in his room with a gentleman belonging to one of the trading-posts in town. He offered us a twenty-five dollar subscription if we would drink a glass of brandy with him, and, because we refused, tried by taunts to defend his position. When he failed, he was generous enough to give a subscription toward the scheme. When we were busy teaching school, a plan was set on foot by a Roman Catholic priest to establish a convent school at Macleod, and a meeting of citizens was called to support it. There were several speakers in favor of the scheme who denounced the school in existence. We replied vigorously, showing the efficiency of the school, and denouncing in turn the methods adopted to further the opposition. An Indian chief produced some specimens of work done at the school, and several speakers supported the school in existence. The climax was reached when a gentleman rose and said, "I move the whole thing bust!" The chairman put the motion. "It is moved and seconded that the whole thing bust!" The audience sprang to its feet, and, waving hats, yelled, "Busted!" and made for the door, thus ending our first and last opposition in that matter.

Getting the mail was one of the interesting events in the early clays. Our nearest Post-office was Benton, on the Missouri, and none but American stamps were used. Stamps were obtained by sending for one dollar's worth, more or less,, to the Postmaster at Benton. Letters were left to be mailed at the trading-post of I. G. Baker & Co., and, not having a three-cent stamp, ten cents were given to the clerk for postage, being I the smallest coin used in the country at that time. When a rancher accosted a passer-by with a request to post a letter for him, a twenty-five cent piece was invariably given. The inail-gig was a common spring waggon with a canvas cover, driven by two and sometimes four horses. It was used for bringing in the mail for the Mounted Police, and the citizens were indebted to them for bringing in their mail. We were supposed to get the mail once in three weeks, but, oil account of swollen rivers, storms, and the tippling propensities of the mail-driver, we i were sometimes without a mail for five and six weeks. Benton was two hundred and twenty-five miles distant from Macleod. Before starting out, the mail-driver drove through the town collecting liquor permits and five-gallon kegs, until sometimes the waggon was filled with them. There being no liquor sold in the Territories, and the permit system being in existence, the liquor was brought from the United States, being our nearest point where liquor was sold.

About the time due for the arrival of the mail, the old-timers began to come to town, and as there was not any sleeping accommodation at Kamusi's hotel, they slept upon the counters and floors of the trading-posts, Indian blankets being furnished for bedding without any charge. When the mail was delayed, a strange feeling of excitement took possession of everybody. They all seemed riveted to the place, unable to go home and without anything to do. Each morning and afternoon could be seen men standing on the roofs of the houses, scanning the prairie for any sign of an approaching waggon. Sometimes a wag would stand on the street and shout, "Mail! mail!"

Doors would suddenly open and men rush out excitedly on the street, only to hear a loud laugh at their expense. The mail-fever was depressing. After four or five weeks had passed by, we have resolved to start on a journey, but it was impossible for us to tear ourselves away. We would resolve to think no more about it, but work became difficult, for every hour or oftener, we would be compelled to go to the door to look out on the prairie. The last thought at night and the first in the morning was "mail, mail!"

At last the shouts of the people announced the delayed mail, and with it came relief, for the heart-burden was removed. The Mounted Police mail was taken to the post, and the civilians' mail brought down to the store of I. G. Baker & Co. and dumped out on the floor.

Down upon our knees we fell with a will and began—a motley group—to assort it. The letters were gathered up and handed to the clerk in the store. The newspapers, magazines and books were thrown to their respective owners, and unlucky was the man who was not present to claim his illustrated magazine. Sometimes this was appropriated by another, but cases of this kind were few, as there was generally manifested a native courtesy, honesty and manliness that was creditable in a new country. It was sad to see the man who had travelled thirty or forty miles to get a letter which he expected, turn away disappointed when there was none. The tear would course down the cheek of the hardy prospector as he read a letter from home. What a luxury were letters in those days. We read them again and again, laughing and crying betimes. We carried home our sack filled with letters and papers, the religious magazines and papers smelling strongly of something that was not religious. The important letters must be answered next day, and the larger epistles were laid aside to demand a bulletin for each one. The papers were kept to be read at leisure, and although the news was old, we perused the sheets with zest, and thought we were well posted on the affairs going on in the civilized world. The old-time luxury of getting letters has gone with the advent of the railroad, and we no longer

read with tears the budget of news from home, so full of charming details. That old waggon was sacred in our eyes, more beautiful as the bearer of precious memories than the stately cars of our modern mail service. Pardon the falling tear over these memories of other days, which we wish not to return, yet love them for their associations, as we sigh " for the touch of a vanished hand and the sound of a voice that is still.

THOUGHTS OF OTHER DAYS.

A few passing thoughts of men and manners in the early buffalo days are all we design to give, not because we know more than others, but to add our small portion of experience in the North-West for the entertainment of those who have not visited these scenes, and still desire to learn something of the beginnings of a people destined to play their part in the history of the West. So soon as the buffalo were driven south to the district watered by the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, the Canadian Government began issuing rations of beef and flour to keep the Indians from dying on the prairies. These supplies necessitated a number of freighters and encouraged the raising of stock. The Mounted Police and Indians caused, through their residence in the country, the circulation of a large sum of money, which replaced the amounts lost through the extinction of the trade in buffalo robes. Money had always been plentiful in the country, and consequent^ labor and provisions were very dear.

The prices of goods varied in the trading-posts with the supply. During the summer coal was fifteen dollars per ton ; sugar, twenty-five dollars per sack of one hundred pounds; coal oil, one dollar per gallon; flour, five dollars per sack of ninety-eight pounds; eggs, one dollar a dozen; butter, fifty cents per pound ; salt, ten cents per pound; and other articles in proportion. During the winter, as the supply became scarce or one trader had the monopoly of the articles in question, the prices increased until they sold as follows: Coal, twenty dollars per ton; sugar, fifty dollars per sack; coal oil, one dollar and a half per gallon; flour, fifteen dollars per sack; eggs, two dollars a dozen; and butter, one dollar per pound. Scant sometimes was the table with provisions at these rates. We tried the experiment once of sending east for supplies, but it was not satisfactory, for they were nearly a year on the way, and we had to pay nine cents per pound for freight. Lumber cost, undressed and unsorted, ten cents per foot, and improvements were, therefore, seriously retarded.

