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Canadian Savage Folk
Chapter VI. Races and Languages


THE LITERATURE OF EASTERN AND CENTRAL CANADA.

THE heroic age in Canada is not lacking in subjects worthy of the pen of the historian, novelist or poet, or the pencil and brush of the artist. Some of our most noted American writers explored the untrodden field of native lore for original subjects, and their laurels were won in revealing the heroism of savages, the gracefulness and beauty of swarthy maidens, the stirring deeds of a period supposed by many to be a barren waste, and the strength and purity of intellect and Imagination, and the deep religious spirit of the red men hidden in their mythology and customs. Albert Gallatin laid the foundation of our study upon this continent of the Indian languages, the results of his studies being embodied in his great work, "Synopsis of the Indian Tribes of North America." He was followed by two scholars eminent in the field of native lore —Peter S. Duponceau and the Moravian missionary, John Heckewelder. The most industrious of all investigators in the study of the customs, traditions and languages of the red men was Henry B. Schoolcraft, who devoted more than thirty years to the amassing of information and the publication of works relating to the languages and folk-lore of the natives of the northern part of the continent. He published "Oneota," "Algic Researches," which was afterwards issued as "The Myth of Hiawatha," "Notes on the Iroquois, "Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes," and his greatest work "History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States." This last work was published by the American Government in six quarto volumes, and has been characterized by Parkman as "a, singularly crude and illiterate production, stuffed with blunders and contradictions, giving evidence on every page of a striking unfitness either for historical or scientific inquiry, and taxing to the utmost the patience of those who would extract what is valuable in it from its oceans of pedantic verbiage." The chief merit of Schoolcraft's works has been the preservation of valuable documents. He was lacking in critical power, unable to select wisely, but was intensely in earnest in collecting facts and fancies, which he oftentimes erroneously interpreted.

Longfellow's poem on Hiawatha was based on the myth which Schoolcraft had dug from the folk-lore of the Ojibways, and the success of the poem directed the reading public to the intensely interesting character of the legendary lore of the natives of the New Continent. Fenimore Cooper followed in the train of these investigators, weaving facts and fancies into stirring works of fiction, which found a numerous host of readers in the Old and New Worlds, and seem to be as popular as when written. The interest awakened by Heckewelder and Cooper in the red men aroused other writers to employ their pens in this special field of romance, and among the numerous novels produced were Simm's stirring story, "The Yemassee," and the pathetic tale, "Ramona," by Helen Hunt Jackson, aptly named the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the American Indian race.

The heroic age in Canada is not a barren period, but abounds in subjects for the writer of prose and the maker of poetry. The French period is prolific in materials relating to the life of the forest rangers and voyageurs. The adventures of Du Lhut, the Robin Hood of the Canadian greenwood, after whom the City of Duluth is named, would make a stirring volume for the youth of our land. Longfellow found on Canadian soil the subject for his immortal poem "Evangeline"; and Parkman, delving deep in our archives, resuscitated the hidden lore of other days, and won immortal fame. Much remains to be written of the virtues of Madame Perade, who is known as the youthful heroine of Vercheres, when, as a girl of fourteen, she faced a band of Iroquois warriors and saved a fort by her courage and wonderful presence of mind. The pen of the ready writer can find an appropriate subject in the legend of the death of Father La Brosse, the devoted missionary among the Mon-tagnais, in the Saguenay region. He died at Tadousac, and the old folks say 011 that night the bells in all the mission churches which he served, on the mainland and on the islands of the Lower St. Lawrence, tolled of their own accord, all the people crying, " Alas! our good missionary is dead; he warned us we should never see him more."

Charlevoix, the famous French traveller and early historian of Canada, in his " Histoire de la Nouvelle France," published in 1744, and " Letters to the Duchess of Lesdiguieres," gave much valuable information relating to Canada and the Canadian Indians. Besides treating of the French posts and settlements, the mines, fisheries, plants and animals, the lakes, waterfalls and rivers, and the manner of navigating them, he treated of the character of the native tribes, their customs and traditions, languages, government and religion. The languages of Canada upon which he made special comments, were the Huron, Algonquin and Pottawatomi. His history was praised by scholars and freely ([noted as an authority, yet it was not until 1865 that an English edition was published, which was issued in six volumes at New York, by John Gilmary Shea.

Father Gabriel $agard was one of our earliest Huron scholars. In 16:32 there was published in Paris " Le Grand Voyage rlu pays des Hurons," which was followed by a dictionary of the Huron language, and in 1636 his "Histoire du Canada et Voyages que les freres Mineurs Ilecollets y out faiets pour la Conversion des Infid&les depuis l'an 1615." We are indebted to Father Sagard for many facts relating to the customs of the Hurons, their religious belief and political system. Another of the early historians was Marc Lescarbot, who, in 1609, published his "History of New France" in the French language. The historians of the French period were not men of the study, who formed their opinions by consulting manuscripts and books, but they were priests who travelled extensively among the native tribes, learning the languages and becoming conversant with the savage customs and belief of their dusky adherents, as they taught them the way of the cross ; or they were soldiers and adventurers, who became enamoured of the forest life, or were aroused by a spirit of enterprise and desire for discovery; and as they travelled gathered information and formed their opinions through personal observation. Scattered throughout the pages of their books are discussions on the languages of the natives, with short vocabularies, folk-tales, traditions and recitals of religious feasts.

Lescarbot's writings were no exception, and in his pages are to be found a discussion on the languages of the natives, with short vocabularies of the Algonquin, Huron, Etchemin and Souriquois. Baron de la Hontan's "Nouveaus Voyages" were published in Paris and London in 1703. La Hontan arrived in Canada in 1683, and was stationed as a soldier at several important forts, including Frontenac, Niagara and St. Joseph. His military duties gave him opportunities of seeing the country and learning something of the natives; but truth and fiction are so blended in his writings that they have long since ceased to have any authority. The intrepid explorer and historian, Samuel de Champlain, was in the habit of keeping a journal of his observations, which was published in several volumes. In 1603, a small book of eighty pages was issued, entitled "Des Sauvages," giving an account of his voyage across the Atlantic and a description of the Gulf and River St. Lawrence, with numerous details of the scenery, the animals and birds, and the character and habits of the natives. "Les Voyages du Sieur de Champlain" was published in 1613, "Voyages et Descouv-ertures" in 1619, and "Les Voyages de la Nouvelle France Occidentale" in 1632. The genial Governor of New France relates, with the skill and confidence of a close observer of the ways of nature and men, his dealings with the savages, the dress, war and burial customs, feasts and religious ideas of the natives, the missions of the Recollet Fathers, his explorations on the Ottawa, Lakes Nipissing, Huron and Ontario, with reflections upon the Huron and neighboring Indian tribes. Chaniplain's volumes are a mine of lore relating to early Canadian history and the native tribes of Canada inhabiting the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Boucher, the Governor of Three Rivers, published at Paris, in 1664, a faithful but superficial account of Canada, detailing the habits of the savages and the condition of the country. In the same year the Pere du Creux issued his tedious Latin compilation of the Jesuit Relations, with some additions from another source, bearing the title "Historian Canadensis." A rare historical account of the French colony and the missionary work of the Recollet Fathers was given by Le Clercq in 1691, and published in two volumes, with the title "Etablissement de la Foi," as also another work, "Nouvelle Relation de la Gaspdsie," in the same year. Tire Jesuit Lafitau published at Paris, in 1724, his "Moeurs des Sauvages Ameriquains," in two volumes, with various plates. The author had spent several years among the Iroquois, and his work deals chiefly with the Indians It is of great historical value, as Lafitau was a careful observer, and narrated accurately the results of his travels. Parkman says he is "the most satisfactory of the elder writers;" and Charlevoix said, twentj' years after the book was published, "We have nothing so exact on the subject." Bacqueville de la Potherie published, in 1722 and again in 1753, his "Histoire de rAmerique Septei. rionale," in four volumes. Although characterized by Charlevoix as an undigested and ill-written narrative, it has been frequently quoted, and is a respectable authority upon the French establishments at Quebec, Montreal and Three Rivers ; but its chief value lies in the faithful account of the condition of the Indians from 1534 to 1701. In 1791 there was published in London "Voyages and Travels of an Indian Interpreter and Trader," by John Long. This work gives an account of the posts on the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario, the fur trade, and the observations of the writer during his residence in the country. It contains speeches in the Ojibway language, with English translations, numerals from one to one thousand in the Iroquois, Algonquin and Ojibway languages and vocabularies of the Mohegan, Shawnee, Algonquin and Ojibway.

Among English writers on Canada and the red men in general, not including historians, poets, or essayists, who cannot be classed as producers of Canadian-Indian literature, are: Heriot, the Deputy Postmaster-General of British North America, Colonel de Peyster, Judge Haliburton, and Mrs. Jameson. George Heriot's "Travels Through the Canadas" sheds some light on the native languages, discussing the origin of language, diversity of tongues in America, grammatical notes and vocabulary of the Algonquin language, with "O! Salutaris Hostia," in the Abnaki, Algonquin, Huron, and Illinois languages. The miscellanies of Colonel de Peyster were privately printed in 1813, at Dumfries, Scotland, and reprinted with additions at New York in 1888. Besides the original letters of De Peyster, Sir John Johnson and Colonel Guy Johnson, the work contains numerous references to the Indians, a short vocabulary of the Ottawa and Ojibway languages, and the distribution of the native tribes. The famous author of "Sam Slick," in "A General Description of Nova Scotia," gives some specimens of the Micmac language, including vocabulary, pronouns, and present and imperfect tenses of the verb to dance, with English translations. This work was printed at Halifax in 1823. Mrs. Jameson's "Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada," discusses briefly the Ojibway language, with a few examples.

Books of travel cannot be expected to contain more than if passing reference to the Canadian Aborigines, and it is only when we turn to the works dealing with the scientific aspect of the question, that we find a full discussion of the various phases of life and thought among the natives. Fortunately we have some writers who have studied definitely, and with enthusiasm, the history, condition, languages, folk-lore, religion and government of the savage folk, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the international boundary line to the Arctic Ocean. Although not emanating from Canada, yet because it treats of one of our greatest native confederacies, the famous work "The League of the Illinois," by the Hon. Lewis H. Morgan, must lie included in our sketch of the literature. This is a profound study of the organization polity, customs and character of an Indian people. Mr. Morgan was adopted a member of the Senecas, and for nearly forty years he investigated the ancient laws and customs of the Iroquois, producing several notable works which awakened a deeper interest in the Indian race.

Horatio Hale, of Clinton, Ontario, is our greatest writer on the native races. An American by birth, upon graduating at Harvard in 1837 he was appointed philologist to the United States Exploring Expedition under Captain Charles Wilkes. In this capacity he studied a large number of languages in North and South America, Australia and the Pacific Islands, and investigated the history, traditions and customs of the people speaking these languages. Five years were spent in preparing his special report of the Expedition, which was published at Philadelphia in 1846, with the title, the " Ethnography and Philology of the United States Exploring Expedition." A large number of memoirs on anthropology and ethnology have been read before learned societies and published. He is a member of many scientific societies in America and Europe, and is better known through his writings abroad than at home. His "Iroquois Book of Rites" is a notable work, dealing with the language, history, customs and traditions of the Iroquois. The book is a native manuscript of a religious character, as may be seen from its name, translated by Mr. Hale, with explanatory notes. The following memoirs are only a few of his numerous publications: "Indian Migrations as Evidenced by Language;" "Report on the Blackfoot Tribes," prepared under the direction of tin1 British Association;" The Development of Language;" "Race and Language;" "Tutelo Tribe and Language;" "The Fall of HocheJaga;" "Origin of Languages and Antiquity of Speaking Man:" "Aryans in Science and History;" " Language as a Political Force;" " Huron Folk-Lore." Mr. Hale's opinions as an ethnologist have been quoted extensively by European and American students of anthropology. Sir Daniel Wilson published several important papers on the Canadian Indians. His notable work, "Prehistoric Man: Researches into the Origin of Civilization in the Old and New World," included investigations in modern savagery, based upon his earlier studies on the natives of our Dominion. His memoirs were read before the Canadian Institute, Royal Society of Canada, the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland and other learned societies. Some of them were afterwards issued separately and finally incorporated in a posthumous volume, entitled, "The Lost Atlantis and other Ethnographic Studies." Relating especially to the native tribes are the essays: "The Trade and Commerce of the Stone Age," "Pre-Aryan American Man," "The Esthetic Faculty in Aboriginal Races," and "The Huron Iroquois of Canada, a Typical Race of American Aborigines."

John Reade, our notable litterateur, wrote a few articles for The Week on "Nation Building," treating learnedly of the origin, tribal divisions, distribution and gradual disappearance of the natives of our Dominion. Papers, entitled "Some Wabanaki Songs" and "The Basques in North America," were read by him before the Royal Society of Canada, and published in Volumes V. and VI. of the "Proceedings and Transactions of the Society."

A. F. Chamberlain has devoted several years of intense study to the folk-lore and languages of our native tribes. Several of his papers have been read before the Canadian Institute and other societies, or published as magazine articles, and subsequently issued separately. The titles of some of his articles are as follows: "The Relationship of the American Languages," "Notes on the History, Customs, and Beliefs of the Mississauga Indians," "Tales of the Mississaugas," "The Archaeology of Scugog Island," "The Eskimo R|ce and Language," "The Language of the Mississaugas," "The Kootenay Indians," "Contributions towards a Bibliography of the Archaeology of the Dominion of Canada and Newfoundland," "Algonquin Ono-matology, with some Comparisons with Basque," "The Thunder-Bird Amongst the Algonquins," "Notes on Indian Child Language," "The Aryan Element in Indian Dialects."

Dr. Silas T. Rand, missionary among the Micmac Indians, besides numerous translations of hymns, tracts, prayers and portions of Scripture, in the Micmac language, wrote: "A Short Statement of Facts, Relating to the History, Manners, Customs, Language and Literature of the Micmac Tribe of Indians," " First Reading Book in Micmac," in the Pitman phonetic characters, and in Roman letters; "The History of Poor Sarah, a Pious Indian Woman," in the Micmac language; and "A Short Account of the Lord's Work among the Micmac Indians." Dr. Rand was an assiduous translator, well known as an industrious student of native lore, yet excelled as a Latin and Greek scholar, the Latin versions of some of the great hymns of the Christian Church published by him showing wide culture and poetic genius.

Amongst the class of writers on our Indians who may be termed scientific are the accomplished Abbe Cuoq, missionary to the Iroquois at the Lake of Two Mountains, author of "Jugement errone de M. Ernest Renan sur les Langues Sauvages," "Etudes Philologiques," and numerous translations in the Mohawk and Nipissing tongues; David Boyle, the indefatigable investigator of native lore, whose work as an archa3ologist in connection with his duties as curator of the museum of the Canadian Institute is destined to bring him prominently before the Canadian public as an enduring memorial of the heroic days of our country; Sir J. W. Dawson, and his son, Dr. G. M. Dawson, and Professor Campbell, of Montreal. Leaving the Indian literature of the western part of the Dominion to be dealt with later on, we come to the modern period of historical writings relating to the native tribes.

A reprint of John de Laet's "L'Histoire du Nouveau Monde," first published in Dutch in 1630 and 1633, and in French in 1640, was issued |it Quebec in 1882.

Cadwallader Colden's History of the Five Indian Nations of Canada "was published at New York in 1727, and in London in 1747. The native religion, customs, laws and forms of government; the wars and treaties; the condition of the trade of the Five Nations with the British, and their relation to the French, with an account of some of the neighboring tribes, are treated in this work.

Benjamin Slight published at Montreal, in 1844, "Indian researches, or Facts Concerning the North-American Indians."

George Copway, an Ojibway Indian chief, born at the mouth of the river Trent in 1818, and known by the native name, Kagegagahbowh, left Canada when a youth, and was educated in the State of Illinois. For some years he was connected with the press of New York, and lectured extensively in Europe and the United States. After spending twelve years as a missionary to the Ojibway Indians, he published, in 1847, his "Life, History and Travels," which passed through several editions, .and, in 1850, "The Traditional History and Characteristic Sketches of the Ojibway Nation." The last years of his life were spent as a missionary among his own people. He died at Pontiac, Michigan, about 1863.

Peter Jones, the famous missionary to the Ojibways of Canada, published at Toronto, in 1860, the "Life and Journals of Kahkewaquonaby (Rev. Peter Jones)," and in 1861, at London, England, his "History of the Ojibway Indians, with Especial Reference to their Conversion to Christianity."

These works contain an interesting account of the travels of the missionary among the Ojibways and neighboring tribes, the traditions, native religion, and customs of the people, with the success of missionary work among them.

Peter Dooyentate Clarke published at Toronto, in 1870, "Origin and Traditional History of the Wyandots, and Sketches of Other Indian Tribes of North America." Traditional stories of Tecumseh and his League, in the years 1811 and 1812, are given, besides an historical sketch of the Huron Indians.

The Rev. George Patterson, D.D., has written several interesting papers upon the Indians of the eastern part of the Dominion, which have been read before learned societies. Among his numerous papers, three notable ones have attracted considerable attention, namely, "The Stone Age in Nova Scotia, as illustrated by a collection of relics presented to Dalhousie College," "The Beothics or Red Indians of Newfoundland," and "Beothic Vocabularies."

A. F. Hunter, of Barrie, has devoted several years investigating the sites of the Huron villages and ossuaries in the counties of Siincoe, York, and Ontario. His papers on "National Characteristics and Migrations of the Hurons," and "French Relics from Village Sites of the Hurons," reveal the qualifications of the successful Indian scholar, original research, literary culture, intense enthusiasm, plodding industry, and the power of discrimination.

Mrs. Matilda Edgar, in 1890, published at Toronto a book of great interest to Canadian readers. "Ten Years of Upper Canada in Peace and War, 1805-1815, being the Ridout Letters, with Annotations," besides dealing with the history of the period, contains the narrative of the captivity among the Shawnee Indians, in 1788, of Thomas Ridout, afterwards Surveyor-General of Upper Canada, and a vocabulary of the Shawnee language. Mrs. Edgar is the granddaughter of Thomas Ridout, the author of the narrative and vocabulary. Her grandfather was captured by the Shawnee Indians, and spent among them the spring and summer of 1788. As an instance of the difficulties under which the captive labored in the preparation of his diary and vocabulary, he says: "I had by this time acquired a tolerable knowledge of their language, and began to understand them, as well as to make myself intelligible. My mistress loved her dish of tea, and with the tea paper I made a book, stitched with the bark of a tree, and with yellow ink of hickory ashes, mixed with a little water, and a pen made with a turkey quill, I wrote down the Indian name of visible objects. In this manner I wrote two little books, which I carried in a pocket torn from my breeches, and worn around my waist, tied by a piece of elm bark."