The men were liberal to a fault, and in benevolent enterprises always ready to help. A whiteman working as cook at the Blood Indian agency, was stricken down with paralysis and taken to the Mounted Police hospital. He sent for us to request that we might raise some money to enable him to go to the Banff Hot Springs. We started through the new town of Macleod, calling at every store and billiard saloon, taking up a collection, without waiting to take down any names. Sometimes an old-timer would take the hat in a billiard saloon and pass it around, depositing the contents in our hands. Within two hours we had in dollar bills eighty dollars, which we handed over to the officer commanding Fort Macleod, and the man was subsequently sent to Banff, where he died a few weeks after his arrival. Collections were taken up in church when needed, and at no other time. We had no plates and made no previous announcement; but when the time arrived, called upon some one in the congregation to pass the hat around, and with not more than forty persons we have had placed in the hat the sum of sixteen dollars. When the new barracks of the Mounted Police was in course of erection, we called unexpectedly upon the carpenters one cold stormy evening, and held a service. Bidding them "Good night," we went to saddle the horse to return to the old town of Macleod, and while doing so, the foreman placed ten dollars in our hands, the collection having been taken up by the men after we had gone. No true value was set on money, and many used it recklessly. In the trading-posts no change was given less than a twenty-five cent piece. We have seen Indians purchase articles worth from forty to sixty cents, and after handing the clerk a dollar bill walk away, each article representing to them one dollar. White men received no change if an article was worth eighty-five cents. When copper coins were brought into-the country by a tenderfoot they were deposited in the safe as curiosities, and never allowed to be put in circulation.

The dangers of travelling were great in the early years, especially in fording the rivers. We had been in the country only a few months when duty called us to go to Morley. Having fallen in with an old-timer who was going to Calgary, we journeyed together, and on arriving at Sam Livingstone's on the Elbow river, the horse we rode could go no further. Our old friend lent us a cart horse, and we travelled alone over a road which was new to us. Darkness came on long before we reached the crossing of the Bow River. We could hear the rushing of the river, but were unable to discern the opposite bank. We shouted, but there was no response. A boat lay upon the shore, and we judged that we were at the ford. Trusting to a kind Providence we entered the river, the water rose on the sides of the horse, filled the riding boots full, yet still we pressed on in the darkness and safely reached the other side. The horse made his way up the steep bank, the reins being thrown upon his neck, to follow his own sweet will. The camp fires of the Stoney Indians were burning, and guided by an Indian we found the mission-houses. The inmates asked where we had come from, and when we told them we had crossed the river, they held up their hands in amazement, and assured us that we were the first to ford the river during that year. Swimming the rivers on horseback was not pleasant, but duty compelled us oftentimes to do many things which were not agreeable. When first we stood on the town site of Calgary, there were half a dozen log-houses, one trading-post, a small Methodist church, the Roman Catholic mission and the Mounted Police fort. On the eastern side of the Elbow were the Hudson's Bay post and a few log buildings. We called at the police fort to put the horse in the stable, but the three men stationed there had gone fishing, and the gates were locked. We found a quiet resting-place then and subsequently, upon the green sward where the western city now is built. Returning from Calgary with some old-timers, who had a band of horses, we found Sheep Creek swollen so badly that it was dangerous to attempt to cross. We contented ourselves by camping on the banks for two days, and then our stock of provisions ran out. Game there was none, and the alternative was to return to Calgary. After consultation, we determined to make the attempt at fording the river. Stripping ourselves to our underclothing, and fastening the bundles on our heads, and keeping on our boots because of the intense coldness of the snow-water, we drove the band of horses ahead of us, and whistling, shouting and singing plunged into the stream. Having reached the opposite shore in safety, we emptied the water out of our boots, put on our clothes, and rode on twelve miles to a ranch at High River, allowing our underclothing to dry by contact with the skin as we rode. Nature and a strong constitution favored us, so that we did not suffer from riding in our wet clothes.

Strange scenes of life and death we sometimes beheld in the western land. Life in the camp of the cowboys, especially during a round-up, was exciting, but there were hours when the halo of romance vanished. Late one evening we were called to visit an old-timer in his log shanty. When we reached the humble dwelling his comrades were sitting by his bed talking about death. As we sat down beside our old friend, who had not many hours to live, he took his pipe and other articles which he prized, and distributed them among his friends. Turning toward them he said, "Boys, it's hard to leave you, but I guess I'll have to go !" After talking with him for a short time about the great matters affecting the soul and eternity, he said, " Parson, I've done a lot of bad things in my life, and a lot of good things, and I guess my Maker will call it square!" We talked awhile and prayed, but%the old-timer still felt that the good would balance the bad in his life, and he would reach home at last. Nature dealt out iron-handed justice to some of the men who acted unkindly toward their fellows. During our visits to the hospital we met a man who

had murdered an old man in cold blood in Montana, and, fleeing from justice, had crossed the prairie in the depth of winter. He was picked up and brought to Macleod, where his ears, hands and feet were amputated. Apparently he had suffered deeply for his crime, and his aged father was allowed to take him away when he had sufficiently recovered.

When we began life in that new country we were pursuing a course of study in connection with the university which necessitated a trip to Morley once a year to write on examination under the supervision of a deputy examiner. When the rivers were swollen we sat by the camp fire studying Greek and algebra. A strange-looking personage was the sky-pilot dressed in his buckskin suit, with his saddle-bags. In one bag were his books, and in the other tea, sugar, bacon and biscuits. Fastened to the horn of the saddle was a small axe, frying-pan, rifle, lariat and picket-pin. Night found the student wrapped up in his saddle-blanket stretched asleep on the prairie with his saddle for a pillow and his faithful horse picketed sufficiently near as not to be stolen by an enemy or chased by wolves, and far enough away not to trample upon the sleeper. One hundred and fifty miles of a ride over the prairie, crossing several swollen rivers, was a good preparation for a college examination. There was always danger at hand through the horse straying away, and it was not safe to undertake a long journey alone. As we sat one day quietly partaking of lunch, and distant from the nearest house twelve miles, the horse suddenly bolted and left us alone. There was nothing to be done but to carry the saddle and start for home. Fortunately we met a man driving a waggon who took the saddle to the place whence we had started, and we had to walk musing by the way toward home.

At another time we were compelled to walk thirty-five miles home, ten of which were through snow almost knee deep. Without anything to eat or drink we continued the journey, which took us ten hours, and then had to wade through a river waist deep. Again duty compelling us, through losing horses, to walk fourteen miles, wade through a stream four feet deep, and cross a temporary swamp two miles wide, which was knee deep and frozen over, but not sufficiently to bear. The ice broke with every step, so that we were almost exhausted when we reached the end of the journey. Without changing our wet garments we held service with an attentive congregation, and wet and tired lay down upon the floor of the humble log church, without any bed or covering, and slept. Next day we returned, on foot, avoiding the stretch of water, but when we reached the frozen river that lay between the Reserve and mission-house, we had to be carried home. Upon removing the heavy riding boots they were found to be deeply stained with blood, and our feet covered with blisters filled with blood.

A Highland Scotchman called at the old mission-house in Macleod to have the marriage ceremony performed. He was anxious to marry an Indian woman. He was told to return next day as we were not at home. Next day he had changed his mind, retaining the license and living with the woman without being married to her. The second Riel Rebellion came and found us at work among the Blood Indians; the good wife of the mission-house and the children remaining one week in Macleod, and the missionary staying at his post. All the rest of the time the entire missionary family lived among the Indians, caring for the sick, teaching and preaching, upholding the principles of true government and trusting in God. Our Indian friends came to us and said, "You need not be afraid. We will tell you when there is any danger. We will take care of you." We had implicit confidence in Red Crow, the head chief of the Blood Indians, and the Indians were loyal during the rebellion. There were some who would have enjoyed a fight, and were anxious to join the rebels, but the wisdom and tact of the chiefs prevailed, and peace was maintained.

The annual payment of the treaty moneys to the Indians was always an interesting event. The red man, with his several wives and large progeny, found himself suddenly in the possession of more than a hundred dollars, and unable to bear the strain of wealth, he started with his best wife to the town to trade. From the Reserve to town the trail was beaten by men, women and children on horseback. Some on foot and others in native conveyances, wending their way toward the trading-posts, to gaze with innocent delight upon the colored blankets, brass-wire ornaments, pipes and numerous Indian trinkets. The streets of the town were lined with the natives, sitting here and there eating bread, biscuits and candies. Horses and men were dressed in holiday attire. The stores were filled with eager buyers, each of the men having a roll of one-dollar bills. Useful articles for the home and family were purchased, and then the gee-gaws became a necessity. Vermilion for the face, rings for the ears, brass wire for finger rings and bracelets, beads to make ornaments for moccasins and blankets, strings of beads for the women and children, brass tacks for decorating the gun-stock, riding-whip handle, woman's saddle, and belt, and various other articles were included in the purchase. The young Indian strutted about in his new blanket, striped in various colors, carrying his gun just purchased, a belt well-filled with cartridges around his waist, his face painted, and numerous trinkets in his hair. In one of these stores we gazed in astonishment at the western money drawer. A large clothes basket stood in one of the rooms piled to overflowing with dollar-bills tied in small bundles. The Indians knew not the bills of different denominations, and having been frequently cheated in the early years, the Government paid them in one dollar bills.

Out upon the prairie the young men had a number of horse races, upon which they staked money, small groups were throwing the wheel and arrows (a native game), and others were playing cards. They were inveterate gamblers, and, having money, they could not resist the temptation to become • suddenly rich or poor. The natives assumed an air of independence, from the fact that they were rich for a season, and withal they were liberal toward their friends. Sometimes they came to us with a gift of five dollars, which at first we refused ; but finding them not well pleased at the refusal, accepted it. Within three months they called to beg some help, always reminding us that they had proffered a gift. In n short time we had returned in money and provisions more than double the amount we had received, and then in self-defence adopted the plan of giving them money, telling them the amount, until we had repaid the gift. Whatever was afterward given was then seen to be a gift to them.

One of our Indian chiefs who knew not a word of English, having learned that sometimes we employed an interpreter to assist us in translations, thought that he was entitled to compensation when telling a native story, or explaining some peculiar phrase in his own language. We sat in his lodge conversing with him, and jotting down facts relating to the traditions, folk-lore and language of the people, when he said in his own tongue, " ou owe me a dollar for that work." Without answering him we continued, and when we had finished he said, "You owe me a dollar and a half." "All right," said we, and then we began to tell him some stories of the sea, the cities of the white men, the Queen and her country, the construction of locomotives and steamboats, and numerous other facts relating to industrial arts. At the close we said, " Now, you owe us five dollars." He laughed, and then we explained to him that if he could read the English language, he would pay one dollar for a book to learn about the sea, another dollar to get some knowledge of the Queen, and some more dollars to know about the other facts about which we had told him. After he had purchased the books, it will take him several days to read them, and there would be h pay during the days he was reading them, amounting to several dollars more. " Now," said we, " instead of charging you all these dollars, we will call it five dollars." He laughed again, but not so loudly. "Come," said we, "it is time we were home, give us two dollars, and that will settle the bill." Gradually he assumed a serious look, and we persisted in pressing the claim, with the result that, although he paid nothing, he saw the ridiculousness of his claim, and was ever afterward willing to lend all the help he could in unravelling the difficulties of the language.

When the Marquis of Lorne visited the old town of Macleod, a large pool of water lay in the street in front of Kamusi's Hotel, and some wags secured a boat, drove a stake into the ground, and fastened the boat to it. Placards were placed on the walls of the log hotel announcing the name of the ferryman and prices and hours of ferriage. It was also announced that the pool was the Macleod Public Bathing Pond, stating the hours for ladies and prices of admission, and the hours and prices for the gentlemen. The Rev. Dr. Macgregor preached in the little log church, which was filled to overflowing on Sunday morning with the Governor-General and his staff, members of the police force and civilians. Sydney Hall, the artist of Graphic stood outside during the service and sketched the church with the Indians peering in at the windows, the sketch having the significant title, "Outside the Pale of the Church."

An unpleasant sensation is that experienced by the traveller who is lost in a snowstorm on the prairie. It has been our misfortune to endure the intense agony several times, yet happily with nothing worse than the pangs of hunger and cold, the mental strain, and being slightly frozen. Sad tales have come to us oftentimes of friends frozen severely and suffering keenly when lost in a blinding snowstorm. Blinded by the sun's glare upon the snow, the trail hidden and no landmarks to be seen, the helpless traveller wanders in a circle, thinking that he is likely to reach some settler's shanty. Happy is he, if some search party or passing traveller may find him before he lies down upon the snow to rise no more. Some strange characters have been met with in that western land. Graduates of British and Canadian universities, dressed in the meanest garb, driving an ox team, medical men on ranches, and members of the learned professions living solitary lives. Sons of titled noblemen were to be found in the Mounted Police and on ranches; ay, and even living among the Indians in their camps. During our residence at Macleod, Charles Dickens, son of the novelist, was stationed at the fort. One of the most skilful botanists and an excellent Hebrew scholar we met on the prairie dressed in humble attire. He lived in an old shanty, and his valuable library seemed out of place in such a lonely spot.