Mr. Ridout died at Toronto, February 8,1829, in the seventy-fifth year of his age.

Another valuable work relating to the natives of our country, is "Ancient Lachine and the Massacre of the 5th of August, 1689." The author, D. Girouard, Q.C., M.P., is a distinguished member of the Montreal bar and parliamentarian. Early recitals of the old regime a beautiful description of the island of Montreal, personal notes on De la Salle, the founder of Lachine, the forts, Indian wars, and the trials of the early settlers are recounted in graphic style. Charts and photographs of the early military and religious habitations enliven the pages. At the time of the disaster of 1G89 the population of Lachine comprised three hundred and twenty souls, not including the soldiers who kept garrison at the upper end of the village. The Iroquois were greatly embittered against the French on account of the treachery of the Marquis of Lenonville, Governor of New France, who had invited a large number of unsuspecting Indians to attend a feast at Fort Frontenac, in Cataraqui. Ninety-five accepted the Governor's invitation, and upon their arrival they were seized, put in irons and sent prisoners to Quebec. A few of them, including the famous Orcanone, chief of the Five Nations, were transported to France. No sooner had the Marquis of Lenonville left the country, and before Frontenac had reached Canada, the Indians sought a terrible revenge; falling suddenly upon Lachine, the village was reduced to ashes and many of its inhabitants were killed and scalped.

The Abbd H. R. Casgrain has been a most industrious student of Canadian history, and his works are of great interest. His best known works, having special reference to the Indians in their relations to the missionaries, the settlers and the soldiers, are "Le gendes Canadiennes," 1861; "Histoire de la Mere de 1'Incarnation," 1864; "Guerre du Canada, 1756-1760, Montcalm et Levis," 1891 ; and "Les Acadieus apres leur Dispersion."

The novelist has not been wanting in our native literature. We have not been favored with a Canadian Fenimore Cooper to reveal, with cultured pen, the pathos of native life, and record the thrilling scenes of the warpath and camp. Foreign writers have sought and found subjects for their romances among our forests and lakes.

Numerous tales have been written about our forest life and the red men, and the struggles of New France. G. A. Henty's " With Wolfe in Canada " and Susanna Moodie's "Roughing it in the Bush" and "Life in the Clearings" reveal the wealth of story in war and peace within the borders of our fair Dominion. The Abbe Casgrain found, in his private secretary, Joseph Marinette, evidences of literary ability, and encouraged him to continue his efforts, which have been eminently successful. The Abba's secretary was born at St. Thomas de Montmorency in 1844, and in his youth became enamoured of the novels of Cooper and Scott, which aroused his imagination, and no doubt directed his thoughts toward the romantic scenes of our own history. Destined for the bar, he found a more congenial occupation in his leisure moments by writing historical novels. He began his literary career with a few unhealthy narratives, utterly devoid of thought and equally lacking in style." His "Charles and Eva," a tale of the taking of Schenectady,, was unfortunate, but his failure stimulated him to form the plan "of popularizing, by means of dramatic presentations, the noble and glorious deeds which every Canadian must know." Four historical novels have firmly established his reputation—"Francois de Bieuville," 1870; "LTntendant Bigot," 1872; " Le Chevalier de Mornac," 1873, and ' La Fiancee du Rebelle," 1875.

Mercer Adams "Algonquin Maiden," Agnes Machar's "Stories of New France," the writings of Macdonald, Oxley, Kingston,, and Mrs. Traill are intensely interesting, the habits, customs, traditions and beliefs of the red men adding zest to the historic scenes and general plots of the novels. Mary Hartwell Cather-wood, although not a resident of Canada, has written several admirable romances of the old days of New France and Acadie. "The Romance of Dollard," 1889; "The Story of Tonty," 1890; and "The Lady of Fort St. John," 1891. Francis Parkman has told, in beautiful diction, the story of the long struggle between France and England for dominance in North America. Canada has been laid under deep obligations to Parkman for his laborious research and intense devotion to his task of unravelling the knotted thread of our history. Stories of the Indian tribes, their traditions and beliefs, their war-feasts and religious festivals, their form of government and burial customs, their languages and distributions, tales of the valor and intrigue of their chiefs, speeches and style of oratory, their wars with neighboring tribes and with their white enemies, the noble deeds of the Jesuit missionaries, the prowess of the forest rangers and fur traders, and the adventures of missionaries and laymen on the path of exploration enliven the pages of this famous writer on the native tribes of Canada. The volumes dealing especially and incidentally with the red men are: "Pioneers of France in the New World," "The Jesuits in North America," "La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West," "The Old Regime in Canada Under Louis XIV.," "Count Frontenac and New France Under Louis XIV.," and "Montcalm and Wolfe."

Major G. D. Warburton's "The Conquest of Canada," 1849, abounds in stories of Indian life fascinating and real, which arouse the interest of the reader and maintain it to the end. Major John Richardson's "Wacousta," Sir George Head's "Forest Scenes and Incidents in the Wilds of North America," and Sellar's "Gleaner Tales" are full. of stirring incidents of adventure among the red and white races of our own country.

Although of a religious character, the "Jesuit Relations" are the chief source of information from 1627 to 1672 on geographical discovery, the flora and fauna of the country, and the languages, customs, wars, and location of the Indian tribes. The "Relations" were issued in Paris in a series of forty-one volumes, concerning which Charlevoix said "There is no other source to which we can apply for instruction as to the progress of religion among the savages, or for a knowledge of these people, all of whose languages the Jesuits spoke. The style of these " Relations" is extremely simple; but this simplicity itself has not contributed less to give them a great celebrity than the curious and edifying matter they contain." Parkman's work on "The Jesuits in North America" gives him the right to speak authoritatively upon the "Relations," of which he says, "Though the productions of men of scholastic training, they are simple and often crude in style, as might be expected of narratives hastily written in Indian lodges or rude mission-houses in the forest, amid annoyances and interruptions of all kinds. In respect to the value of their contents, they are exceedingly unequal. . . .

The closest examination has left me no doubt that these missionaries wrote in perfect good faith, and that the "Relations" hold a high place as authentic and trustworthy historical documents. They are very scarce, and no complete collection of them exists in America.

Passaniaquoddy and Penobscot tribes have been thoroughly treated in an instructive and entertaining volume by Charles G. Leland, with the title, "The Algonquin Legends of New England." The author spent the summer of 1882 among the Passaniaquoddy Indians at Campobello, New Brunswick, and subsequently through interviewing members of the Micmac and Penobscot tribes, and the assistance of persons conversant with the Indian traditions, he gathered the materials for his interesting work, which was published at London, 1884. The Rev. W. R. Harris, Dean of St. Catharines, issued at Toronto in 1893, "Early Missions in Western Canada," devoted to the labors of the Recollet, Jesuit and Sulpician missionaries. The labors of these devoted men are recounted with numerous stirring episodes of life among the red men, and interesting notes on the customs of the natives.

"Missionary Work among the Ojibway Indians" was published by Rev. E. F. Wilson, founder of the Shingwauk Home, Sault Ste. Marie, at London and New York in 1886, and contains many important facts relating to the language and customs of the Ojibways, with an account of the progress of religion amongst them. Interesting memoirs of Father Isaac Jogues, the Jesuit missionary martyr, have been published in English by the Rev. Dr. Withrow, the cultured editor of the Methodist Magazine and Review, and author of several important works relating to Canadian history and European travel, and in French by the Rev. Felix Martin. This latter work has been translated into English by Dr. John Gilmary Shea.

Dr. Wrthrow's "Native Races of North America" (1895) is a small volume treating of the Cliff-Dwellers, Mound-Builders and Indians of Canada and the United States. The traditional lore, customs, social and religious burial rites, and native beliefs of the Indians are well described, and the progress of the Indians toward civilization, educational effort, and missionary labors amongst them are told with the pen of a ready writer. It is an admirable volume, fully illustrated, and cannot fail to delight and instruct both young and old.

Some interesting monographs on the missionary martyrs of our country and kindred subjects have also been published by Dr. Withrow. In the study of biography, besides the works already mentioned, the student of Canadian Indian literature cannot afford to neglect Stone's "Life of Chief Joseph Brant" and "Life and Times of Sir William Johnson."

Many noble poems have been written upon subjects chosen from the forest and prairie, and the camp and warpath. Customs, legends and stirring episodes have furnished fruitful themes for the gifted pens of some of our Canadian poets. Charles Mair has written an imperishable poem, "Tecumseh." It is a historical drama, describing the stirring scenes of the war of 1812. The hero is shown to be a true lover of his people, possessing the qualities of a great statesman, which were exhibited by his exertions to unite the red race in a grand federation; and though he signally failed in his patriotic scheme, he left the impress of his thought upon the native tribes. In the pages of "Tecumseh " there are many lessons of patriotism, striking scenes of forest and prairie, and beautiful lines which stir the imagination and engender thought. Describing the primeval days of peacefulness on this continent, the author says:

"The passionate or calm pageants of the skies No artist drew; but in the auburn west Innumerable faces of fair cloud Vanished in silent darkness with the day, The prairie realm—vast ocean's paraphrase— Rich in wild grasses numberless, and flowers Unnamed, save in mute Nature's inventory; No civilized barbarian trenched for gain.

And all that flowed was sweet and uncorrupt, The rivers and their tributary streams, Undammed, wound on forever, and gave up Their lonely torrents to weird gulfs of sea, And ocean wastes unshadowed by a sail."

The departure of the soldiers of York for the scene of war in 1812 recalls the Rebellion of 1885:

. . . "On every hand you see Through the neglected openings of each house— Through doorways—windows—our Canadian maids Strained by their parting lovers to their breasts; And loyal matrons busy round their lords, Buckling their arms on, or, with tearful eyes, Kissing them to the war!

lena the niece of Tecumseh, as the enemy fires, leaps forward to shield Lefroy, her lover, and is wounded to death. Lefroy expresses his impassioned grief as follows:

"Silent forever! Oh, my girl! my girl! Those rich eyes melt; those lips are sun-warm still, Millions of creatures throng, and multitudes Of heartless beings flaunt upon the earth ; There's room enough for them ; but thou, dull Fate ! Thou cold and partial tender of life's field, That pluck'st the flower and leav'st the weed to thrive— Thou hadst not room for her!"

The poem closes with these striking lines:

"Sleep well, Tecumseh, in thy unknown grave,
Thou mighty savage, resolute and brave!
Thou master and strong spirit of the woods,
Unsheltered traveller in sad solitudes,
Yearner o'er Wyandot and Cherokee,
Could'st tell us now what hath been and shall be."

Seventeen pages of interesting notes explain , the numerous allusions in the poem, and the impression left upon the mind by the reading of this native historical drama is vivid and abiding. Lescarbot was the earliest of our Canadian poets. In his, collection of verses, appended to his "Histoire de la Nouvelle France," is a poem commemorating a battle fought by an Indian chief named Memberton and a neighboring tribe. Upon our Canadian shores Longfellow found a fitting theme for his beautiful poem, "Evangeline," and among the Ojibway traditions, the subject matter for "Hiawatha."

J. D. Edgar, M.P., published a suggestive tale in poetic form, "The White Stone Canoe; a Legend of the Ottawas." "Manita," a poem based on an Indian legend of Sturgeon Point, Ontario, was written by William McDonnell, of Lindsay, and issued at Toronto in 1888. Charles Sangster and the Hon. Thomas D'Arcy McGee wrote several poems of native life and customs. The Irish patriot and poet, deeply lamented as a Canadian statesman, stricken down in the prime of life by the cruel hand of an assassin, laid at our feet as his homage to the red men, poems on "The Death of Hudson," "The Launch of the Griffin," "Jacques Cartier," "Jacques Cartier and the Child," and "The Arctic Indian's Faith." In the poem on "Jacques Cartier," after narrating the sorrow of the people of Saint Malo, over the supposed loss of the brave commodore, and his return, amid the joy of his townsmen, the land of snow which he had found in the west is thus described:

"He told them of a region hard, iron-bound, and cold ; Nor seas of pearls abounded, nor mines of shining gold ; Where the wind from Thule freezes the word upon the lip, And the ice in spring comes sailing athwart the early ship ! He told them of the frozen scene until they thrilled with fear, And piled fresh fuel on the hearth to make him better cheer."

"He told them of the Algonquin brave—the hunters of the wild— Of how the Indian mother in the forest rocks her child ; Of how, poor souls ! they fancy in every living thing A spirit good or evil, that claims their worshipping. Of how they brought their sick and maimed for him to breath upon, And of the wonders wrought for them through the Gospel of St. John.'"

Charles Sangster'sIndian poem, "In the Orillia Woods," is a native dirge on the departing race which peopled the County of Simcoe and neighborhood. The poet drew his inspiration from the great events of our history, and the striking scenery of forest, lake and river. He published two collections of verse, "The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay," and "Hesperus, and other Poems and Lyrics," which were eulogized by the Canadian press and contemporary poets. A beautiful poem, frequently quoted, upon the names of places in Acadie and Cape Breton, was written and published by Richard Huntington, a Nova Scotian poet and journalist. The first verse reveals the rhythmic beauty of the poem.

"The memory of the red men
How can it pass away,—
While their names of music linger
On each mount, and stream, and bay?—
While Musquodoboit's waters
Roll sparkling to the main;
While falls the laughing sunbeam
On Chegogin's fields of grain." -

The St. Lawrence and the Saguenay and other Poems
By Charles Sangster (1856) (pdf)

Miss E. Pauline Johnson, the gifted daughter of the late Chief G. M. Johnson, of the Mohawks, has won favor by the artistic rendition of her poems on the red men. She has appeared as the poet-advocate of her race, and especially of the Iroquois. "The White Wampum" is a quaint-looking little volume of Indian verse, imaginative and descriptive, with a richness and beauty that is entrancing. Some of her poems are gems, and, when recited by Miss Johnson in her Indian costume, produce a thrilling effect. The following poems portray all the passion and romance of her race: "The Avenger," "Red Jacket," and "The Cry of the Indian Woman." The canoe-song, "In the Shadows," is a fine specimen of her poetic utterances:

"I am sailing to the leeward,
Where the current runs to seaward,
Soft and slow; Where the sleeping river grasses
Brush my paddle as it passes To and fro.


PAULINE JOHNSON, IN INDIAN COSTUME.

"On the shore the heat is shaking,
All golden sands awaking
In the cove; And the quaint sand-piper, winging
O'er the shallows, ceases singing When I move.

'On the water's idle pillow
Sleeps the overhanging willow
Green and cool; Where the rushes lift their burnished
Oval heads from out the tarnished Emerald pool.

'Where the very water slumbers,
Water-lilies grow in numbers,
Pure and pale; All the morning they have rested,
Amber-crowned and pearly-crested— Fair and frail.

Here, impossible romances,
Indefinable sweet fancies,
Cluster round; But they do not mar the sweetness
Of this still September fleetness With a sound.

I can scarce discern the meeting
Of the shore and stream retreating,
So remote; For the laggard river, dozing,
Only wakes from its reposing Where I float.

Where the river mists are rising,
All the foliage baptizing
With their spray; There the sun gleams far and faintly
With a shadow soft and saintly In its ray.

And the perfume of some burning
Far-off brushwood, ever turning To exale;
All its smoky fragrance, dying,
In the arms of evening, lying, Where I sail.

"My canoe is growing lazy,
In the atmosphere so hazy,
While I dream; Half in slumber I am guiding
Eastward, indistinctly gliding Down the stream."

Arthur Weir's "Champlain," "The Captured Flag," "The Priests and the Ministers," and "L'Ordre de Bon Temps:" Matthew Richey Knights' "Glooscap" and "The Dying Chief;" Mrs. S. A. Curzon's "Laura Secord" and "Fort Toronto," and George Martin's "Marguerite," "The Heroes of Ville Marie," and "Changes on the Ottawa," bring vividly before the mind scenes of other days when the moccasined foot of the warrior trod gently upon the forest trail, and he welcomed to his sorrow the pale-faced heir of civilization, who claimed at last the red man's heritage as his rightful possession.

Of newspapers and magazines a few have appeared in the interest of our Canadian Indians: Petaubun (Peep o' Day), a monthly periodical, was published at Sarnia in 1861 and 1862, by the Rev. Thomas Hurlburt. Three pages were printed in the Ojibway and one in the English language. The Pipe of Peace was published in 1878 and 1879, at Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, by the Rev. E. F. Wilson, of the Shingwauk Home. The first numbers were printed in Ojibway and English, and the later issues in Ojibway. After the suspension of this paper Our Forest Children was begun, the first copy being issued by Mr. Wilson from the Shingwauk Home in 1887. This also was discontinued, but was immediately followed in 1890 by The Canadian Indian, with the Rev. E. F. Wilson and Mr. H. B. Small as editors. It was published under the auspices of the Canadian Indian Research Society, and existed for two years. The two latter publications were printed in English for the purpose of awakening an interest in the Indians and aiding in the investigation of the folk-lore, languages and customs of the natives and Canadian archaeology. The Indian was issued as a bi-monthly paper "devoted to the Indians of America," by Chief Kahkewaquonby (Dr. P. E. Jones), in 1885. The office of publication was located at Hagersville, Out., in close proximity to the Six Nation's Reservation 011 the Grand River. For a short time the paper was issued weekly, but, like all its predecessors, it ceased to exist within two years, twenty-four numbers being published.