So soon as the mines were started at Lethbridge we rode to the miner's camp, holding service in the kitchen, and lecturing to the miners on popular subjects. We found them a kind-hearted lot of men, and our visits there were full of interest. In the camp of the old-timers we have listened to thrilling tales of the doings of the Vigilantes in Montana. There was a band of daring men, known as "Road Agents," who managed to secure the civil offices for themselves, and thus fustrate the ends of justice. They robbed the mail waggons, way-laid travellers, and held the law-abiding people at defiance. Montana was terror-stricken, for no man .was safe. The order-loving settlers secretly formed an organization for the suppression of "Road Agents," and three thousand men were ready at a moment's call to sweep down on the offenders and hurry them into eternity. This organization was known as the Vigilantes. Without any warning the desperadoes were seized, singly or in small bands, and hung up to the nearest tree. They were pursued quietly but sternly into the gulches and deep recesses of the mountains and executed. After the slaying of more than one hundred of these desperadoes order was restored, and Montana became a peaceful territory. A gambler plying his trade on the streets would be quietly informed to give up his business in two or three significant words, and the hint was sufficient. Some of those who were gamblers in Montana have told us that frequently they have seen their comrades of yesterday, who refused to take the hint, dangling upon the trees in the morning. A temporary band of Vigilantes was organized at Edmonton for a special case. A man encroached upon the rights of one of the settlers, squatting upon his land, and erecting a house. The intruder was warned to desist, but heedless of the warning defied the citizens. The Edmonton Vigilantes came quietly one morning with ropes, and fastening them around the building, hurled it over the steep bank and dashed it to pieces, the proprietor walking out as his building went over the bank. Thus was taught a lesson to all who would interfere with the rights of the humblest settler in the land.

A few of the honest old-timers are still to be found abiding peacefully in the west, but others have joined the great majority and peacefully rest in the humble God's acre on the prairie. Honest John Glenn crossed the mountains in the seventies and settled on Fish Creek, near Calgary, making an humble home, where he entertained rich and poor alike. No man was ever turned from his door. Travellers from many lands have visited his farm to witness his successful experiments in irrigation and to listen to his stories of the old days. He was a good specimen of the prairie fathers, and when his hardy frame was seen no longer among his fellows, there were many to mourn the departure of one who, despite his rough exterior, lack of education, and homely phraseology was a man among men—brave, generous and true.

A sturdy old-timer, with his keen eye, long hair falling on his shoulders, and firm, manly gait is our old friend, Sam Livingstone, who still lives in close proximity to the Sarcee Indians, within a few miles of Calgary. We first met him in the fall of 1880, and were charmed with his tales of Indians and prairie life. Sitting by his fireside we spent many happy hours in after years. Honest and resolute, he has, amid many difficulties, laid the foundation of prosperity, having faith in the country and his fellowmen. Always ready to lend a hand to the worthy settler, he set his face against shams and cant, anxious to see integrity and manhood among men.

Many honest yarns could we relate of our old friends, Kamusil William Gladstone, in his mountain home, and Jim Scott, who drove the mail waggon from Macleod to Calgary, but we leave them as a worthy trio of the old days. They still represent the 1 real type of the old-timer who we admired, but who must pass away with the advent of civilization. The romantic days of the , west are with us no longer, railroad facilities having introduced a hard, practical life, an earnest struggle for bread, and there linger with us memories only of buffaloes, log shanties, long rides on the prairie, swimming rivers, tales of the camp fires and songs of the Indians sitting in groups on the banks of the Old Man's river. Great changes have come over the people and the country. Villages and towns, commodious dwellings and fine

churches occupy the sites where the Indians pitched their camps and the red and white races chased the buffaloes. The Indian runner has given place to telegraphic communication, white children roam the streets where the papooses and native youth sported on the trails, and the busy artisan sings his song of labor on the spot where the native made his arrow and stone pipe. The footprints of the red men are being effaced by the steady tramp of the white race. It is pleasant to recall the old days, and yet sadness dwells in our hearts for the scenes which shall never return.

INDIAN PIPES.

A very insignificant subject and one without any interest, some may be apt to say, is that about which we are now going to write, and yet it is not wise to pass judgment until we have examined the facts. Almost every tribe or nation has for several centuries been addicted to the habit of smoking some stimulating herb, and for this purpose have made tubes or pipes to hold the preparation from which they drew the fumes. The discovery of clay pipes of diminutive size in the British Isles, known as " fairy pipes," in close proximity to Roman remains, has induced some observers to ascribe great antiquity to the practice of smoking, and to suggest that the habit was in use in Europe before it was introduced into England by the savages who came over in one of the vessels from Virginia, with the return of Raleigh from his first expedition. It is probable that aromatic herbs were smoked as a medicine in remote times, and this may account for the existence of tubes and pipes, but the use of tobacco among Europeans must be placed subsequent to the discovery of America by Columbus. Large numbers of clay pipes have been found near Edinburgh, Scotland, dredged from the bed of the Thames, picked up in battlefields, churchyards, and places of public resort in England and Scotland. The w Dane's Pipes" of Ireland gave rise to the belief that there were a race of elves who smoked diminutive pipes. The shape of the bowl and inscriptions on the bowl and stem indicate their modern origin, although they have been met with in strange places, beside remains of ancient date. Our Scottish forefathers used pipes made of stone, and clay; terra cotta pipes were the delight of the Swiss; and, in Holland, clay and iron pipes were used, some of which were imported into England. The pipe of the famous Miles Standish, which he brought with him in the Mayflower and smoked till the day of his death, was made of iron, and was no doubt exported from Holland.

The Mexicans were not dependent upon the use of a tube or pipe, as they rolled the dried leaf of the tobacco in the form of a cigar, and smoked it, sometimes employing a boy to do the smoking for them, as the native stood in front of him, and caught the smoke in his face by holding his hands together, so that none of it could escape.