An occasional paper, The Aboriginal, was published in New Brunswick, containing notes on the customs of the Indians. The Young Canadian, a weekly magazine, devoted to the youth of our Dominion and intended to foster a national pride in Canadian progress, history, manufactures, science, art and literature, was issued at Montreal in 1891, with Margaret Poison Murray as editor-in-chief. Interesting tales of our early history and stories of Indian life, profusely illustrated, adorned its pages, but apparently through the influence of the literature of our Great Neighbor and our limited constituency it failed to win the needful support. Canada was another patriotic magazine of excellent merit similar in its aims to The Young Canadian, whose pages were filled with tales and poems from some of our best writers. Interesting stories and essays on native life and customs have appeared frequently in the Methodist Magazine and Onward, under the able supervision of the Rev. Dr. Withrow. The Canadian Magazine, Manitoba Free Press, Pilot Mound Sentinel, and the Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, Canadian Institute, Hamilton Association, Montreal Folk-Lore Society, Quebec Historical Society, Manitoba Historical Society, Nova Scotia Historical Society, Ottawa Literary and Scientific Society, Wentworth historical Society, Elgin Historical and Scientific Institute, Institut Canadien-Francais d'Ottawa, Socidte His toriclue de Montreal, and other societies in the Dominion supply valuable papers 011 the early history of the nation and on the legends, customs, languages and beliefs of the Canadian red men.

Our leading writers upon the Algonquin and Iroquoian languages are Horatio Hale, A. F. Chamberlain and the Abbd Cuoq. The Rev. Dr. John Campbell, of Montreal, has discussed some of the comparative features of these languages with the Japanese, Basque and Peninsular languages in his interesting papers, "On the Origin of Some American Indian Tribes," "The Hittites in America," "The Affiliation of the Algonquin Languages," "Asiatic Tribes in North America," "Some Laws of Phonetic Change in the Khitan Languages," and "The Khitan Language; the Aztec and its Relatians." The Abbe J. A. Cuoq has written an appendix to his Algonquin grammar under the title, "Anotc Kekon," which appeared in the eleventh volume of the "Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada," containing valuable reflections on the folk-lore and literature of the Algonquins, notes on the history of the mission of the Lake of Two Mountains, and a discussion of the gram-matie contents of the language, with examples of familiar phrases, the divisions of time and natural history. There has also appeared, in the French section of the "Transactions," his "Algonquin Grammar." It is a compact, clear, well-arranged and comprehensive grammar, showing the intricacies of the language in its numerous forms, sufficiently explained and definite as to enable the student to master its difficulties. Our first scholar of the Huron tongue was the Jesuit martyr, John de Brebeuf. In one of his "Relations" there is a treatise on the Huron language, which has been republished in the "Transactions of the American Antiquarian Society." He wrote a grammar of the language, which has never been published. Several treatises on the Micmac language have been published separately and in conjunction with books of travel. A grammar of the language was published in England by an unknown French author, fragments of which have been preserved. The Abbd Maillard left among his manuscripts a Micmac grammar, which was published at New York in 1864. The author was an able scholar, who came to Canada about 1738, and was appointed Vicar-General of Acadia. He labored among the Indian tribes and in the Acadian villages in Cape Breton and on the coast of Miramichi. After many years of great hardship he died at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1768. Father Jacques Bruyas, Superior of the Iroquois mission, left among his papers "Radices Verboriun Iroqiunorum," containing a grammatic sketch and dictionary of the Mohawk language, written in Latin, with the meaning of the words in French. This treatise was published in 1862, in New York, and is one of the volumes of Shea's Library of American Linguistics. The author was a master of several of the dialects of the Iroquois. He came to Canada in 1666, and died at the mission of Sault St. Louis, on the St. Lawrence, in 1712. A grammar and dictionary of the Ojibway language was published at Toronto in 1874, by the Rev. E. F. Wilson, of Sault Ste. Marie. Manuscript treatises and grammars I of the Micmac, Montagnais, Ojibway and Huron languages are I extant, but some of the most notable manuscript volumes I referred to in the writings of the early missionaries and travellers have been lost. A curious mosaic is the work of the Jesuit missionary, Stephen de Carheil. His " Radical Words of the ' Huron Language," forms two small duodecimo manuscript volumes in Latin, French and Huron. Of the author it is said, "As a philologist he was remarkable. He spoke Huron and ' Cayuga with the greatest elegance, and he composed valuable works in and upon both, some of which are extant." Chau-inonot's grammar of the Huron language was found among his papers and translated by John Wilkie, from the Latin. Gar-nier's Huron grammar, in manuscript, is lost, as are also Lale-I mant's "Principles of the Huron Language," Wood's grammar of the Micmac, and Father Robert Michel Gay's "Grammar Algonquine." A "Grammaire Algonique," in manuscript, is preserved in the Biblioteca Vittorio Ennnanuele, at Rome, whiclr is the work of the Abbe Thavenet, and a manuscript translation of this work is preserved among the papers of the world's greatest linguist, Cardinal Mezzofanti, in the Biblioteca Com-munale, at Bologna. Potier's " Grammar of the Huron language" and other essays on the languages of the Canadian Indians are in the possession of private persons.

The first dictionary of the native languages of Canada was < the Huron, prepared by Father Joseph Le Caron. Le Clercq says of this work and its author: "The dictionary of the Huron language was first drafted by Father Joseph Le Caron in 1616. The little Huron whom he took with him when he returned to Quebec, aided him greatly to extend it. He also added rules and principles during his second voyage to the Hurons. He next increased it by notes, which Father Nicolas sent him, and at last perfected it by that which that holy monk had left when descending to Quebec, and which the French placed in his hands; so that Father George, procurator of the mission in France, presented it to the king with the two preliminary dictionaries of the Algonquin and Montagnais languages in 1625." Father Gabriel Sagard's dictionary of the Huron language was published at Paris in 1632. Of the language of the Gaspesians, Christien Le Clercq, inventor of the Micmac hieroglyphics, has given some general remarks in " Nouvelle Relation de la Gaspesie," published at Paris in 1691. Father Sebastien Rasles left a valuable manuscript dictionary of the Abnaki language, which was not published till 1833. The dictionary is in French and Abnaki, and contains an introductory memoir and notes by John Pickering, A.A.S. In the supplementary notes and observations by Mr. Pickering there are extracts from Father Rasles' letters, a description of the original manuscript, the alphabet used by the author, and comments upon the Abnaki and cognate dialects. The following account of Father Rasles and his work is given in the notes .and observations:

"Father Rasles, in one of his letters, dated at Nanrantsouak (Norridgwock) the 12th of October, 1723, and published in the Lettres Edifiantes, makes the following general remarks upon the Indian languages and his mode of studying them.

"'On the 23rd of July, 1689,1 embarked at Rochelle, and after a tolerably good voyage of about three months, I arrived at Quebec the 13th of October of the same year. I at once applied myself to the study of the language of our savages. It is very difficult, for it is not sufficient to study the words and their meaning, and to acquire a stock of words and phrases, hut we must acquaint ourselves with the turn and arrangement of them as used by the savages, whieh can only be attained by intercourse and familiarity with these people.

"'I then took up my residence in a village of the Abnaki Nation, situated in a forest, which is only three leagues from Quebec. This village was inhabited by two hundred savages, who were almost all Christians. Their huts were in regular order, much like that of houses in towns; and an enclosure of high and close pickets formed a kind of bulwark which protected them from the incursions of their enemies.....

"'It was among these people, who pass for the least rude of all our savages, that I went through my apprenticeship as a missionary. My principal occupation was to study their language. It is very difficult to learn, especially when we have only savages for our teachers.

"'They have several letters which are sounded wholly from the throat, without any motion of the lips, ou, for example, is one of the number; and, in writing, we denote this by the figure 8, in order to distinguish it from other characters. I used to spend a part of a day in their huts to hear them talk. It was necessary to give the closest attention in order to connect what they said, and to conjecture their meaning. Sometimes I succeeded, but more frequently I made mistakes;. because, not having been trained to the use of their gutturals, I only repeated parts of words, and thus furnished them with occasions of laughing at me. At length, after five months constant application, I accomplished so much as to understand all their terms; but that was not enough to enable me to express-myself so as to satisfy their taste.

"'I still had a long progress to make in order to master the turn and genius of their language, which are altogether different from the turn and genius of our European languages. In order to save time, and to qualify myself to exercise my office, I selected some of the savages who had the most intelligence and the best style of speaking. I then expressed to them in my rude terms some of the articles in the catechism; and they rendered them for me with all the delicacy of expression of their idiom; these I committed to writing immediately, and thus in a short time I made a dictionary, and also a catechism, containing the principles and mysteries of religion.'"

The Jesuit missionary Pierre Laure prepared, in 1726, a dictionary of the Montagnais language. In recent years there have appeared an Ojibway dictionary, now out of print, by Peter York, an Indian belonging to the County of Simcoe; an Algonquin dictionary in the Frendh language, by the Abbe J. A. Cuoq ; and a Lenape-English dictionary, compiled from .anonymous manuscripts in the archives of the Moravian Church at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, by Dr. D. G. Brinton, of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Rev. Albert Seqaqkind Anthony, assistant to the Delawares and Six Nations in Ontario. Dictionaries in manuscript of the Huron language are to be found among the archives of Laval University, and at Lorette. One of these is attributed to Brebeuf, another to Chaumonot, and the others are by authors unknown. A Mohawk dictionary in manuscript, written by La Gallissouniere, is deposited in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. Dictionaries in manuscript of the Seneca, Abnaki, Algonquin, Ojibway, Ottawa and Montag-nais languages are to be found among the archives of the Catholic churches at Caughnawaga, Pierville and Lake of Two Mountains; Laval University, Quebec, and McGill College, Montreal, and in the possession of private individuals.

There are extant numerous vocabularies of the native languages. Our first published vocabulary was that of Jacques Cartier, in 1545, who left us some specimens of the language of the extinct Hochelagans. Some of these vocabularies are to be found in books of travel and scientific magazines, but the greater part of them remain in manuscript deposited in the archives of churches, colleges, public libraries, historical societies and private persons. Vocabularies of the following languages spoken in the Dominion are known *to exist: Mohawk, Micmac, Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Tuscarora, Algonquin, Nanticoke, Shawnee, Abnaki, Mississauga, Ottawa, Acadian, Munsee, Nipis-sing, Penobscot and Pottawotomi.

Legends and folk-tales from the Cayugas, Onondagas and Tuscaroras, songs of the Abnakis, and legends of the Ojibways, Micmacs, and Passamaquoddies have been preserved. Some of these are extant in the native tongue and others in translations.

"A Sacred History," in manuscript, in the Mohawk language is among the archives of the Roman Catholic Church, at Caugh-nawaga, and a "History of the People of God," in the same language, beautifully written and well preserved, in two volumes, is among the archives of the Catholic Church at the Lake of Two Mountains. Both of these works were prepared by the Abbe Terlaye, who was a missionary at La Galette and Lake of Two Mountains. He died at the latter place May 17th, 1777, and was buried here. Of lesser works in the native languages worthy of notice are the "Autobiography of Kaon-dinoketc," "A Nipissing Chief," "The Story of the Young Cottager," in Ojibway; "The Only Place of Safety," in Micmac; and several tracts by F. A. O'Meara and James Evans.

Nearly the whole of the Bible has been translated into the Ojibway and Micmac. The New Testament has been translated in the Ottawa and Mohawk, and portions of the scriptures in Iroquois, Delaware, Abnaki, Maliseet, Shawnee, rottawotomi, Huron and Seneca. The leading translators of the scriptures have been Dr. S. T. Rand, Chief Joseph Brant, Chief Joseph of Oka, J. Stuart, B. Freeman, H. A. Hill, J. A. Wilkes, W. Hess, T. S. Harris, A. Wright, F. A. O'Meara, Peter Jones, James Evans, J. Lykins and C. F. Dencke.

Catechisms have been prepared for the use of the Algonquin, Ojibway, Micmac, Nipissing, Ottawa, Munsee and Abnaki Indians.

Prayer books, including the Roman Catholic and Anglican Book of Common Prayer, have been translated into the languages of the Mohawk, Algonquin, Ojibway, Ottawa, Micmac, Munsee, Nipissing, Maliseet, Penobscot and Passaniaquoddy tribes.

It is a singular fact that almost the first printed book in the United States and Canada was for the use of the Indians. John Eliot issued his "Massachusetts Catechism " about 1654, and in 1767 Father de la Brosse published the "Roman Catholic Prayer Book, and " A Primer of Christian Doctrine, at the press of Brown and Gilmore, of Quebec, in the language of the Montagnais Indians. " The Anglican Book of Common Prayer" was printed at the same press, in 1780, in the language of the Mohawk Indians, and at the expense of the Government. The first printing press in Canada was established by Bushel in 1751, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, who, in January of the following year published the first Canadian Gazette.

William Brown and Thomas Gilmore introduced printing into the Province of Quebec in 1763, and on June 21st, 1764, issued from the press at Quebec the first number of the Quebec Gazette in French and English. Several little quartos on French law were published by Brown in 1775; but the first known Canadian book was a catechism by Archbishop Languet, issued in 1765.

Hymn books have been prepared in nearly all the languages mentioned above, which are used by the missionaries and people. Sermons, Scripture narratives, calendars, Bible histories, reading books and spellers, and even a work on church polity have been translated for the use of some of the tribes. Some of these have been published, but the most of them remain in manuscript. In this sketch of the literature relating to the Indians of Ontario,, Quebec and the Eastern Provinces, the reader cannot fair to be impressed with the heroic labors of the men who have devoted' their lives to the work of elevating and saving the aborigines-of our land. Amid great privations they toiled, persecuted' sometimes by their flock, burdened with the indifference of their dusky followers, and opposed by their white brethren, and in the gloaming of life they were happy, if they beheld an humble, mission-house and church, and a handful of faithful disciples. Many of them were men of great learning and of gentle births who might have shone as statesmen or ruled as wealthy merchants ; but they rejected wealth and fame, and labored with intense devotion for the sake of a few red men. We have forgotten these heroes of our country, whose delight was to toil and suffer for others, and their very names sound strangely in our ears, but they won in life's contest, and in their death they were more than conquerors.

THE SIGN LANGUAGE

Sign language is sometimes called gesture speech, as it is a method of conversing by means of gestures or signs. It is a form of speech in use among civilized and savage races, which is perfectly understood, and although greatly limited in its forms of expression by those who have a spoken language, rich in its vocabulary and possessed of an extensive literature. It is properly designated a language, as among savage races it has various conventional forms, which are in a measure definite and full. As a language it is divided into facial expression and conventional forms. The expression of the faces of individuals is sometimes concealed, as among certain tribes of Indians, by the paint which they use, but when not thus concealed the emotions can easily be detected. The movements of the face are developed by the growth of the mind, which calls new feelings into existence. These movements are the result more especially of the emotions. The instinctive or voluntary play of the features express the feelings, as is shown by babies, who are able to read the expression of the countenances of persons, and can tell their intention toward them.

Facial expression is so complete that instances are known where conversation has been carried on by its use alone. Tribes of Indians are known who are able to state clearly their ideas by means of this play of features. Corporeal motions express operations of the intellect as distinct from facial expression. These corporeal gestures are not only used by man, but are in use among animals. These gestures or signs have become conventionalized, and amongst certain tribes definite.

Animals use sign language as a mode of communication.

George Romanes says: "The germ of the sign-making faculty occurs among animals as far down as the ant, and is highly developed among the higher vertebrates. Pointer dogs make signs, terriers 'beg' for food, and the cat, dog, horse and other animals make signs. The animal is capable of converting the logic of feelings into the logic of signs for the purpose of communication, and it is a sign language as much as that of the deaf-mute or savages."

Sign language is in use amongst civilized races to a limited degree even at the present day. When we nod the head to mean "yes" or shake it to mean "no," and when we join hands in token of friendship, we are using gesture language. If we were travelling among a people whose language we did not know we should be compelled to resort to this method of making ourselves intelligible more extensively.

In the Lowlands of Scotland the boys have a game resembling the pantomimes of the ancients, which were performed by persons who uttered no words,'but imitated the acts of the persons represented.

In the earliest stages of the human race, when words were short and few, sign language must have been used extensively -as an aid to the primitive form of speech; and when tribes and races were developed, it must have been employed in conversing with those ignorant of each other's language.

The languages of the tribes of British Columbia and other parts of Canada are emphasized and their meaning made clear by the use of intonation and sign language, By laying stress upon a syllable words are made to have different meanings. I found a striking illustration of this when I was learning the Blackfoot language among the Blood Indians. Being desirous of learning the whereabouts of a friend, who was a member of the Mounted Police, and was known among the Indians as the man who sews," he being by trade a tailor, I said to one of my Indian companions, "Tcima Awateinake?" but he did not nnderstand me. Again I essayed "Tcima Awateinake?" but he only shook his head. Finally I asked "Tcima Awateinake?" and he smiled and gave me the needful information. The question I asked him was, "Where is the man who sews ?" In the Chinook jargon not only is this expressive intonation in use, but gesture are employed to enlarge the meaning of some of the words. Thus "kuatan" means "a horse," but "riding on horseback " is expressed by using the word and the gesture sign for riding.

Many of the gestures of the sign language are understood by deaf mutes, but not all, as even the deaf mute language is not definite, many conventional terms being employed in America which are not in use in Europe; and, indeed, differences exist among the several institutions for deaf-mute instruction upon the American continent. Although my personal knowledge of the sign language is quite limited, I have conversed intelligibly for a short time with a deaf mute whom I met at Calgary.

The language of gestures is not confined to the Indian tribes, but traces of its existence have been found in Turkey, Sicily, the Hawaiian and Fiji Islands, Madagascar and Japan. Collections of signs of great value have been obtained from some of these countries. An exhaustive collection has been obtained from Alaska. These collections go far to prove the existence of a gesture speech of man. We are chiefly concerned, however, with this form of speech among the American Indian tribes. It has been systematized among some tribes into picto-graphs, which comprise a native system of hieroglyphics. These pictographs are the visible representation of the gestures. These are found painted on the face of cliffs in some of the strangest places, seldom visited by the white man, upon the walls of caverns, on buffalo robes and the skins of other animals, the lodges of the Plain Indians and birch-bark rolls, and some are even carved on walrus ivory by the tribes of the far north, especially among the Alaskan Indians. Human figures are drawn in the attitude of making gestures. Nome-times the differences in the color of the different persons represented is significant, and is used as an aid to the interpretation of the gestures. For example, the symbol of

peace is the approaching palms of two persons, and in order to distinguish them from the approximation of the palms of one person, the arms are painted in different colors. In a hide painted for me by a Blood Indian, which contained the record of the chief exploits of his career very fully depicted, and with some degree of artistic skill, several of these signs appear.

There is a general system of gesture speech among the Indian tribes, but it is not to be regarded as a formal or absolute language. Whilst there exists a similarity between some signs, and there are some that are in common use among all the tribes, still there is a diversity which reveals centres of origin, and it would be impossible to prepare a vocabulary that would be sufficiently definite as to be understood. As there are differences in spoken language so are there diversities in sign language. The investigations of Colonel Mallery and Dr. W. J. Hoffman have been continued for several years upon this subject, and have covered a large number of Indian tribes, and included foreign countries, and the result of their united labors have .shown that there are certain groups of tribes which form centres of origin of the sign language, and that some signs have become so conventionalized as to have a definite meaning in one group or tribe which they do not possess in another. It is not a universal language in the sense of being understood by all the tribes, and still the ideographic signs may be so interpreted. Gesture language has been divided into five groups, as follows: First, the Arikara, Dakota, Mandan, Gros Ventre or Hidatsa, Blackfoot, Crow and other tribes in Montana and Idaho; second, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Pani, Kaiowa, Caddo, Wichita, Apache of Indian Territory, and other tribes in the South-West as far as New Mexico, and possibly portions of Arizona; third, Pima, Yuma, Papago, Maricopa, Hualpai (Yu-man), and the tribes of Southern California; fourth,4Shoshoni, Banak, Pai Uta of Pyramid Lake, and the tribes of Northern Idaho and Lower British Columbia, Eastern Washington, and Oregon; fifth, Alaska, embracing the Southern Eskimo, Kenai, (Athabascan), and Iakutat and Tshilkaat tribes of the T'hilin-kit or Koloshan stock.

Sign language is used extensively by the plain tribes of our Canadian North-West. The tribes located in Ontario and Quebec seldom use it, which may arise through their contact with civilization and their imitation of the habits and customs of the white race. Indeed, the gestures employed by the Iroquois are so few that they need not be classified, and the same may be said of the tribes of British Columbia, who possess a sign language, but not sufficiently extensive for classification. Among some Indian tribes the system of gesture speech is so well defined that conversation can be carried on by means of it alone. Indeed, several instances have been known where conversation has taken place by means of the gestures of the face, and without the aid of the hands, which shows the possibilities of intellectual expressions of the face as well as emotional. The use of this language has been kept up amongst the savage tribes more than others, on account of their surroundings. Accustomed to live in situations where noise is dangerous, lest they might alarm their warlike foes, the gesture speech has been preserved as a useful adjunct to spoken language North Axe, a Piegan Indian chief, residing on his Reserve, which is located in Southern Alberta, as he lay at the point of death unable to speak, gave instructions to the Indian agent to send his son and brother to the Brantford Institute to be educated. His wishes were conveyed by means of signs. Upon the same Reserve, during my residence in that part of the country, there lived two boys and a girl, deaf and dumb, who were able to converse with their companions and friends by signs. Kutenaekwan, a Blood Indian, was so badly shattered with gun-shot wounds that he was unable to hear or speak ; yet I have watched him for hours telling his friends the great exploits of his life. As he became excited with his narrations, his friends grew enthusiastic and encouraged him to continue his story.

A few of the gesture signs may be given to show the use made of them in expressing the ideas and emotions of the natives. Anger is almost always betrayed by the eyes, fear by the dirty greyish color of the skin, and surprise by suddenly drawing in the breath, as if gasping. I have seen the natives when astonished—the astonishment arising from sad news or a message of joy—place the hand upon the mouth, covering it. Usually, if not always, the palm of the right hand is placed over the mouth to signify astonishment. The Apaches rarely point to an object with the finger, but raise the chin and point the lips toward it. In calling the attention of a person at a distance, the right hand is raised at arm's length above the head, with the fingers extended, and the hand moved quickly backward and forward from the wrist, the arm remaining motionless. An Indian riding upon the prairie will stop when he sees a man perform this sign. Should the man wish the horseman to come to him, he will sway the hand with the palm facing the ground, the whole arm from the shoulder performing a forward and downward motion, till the hand reaches the knees. This will be repeated two or three times, till the rider sees distinctly what is intended. Walking along the Reserve one day I was anxious to speak to a white man who was half a mile distant, and was walking in the opposite direction, so that he was beyond the reach of my voice. Owing to the voices of children and the rushing of the water in the river, I could not make myself heard by any natural or artificial call. Beyond the white man was an Indian on foot coming toward me, and not far from my friend. One of the Blood Indians standing beside me came to my rescue, and making the sign to the Indian at a distance to arrest his attention, told him in the sign language to inform the white man that he was wanted. The Indian meeting my white friend told him the result of the conversation, when he suddenly turned around and walked back to the place where I was waiting for him. This is one of the methods of what might not be inappropriately termed the native system of telegraphy. Signal fires, different methods of riding on horseback, signs made with blankets and stones, and the striking use of the looking-glass make up a very effective system of communication at a distance upon the prairie. The sign for rain is made by holding the hands in front of the shoulders, the fingers hanging down to represent the drops. Lightning is represented by pointing the forefinger of the right hand upward, and bringing it down with great rapidity, with a sinuous motion, showing the course of the lightning.

Various signs are used to distinguish the tribes. The sign for the Blackfeet is, the right hand closed, the two forefingers extended, and the hand pushed outward and downward over the right foot. The sign for the Piegans is made by closing the right hand, and the fist, with the thumb toward the face, revolving quickly over the upper extremity of the right cheek-bone, with an outward motion. The Blood Indians are distinguished by the closed right hand with the two forefingers extended, pushed horizontally across the chin close under the lip, from right to left. The Sarcee sign is the thumb and forefinger of the right hand brought to the right corner of the closed lip, and the points of the finger and thumb rubbed gently together. The Dakotahs are denoted by drawing the right hand across the throat, signifying that they cut the throats of their enemies. The Gros Ventres, by bringing the points of the open hands toward each other, palms toward the person and close to the breast, and then, by an outward and downward motion, the expression of big bellies is made. The Crow Indians are designated by the hands held out from the sides, palms downward, raised up and down to represent the flapping of the wings of a crow or bird ; and the gesture sign for white man is to draw the open right hand horizontally from left to right across the forehead a little above the eyebrows, the back of the hand to be upward and the fingers pointing toward the left; this sign may also be given by performing the same act with the forefinger of the right hand. The sign for peace is the palms of two persons made to approach each other. When it is intended to represent speech, the right hand is brought toward the mouth with the palm-upward and pushed outward to mark the flow of the words. If, however, the speech has been made by a missionary or member of the medical priesthood, the idea of holy or supernatural must be expressed, and this is done by holding the hand in the same manner, or only two fingers separated and extended, and causing them to pass outward and upward from the mouth with a wavy motion. The idea of holy or supernatural is made by extending the forefinger, or all the fingers, of the right hand,, with the back of the hand outward, and moving the hand from just in front of the forehead spirally upward nearly to arm's length, from left to right. A deceitful speaker is represented as a man with a forked tongue, and is shown by bringing the right hand to the mouth with the back of the hand upward, the two forefingers extended and separated, pointing outward from the mouth. A liar is shown by causing the palm of the right hand, with fingers pointing upward, to pass in front of the face from right to left. A man upon whom you cannot depend is represented as a shifting heart; the sign for this character is the right hand held with the palm downward over the heart and the hand swayed gently, as if unstable in motion. The sign for shooting is the palms of the hands placed together, the fingers of the left hand pointing outward and the fingers of the right hand pointing toward the right; the palms are brought down quickly several times, accompanied by an explosive action of the mouth, to express the report of a gun. When a Plain Indian wishes to tell one, who does not understand his language, that he is poor, he turns his left hand closed, with the forefinger extended toward his body, and with his right hand closed and forefinger extended, draws the right forefinger over the top of the left, as if he were sharpening a pencil. The Blackfoot word to represent this sign is Kirnatapsi, " I am poor."

The gesture sign for eating, or I am hungry, is made by holding both hands toward the mouth with fingers pendant, and alternately raising the hands and letting them fall as if in the act of throwing something into the mouth. Weeping is shown by holding the fingers of one or both hands toward the eyes, and making a motion as if the tears were running from the eyes down the cheeks. A long time is represented by holding out the left arm, and drawing the point of the forefinger of the right hand from the hand towards the shoulder. Riding on horseback is signified by placing the two forefingers of the right hand astride the forefinger of the left hand. The gesture sign for buying or selling, barter or trading, is made by placing the forefinger of the right hand over the forefinger of the left hand in the form of a cross. The written sign or pictograph for this act is a cross. Sometimes the gesture sign is made by crossing the arms. If an Indian were making a pictograph of this gesture sign, he would make a cross, and upon the left of the cross draw the animals along with several strokes, to signify the number and whatever other articles he wished to five in exchange for the articles owned by another, which are placed upon the right side of the cross. The animals would represent the skins, and if there was a gun or pipe included these would be drawn respectively upon the side of the one who owned them and wished to exchange them. Dead is shown by letting the hand fall down toward the ground; and the number of nights which a man has been travelling, or is going to travel, or the distance to any specified locality, by placing the palm of the hand upon the side of the head. The natives reckon by nights, and not by days, as the white people do, and the distance is shown by the number of times he has slept. These gesture signs might be multiplied almost indefinitely, but these will suffice to show the nature of the language of signs. It is an expressive mode of speech, useful alike to the tribes and white men who understand the meaning of the signs. As the signs do not represent letters, but words, phrases, ideas and feelings, they become very significant, and after a long period of development, so very full and clear that the natives can hold an intelligent conversation for hours without making a single mistake.

LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE OF WESTERN CANADA.

The western part of our Dominion is rich in historical material, much of which remains unwritten, awaiting the cultured brain and pen of the future historian, poet and novelist. North and west of Lake Superior lies the land of the red man, rich in associations of the fur-trading companies, the hardy French voyageurs, the rugged prospectors and miners, where the Jesuit and Oblate fathers and the Protestant missionaries have followed the trails of the buffalo and deer, seeking the camps of the Indians and Eskimos, counting not their lives dear if permitted to win a dusky savage to the ranks of the followers of the Cross. The literature of this portion of our country is only one hundred and fifty years old, but it is crowded with facts of thrilling interest for all classes of readers. Within that short period the struggle to find a North-West passage by land or sea has been incessant, experienced travellers and navigators having dared the dangers of the Arctic winters, laying down their lives amid the dense solitudes of the far north, or returning laden with the spoils of discovery, which have delighted the hearts of men of science and enriched the world. Modest and intrepid pathfinders have hunted the buffalo and deer on the great plains of the west, crossed the mountains by the lonely passes in search of gold, and touched the confines of the territory of the Eskimo to procure the rich furs of the North Land. The missionaries have scoured the plains, climbed the Rocky Mountains, sailed along the Yukon, Mackenzie, and Peel rivers, entered the Arctic circle, and made homes upon the shores of the Pacific Ocean. In lonely mission-houses, in the native camps, or following the Indian trails, they have studied the native languages, reducing them to writing, prepared grammars and dictionaries, translated books' into the native tongue, and placed the civilized world under obligation by their works on the languages, folk-lore and customs of the people among whom they labored. Brave deeds have been done 011 the field of battle when savage tribes met in bloody conflict, or when the pale-face strove with dusky warriors and with men of their own kin. The stories of other days, woven into ballads, would rouse the heart of any people, and especially those of our own land, whose ancestors have trod the plains, braved the field and flood, in honest endeavor to court honor and fortune or win a home.

This sketch of languages and literature embraces Manitoba, Keewatin, the North-West Territories, and British Columbia, which are included in the term North-western Canada. Within that portion of territory east of the Rocky Mountains there are numerous languages and dialects spoken by the tribes, in most of which books have been translated; while travellers have described the people and the country, and cultured men have discussed the intricacies of the tongues of these savage folk. The Cree language is most extensively used, being the tongue proper to Keewatin and the Territories. The Plain Cree is spoken by the Crees living in Alberta, and the Swampy Cree —sometimes called Maskegon—in the north-eastern portion of the country. There are several dialects of the language including the Moose and York District. In Southern Alberta the Blackfoot language is spoken by the Blackfeet, Bloods and Piegans, and in the same district the harsh, guttural Sarcee tongue is spoken by the Sarcees, which is a dialect of the Beaver language of the north. In Manitoba and the Territories the Ojibway and Sioux languages are used by the scattered remnants of the respective tribes. In the far north are to be found tribes speaking the Saulteaux—a modified form of Cree and Ojibway—the Chippewayan or Montagnais, and the Tinne or Dend—sometimes called the Athapascan languages— including the Slave, Dog Rib, Loucheux, Hare, Bad People, Yellow Knives, Cariboo-Eaters, and Tsekeluie.

In British Columbia there are seven or eight linguistic stocks, which have numerous dialects. The Haida is spoken by the members of the tribe who inhabit the southern end of Prince of Wales and adjacent islands and Queen Charlotte Islands. Dialectic differences are noted in the same language spoken by the septs or "small tribes," thus there is the Kaigani sept, the Masset, Skidegate, and Kumshewa dialects of the Haida language. The Tshimpsean stock has two principal dialects, which are spoken by numerous tribes and septs, each tribe having some peculiarity in their mode of pronouncing the language, giving it the force of a dialect. These two principal dialects are the Nasqa and the Tshimpsean proper. The people dwell upon the Naas and Skeena rivers and the adjacent islands. The Kwakiutl has numerous sub-divisions which may be included in three dialects, known as the Qaisla, the Heiltsuk and the Kwakiutl proper. The many tribes of the group embraced in the three general divisions are widely scattered, the Qaisla being spoken by the tribes north of Grenville Channel; Heiltsuk by the tribes from Grenville Channel to Rivers Inlet; and the Kwakiutl proper by those inhabiting the country from Rivers Inlet to the central part of Vancouver Island. The Nootka is spoken by the tribes inhabiting the west coast of Vancouver Island. The Salish stock inhabits a large part of British Columbia and the adjacent country in the United States, and has many tribes which may be divided into six groups known as the Bilqula, of Dean Inlet and Bentinck, comprising four tribes; the coast Salish having the following dialects, Catloltq or Komok, Siciatl, Pentlac, Skqomic, Kam-itcin, and Lku^gen, the Ntlakyapamuq, the Stlatliunih, the Squapamuq, and the Okinaken. The Kootaney stock has two dialects, known as the Upper and Lower Kootaney, besides these there are the Shahaptan, or Nez Perce tribe, speaking their own languages; the Tinne, or Dene languages, comprising the Carriers or Takulli, the Tsilkotin and Tsekehne tribes, and the Babine sub-tribe. The Chinook jargon is also in use as an intermediary language among white men and Indians.

The literature of the period of discovery in the northern portion of the country, known as Hudson's Bay, begins about the middle of the eighteenth century. One hundred years before (1688) Groseilliers and Radisson reached a tributary of Hudson's Bay, called Rupert's River, in the ship Nonsuch, and two years later "The Hudson's Bay Company" was chartered. The French and English became rivals in the fur-trade, many battles being fought between the employees of the rival fur companies. The earliest published references to Hudson's Bay are to be found in that storehouse of early Canadian history, the " Jesuit Relations." In the " Relation " of 1657-1658 the routes to Hudson's Bay are mentioned, and in the "Relation" of 1660-1661 reference is made to the mission to Hudson's Bay. One year after the organization of the Hudson's Bay Company the Jesuit missionary Albanel, accompanied by the Sieur Denys de St. Simon, ascended the Saguenay, and, wintering near Lake St. John, pushed on by the Lake and River Nemiskaw until they reached the shores of Hudson's Bay, where a mission was begun. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,the quest for a North-West passage had been vigorously pushed by Frobisher, Davis, Hudson, and Baffin, and some lesser Arctic navigators, who left their journals, which have been published, detailing their discoveries, with an account of the Eskimos and Indians, and many important facts relating to the country. An extensive literature sprang up in connection with Arctic exploration, there having been no less than one hundred and thirty exploring expeditions to the Arctic seas from the time of Cabot to the year 1858. These expeditions have been illustrated by two hundred and fifty books and printed documents, of which one hundred and fifty have been issued in England. The "Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher;" the "Voyages and Works of John Davis, the Navigator;" the "Original Documents of Henry Hudson;" the "Voyages of William Baffin;" and "Fox from the North-West Passage," are the earliest works dealing with the earnest search after gold and a passage to the southern sea. The documentary history of the territory included in this sketch during the first hundred years of the existence of the Hudson's Bay Company is contained in the journals of the company, which were transmitted annually to the headquarters in London.

About the middle of the eighteenth century attempts were renewed to find a passage to Asia, which naturally produced some very interesting books. "The Geography of Hudson's Bay" (1852), issued by the Hayklut Society, contains important data by Captain W. Coats, in relation to that locality, noted during his voyages between 1727 and 1751, and extracts from the log of Captain Middleton, on his voyage for the discovery of the North-West passage in H.M.S. Furnace in 1741-42. The California, commanded by Captain Frank Smith, sailed to the same region in 1746-47, upon the same mission, a detailed account of which has been given by the clerk of the vessel in the "Voyage for the Discovery of a North-West Passage by Hudson's Straits" (1748); and a similar narrative of the same voyage has been given in Henry Ellis' "Voyage to Hudson's Bay" (1748).

One of our sources for the earlier glimpses of the Hudson's Bay region, are the missionary accounts given in "Lettres Ecrites des Missions Etrangeres" (1650-1750, in forty-seven volumes). Arthur Dobbs' " Account of the Countries Adjoining to Hudson's Bay " (1744), derives its special interest from the earnest support of the probability of a North-West passage and an advocacy of renewed efforts to search for it, with a severe attack upon the Hudson's Bay Company in its attempt to hinder the progress of discovery. Dobbs was followed in his attack upon the Company by Joseph Robson, who had been surveyor and supervisor of the buildings of the Company. In his "Account of Six Years' Residence in Hudson's Bay," from 1733 to 1736 and 1744 to 1747 (1752), he urges the breaking up of a rigid monopoly, which discourages the use of the rich fisheries, projects for the settlement of the country and mining enterprises. He charges the company with preventing friendly intercourse with the natives, keeping them in a barbarous condition, and hindering any attempts at the acquisition of the native languages. After showing how the French have won great prizes through the sluggishness of this vast monopoly, lie says, "The Company have for eighty years slept at the edge of a frozen sea; they have shown no curiosity to penetrate further themselves, and have exerted all their art and power to crush that spirit in others."