The Mound-Builders manufactured pipes, which have been discovered in the mounds; the earliest form being those carved from a single piece of stone, having "a flat curved base of variable length and width, with the bowl rising from the centre of the convex side. From one of the ends, and communicating with the hollow of the bowl, is drilled a small hole, which answers the purpose of a tube; the corresponding opposite division being left for the manifest purpose of holding the implement in the mouth." Instead, therefore, of having pipes, like the Indians or white men, with a stem, the Indian inserting the elaborately decorated stem in a large hole made in the stone or clay pipe head, the Mound-Builders used the pipe head alone, the hole in the short stem being made small for that purpose. The oldest type of the Mound-Builders' pipe was of the Monitor pattern, which consisted of a " short cylindrical urn, or spool-shaped bowl, rising from the centre of a flat and slightly curved base." The bowl and stem of the Ohio Mound-Builder's pipe was carved out of one piece of stone. The pipe of the Mound-Builder was carved in the forms of birds, animals and human beings. Otters, serpents, frogs, ducks, the manitu, toucan, woodpecker, and other animals and birds were represented in the carved figures.

From these we learn that these people were conversant with the habits and attitudes of the birds and animals, as can be seen from a study of the figures. There is also embodied in them a religious significance, showing that they were serpent worshippers, pipes having been found having a serpent coiled around the bowl. These people made also image or idol pipes, representing " females holding pottery vessels; others, males holding pipes; the sex being discernable in the faces and by the utensils used; the faces always directed toward the sun,

INDIAN CLAY PIPE (FULL SIZE).

and from these we learn that they were sun-worshippers. Some very interesting specimens have been found in the Gulf States, suggesting that these people were sun-worshippers and also idol-worshippers. From a comparison of the pattern and the figures with those made by some Indian tribes, as, for instance, the Cherokees, we are able to learn of the migrations and contact of the Mound-Builders with the Indians. These sculptured pipes transfer the practice of smoking from the recreative plane of the white man to an elevated position among the religious usages of the people who built the mounds, similar to that of the native cacique who came out from his house on the summit of the pyramid each morning to welcome the sun, pointing his pipe toward it and then toward the four points of the compass. When a stranger came to the village the cacique went out to meet him, pipe in hand, addressing the sun and pointing his pipe toward it, turning around from east to north and from west to north, toward the four points of the compass. The Crees and Blackfeet of the western plains have a similar custom in their religious ceremonies, the pipe being exalted as an implement of peace and an aid to their devotions.

From the pipe-stone quarries of Wisconsin some of the Mound-Builders procured the material for their pipes, as can be shown by the pipes found in the mounds. From the famous pipe-stone quarry of Minnesota, the Couteau des Prairies, the red men obtained the red stone, which was highly prized because of the beauty of its appearance and the soft nature of the material, being easily worked and suitable for elaborate carvings. The locality of this celebrated quarry was of traditional interest, and seems to have been consecrated as neutral ground for all the tribes, where they could assemble and forget awhile their tribal feuds in the legendary history of their common origin. Catlin relates an interesting myth relating to this pipe-stone quarry. Here happened the mysterious birth of the red pipe which has blown its fumes of peace and war throughout the land, breathing through its reddened stem the oath of war and desolation. Here was born, too, the pipe of peace, which has soothed the wrath of the savage warrior and dispelled the enmity of the tribes. The Great Spirit called the Indian nations together at an ancient period, and, standing on the precipice of the red pipe-stone rock, broke a piece from its wall, making a huge pipe by turning it in his hand, which he smoked over them. He pointed it toward the north, south, east and west, telling the people that this red stone was their flesh, and they must use it for pipes of peace, that it belonged to them all, and the war-club and scalping-knife must not be raised from the ground. At the last whiff of the pipe his head

INDIAN STONE PIPE (FULL SIZE).

went into a great cloud, and the whole surface of the rock for several miles was melted and glazed.

There are other myths which speak of the red pipe-stone as the flesh of their ancestors, and because of their common origin they are to smoke the pipe, which is a symbol of peace. There is a myth of the Sioux which says: " Before the creation of man, the Great Spirit (whose tracks are yet to be seen on the stones at the red pipe-stone, quarry in form of the tracks of a large bird) used to slay the buffaloes and eat them on the ledge, and their blood running on the rocks turned them red. One day, when a large snake had crawled into the nest of the bird to eat his eggs, one of the eggs hatched out in a clap of thunder, and the Great Spirit, catching hold of a piece of the pipe-stone to throw at the snake, moulded it into a man. This man's feet grew fast in the ground, where he stood for many years, like a great tree, and therefore he grew very old. He was older than a hundred men at the present day. At last another tree grew up by the side of him, when a large snake ate them both off at the roots, and they wandered away. From these have sprung all the people that now inhabited the earth."

From Catlin's relation of the myth, Longfellow wrote his beautiful section, "The Peace Pipe," in his Indian edda "Hiawatha,"

"On the mountains of the prairie, On the great Red Pipe-stone Quarry, Gitche Manito, the mighty, He the Master of Life, descending, On the red crags of the quarry, Stood erect, and called the nations, Called the tribes of men together.

From the red stone of the quarry, With his hand he broke a fragment, Moulded it into a pipe-head, Shaped and fashioned it with figures ; From the margin of the river Took a long reed for a pipe-stem, With its dark-green leaves upon it ; Filled the pipe with bark of willow ; With the bark of the red willow ; Breathed upon the neighboring forest, Made its great boughs chafe together, Till in flame they burst and kindled ; And erect upon the mountains, Gitche Manito, the mighty, Smoked the calumet, the peace-pipe, As a signal to the nations."

The red stone has been a favorite kind of material in use among the Indians for their pipes, arising, no doubt, from the myth relating to the pipe-stone quarry. Many of this class have we seen sold by the traders to the Crees, Sarcees and Blackfeet; but, instead of a stone, a red clay was used, which

INDIAN CLAY PIPE (FULL SIZE).

was glazed, and resembled the Monitor pattern. Catlinite, or red stone, was used by the natives for pipes and various kinds of ornaments. Stone of different degrees of hardness and color was used by the tribes, some of them selecting the kind to be found in their own locality, and others travelling long distances to procure some favored grade of stone. Adair, in speaking of the Cherokee stone pipes, says: " They make beautiful stone pipes, and the Cherokees the best of any of the Indians, for their mountainous country contains many different sorts and colors of soils proper for such uses. They easily form them with their tomahawks, and afterward finish them in any desired form with their knives, the pipes being of a very soft quality till they are smoked with and used with the fire, when they become quite hard. They are often full a span long, and the bowls are about half as large again as our English pipes.

INDIAN CLAY PIPE (FULL SlZli).