Edward Umfreville entered the service of the Company as an apprentice, in which he continued eleven years, and upon a disagreement about his salary left it, entering a rival company, in which he remained four years. Upon his return to England he published " Present State of Hudson's Bay (1790). He was present at the surrender of Forts Churchill and York to La Perouse. Following the course of Robson and Dobbs, he attacks the Company for its greed of gain, debasing the natives with liquor, and contrasts the energy of the North-West Company in opening up the interior of the country with the lethargy of the Hudson's Bay Company, which confines itself to the dismal coast.

Samuel Hearne made some explorations for the Company in 1769-1772, an account of which was published as a "Journey from Prince of Wales' Fort to the Northern Ocean" (1795). The North-West Company followed in the line of explorations by sending Alexander Mackenzie on two tours of observation, the results of which were given in his "Voyage from Montreal to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans/' 1789-1793 (1801). Alexander Henry, the famous traveller, published an account of the expedition undertaken by him between 1760 and 1766, in which he recounts his experiences as far as Lake Athabasca. His work is entitled, "Travels in Canada and the Indian Territories."

Much important information about the Indians and the country during this early period is found in the "Journal of Monsieur St. Pierre," published in the Canadian Archives in 1886,and the Field Note-books and Journals of David Thompson, which are preserved in the office of the Crown Lands Department of Ontario. An appreciative article on Thompson, giving in detail his journeys in North-western America, has been written by J. B. Tyrrell, B.A., B. Sc., in the "Proceedings of the Canadian Institute." Of this remarkable man Bancroft says, "David Thompson was an entirely different order of man from the orthodox fur-trader. Tall and fine-looking, of sandy complexion, with large features, deep-set, studious eyes, high forehead and broad shoulders, the intellectual was well-set upon the physical. His deeds have never been trumpeted as those of some of the others, but in the westward exploration of the North-West Company no man performed more valuable service, or estimated his achievements more modestly."

Alexander Henry, nephew of the traveller of the same name mentioned above, left a manuscript journal, now deposited in the Library of Parliament, Ottawa, which has been epitomized by Charles N. Bell, of Winnipeg, and contains a racy account of his experiences as a fur-trader among the Indians, from 1799 to 1811. He travelled extensively among the Indian tribes of Manitoba and the Territories, and with an observant eye, noted the customs of the people, which he jotted down in his leisure moments in the camp. Much curious information concerning the Eskimos, with accurate observations upon the Hudson's Bay country, was given by Lieutenant Edward Chappell in his "Narrative of a Voyage to Hudson's Bay" (1817), and by Thomas McKeevor in "Voyage to Hudson's Bay " (1819). McKeevor's book relates experiences of the summer of 1812 in that region, and Chappell recounts his observations upon the natives, describes the coast and river forts of the Hudson's Bay Company, commenting freely upon its illiberal policy and secret methods of dealing, keeping the real facts of the geography and condition of the country from the British Government and people. Chappell's voyage was one of investigation at the instance of the Government, still the quest for the North-West passage and the exploration of the interior kept pace with the eagerness of the people to gain a knowledge of unknown territory. Sir John Ross sought to solve the problem of a northern passage, recounting his observations in " A Voyage of Discovery " (1819), and Captain Back explored the interior, an interesting account of the expedition being given in his " Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Arctic Sea in 1833-4-5." Back's narrative contains numerous facts concerning the customs of the natives, the scenery, flora and fauna, and incidents of the journey. Starting from England, he went by Montreal, through the lakes to Sault Ste. Marie, Fort William, Rainy Lake and Norway House, where they began their exploration of the interior of the country. It is a very readable story of adventure, and most instructive.

ESKIMO SYLLABARY.

Previous to Back's expedition, D. W. Harmon published his "Journal of Voyages and Travels in the Interior of North America" (1820), noting his observations between the forty-seventh and fifty-eighth degrees of latitude, extending from Montreal to the Pacific Ocean, and a record of some of his experiences during nineteen years residence in the country; and Sir John Franklin's "Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea in the Years 1819-1822," had been given to the public (1834). The eastern part of the country had not been neglected, for even at that early date the fact of the existence of the Selkirk Settlement and the attractions of the Lake of the Woods had reached the ears of the civilized world. About this time the controversy about the Selkirk Settlement was stirring the minds of many people, books and pamphlets being issued at intervals until the present time. Keating's "Narrative of an Expedition to the source of the Saint Peter's River, Lake Winnipeck and Lake of the Woods" (1825), revealed the experiences of a traveller in that section of country during 1823. Hardly a year passed without a book being published about Arctic discoveries or the regions farther south. Bishop George J. Mountain, in his missionary journey through the Hudson's Bay territory during the spring and summer of 1844, beguiled the tedious hours by composing poetry. The collection of poems was published, bearing the title "Songs in the Wilderness" (1846)The Bishop of Rupert's Land wrote his "Notes of the Flood of 1852," which was issued in that year. Upon the far northern shores intrepid men were eagerly exploring land and sea, with limited leisure to tell their tales of hardship to the outside world. Thomas Simpson, the brave Arctic explorer, who died so mysteriously upon the plains in 1840, left the manuscript of a work, "Narrative of the Discoveries on the North Coasts of America, Effected by the Officers of the Hudson's Bay Company," 1836-39. The account of his travels was published in 1843, having, according to the charges made by his brother Alexander, been tampered with, and not issued in the condition in which the explorer left it. Two years later Alexander Simpson, brother of the explorer, published "The Life and Travels of Thomas Simpson, the Arctic Discoverer" (1843). The brothers were related to Sir George Simpson, who was an illegitimate son of their mother's brother. Governor Simpson seems not to have shown any favor to his relations, and Thomas criticises severely the treatment received at the hands of the Government and the company.

The writers of this period were generally old employees of the Hudson's Bay Company, who spoke their minds freely, and were strongly antagonistic to this great corporation.

John McLean was a man of classical tastes, and possessed a good education, which did not hinder him from accepting the charge of solitary posts, although he felt keenly the treatment to which he was subjected. The record of his journeys and experiences as a fur-trader, his hardships and hair-breadth escapes are freely given in his "Notes of a Twenty-five Years' Service in the Hudson's Bay Territory" (1849). The promotion which was due him in the employ of the company was denied him, through the influence of Governor Simpson, and in recounting his experiences in widely separated districts, as in Labrador and New Caledonia, he charges the Governor with favoritism, which ended in his leaving the country.

In the same year a book was published in the interests of the company by R. M. Martin, entitled, "The Hudson's Bay Territories and Vancouver Island," which showed a decided bias, as many of his statements were challenged as incorrect, He describes the territories governed by the company, gives details of its constitution, and argues the special fitness of the corporation to manage the colony.

The northern seas were not left in their sullen gloom unheeded by dauntless men, for willing hearts and hands were ever ready to dare the dangers of their inhospitable shores in search of a solution of Nature's problem.

P. C. Sutherland's "Journal of a Voyage in Baffin's Bay and Barrow Straits in 1850-51" (1852), Lieutenant William Hulme Hooper's "Ten Months Among the Tents of the Tuski (1853), and J. Hayes' "Arctic Boat Journey in the Autumn of 1854" (1854), brought to light some interesting facts regarding the country and its inhabitants.

Gabriel Franchere's "Narrative of a Voyage to the NorthWest Coast of America in 1811-1814," first published in French (1820), appeared in an American translation in 1854. Franchere was a Frenchman from Montreal, who spent some time on the Pacific Coast in the employment of John Jacob Astor, and after enduring many privations, performed a memorable journey across the Rocky Mountains, down the Saskatchewan River, across Lake Winnipeg, through the country to Fort William, and by the lakes to Montreal. P. F. Tytler's "Northern Coasts of America and the Hudson's Bay Territories" (1854), gives impressions of that region; while Alexander Ross, in his account of "The Red River Settlement" (1856), gives the earliest history of the rise and progress of the colony. In a racy style, Ross tells of the Scotch emigrants' trip to Red River, recounts their hardships and perseverance; the progress of the settlement, and the customs of the people ; the life and customs of the half-breeds; the work of the missionaries among the Indians, and many important social, religious and political features of the period. The Government was awakening to the fact that the Red River country and the Valley of the Saskatchewan were of some value, and expeditions were sent out to make explorations in these districts. George Gladman stated the results of his tour of observation in the eastern part of Manitoba and the western sections of Ontario in his "Report on the Expedition to the Country between Lake Superior and the Red River Settlement" (1858), and Henry Y. Hind's labors were recorded in his "Reports, together with a Preliminary and General Report, on the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition" (1859). Hind's report especially is important and interesting, as it deals with a part of the country little known at that time beyond its own limits, and brings into view the modes of living, superstition, social and religious customs of the Cree and other native tribes.

Following the plan of Catlin, as an artist among the Indians, Paul Kane, a Toronto artist, made a tour among the Indian tribes of Oregon, Vancouver Island, across the Rocky Mountains, along the Saskatchewan Valley and homeward to Toronto—sketching some of the most notable chiefs and striking scenes of native life, and noting the traditions and customs of the various tribes visited by him. Some of his pictures of savage life are still in Toronto, and these give a vivid representation of the habits of the Indians of the plains, mountains and coast. His notes taken during his travels were published with the title, "Wanderings of An Artist Among the Indians of North America" (1859).

Another interesting work, prepared by an acute observer, is the "Exploration of British North America during 1857-60," by Captain John Palliser (18G3), which is still of great importance, as is also Henry Youle Hind's "Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857." The history of the North-West Company, which was formed at Montreal, can be traced in " The Origin and Progress of the North-West Company of Canada, with a History of the Fur Trade as Connected with that Concern " (1811). This company was formed by a number of Canadian adventurers, supplemented at later dates by dissatisfied employees of the Hudson's Bay Company. It had begun operations in the Red River district in 1788, was active in exploration, sending out Alexander Mackenzie on his tours of observation, and finally united with the Hudson's Bay Company in 1804.

Some knowledge of the routes of the traders and the stations of the company may be obtained from a perusal of Alexander McDonell's " Narrative of Transactions in the Red River Country " (181J), while the life of the trader, the operations of the company, and the connect between the North-West and Hudson's Bay companies, with regard to the expulsion of the Selkirk colonists, is given by Ross Cox in his "Adventures on the Columbia River" (1831).

Captain Hall's "Life with the Esquimaux" (1804) takes us to the northern districts, and pictures the hardy natives of the Arctic regions in their daily life, quaintly describing their curious customs, and giving us a glimpse of their language. There were attractions on land which the frozen seas did not possess, and travellers were induced to seek sport and knowledge from a journey across the plains, valleys and mountains to the Pacific Ocean.

Sir George Simpson's "Narrative of a Journey Around the World" (1847) gives an interesting account of his expedition through the North-West. It is a plain record of the experiences of a traveller, shrewd and active, who visited the trading-posts and native tribes, noting the customs of Indians and half-breeds, their modes of travelling, picture writing, medicines, political life and many interesting events.

A book of more than ordinary interest is "The North-West Passage by Land" (1865), by Viscount Milton and W. B. Cheadle. These travellers crossed the continent to the Pacific Coast, and the account of what they saw by the way, the tribes visited, and the events of camp life is written with ability. Stories, scraps of native lore, bits of prairie and mountain scenery, and general notes on their expedition make a delightful book of historic value.

Archbishop Tache's long residence in the North-West, contact with the settlers, half-breeds and Indians, personally, and through the missionaries under his care, his cultured mind and library of North-West literature, specially qualified him to write his "Sketch of the North-West of America" (1868), which was published in French, with an English translation. It is a valuable work, and one to which constant reference must be made to understand the different aspects of the history of the western country.

Alexander J. Russell's "Red River Country, Hudson's Bay and North-West Territories Considered in relation to Canada" (1869), the Hon. William McDougall's "The Red River Insurrection Reviewed" (1870), Captain G. L. Huyshe's "The Red River Expedition of 1870" (1871), and Alexander Begg's "The Creation of Manitoba" (1871) deal with the affairs of the first Riel Rebellion.

"Red River" (1871), by Joseph J. Hargrave, has many interesting features in relation to the colony, and a full account of the organization and system of the Hudson's Bay Company. The history of the Red River settlement, from its origin under Lord Selkirk, is traced by this intelligent observer. He vividly portrays the scenes of every-day life in that heterogeneous community, composed of people of various nationalities, including half-breeds and Indians. .Manitoba was created a province and British Columbia incorporated with the Dominion and the project of a railroad connecting the Pacific Ocean with the railway systems of Ontario and Quebec, was the chief condition of British Columbia becoming a part of the Union.

The story of the expedition seeking a route for the continental railroad, is told with brilliancy of detail in Dr. George M. Grant's " Ocean to Ocean" (1872). Dr. Grant was the secretary of the expedition under Sanford Fleming, and a rare opportunity was given to the author of this work for giving a full account of the country on the route. The expedition started from Toronto, July 16, 1871, and on October 14th left Victoria, British Columbia, for home. During the three months' journey a diary was kept of the chief things seen and heard, and the general impressions of the country. It was published almost verbally, as it had been written, under difficulties, for the writer tells us: "Notes had to be taken sometimes in the bottom of a canoe and sometimes leaning against a stump or a tree; on horseback in fine weather, under a cart when it was raining or when the sun's rays were fierce: at night, in the tent, by the light of the camp fire in front; in a crowded wayside inn, or on the deck of a steamer, in motion." The route traversed was up Lake Superior to Port Arthur, by the river Kaministiquia, through the lakes and rivers to Winnipeg, over the prairies, through the Qu'Appelle valley to Victoria and Edmonton, across the Rocky Mountains by the Yellow Head Pass, along the North Thompson River to Kamloops, and from thence to Yale and the waters of the Pacific. It was an eventful journey, and the descriptions of mountain, lake1 and prairie, visits to missions and observations thereon, and the, general notes on camp life and views of the savage folk are pleasantly related. Robert Michael Ballan-tyne's " Hudson's Bay; or, Everyday Life, in the Wilds of North America," was published shortly after the author's return to England, in 1847. He left his Highland home in 1841, as an apprentice clerk of the Hudson's Bay Company, and in his entertaining book he narrates, in a vivid style, the things he saw and heard during his six years' residence in the country. The forts and establishments of the company, articles of trade; the customs of the Indians, their costumes, implements and dwellings; the modes of travelling and encampment, crossing portages, canoeing, running the rapids and travelling on snow-shoes; hunting the bear, buffalo and deer; the arrival and departure of the brigades: winter sports in the woods, and Christmas festivities in the Company's posts; the gay scenes of half-breed life and many delightful stories of the North Land are charmingly described. Archibald McDonald's "Peace River" (1872) describes a canoe voyage from Hudson's Bay to the Pacific, and incidents by the way. Captain W. F. Butler went, to Manitoba and the Territories in an official position in connection with the military expedition to suppress the Red River Rebellion, and at the close of the revolt, travelled in the performance of his duties through the Saskatchewan Valley to the Hudson's Bay Company post at Rocky Mountain House. In his work, "The Great Lone Land" (1873), he narrates the story of the Rebellion, describes, in an entertaining style, his varied experiences in the Territories, contact with the Indians, the hospitality of the company at the posts visited, and champions the cause of the red men of the west. One year later he published his "Wild North Land" (1874). His former journey had quickened his spirit of adventure, and wholly at his own expense he started with dogs across the country in the winter of 1872. Starting from Red River in the autumn he traversed the country by Lake Athabasca, along the Peace River to the Rocky Mountains, through the North of British Columbia and New Caledonia, down the Frazer River to the coast. Life at. the company's posts, and the methods of trade, stirring adventures on the journey, and observations upon the country and its native inhabitants are described with liveliness and charming detail. "Canada on the Pacific," by Charles Horetzky (1874),. who was a member of the Sandford-Fleming expedition described by Dr. George M. Grant, gives an account of the journey from Edmonton to the Pacific Ocean. This narrative recounts the route travelled with the writer's experiences, and notes upon the Indian tribes of British Columbia.

"Saskatchewan and the Rocky Mountains" (1875) contains the diary of the Earl of Southesk, who travelled through Manitoba and the Territories in quest of sport and adventure. Many interesting facts are given, illustrated by his own pencil, of the scenery of the places visited, the wild animals, plants, customs -and language of the natives, and the varied experiences of the camp. The book is an entertaining account of what the writer saw and heard as he hunted, fished and explored the regions he traversed.

In J. C. Hamilton's "The Prairie Province" (1876) and Peter O'Leary's "Travels and Experiences in Canada, the Red River, and United States," published in the same year, we find a narration of the impressions made upon the minds of these travellers by their visit to Manitoba. The former work deals with the climate, civil institutions, inhabitants, productions, and resources of the Red River Valley. Both of them are interesting and instructive narratives, and reveal not only the interest awakened in the public mind about the great future awaiting the new province in the west, but the value of the •country and its internal wealth, which impressed every impartial onlooker.

Alexander Begg's "Ten Years in Winnipeg" (1879) is a lively relation of the growth of the city, the doings of its people, and the experiences and observations of a clever writer.

In H. M. Robinson's "Great Fur Land" (1874) are given lively sketches of travel in the Hudson's Bay Territory. Leaving Winnipeg, the author went to Norway House and began a winter journey among Indians, half-breeds, and Hudson's Bay employees. In a vivacious style he describes his journey by dog-sledge, with its enlivening incidents; travel by canoe, the voyageurs' boat song, and shooting the rapids; the typical half-breed, with his improvidence, social life, and mixed theology; service in the Hudson's Bay Company; life at one of the posts, with its daily routine of business and varied amusements; the aboriginal voyageur; departure of a brigade of boats, and modes of travel; the great fall hunts after the buffalo; the fraternity of medicinemen; totems; the fur hunter trapping the beaver, with the pleasures and pains of the trapper's life; camping out in winter; courtship among the half-breeds; and the life of a free-trader; incidents of a half-breed ball, and notes on the native tribes, languages, and missionary work among them.

The historical student will find among the provincial archives of Manitoba about a dozen manuscript books, containing the military documents relating to the Wolseley Red River Expedition.