The fore part of each commonly runs out with a sharp peak two or three fingers broad and a quarter of an inch thick."

Pipes were made of steatite or soapstone—white, grey, dark, brown and black—and among the various kinds of stone used were sandstone, limestone, gypsum, argillite and slate. Some beautiful specimens of the stone pipes, as well as those made of clay and bone, are to be seen in the museum of the Canadian Institute. Indeed, the skill of the native pipe sculptor may be seen in the pipes made from serpentine marble and the beautiful white stone. From an examination of the specimens in the Institute we are able to note the ability, knowledge of the habits of the animals, and some of the customs of our savage folk.

The ancient Mexicans used paper, reed, and maize-leaf cigarettes, and wooden, metal and bamboo tubes for the purpose of smoking. Wooden pipes are seldom found among the Indians as specimens of native manufacture. Copper and iron, however, have been used. Hudson, who landed in 1609, says the natives had pipes of copper with earthen bowls. We saw a Blood Indian with a pipe made from a small hatchet, the cleft used for the insertion of the stem, and the face beaten out until it became a receptacle for the tobacco, with a small hole connecting with the stem. Whether this had been made by an Indian or not we cannot say, as we made no special inquiries at the time, but there would be no difficulty whatever in doing so, as we have known the pipe-makers spend several weeks in the preparation of a black-st6ne pipe. In connection with the custom of gathering catlinite from the Red Pipe-stone Quarry, Minnesota, it is stated that the Indians inscribed their totems upon the rock, either by picking or scratching it, or, if too hard, painting it in colors before venturing to quarry the stone.

The pipes of the ancient Mexicans were nearly all made of terra cotta, highly glazed or painted. Pipes of marble have been found in Tennessee and other parts of the United States, and a very fine specimen in the Canadian Institute was discovered near Richmond Hill, Ontario. The Stoney Indians of our North-West were in the habit of using a coarse species of bluish jasper procured from the shores of the Athabasca River and elsewhere in the west, and a fine grade of marble, which they made into graceful pipes, beautifully polished, but too hard for delicate carving.

Since the location of the bands of this sub-tribe on Reservations, the manufacture of these articles has become almost extinct, as the people seldom travel long distances, except during their hunting expeditions, and much of their time is spent in farming. The stone pipes of our savage folk had sometimes indentations in the form of ornaments, but seldom do we learn of a lead or pewter pipe, yet there is one to be seen in the Canadian Institute. We have seen several of the leaden

INDIAN CLAY PIPE (FULL SIZE).

ornamented pipes among the Blackfeet, the stone being cut with a knife, file or sharp piece of iron and the lead poured into the hollowed space. Pipes of obsidian have been found in the graves of the red men. Clay pipes have been found in widely scattered localities throughout the Dominion. Simcoe County has furnished the greatest number of these, and especially the classic aboriginal site of Nottawasaga. From the ancient town of Hochelaga, on the present site of Montreal, the ossuaries at Lake Medad, near Watertown, about ten miles west from Hamilton, Ontario, Brant County, and the district inhabited by the Tshimpseans of British Columbia, clay pipes of various styles have been brought, revealing the skill, taste, religious ideas and customs of the people.

From the country of the Petuns, in the County of Simcoe, the largest number of clay pipes have been brought, arising, no doubt, from the fact that this extinct tribe raised tobacco for commercial purposes, and may have made pipes also for sale. Tiny pipes of imperfect manufacture have been found, evidently the work of Indian children, which may have been used as toys. The pipe-maker moulded the plastic clay into the pattern desired, placed a twig or reed in the stem or twisted two strands of grass or fibre to make a strong cord, and the clay was fashioned around this twig, and then baked hard. Sometimes the mass was moulded with the design complete, and burned, and afterwards the bowl and hole in the stem were bored, but this was very difficult work, from the fragile nature of the native pottery, and the former method seems to have been the one most in use.

The head of the pipe was specially carved by the Mound-Builders, but among the Indians, the head and stem had their own significant uses, and both were subjected to the influences of native decorative art. The Indians regarded the pipe stem with superstitious reverence, the head of the pipe carried carefully wrapped up in a tobacco pouch. The common pipe was not so preserved, but the sacred pipe of the Crees, Blackfeet, Ojibways and Sioux had the stem decorated with paint, eagle feathers and pieces of fur, besides having in some instances elaborate carvings, and special pipe-stem bearers were appointed to guard the palladium of the tribe.

Each tribe has its own style of pipe, as well as a distinctive form of moccasin. As each white nation has a special national style of dress, so the Indian tribes had their tribal dresses, styles of wearing the hair, tattoo marks, and even a tribal gait in walking. Their houses and tents and canoes were also distinctive, so that they could be distinguished from one another. The Hochelaga potters bestowed their highest skill upon their tobacco pipes, and their class of pipes were generally of the trumpet shape. The platform pipe is supposed to have belonged to the modern Algonquin or Iroquois, and consisted of a flat platform as a substitute for a bowl, having an orifice in the centre of the plate for holding the tobacco. When the tobacco was lighted, the pipe was passed around the circle of warriors or members of the council for each to blow the smoke out as a sign of good faith and worship. The pipe-head of the savage folk of Canada was moulded or carved in various designs.

There are to be seen in the Canadian Institute, in the museum of the Manitoba Historical Society, in the collections belonging

INDIAN STONE PIPE (SEVEN-EIGHTHS DIAMETER).

to public institutions and private parties, numerous kinds of pipe sculpture. Upon these are observed the totems of the natives. Among the animals moulded and carved are the bear, panther, horse, lynx, monkey, wolf, snake and lizard; and of the bird specimens there are owls, eagles and ducks. Clay pipes had few decorations on the stem, the pipe sculptor expending his time and ability upon the bowl and base of the pipe. In the museum of the Canadian Institute there are some rare specimens of clay and stone pipes. There is one of striking design, having two snakes intertwined on the bowl, the head, mouth and eyes of both well formed, and lines made on the body to represent scales. Another snake-pipe has the snake coiled around the stem. An eagle pipe, made of a finely-veined and close-grained piece of Huronian slate, has the head and beak artistically formed, the right and left talons separated and the wings outlined. Some of the pipes have the human form represented, nearly in full, or the face alone. One design is that of a man carrying a burden on his back, another consists of a double face, one at the front and the other at the back of the bowl, and one of human form having a hat on, but whether this represents a white man or is a relic of the native costume worn before ,the French occupation of Canada is not known. The figures on the bowls were in general made to face the smoker. Some of the designs are essentially aboriginal, and

INDIAN STONE PIPE (FULL SIZE).

others, as the hatted pipe and the figure of the horse, belong to the period of the white man.

A pipe made of stone was recently found at Price's Corners, near Orillia, which has the design of an Indian woman carrying a round basket on her back, the basket forming the bowl of the pipe. The most artistic workers in pipe sculpture of all the western Indians are the Tshimpseans, who carve out of a soft blue claystone elaborate and grotesque designs, which exhibit great skill.

In the human faces on the pipes of Indians it is believed that the method practised during the past two centuries was to turn the face from the smoker, and before that period the face was turned directly toward the stem.

The earliest pipes of the western Denes consisted of a stone bowl with a serrated base, wherein was inserted a wooden stem. The bowl and stem were connected by a chain of den-talium shells, alternating with colored glass beads.

The Eskimos make pipes of iron, brass, stone, reindeer antlers, and walrus ivory, which are neatly inlaid with thin sheet copper or brass, but the stems are made of two pieces of wood, hollowed in the centre and lashed together by a thong made of the skin of the deer or seal. They are nearly all of the same pattern, and have not elaborate designs, the stems being subjected to ornamentation, and that not to any great extent.

When the Indians are in their lodges they use a common pipe, the master of the lodge filling it, and, handing it to one of the men in the circle, it is lighted and passed around, each one taking a few whiffs. The smokers swallow the last whiff of smoke and allow it to pass through the nostrils. Seldom do they smoke alone when in company, although each man carries his own pipe. The men never allow the women to join them in smoking in company, but when the family is alone, husband and wife sometimes smoke together. The pipes of the women are small and very common, and when a company of them are assembled they pass the pipe around, indulging in a few whiffs. Besides these common pipes, used upon every occasion, there is generally a sacred pipe, owned by the native, especially if he is a chief and is in good circumstances. This is kept as a sacred talisman, whose presence in the lodge is believed to afford protection, and in time of sickness to exert a healing virtue. During a period of sickness among the Blood Indians, we were administering medicine to a child of one of the chiefs, named Blackfoot Old Woman. It did not seem to regain its strength, and the father was very anxious for the recovery of his child. A change took place, and at last complete restoration to health. As we sat in the lodge, the chief informed us that several years ago the head chief, lied Crow, hail purchased a medicine pipe from an Indian which possessed great virtue, and he had given ten horses for it. We were rather suspicious about the price, but allowed the chief to relate his story. During all the time that Red Crow owned the pipe he had been protected, and always recovered from sickness. Being anxious for the safety of his child, Blackfoot Old Woiftan purchased the pipe from Red Crow, and no sooner had he brought it to his lodge than his child began to recover. Pointing to the pipe, neatly

INDIAN CLAY PIPE (FULL SIZE).

enclosed in a special wrapper, he said, "That is stronger than the white man's medicine."

There are tribal pipes which are highly esteemed, and only used at the sun dance, and important political and religious gatherings. Among some of the tribes, especially the Sioux, sacred tents are provided for these pipes. The sacred tribal pipes include the war pipe and the peace pipe. When it is decided to go to war, and a large war party is desired, a large number of warriors are invited to a lodge, and, after being addressed upon the subject, one of the chiefs fills the war pipe, and all who are willing to join the party smoke the pipe, and those who are unwilling do not put it to their lips. The peace pipe, having a long stem decorated with eagles' feathers, is used as a flag of truce, and the bearer is protected by the enemy. The common people are not allowed to touch them, and, indeed, they revere them so much that they are afraid to desecrate them in any way. When smoked by strangers or enemies it is a token of friendship; and even though a great wrong may have been done to one tribe by another, so soon as the clouds of smoke ascend from the peace pipe there is rejoicing and peace. This is the burden of the song of the peace pipe, as given by Longfellow:

"Bury your clubs and your weapons, Break the red stone from this quarry, Mould and make it into peace pipes; Take the reeds that grow beside you, Deck them with your brightest feathers; Smoke the calumet together, And as brothers live henceforth."

Loskiel's description of the peace pipe is as follows: "The French call it 'calumet,' and it has commonly a large head of red marble, three inches deep and six or eight inches wide. But the red color being the color of war, it is daubed over with white clay or chalk. The pipe stem is made of hard, black wood, four feet long, and wound round with a fine ribband, neatly decorated with white corals by the women, who endeavor to display their art to the best advantage. Sometimes ornaments are added, made of porcupine quills, with green, yellow and white feathers."

In the ancient rites of the Condoling Council of the Iroquois, when opening the ceremony, a fire was kindled, a pipe lighted and passed around among the guests with great formality,

and the principal chief invited them to smoke together in gratitude for their safety, and to mingle their tears together in their sorrow. It is customary to pass the pipe around, each taking a few whiffs and, after going round the circle, it is returned backward, without smoking it, to the master of the lodge. The pipe plays a prominent part in the religious rites of the natives. Smoking is indulged in at the opening of nearly every ceremony of the midawin of the Ojibways, and the medicine man of the tribes east and west points his pipe to

INDIAN CLAY PIPE (FULL SIZE).

the sun or sky, and then to the four points of the compass. The mida of the Ojibways makes his smoke offering by taking a whiff, and pointing the stem of his pipe to the east; another whiff, and the stem is directed to the south ; another whiff, and similar gesture in the direction of the north; a long whiff taken, with an expression of reverence, and the stem is directed forward and upward to the Great Spirit; and finally a whiff, and similar gesture forward and downward toward the earth, as an offering to Nokomis, the grandmother of the universe, and to those who have passed to the great beyond. The pipe stem is frequently carved and decorated with feathers, the carvings sometimes denoting the fact that several persons belonging to different gens live in the same house and smoke the same pipe. Every feather is significant, and the sacred pipes must be placed in certain definite positions, or there may happen serious consequences to the tribe or some members of the tribe. If the pipe stem becomes clogged in smoking, the pipe-bearer among some of the tribes is killed; if it falls to the ground, or is intentionally kicked about, it is believed that the pipe-bearer or some prominent person will soon die. When attacking a herd of buffaloes, or going out to welcome a stranger to the camp, a man went out carrying a pipe. A sacred pipe placed between two combatants by a proper person generally ended a quarrel, or, if sent to a hostile tribe and smoked, secured friendship. When two men belonging to different tribes met on the prairie, if they smoked together, it was a token of peace. The bearer of a sacred pipe went unarmed to the village of a hostile tribe, taking care to reach the place in daylight, and always was he protected and well treated. The sacred pipes are carried around the circle of the chiefs when assembled at their council gatherings.