The Rev. Daniel M. Gordon, in the summer of 1879, accompanied an exploring party from Port Simpson, on the Pacific Coast, across Northern British Columbia, travelling up the Skeena River by boat as far as the Forks, thence on foot to Lake Babine, and over this lake to Fort Macleod. Here the party divided, some proceeding, under the direction of Dr. G. M. Dawson, through the Rocky Mountains, by the Pine River Pass; the rest of the party, including Mr. Gordon, descending Peace River by boat until they reached Dunvegan. Various exploring trips were made to investigate the character of the Peace River country, and then Mr. Gordon went alone by way of Lesser Slave Lake to Edmonton, Battleford, and thence to Winnipeg.

In his work, "Mountain and Prairie," the author describes Duncan's Indian Mission at Metlahkatlah, the route travelled, the character of the country, and its resources, the manners and customs of the Indians, the white settlers, and numerous incidents by the way.

The Honorable Alexander Morris published " The Treaties of Canada with the Indians of Manitoba and the North-West Territories" (1880), a work alike useful to #ie historical student, statesman, missionary, and liberal-minded citizen. It contains much useful information relating to the treaty negotiations, the location and extent of the Indian Reserves, the education of the native youth, the training of the people in the pursuit of agriculture, and incidental matters pertaining to Indian customs.

In the same year Mary FitzGibbon's interesting book, "A Trip to Manitoba," was published, and in the year following W. Fraser Rae's " From Newfoundland to Manitoba." In that part of the book, dealing with Manitoba, there is an entertaining chapter on the Mennonite and Icelandic colonies. The author describes their farms, dwellings, modes of life and labor, and their ideas on politics, education and religion. The Mennonites have many things in common with the Quakers, being a peaceful and industrious people, primitive in their religious ideas and practice. The schoolmaster and clergyman, and even the women, toil hard in the fields during seed time and harvest; and where fuel is scare and dear the people utilize the straw and manure which are manufactured into pressed cakes, and serve to burn in their clay-built fireplaces. They are an industrious class of settlers, the men making their own chairs and tables, and the women prepare all the clothes for the family.

Professor John Macoun published a large volume, "Manitoba and the Great North-West" (1883), of special interest to the people of the prairie province, owing to the author's previous knowledge of the country and his botanical reputation. It was an exceedingly popular work in Canada and Britain, and accomplished much in awakening an interest in the western country, and giving enlightened views upon the great west as an unlimited field for emigration.

W. H. Barneby's "Life and Labor in the Far, Far West" (1884) is full of glimpses of prairie life, seen by a shrewd traveller.

Charles R. Tuttle was a member of the Hudson's Bay Expedition of 1884, under the command of Lieutenant A. R. Gordon, R. N. The expedition left Halifax in the steamship Neptune, chartered by the Dominion Government, skirted Labrador, visited the Moravian mission at Nain, gazed upon the snow-crowned hills of Nachvak, and thence into Hudson's Strait.

In the author's "Our North Land" (1885) a detailed account is given of the expedition, with its varied experiences and interesting information gathered on the route. Life among the Eskimos is described with their habits of trading, marriage customs, villages, dwellings, dress, language and religious ideas and practice. The meteorological work done at the observing stations, the story of Marble Island, with its desolate graveyard, Fort Churchill and its inhabitants, the attractions of York Factory, bear hunting and whale fishing, the game of Hudson's Bay region, the fishes and fur-bearing animals, the navigation of Hudson's Bay and Strait, the native tribes of the north, the white settlers, the Hudson's Bay route and characteristics, and resources of the Territories and Manitoba are described in a genial mood by the author.

Sandford Fleming's "England and Canada" (1884) narrates a summer tour between Old London and the Pacific Coast, with important historical notes. The commander of the expedition described by Tuttle published an interesting "Report of the Second Hudson's Bay Expedition" (1885). Lieutenant Gordon was specially qualified by his training and experience to write an account of the expedition of more than ordinary interest, and in the pages of the report are to be found the experiences and observations of a specialist, with the work of the expedition.

Alexander S. Hill, in "From Home to Home" (1885), recounts the results of his journeys from his home in England to his stock ranche near Macleod, Alberta. Mr. Hill is a lawyer and member of Parliament in England, who organized a stock company with headquarters near Macleod, and in the interests of the company visited the ranche several times. He describes the country, stock ranching, the white settlers and Indians, and various incidents by the way. Among the most popular books of travel are Warburton Pike's "The Barren Ground of Northern Canada," and Julian Ralph's " On Canada's Frontier " '(1893). Mr. Pike is an experienced sportsman, whose love of adventure, led him, in the summer of 1889, to explore the almost unknown territory of the extreme north, and incidentally to hunt the musk-ox. Making his headquarters at Fort Resolution, he remained in Northern Canada for two years. Several expeditions were made to the barren ground from this point, and in the autumn of 1890 he formed the intention of crossing the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific, which proved to be an arduous undertaking, and nearly cost the hardy adventurers their lives. Mr. Pike's record of peril is admirable in its strength and terseness, and his descriptions of hunting the caribou and musk-ox, and his thoughts upon the country, the half-breeds and Indians are striking in their directness and simplicity. Looking for the first time upon the strange land of the north he says, "We sat down at the top of the hill and took our last view of the Great Slave Lake. Looking southward we could see the far shore and the unknown land beyond, rising in terraces to a considerable height and very similar in appearance to the range we were on. Ahead of us, to the north, lay a broken, rocky country, sparsely timbered and dotted with lakes, the nearest of which, a couple of miles away, was the end of our portage, a bleak and desolate country, already white with snow, and with a film of ice over the smaller ponds. Three hundred miles in the heart of this wilderness, far beyond the line where timber ceases, lies the land of the musk-ox, to which we were about to force our way, depending entirely on our guns for food and for clothing, to withstand the intense cold that would soon be upon us. A pair of hawks furnished the only signs of life, and the outlook was by no means cheerful." Julian Ralph is an experienced traveller with the literary temperament. His book is an entertaining account of what he saw in Western Canada, in that part which lies along the international boundary from Manitoba to the Pacific Coast. " There is a very remarkable bit of this continent just north of our State of North Dakota, in what the Canadians call Assiniboia, one of the North-West provinces. Here the plains reach away in an almost level, unbroken, brown ocean of grass. Here are some wonderful and some very peculiar phases of immigration and of human endeavor." It is of these prairies and phases of human endeavor that Julian Ralph writes in his humorous and picturesque style.

Snatches of history, adventure and sport, sketches of Indians, missionaries, traders and settlers, fact and fancy blended together, illustrated by Mr. Remington and other artists, make up an entertaining and instructive book, and show the sterling qualities of an experienced voyager.

The most prolific author on the history of Manitoba is the Rev. Dr. George Bryce, Professor in Manitoba College. His-largest work on western history is "Manitoba: Infancy, Growth and Present Condition" (1882), a comprehensive and instructive volume; his lesser works consisting of numerous papers and lectures, read before the Manitoba Historical Society and Royal Society of Canada, and delivered at public assemblies. He is a member of several scientific societies at home and abroad, and has, by his writings, brought the history and progress of the country before the world to a considerable degree. An important chapter on Canada in Winsor's "Narrative and Critical History of America," "Early Days in Winnipeg," "Old Settlers, of Red River," "Life of John Tanner," "Original Letters Relating to the Selkirk Settlement," "Two Provisional Governments, in Manitoba," "First Recorder of Ruperts Land," "The Assini-boine River and its Forts," "Brief Outlines of the most Famous. Journeys in and about Rupert's Land," "The Souris Country: Its Monuments, Mounds, Forts and Rivers," and "Holiday Rambles between Winnipeg and Victoria," comprise some of the work of this ardent advocate of the liberties of the people.

Donald Gunn's "History of Manitoba" is a work which must, not be neglected by the historical student for certain phases of' life in the Red River settlement and the conflict of political parties. Charles N. Bell, one of the devoted students of NorthWest history, who has spent much time with his confrere, Dr. Bryce, in exploring the remains of the Mound-Builders in Manitoba, has written some notable papers on the history of the country. Amongst these are included "Our Northern Waters," "The Mound-Builders," "Historical Names and Places in the North-West," "The Journal of Alexander'Henry," and "Aboriginal Trade in the Canadian North-West."

Sir John Schultz, the Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba, found leisure, amid the duties of the State, to write several historical papers of value, whose titles are sufficient to give them a place among the lesser works of our historians, as The Old Crow-Wing Trail," " A Long-Forgotten Fortress," " he Innuits of our Arctic Coast," "Some Old Inhabitants," and "The King's Highway." A brief statement of historical papers may be of use to the student of North-West literature, and is given for reference, that any who may desire to pursue the subject more fully will have the facts at hand.

The following papers have been published by the Manitoba Historical Society: A. Bowerman, M.A., "The Chinook Wind;" Hon. G. McMicken, "Abortive Fenian Raid in Manitoba;" John Macbeth, "Social Customs and Amusements in the Olden Days in Red River Settlement and Rupert's Land;" Alexander McArthur, "A Tragedy on the Plains: The Fate of Thomas Simpson, the Arctic Explorer;" Rev. Dr. Burman, "The Sioux Language;" Consul Taylor, "Journal of Robert Campbell/' who was for over fifty years a Hudson's Bay factor; and William Dennis, journalist, "Sources of North-Western History." The Rev. Lewis Druminond, S.J., prepared a striking paper on "The French in the North-West." William Caldwell's articles in the Manitoba Free Press on "The Olden Days," "Fifty-one Years Ago," and "The Prairie Nimrods," present phases of life in the days gone by. Donald Gunn's "Indian Remains near Red River Settlement, Hudson's Bay Territory," in Smithsonian Report for 1867; A. C. Lawson, "Ancient Rock Inscriptions on the Lake of the Woods," in American Naturalist, Vol. XIX. (1885); Rev. Edward Francis Wilson's articles on the "Native Tribes of Canada" in "Our Forest Children" and "The Canadian Indian;" Charles Mair, "The American Bison," in the "Royal Society of Canada Proceedings," Vol. VIII., Section 2; J. B. Tyrrell's paper, "A Brief Narrative of the Journeys of David Thompson in North-Western America," in Proceedings of the Canadian Institute, 1888; articles by Dr. A. F. Chamberlain on the "Kootenay Indians," in the "American Antiquarian;" Jean l'Hereux, "The Kekip-Sesoators, or Ancient Sacrificial Stones of the NorthWest Tribes of Canada," in the "Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland," Vol. XV. (1885); John Maclean, "The Blackfoot Sun Dance and Mortuary Customs of the Blackfeet," in "Canadian Institute Proceedings," and "Blackfoot Mythology," in "American Journal of Folk-Lore;" Horatio Hale's interesting notes on the "Tinneh People and their Languages," in his pamphlet on "Languages as a Test of Mental Capacity;" George Gibbs' "Notes on the Tinneh or Chippewayan Indians of British and Russian America," in the Smithsonian Report for 1886; Lieut. Schwatka,"The Igloo of the Innuit," describing the igloos and the implements used in their construction by the Eskimos, published in "Science," Vol. II. (1883); F. F. Payne's paper on the "Eskimo"; M. R. F. Stupart's "The Eskimo of Stupart Bay;" and the Rev. A. G. Morice's very full in interesting monographs on "The Western Denes: Their Manners and Customs," "The Dead Languages" in the "Proceedings of the Canadian Institute"—are papers of rare value to" everyone interested in the history of Western Canada.

The great North-West has abundant historical matter inviting the pen of the novelist, yet the number of writers who have been drawn toward the native life and scenery of the west has been few, indeed. The most industrious and successful novelist of Western life and manners is R. M. Ballantyne, who spent several years as a clerk of the Hudson's Bay Company, and was well qualified by his experience to depict the scenes of everyday life on the plains and in the forests of Western Canada. Several interesting novels, written in a clear and fascinating style, and marked by a high moral tone, were published, evidently with the intention of securing the attention of youthful readers. The author was not disappointed in winning the esteem of the young, who read them with avidity and delighted in the instruction imparted in a pleasing style. "The Pioneers," "Over the Rocky Mountains," "The Prairie Chief," "Away in the Wilderness," and "The Buffalo Runners," are interesting stories of Western life. In "The Young Fur Traders," Mr. Ballantyne has drawn largely upon his own experience, as he says, "My desire has been to draw an exact copy of the picture which is indelibly stamped on my own memory." The story begins at Old Fort Garry, and describes the trials encountered by the Red River settlers in planting their colony, with the success attained through their indomitable courage and perseverance." Ungava: "A Tale of the Eskimo," describes the fur-trader's life in the far north, the life of the hardy voyageurs, canoeing on the great northern lakes and rivers, games and sports, feasts and fights, native camps and hunting, and numerous incidents in the life of the intrepid fur-trader.

"The Dog Crusoe and His Master" is a picture of the old buffalo days, so full of adventure, which have forever passed away. J. Macdonald Oxley is one of our popular Canadian writers, who is becoming well-known as an author of books for boys. Amongst the number of his stories are two dealing with old times in the North-West. "Archie McKenzie, the Young Nor'-Wester," and Fergus McTavish are lively and instructive narratives. The hero of the latter story is a courageous, strong-willed lad, who lives at the head of Lake Winnipeg, amid rough surroundings, from whose degrading influence he is preserved by the remembrance of a kind mother. In his wild environment he is influenced by the consecrated zeal of a missionary to the Indians, and he finally devotes his life as a missionary to the people he has learned to love. Incidental facts relating to early days in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, adventures with Indians, half-breeds and Scotch settlers, and exciting times hunting the buffalo and bear, make a fascinating tale with a healthy moral tone. Captain Mayne Reid's "The Young Voyageurs," "Lake of the Woods," by A. L. 0. E.; Agnes Maule Machar's "Marjories' Canadian Winter;" W. H. G. Kingston's "The Trapper's Son" and "Among the Red Skins; Achilles Daunt's "The Three Trappers " and "In the Land of the Bear, the Moose, and the Beaver" are solid and interesting tales of life in the west. The sentimental love story, localized in the stirring times or beautiful scenery of the west, can hardly be said to have reached us, the historical novel having the pre-eminence, the material being so abundant for the production of this class. Edmund Collins' "Annette, the Metis Spy" and John Mackay's "The Devil's Play-ground" and "Sinners Twain" are of the sensational type, which find few readers in our healthy, moral communities in the prairie land. Egerton Ryerson Young, who spent some few years as a missionary in the north among the lakes, rivers and forests, where the Cree and Saulteaux Indians roamed, has written three interesting stories of life among the natives, which are marked by a fascinating style that has won many readers. "By Canoe and Dog-Train," "Stories from Indian Wigwams and Northern Camp-Fires," and "Oowikapun; or, How the Gospel Reached the Nelson River Indians," are tales of missionary adventure, fact and fancy blended together for the instruction of young and old. Gilbert Parker wrote "The Chief Factor," the scenes of which are laid in the North-West. Mr. Parker spent a few years in Australia, and was connected with the Sydney press. He returned to England, locating in London, where he became an industrious worker in various branches of literature, distinguishing himself by writing sketches of Australian life. He has recently been studying the interesting phases of French-Canadian and North-West life, and his stories relating to Canada mark him as an author who will do great things for himself and the land of the prairies, mountains and lakes.

Biographical literature has not been extensively cultivated, arising no doubt from the lack of subjects in a new country. There has not yet appeared the life of any of our native heroes of the plains, because the opportunity has been wanting to give them prominence. Excepting the "Life of Riel" there is no biography of any of the half-breeds. There have been men amongst us worthy of permanent record, but the incidents of their career have been hidden in camp life, and when they have passed from earth, the difficulty, of securing historical data and separating facts from traditional and mythical statements has prevented writers from exploring this field. Two books have been published on John Tanner, who spent thirty years among the Indians of Minnesota, Western Ontario and Manitoba. Edwin James' "A Narrative of the Captivity and Adventures of John Tanner" and Dr. James Macaulay's "Grey Hawk: Life and Adventures among the Red Indians" recount the experiences of this strange character who found pleasure and many hardships in his singular career among the natives of the west. John McDougall, the famous missionary to the Stoney Indians, published "George M. McDougall" and "Forest Lake and Prairie," the former work describing the life and missionary career of his father, who was frozen to death near Calgary in 1876, and the latter, an autobiography, recounting twenty years of frontier life in Western Canada. "Forty-two Years with the Eskimos and Indians," by Batty, and "John Horden, Missionary Bishop; A Life on the Shores of Hudson's Bay," by A. R. Buekland, relate the missionary adventures and work of the courageous bishop of Moosonee. John Maclean has published "The Hero of the Saskatchewan," a life of George McDougall, with sketches of the Indian missions of the Methodist Church in Manitoba and the Territories; and "Life of James Evans," who invented the Syllabic System of the Cree language.

Several interesting works dealing with the missions under the care of the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Methodist churches have been issued, which contain facts of great value relating to the scenery, resources and geography of the country, the character of the settlers and their progress in founding colonies, the customs, languages, folk-lore, native religions and camp life of the Indians, the condition of the half-breeds the relation of the Hudson's Bay Company to the natives, the rise and progress of education among the Indians and white settlers, and the success of missionary work in the country. The Rev. John West's Journal (1824) contains an interesting account of his residence at the Red River Settlement and his experiences among the Indians and settlers. P. J. de Smet, the Jesuit missionary, wrote " Missions de 1'Oregon et Voyages aux Montagues Rocheuses aux Sources de la Colombie, de 1'Athabasca et du Sascatshawin en 1845-46," relating his travels among the Indians and sketches of missionary work. The Rev. John Ryerson performed a missionary tour to the Methodist missions north of Winnipeg, an account of his journey and observations being given in "Hudson's Bay," (1855). In the following year the gifted authoress of religious books for the young, S. Tucker, who is better known by her nom de plume, A. L. 0. E., published "Rainbow in the North," (1852), a very readable record of the English Church missions among the Indians of the north. The Journal of Peter Jacobs, who accompanied John Ryerson on his northern trip, gives the "Observation and Experiences of an Indian Missionary among the Cree Indians."

Mgr. Henry J. Faraud, Apostolic Vicar of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mackenzie, has related his experiences in the far northwestern country in his work, "Dix-huit ans chez les Sauvages. Voyages et Missions " (1866); and in the same year Archbishop Tache published " Twenty Years of Missions in the North-West of America." David Anderson, Bishop of Rupert's Land has given some good sketches of English Church missions in his book, "The Net in the Bay," which is a journal of his trip to Moose and Albany in the north. A sketch of the progress of the Gospel among the Indians will be found in "Day Spring in the Far West" (1875).