While every adult Indian is more or less a pipe maker, there are generally a few persons who, by their skill at moulding and carving, became known as experts, and these are employed by their fellows to make pipes for them. Among the blood Indians a young man, named Potaina, alias Joe Healey, has made some beautiful carved black-stone pipes, with aboriginal and modern designs. The skill shown by some of the pipe sculptors is surprising when we consider the fact that they often carve them with a knife, an old file or a piece of iron. The pipes used by the Omahas in the Wawan or pipe dance can only be made by those who have given away horses, been valiant in battle or prudent in counsel. No other person can enjoy the honor of making these pipes. Dr. Wilson mentions an old Chippeway living on Great Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, who was known as the Pipe Maker, because of his great artistic ability. With an old saw, made by himself from a bit of iron hoop, he carved some beautiful pipes, using the black pipe stone of Lake Huron, the white pipe stone of St. Joseph's Island and the red pipe stone of the famous Red Stone Quarry.

There are men specially appointed to take care of the sacred , pipes, whose persons are held sacred and are entitled to privileges belonging to their office. Horses are provided by some of the tribes for transporting the pipes when the Indians are travelling. The women are not allowed to touch the pipes, nor even to witness the ceremony of uncovering them. The council is opened by the pipe-bearers filling the pipes, after repeating a formula, and handing them to the principal chiefs. If any of the laws relating to the sacred pipes are broken, the pipe-bearer will assuredly die within a short time.

The tobacco pouches, sometimes called fire bags, are usually made of the skins of animals, ornamented with porcupine quills, beads and feathers, but in later years, especially among the Crees and Saulteaux of the far north, elaborate designs are sewn with silk. The Blackfeet, Crees and Ojibways make some beautiful pouches. Significant figures are drawn upon some of them. A sacred war pouch is also used as a means of making peace with a hostile tribe, and the bearer is safe even when travelling unarmed through the territory of the enemy. The Point Barrow Eskimos make their tobacco pouches of wolverine fur elaborately ornamented with borders of different colored skin. The common pouch is fastened to the belt of the Indian and contains tobacco, pipe and stem, kinne-kinick and matches. Although the Indians are believed to have taught the white man the use of tobacco, many of the northern and western Indians, including the Eskimos, are indebted to the white man for its extensive use, and even for its introduction among them. The western Denes and Eskimos knew nothing of tobacco until the advent of the white man. The Petuns of Ontario and other tribes, however, had large fields of tobacco, which they grew for their own use and to supply the other Indian tribes. The Indians of Puget Sound knew nothing of it till the white man brought it among them. The Ojibways, along with other tribes, appear to have used it before they came in contact with the white race. A narcotic plant was grown and in use among some tribes of Indians which they rejected when tobacco could be obtained more easily. The Haidas of British Columbia cultivated and chewed the huidakwul-ra, which they sold to neighboring tribes. Prof. Dawson says, "To prepare the plant for for use, it was dried over the fire on a little framework, finely burned in a stone mortar, and then pressed into cocks. It does not appear that they smoked it, but being mixed up with a little lime, prepared by burning clam shells, was either chewed or held in the cheek."

When the Indians of the .west are passing by a mysterious stone on the prairie, or the northern men are about to run a dangerous rapid, they make an offering of tobacco. Pipes and tobacco are placed in the lodges with the dead warriors, and sometimes a young persons will beg for a piece of bread or tobacco, that they may be taken to the friends who have joined the great majority. The Blackfeet will fill a pipe at night and hold it outside the lodge that the spirits of the dead may enjoy a smoke.

The savage folk do not use tobacco alone, but mix it with an ingredient. The Point Barrow Eskimos mix finely chopped willow twigs, in the proportion of two parts of wood to one of tobacco; the ancient Mexicans mixed liquid amber with their tobacco, and our modern Indians use the inner bark of the red willow or the leaves of cranberry or winterberry. The leaves of the winterberry are called by the Ojibways pahgezegun, which means "anything mixed," but the cranberry leaf and willow bark are called kinne-kinick, which signifies "he mixes." The Omahas have a mixture called ninigahi, meaning " to mix with tobacco," which is "made from the inner bark of the dogwood, and dried in narrow strips over the fire, on a sieve shaped like a battle-door, and made by interlacing thin pieces of wood. The dried curled strips are powdered between the fingers." Kinne-kinick, sometimes called killikinick, is an Ojibway term, which is applied to the tobacco and ingredients by the Ojibways, and is now applied generally by white people to the ingredients alone.* Pipe dances are performed among some of the tribes, notably the Wawan or pipe dance of the Omahas, which was an ancient custom, made for the purpose of exchanging possessions and giving and receiving honors, a ceremony in some of its details resembling the potlach of the Indians of British Columbia and the sun dance of the Blackfeet. When Lieutenant-Governor Morris made the treaties at Forts Carleton and Pitt in 1876, there was performed by the Indians a pipe dance, or the dance of the pipe stem. The chiefs, medicine men and singers of the camp of Crees at Fort Pitt advanced toward the Governors tent in a large semi-circle, preceded by about twenty warriors on horse-back, who sang and shouted as they went through various striking evolutions. When within fifty yards of the tent they halted, and those on foot sat down upon blanket's spread on the ground for their convenience. The bearer of the stem was named "The man you strike on the back." This man carried in his hand a large and gorgeously adorned pipe stem, and walking slowly along the semi-circle, he advanced to the front, raised the stem to the sky, then slowly turned it toward the north, south, east and west. He then returned to the group seated on the ground, handed the stem to one of the young men, who commenced a low chant, at the same time performing a ceremonial dance, accompanied by the drums and singing of the men and women in the background. This dance was subsequently performed at Fort Carlton with four pipes, the singers, dancers and riders being more numerous. After the pipes were stroked by the commissioners, they were presented to each of them to be smoked, and then laid upon the table, covered with calico and cloth, and returned to the pipe-bearers. The stroking of the pipe stem by the Governor and commissioners signified that they accepted the friendship of the tribe. The pipe is a symbol of peace, and the place assigned to it in their treaties, councils and religious festivals lifts it out of the plane of recreation, which is to them not merely an agent of simulation, but a mediator and a bond of friendship among men.