Rev. Dr. Alexander Sutherland, General Secretary of the Methodist Missionary Society, made a tour of the missions, of his Church in Manitoba and the Territories in 1880. and a. series of letters dealing with the country and mission work among the Indians was written, which were gathered and published, with the title, "A Summer in Prairie Land " (1881). The Rev. John Sernmens, a missionary for several years among the Crees in the Norway-House District, has published some pleasing sketches of native life, and a record of his own experiences among the Indians in "Mission Life in the North-West" (1884); and Bishop Bompas has written a short-but worthy "History of the Diocese of Mackenzie River" (1888).

Such a movement as the Riel Rebellion could not pass without some record being made by those who participated in ! the stirring period; and others who were deeply moved by patriotic feelings, or possessed a literary bent, were not slow to avail themselves of the opportunity of expressing their opinions, or making fame and fortune by the pen. Boulton, Mulvaney and Mercer Adams have written books dealing with the Rebellion of 1885. Major Boulton's work includes his experiences during the first rebellion, which are important as the reminiscences of one who was active in both rebellions, and for sometime a prisoner under Riel. William Macdougall, an enthusiastic politician, wrote a small book in a series of eight letters to the Hon. Joseph Howe, entitled, "The Red River Rebellion" (1870). C. R. Daoust, who accompanied the Sixty-fifth Regiment to the front during the second rebellion, has published a volume, giving the history of the campaign, which is an attractive work in French, with the title, "Cent Yingt Jours de Service Actif."

The North-West Mounted Police Force has not been forgotten by those who have been members, and their experiences reveal phases of life and character which are new to the outside world, and possess a charm for those who are conversant with the brave deeds of the riders of the plains. Jean D'Artigue published in French a volume, which was translated into English, "Six Years in the North-West Mounted Police" (1882); and John G. Donkin, "Trooper and Red Skins in the Far West" (1889). These are pleasing reminiscences of life in a police fort, journeys across the plains, observations of Indians, and incidents in the lives of the authors.

There are some works of a scientific character which are j especially important, as they treat of the deeper life of the! natives, their mythology, languages, religious beliefs and philosophy. Our greatest scientific writer on the Indians and Eskimos is Emile Fortune Stanislas Joseph Petitot. Coming from his home in France, in 1862, to the North-West, he labored among the Indians and Eskimos till 1874, when he returned to his native country for the purpose of publishing some of his books on linguistics and geography. In 1876, he came again to the North-West, and remained till 1882, when he again went home, and now resides in France. He was the first missionary to the Canadian Eskimo. In his missionary work, he has endured great hardships, performing long journeys on snow-shoes to visit his people. Father Petitot has, besides other works, published the following, dealing with the tribes of Athabasca: "Etude sur la Nation Montagnaise" (1808) "Monographie des Dene-Dindijie" (1876), "Bibliotheque de Linguistique et d'Ethnographie Americaines" (1876), "raditions Indiennes du Canada Nord-Oest" (1886), and "Accord des Mythologies dans la Cosmogonie des Danites Arctiques" (1890). Morice's monographs on the Dene languages and customs, already noticed, places the author, with his confrere Petitot, in the front rank as writers on the natives of our country.

Newspaper literature is not confined to the haunts of civilization, but in some of the queerest places the ephemeral sheet, filled with the news of the day, has appeared. One of the strangest places for a newspaper to be sustained is in the Polar regions. The members of the Parry Arctic Expedition started the North Georgian Gazette, and everyone was asked to contribute to its columns. The interests of the western natives have not been forgotten by journalists, unprofessional men in this department of literature. One of the first papers devoted to the welfare of the red men in the west was issued by the author at Macleod in the autumn of 1880. It was a four-page monthly, called Excelsior, printed on the printograph, having no advertisements, and its circulation was limited to one hundred copies, furnished gratis to subscribers. It lived for one year, when pressing missionary duties compelled the editor to cease its publication. It was favorably noticed by the Globe and Mail and other papers in Canada, and by the Echo and other issues of the English press. .

The following papers are published, giving special information concerning the native tribes of Manitoba and the Territories: The Western Missionary is the organ of the Presbyterian Synod on behalf of Home and Indian Missions, with headquarters at Manitoba College, Winnipeg. It is an interesting monthly, filled with short paragraphs relating to mission work in the west The Rupert's Land Gleaner was published in the interests of the English Church missionary work in the diocese of Rupert's Land and other portions of the ecclesiastical province, and gave special attention to the new settlements, the work in the Indian Missions and St. Paul's Industrial School. Several years ago it ceased publication. Progress is the organ of the Industrial School at Regina, which is under the care of the Presbyterian Church.

British Columbia has its own distinctive literature, marked by its own phases of life and character. The beautiful province by the western sea, with its towering forests, wide rivers teeming with fish, and its majestic snow-crowned mountains, has within its borders many tribes and languages of which little is known. Travellers have sought the freshening breezes of the sea, and found health and adventure in the interior; traders have made money at their solitary posts; prospectors have endured great hardships in their search after gold : and missionaries have followed the Indians in their canoes along the rivers to tell the red men of life, liberty and civilization in the Gospel.

One of the earliest works dealing with the Indian tribes of British Columbia, is "A Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt" (1815). The narrator was a captive for three years among the natives of Nootka Sound. During his residence among them he studied their customs, and in his story gives an account of what he saw and heard.

FitzGerald's "Charter and Proceedings of the Hudson's Bay Company, with Reference to Vancouver Island " (1849), was published in the year that Vancouver Island became a Crown colony. The discovery of gold in British Columbia attracted thousands of adventurous spirits, until in 1858 there were between twenty and thirty thousand men digging for the precious metal on the Frazer River and its tributaries. W. C. Hazlett's "British Columbia and Vancouver Island" (1858) and J. D. Pemberton's "Facts and Figures relating to Vancouver Island and British Columbia" (1860) deal with the history of the country, its resources and progress. British Columbia having become a separate Crown colony, special interest was aroused, and several books were published in 1862, namely, R. C. Mayne's "Four Years in British Columbia and Vancouver Island;" Captain C. E. Barrett Lennard's "Travels in British Columbia;" "Cariboo, the Newly Discovered Gold Fields of British Columbia," by a Returned Digger; Dr. Charles Forbes' "Vancouver Island: Its Resources and Capabilities as a Colony;" Alexander Rattray's "Vancouver Island and British Columbia;" and D. G. F. Macdonald's "British Columbia and Vancouver Island."

The publication of so many works in one year show the deep interest awakened in the twin colonies of the west, and the consequent rapid development of the "Country. The history, geography, resources, geology, mining and trade interests, population and progress of the country are fully described in these books, with numerous interesting facts relating to the native tribes.

Matthew Mactie's comprehensive volume, "Vancouver Island and British Columbia" (1865) is a charming record of the past, present and future of the colonies. Savage scenes and customs, with notes on the native languages, are aptly treated in G. M. Sproat's "Scenes and Studies of Savage Life in Vancouver Island" (1868). A very full and attractive account of Lord Dufferin's tour through British Columbia in 1876 is given in two volumes by Molyneux St. John in his work, entitled "The Sea of Mountains" (1877) Charles W. Busk's "Notes of a Journey from Toronto to British Columbia" (1884) gives the reflections of the author upon what he saw and heard upon his tour. Sport and adventure in the interior, hunting in the mountains and fishing in the rivers is delightfully told in G. 0. Shield's "Cruising in the Cascades" (1889), and the observations of a surveyor in the Rocky Mountains are given by W. S. Green in "Among the Selkirk Glaciers" (1890). The history of British Columbia is treated in "its stirring period by Cornwallis (Kinahan) in "The New El Dorado" (1858). Hubert H. Bancroft, the noted historian of the native races of the Pacific States, has written a large work, "History of British Columbia 1792-1887" (1887), which contains nine pages of bibliography, showing how full is the literature of the province by the sea; and Alexander Begg, C.C., has published an exhaustive history of British Columbia (1895), from its earliest discovery to the present time. This work discusses fully the fur-trading period, with its romantic scenes and incidents; the exploration of Vancouver; the overland journeys of Mackenzie and Sir George Simpson; the story of the colonial and federation period; the native tribes and mission work amongst them, and the resources of the forests, fisheries and mines.

A charming record of the faithful missionary, Duncan, and his successful mission among the natives in his famous native colony at Metlakahtla is told by Henry S. Welcome, in "The Story of Metlakahtla" (1887). This is one of the best books ever published on missions, and is a veritable romance by the sea.

The Taestlaes-Nahwoelnaek or Carrier Review is a native newspaper, printed in the Dene syllabic characters invented by the Rev. A. G. Morice. It is an eight-page periodical, issued solely for the use of the natives among whom Father Morice is laboring at Stuart's Lake. Another interesting native newspaper is the Kamloops Wawa, published weekly in the Chinook jargon, with stenographic characters, by the Rev. J. M. R. le Jeune, of Kamloops. Father le Jeune adapted the Duployan system of shorthand to the Chinook jargon with such success that the Indians are able to read anything published in it in three months. The Eskimo Bulletin is the only journal published within the Arctic circle. It is printed at Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, and is issued only once a year. Several interesting essays and articles on the native tribes, languages and customs have been published by intelligent observers and scientists which it would not be wise to pass over. Niblack's "The Coast Indians of Southern Alaska and British Columbia," in the annual report of the Smithsonian Institution," is a clear, full and striking account of the customs of the natives. James Deans has written several interesting papers on the Haidas and other tribes of British Columbia, which haveH appeared in the "American Antiquarian."

Dr. G. M. Dawson has written some excellent essays on the Indians of British Columbia. During his explorations he visited many of the tribes, compared their languages, conversed with interpreters, missionaries, traders, and other persons who had studied the languages and customs, and in his papers numerous important facts are given of great value to the student of native lore. There is an essay of Dawson's on "The Haidas," in the "Geological Survey of Canada Report," 1878-79, "Notes on the Shuswap People of British Columbia" appears in Volume IX. of "Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada," and "Notes and Observations on the Kwakiool People," in Volume V. of the "Transactions." The following articles, by specialists, on the native races of Canada are important: Rev. A. G. Morice, "Are the Carrier Sociology and Mythology Indigenous or Exotic?" "Proceedings of the Royal Society of Canada," Volume X; Alexander Mackenzie, "Descriptive Notes on Certain Implements, Weapons, etc., from Graham Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C.," "Proceedings of the Royal Society of Canada," Volume IX; Paul Kane, "The Chinook Indians," Canadian Journal (1854-55), Volume III., and Prof. 0. T. Mason, "Basket Work of the North American Indians," describing the basket work of the Tinne, Cliil-kaht, Haida, Bilhoola and other native tribes; "Smithsonian Report," 1884, Part II.

Interesting papers have been read before the Natural History Society of British Columbia, on "The Bears of British Columbia," "The Crania of Certain Indian Tribes of British Columbia," "Haida Legends," and "The Preservation of the Indian Remains of British Columbia." Dr. Franz Boaz has made extensive explorations among the native tribes of British Columbia studying their languages, mythology and sociology. The results of his labors are to be found in numerous reports and papers, but many of his important notes still remain in manuscript awaiting leisure to issue them in permanent form. Amongst his publications the following bear upon the subject under consideration: "The Language of the Bilhoola in British Columbia," in "Science," Vol. VII.; "Myths and Legends of the Catloltq," in "American Antiquarian, Vol. X.; "The Indians of British Columbia," in "Proceedings of the Royal Society of Canada," Vol. VI.; "Notes on the Snanaimud," in "American Anthropologist," Vol. II. The first, second and third "General Reports of the British Association on the North - western Tribes of Canada" treat of the tribes of British Columbia, their languages and customs.

There exists a general class of books for English and French readers who desire to become conversant with the languages of the Indians and their grammatical construction. In the Cree language there have been published Lacombe's Cree Manual, Gueguen's Cree Primer, a Primer by Bishop Bompas, containing lessons, prayers, catechism and hymns, and E. B. Glass' Cree Primer and Language Lessons, and Cree Syllabic Instruction Charts. Rev. E. Pettitot has published " Monographie des Esquimaux Tehiglit du Mackenzie et de l'Anderson," and Bishop Bompas has issued a Western Eskimo Primer. These works are necessary helps to all those who wish to understand the language of the Crees and Eskimos, either for the study of comparative philology or to use in conversation with the natives. Lacombe's Blackfoot Primer is an adaptation of a part of the first reading book to the language of the Blackfoot Indians.

Grammars of the Ojibway, Cree, Blackfoot, Montagnais and Saulteaux languages have been published which compare 1 favorably with the efforts of missionaries in this direction in civilized or savage lands. The Cree language has been chiefly studied, as there have been more missionaries laboring among the tribes comprising this confederacy, which is the most 1 numerous in the west and north. The most comprehensive M and philosophical work published on any of the western languages, except Pettitot's voluminous publication which treats of the languages of the north, is Archdeacon Hunter's "Lecture on the Grammatical Construction of the Cree Language." In his preface the, author makes this suggestive remark: "Since the year 1844 my attention has been more or less directed to the Cree language, and the more familiar I have  become with its grammatical construction—so peculiar and unique, and yet so regular and systematic—the more I have been impressed with the beauty, order and precision of the language used by the Indians around us. Although they may rank low in the scale of civilization, yet they carry about with them a vocabulary and a grammar which challenge and invite and will amply repay the acumen and analytical powers of the most learned philologist. If a Council of Grammarians, assembled from among the most eminent in all nations, had after years of labor propounded a new scheme of language, they could scarcely have elaborated a system more regular, beautiful and symmetrical." Such a language could not fail to attract men of culture, some of whom are found laboring among the tribes, in isolated missions, enduring great privations for the cause they so dearly love. Joseph Howse's grammar is the oldest and still remains one of the best on the language of the Cree Indians. Bishop Horden's grammar is a handy volume, well arranged and sufficiently comprehensive for everyday use. Rev. Albert Lacombe's work embraces a grammar and dictionary published in French of the language spoken by the Crees who live upon the prairies and on the margin of the lakes and forests of the^ north. The Ojibway language of the Lake Superior district and Rainy Lake is treated in the grammar of Bishop Baraga. C. Lanning and Rev. J. W. Tims have each published a small grammar and vocabulary of the Blackfoot language, which are the only grammars published, although there are grammars still in manuscript, possessed by those who have lived amongst these people. A grammar of the Montagnais language of Lake Athabasca, has been published by Rev. Laurent Legoff, and one on the Saulteaux language by the Rev. George Antoine Belcourt. Besides the works already mentioned, Thomas Bowrey, nearly two hundred years ago, prepared a Cree dictionary, which has been succeeded by the Cree dictionary of the Rev. E. A. Watkins. The Rev. E. Pettitot has published a dictionary of the Montagnais or Chippewayan language and a French vocabulary of the Tchiglit -language. A vocabulary of the language of the Slave Indians has been prepared by Robert Kennicott, and one of the Beaver language by the Rev. A. E. Garrioch.

The natives have not been forgotten by these industrious students of the languages, who have prepared grammars, dictionaries and vocabularies as incidental to their chief work of translating books for the use of the Indians. In the Cree language E. B. Glass published Syllabic Instruction Charts, Orrin German two of Moody's Sermons, and Albert Lacombe a "Calendar for Guidance in Religious Practice and Instructions on Roman Catholic doctrine."

THE CREE SYLLABARY.

Bishop Bompas prepared primers in the Eskimo, Beaver, Chippewayan, Dog-Rib, Tinne and Tukudh languages. The Montagnais or Chippewayan Indians have had published for their use, by the Rev. L. LegofF, a course of religious instruction and a history of the Old Testament.

"Peep o' Day " has been translated for the Ojibways of the Diocese of Moosonee, by the Rev. John Sanders; "Readings from the Holy Scriptures" in the Blackfoot language by the Rev. J. W. Tims, and the "Sermons of Bishop Baraga" for the use of the Indians at the posts of Albany, Savern and Martin's Falls, by the Rev. A. M. Garin. In the Cree language Arcli-de/icon Hunter has published the " Faith and Duty of a Christian," the Rev. John Semmens the " Way of Salvation," Archdeacon Vincent the "Pilgrim's Progress," and a new edition of Bunyan's immortal work is being issued by the Methodist Publishing House at Toronto.

The Cree is one of the few Indian languages in which the whole Bible has been published. The translating of the Bible has been one of the first duties of the pioneer missionaries to the Indians, and although the difficulties have been very great, they have labored hard until they were overcome. The Rev. A. G. Morice translated Genesis into Taculli; Dr. R. McDonald Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus into Tukudh; Rev. E. J. Peck portions of the Scriptures into Eskimo; an<l the Rev. Peiv Grouard an abridgment of the Bible into the Chippewayan lancruao;e.

The New Testament has been translated into the Chippewayan language by the Rev. W. W. Kirby; Dr. R. McDonald translated it into Tukudh; a Roman "Catholic version has been prepared in Cree by the Rev. Albert Lacombe, and a Protestant version by Bishop Horden. A Bible history in Chippewayan has been prepared by Rev. L. LegofF, and one in the Moose dialect, and another in Saulteaux by Bishop Horden. Portions of the New Testament in the languages of the Indians have been translated by these devoted laborers. The Gospels, Acts and Revelation, in the Slave dialect, have been translated by Bishop Bompas, assisted by the Rev. W. D. Reeve; Mark and John in the Tinne, by the Rev. W. W. Kirby; Luke and Revelation in Eskimo, by the Rev. E. J. Peck; Matthew, Mark and John in Cree, by Archdeacon Hunter; the First Epistle of John, by Mrs. Hunter; and the Gospel of Matthew in Blackfoot, by the Rev. J. W. Tims.

Several Roman Catholic and Protestant catechisms have been translated for the use of the natives. Mrs. Hunter, wife of Archdeacon Hunter, translated Watt's First Catechism in the Cree language, and Mrs. Mason prepared another translation of the same work. In the same language the Roman Catholic Catechism was issued by the Rev. A. M. Garin, and two separate editions, with hymns added, by the Rev. J. P. Gueguen and J. B. Thibault. Catechisms have also been published by Pere Lacombe, in Saulteaux; A. G. Morice, in the Carrier tongue; Charles Ovide Perrault, in the Montagnais language; and Rev. E. J. Peck, in Eskimo.

Numerous psalm and hymn books have been translated and published for the use of the Indians in the north and west by missionaries of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Methodist Churches. Cree psalm and humn books have been prepared by Archdeacon Hunter and his wife, Archdeacon John A. MacKay, William Mason, William West Kirby, Orrin German, and E. B. Glass conjointly with John McDougall. A hymn book in Cree was published by the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society of Britain, without any author's name; a hymn book and catechism combined was published by Rev. L. M. Lebret, for the use of the Roman Catholic Indians, in the Cree language; and a hymn book for the same confederacy by Rev. A. Lacombe; a hymn and prayer book for the Slave Indians was issued by Rev. William West Kirby; Bishop Horden, assisted by Messrs. Kirby and Sanders, prepared hymn books in the Moose dialect of the Cree language, and the dialect of the York Factory District, the Saulteaux tongue, and the Ojibway Indians of the Moosonee diocese. Separate hymns in the Blackfoot language have been printed by Lacombe, Tims, and Maclean.

Prayer books in the Cree language have been prepared by Archdeacon Hunter and his wife, Bishop Horden, Archdeacon John A. Mackay; and a Roman Catholic prayer book by the Rev. Albert Lacombe. Bishop Horden has also published a prayer book in Saulteaux, and one for the use of the Ojibway Indians in his diocese. The Rev. Laurant Legoff' has translated a prayer book in Montagnais, and A. M. Garin another for the indians of the posts of Albany, Savern and Martin's Falls.

The natives of British Columbia have not been forgotten by scientists and missionaries in their efforts to understand their lanmiaes and ameliorate their condition. Bancroft discusses some important features of some of the native languages in his first volume on "Native Races of the Pacific States," and the Tahkaht or Nootka Language is ably treated by the Rev. C. Knipe in his work, "Some account of the Tahkaht Language, as Spoken by Several Tribes on the Western Coast of Vancouver Island." A grammar of the Kwagiutl language, prepared by the Rev. Alfred J. Hall, was published in the "Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada," Volume VI. Several dictionaries of the Chinook jargon have been published, as it is an intermediary form of speech among the Indian tribes, and is an easy mode of communication between the natives and white men. F. N. Blan-chet, Coones, Demers, Gill, Horatio Hale, Langvein, Lionnet Probsch, George Gibbs, G. Stuart, J. B. Good and C. M. Tate have each published a dictionary of the jargon. Father Le Jeune has issued in the jargon a Primer and a Play, and a First Reading Book, including hymns, syllabary and vocabulary. Tolmie and Dawson's "Comparative Vocabularies of the Indian Tribes of British Columbia " is an interesting book, giving lists of words in English, with their meaning; in the native languages, and important notes on the tribes and the languages spoken by them.

Dr. Franz Boaz has published in ethnological journals Chinook songs and notes 011 the language, and has in his possession extensive notes in manuscript on the myths, legends and grammar of the Chinookan languages.

Father Le Jeune's "Shorthand Primer for the Thompson Language" is an important help to the Indians of Thompson River, enabling them to study their own language in a very short period.

Father Morice, of Stuart's Lake, has also invented an easy method by which the Indians can gain a knowledge of their own language in a short time. Concerning his syllabary he says, in his article on "The Western Denes": "In these latter years, however, an effort has been made by the writer of this paper to teach them to read and write their own language, and the result has been really wonderful. In order to attain this satisfactory and promising result he has had to compose a syllabic alphabet, somewhat on the principle of that so suitably invented by the late Mr. Evans for the Cree language, but which he soon found to be totally inadequate to render correctly the numerous delicate sounds of the Dene dialects. Besides (why should I not say it it lacks that method and logic which have been applied to the new and improved syllabics, and which have thereby simplified the acquisition of the language. I am now continually in receipt of letters from Indians whom I never taught, and who have learned to read after one or two weeks'— in some cases I might say, three or four days'—private instruction from others."

There is not, to my knowledge, any part of the Old Testament published in any of the languages of British Columbia, and the only parts of the New Testament are the Gospels of Matthew and John in the Qagutl language. Father Le Jeune has published on his mimeograph the first catechism in the Shushwap and Thompson languages.

There are several prayer books in the languages of the natives. A prayer book, in the Necklapamuk or Thompson tongue, has been prepared by the Rev. John Booth Good for the use of the Indians on the Church of England missions. Another, in the same language, for the Roman Catholic Indians has been published by the Rev. J. M. R. Le Jeune, who has also issued prayers in Shushwap; and a part of the " Book of Common Prayer " has been printed in the Kwagiutl language by the Rev. Alfred J. Hall. The native literature of Western Canada is developing slowly by the culture and energy of scientists, travellers and missionaries, who find among the savage tribes languages which are burdened with their hidden wealth, ready to yield their treasures unto those who seek.

THE CONFLICT OF RACES.

The natives of our plains, forests, rivers and mountains, uninfluenced by the civilization of the white man, believe .strongly in the superiority of their race. This no doubt arises from their isolation and study of their own customs and belief, without having an opportunity of comparing them with the customs and belief of other races. During the second Riel Rebellion, a Blood Indian chief, named Bull Shield came to me and informed me that he had been to town and seen a regiment of French infantry, which had been sent from the Province of Quebec to help maintain peace in Southern Alberta. He laughed at the idea of little men on foot being able to do anything upon the prairie if the Indians should go to war. Requesting me to act the part of a sentinel, he went through a series of native military tactics to show me that the Indians could kill every man placed on guard and never be discovered. Crouching on the ground with a knife in his teeth, and his whole body covered with a blanket, he sprang unsuspectingly upon me, as I walked to and fro. " I would not shoot my gun, for that would alarm the enemy," said he, " and I would lie near at hand without any fear, until I was close enough to strike him dead." The white men seemed foolish in his eyes to send such a contingent to protect anyone. Much of this feeling, combined with anger arising from ill-treatment and the possession of native courage* has lain at the foundation of the Indian wars in the United States. The preponderance of numbers in the early days helped to sustain this feeling of superiority among the natives of Canada, as they well knew that they could easily destroy the white settlements if they chose to do so. Good treatment and the faithfulness of the Government in strictly adhering to the terms of the treaties, kept them loyal; still they always believed in their superiority. In order to give the natives a real knowledge of their position, the government sent some of the chiefs to Ontario and Quebec, and having witnessed some of the works and wealth of the white men, they returned with lasting impressions of the power of their white brethren. When, however, they turn to the peaceful arts of life they can assert their supremacy. They can tell the native names of the flowers and plants, describe their habits and medicinal properties, and the white man is a stranger to many of these things. The birds of the Rocky Mountains are their friends, and many of the plain Indians are no mean ornithologists. The animals, from the gopher on the prairie to the mountain sheep and bear, are known so well that they can speak freely of their habits, and from them learn to prognosticate the weather. They know the rivers and lakes, and although white men are frequently drowned in crossing the streams, it is a rare thing to hear of even an Indian child being drowned. Better than any white man can they track horses which are lost on the prairie, for they feel at home on the vast expanse. Nature is their teacher, and unconsciously they have learned. They have kept their eyes open and have seen wonders where the white men saw nothing. As they carve their beautiful stone pipes, which the white people eagerly buy, their belief is strengthened, for the value of the pipe as a specimen of native handicraft is often misinterpreted to mean inaptitude for the business of pipe-making. The various objects of nature, land-slides, weather-beaten cliffs, scarped mountains, deep canyons, contorted trees and strange-looking boulders are alive with mythological personages, who speak to the Indian mind a language unknown to any save the members of his race. All of these contribute their share in strengthening the belief that the white race is inferior to the natives.

When they begin to study the ways of the pioneers of civilization they are drawn toward the buildings erected by the force of intellect, and witness there a skill which they fail to understand. Patiently the Indian will follow an enemy, but patience is a virtue in the peaceful arts of life which he does not possess. The planning of the architect, the concentrated force of intellect necessary for a number of men to erect a building are to him strange things. He is willing, therefore, to accord to the white man partial superiority. He admires a good mui: a cannon raises the white men in his estimation, and when he gazes upon the feats of the cowboys in roping and tying cattle and stands beside a locomotive or steamboat, he is willing to divide the honors of supremacy.

It is perfectly legitimate for the savage of the west to be proud of his native culture, adapted as it is to his needs, and apparently better suited to him than the civilization of the white race, under whose influence he sees his fathers and brethren rapidly dwindling away. There is a native education, unsystematized it is true, yet it exists. There are lessons in the lodges from fathers, mothers, and guardians for the boys and girls. The father delights to see his boy an adept at shooting with the bow and arrow, and he is taught to ride and hunt. The youth learns the secrets of nature, the mysteries of plant life, the history of his tribe, the unwritten biographies of the great men of his race; the stars become his book of night, the old men train him in the science of politics; indeed, everything necessary to become good, great, wise and happy is taught him, and this constitutes the system of education. The girls learn to dress hides, cook the food, make moccasins and other articles of dress, and prepare themselves for all the duties of camp life. Believing firmly in the principle of adaptation, they will either object to our system of education, as reading, writing, and counting, or look upon it with an air of indifference. Naturally they wish to know how all our learning will qualify them to hunt and fight, and in any measure fit their children to become better Indians. We wish to make them white men, and they desire them to become better Indians. They believe the native culture is best suited for themselves, and having developed under it, and enjoyed it so long, they care not to give it up for an untried system. There is a danger of educating them away from their real life. When their circumstances change, and the new life does not rest upon them as a burden, they gladly accept and, indeed, desire to become possessed of the culture which will fit them for their new conditions.

The nomadic habits of the red men stand out in striking contrast with the settled life of the white men. Camp life and town life are in conflict. The one is a permanent society in a well-defined and settled condition; the other is a society governed by laws, but essentially temporary in its conditions and character. Unknown diseases to the natives seize upon their bodies with the advent of the pioneers of civilization. Different styles of dress appear which are strange, and seem to the native mind unsuited to their modes of living. The white man's food does not agree with the denizen of the prairie and forest, unlearned in the art of cooking the new materials. The class of work does not call into play the muscles, for those used by the white man are undeveloped in his red brother. Eve'n their ideas of morality differ, and it appears as if there were a predestined antagonism of the races, but the conflict ends in the subjugation of the red man adopting the modes of life of his conqueror. It is the old story of the march of the white conquerors over the earth, and wherever they go traces of the conflict are seen in decaying and dead races of men.

Sometimes the conflict assumes a more determined form, and is not one solely of customs, but becomes a war of self-interest and injustice. This has evidently been the case in the contest between the red and white races in the land of our great neighbor. The sad story of the treatment of the Poncas, Winnebagoes, Sioux, and other tribes by the white race can be read in the writings of Bishop Whipple, and especially in Helen Hunt Jackson's admirable volumes, "A Century of Dishonor" and "Earaona." The Bishop says in relation to the Minnesota Massacre and the expedition of General Custer. " In 1858 the Sioux Indians^ of Minnesota sold us eight hundred thousand acres of their Reservation. The plea for this sale was that they needed more money to aid them in the work of civilization. This treaty provided that none of the proceeds of this sale should be paid for Indian debts, unless such debts had been recognized in an open council. No such council was ever held. The Indians waited four years They never received one penny of this money, except about fifteen thousand dollars' worth of worthless goods. All this money was taken for claims, except about eight hundred and sixty-eight dollars, which was left to their credit in Washington. In June, 1862, they came together to receive their annual payment. The annuity money had not come. The traders told the Indians that it had been stolen. They waited two months—mad, exasperated and hungry. Then came that awful massacre, in which eight-hundred of brave pioneers were murdered. No pen can describe the horrors of that desolated border. The money for the payment was sent too late. At the eleventh hour, twenty-five thousand dollars was taken from other trust funds to supply that portion of the annuities which had been paid out for claims against the Indians. The Winnebagoes lived near the Sioux. They were our friends. They refused to join in the outbreak. They even killed the Sioux messengers who asked it. They cut oft* their ears and sent them to the whites, to show their friendship to us and the fate of our enemies. The Winnebagoes had a goodly Reservation, which white men coveted. They were removed by force,, and were taken with the friendly Sioux to the Missouri River and located there at Crow Creek. Over one thousand of these Indians died of disease and starvation that year. During that awful winter some Indian women crossed from the Missouri to Fairbault, my home, and God only knows how they lived, for their only food was frozen roots which they dug on the prairie.

"I am told that when the Indian chiefs met the commissioners at Medicine Lodge Creek they gave, as a reason for not making another treaty with us, that three times men have come to us and made treaties. ' They said that their Great Father sent them. They were liars; we have not seen one thing they promised.' After long discussion, the Indians said that ' They believed the men who wore our uniforms had straight tongues.' They made another treaty. One thing that they insisted upon was that they should have a country which should not be invaded by the whites. This pledge was made. The country which contains the Black Hills was guaranteed to them. No possible plea can be made against their title, except the plea of the footpad, who places his pistol to your breast and says, ' Might makes right.' The expedition of General Custer was made in clear violation of a nation's faith. Gold was discovered. At first we were ashamed to violate our own treaty. The noble man who made that treaty for us honestly tried to keep white men out of the Indian country. It was impossible. Our only honorable course was to make such amends as we could by purchase. The Government did send out a commission, but the plea for economy was made a pretext to tie the hands of the eommissioners so that they were powerless. The Indians wanted a fair settlement. They were ready to make a sale. We offered them four hundred thousand dollars for the Black Hill country. As all the Indians from the Santee Agency to White River were to be included in this treaty, the amount offered was only about one-fourth of our annual expenditure for these tribes. The treaty failed. The evil has been (lone. The Black Hills swarm with miners. We shall have another Indian war, and spend some millions of dollars to swell the hundred of millions already spent in Indian wars.

Many of our brave officers and soldiers will lose their lives in a war which brings them no glory; many a home will be destroyed and innocent people murdered by massacre.

Our Canadian Indians have beautiful languages, accurate and full in their grammatical structure, euphonious and expressive, a delight to the philologist and the pride of the natives. They will not use by compulsion another language, .not even the English tongue, because they can more freely express themselves in their own form of speech, and for the same reason that an English-speaking person prefers his own language. There can be no legitimate method of stamping out the native language except by a wise policy of teaching English in the schools, and allowing the Indian tongue to die out. Prohibitory measures, compelling English alone to be used in the schools, will arouse the latent antagonism and retard progress. English must be taught. It is the desire of the Government and the missionaries that the English language should become the only medium of. communication; but this will be gained gradually, and not by the complete prohibition of the native tongue.

There exists a conflict of belief as well as language. Before the advent of the missionary the natives are deeply swayed by their own system of theology, formulated unconsciously. They have definite beliefs. They are deeply imbued with animism, which acts powerfully upon them in maintaining their own forms of religion. They have as deep a sense of God in nature as Butler and Wordsworth, and the divinity in man is as keenly felt as ever Coleridge or Carlyle taught it. Hence they are dogmatists, and believe that they are right in their belief. When the trader appears with his Christian belief and unchristian practice, they become more strongly entrenched in their dogmatic citadel, and with the advent of the missionary they are ready for an assault of their faith. It is well that the religious teacher has to spend some time in learning the native language, for then the people can observe the beauty of his life, experience his sympathy and help, and finally their opposition is thrown down by love and not by argument. The trader's belief conflicts with the native religion, and the missionary's life opens the way for the truth to gain their assent and reach their hearts. The appeal of the Cross in the hands of the Jesuits gained many converts, because the men were


JESUIT STONE CROSS.

heroic and devoted their lives for the good of the people. Relics of the labors of these devoted men still remain among us, showing their methods of teaching and enthusiasm. A few years ago there was dug up on an old church site at Saugeen a stone cross, supposed to be two hundred years old, and to belong to the Jesuits. The illustration made from a photo of this cross gives a good idea of its shape.

In all our dealings with the Indians we have tried to win them, yet there have been many hindrances. The book of nature was the Indians guide, and he could not understand why the Bible should belong to him when it was not written in a language which he could understand and read without being taught to read. The Sabbath was new to him, but not the principle of a series of days devoted to religious purposes. He believed in prayer, sacrifice, the existence of a great nature power, if not also in a personal God, the existence of spirits, the coming of a Redeemer, the immortality of the soul and a future state. So far he was in agreement with the Christian teacher, but the lessons he learned from the society of men who were Christian only in name brought him into antagonism with the white men. Christianity exalted gentleness and humility as virtues, while the red man's graces were courage in war and supremacy in the camp. He loved and practised unbounded hospitality toward both races; but the white men were hospitable only to their own people. They saw the white men protecting their wives and daughters, and degrading the women of the camps. How could the unsophisticated red man recognize these antagonisms? They were mysteries to him, and they remain so to us.

The red man is a politician, as well as his white brother, skilful in all the arts of electioneering and the methods of statesmanship at the councils. In the election of chiefs, discussion of the civil affairs of the camp, formulation of unwritten laws and administration of justice, the natives possess wisdom and courage, and the white man might learn some good measures from their simplicity and sternness in dispensing justice and treating criminals. He can advocate the claims of his favorite candidate for political honors, and in the hidden craft of gaining support visit the lodges, and by means of criers keep his man before the minds of the people as successfully as the editors of the great newspapers of the land. When, however, he comes in contact with the new civilization his power is lost, as he becomes a ward of the Government, and not a free man. He enjoys the franchise of the camps, but not the franchise of a white man. The time may soon come when the Canadian Indian of Ontario and Quebec has ceased to be an Indian in his belief and civilization, and is ranked with the white man in his knowledge of the affairs of the State, that he shall exercise the power of voting. But the man of the west will not be able to secure this privilege until he has removed the incubus of degraded white men and he can intelligently discuss grave questions affecting both races, and not follow the dictates of unprincipled men. The time has not yet come for the natives of the west to decide for themselves on these matters, and it would be a dangerous experiment to hurl amongst us thousands of votes subject to the selfish interests and wily tactics of corrupt dictators. So long as the natives must be fed at the expense of the country, or taught to farm and engage in industrial arts and live an isolated life on Reservations, they are unfit to stand upon an equal footing in political rights, burdens and privileges.

In our courts of justice he is treated as a man. We respect the treaties we have made with the tribes, and although in our North-West a few persons, supported by one or two newspapers, have desired the removal of a tribe of Indians from their fine tract of land because it would be a valuable acquisition to the white people and would help materially in the settlement of the country, a deaf ear has been turned by our statesmen to protests and apparent claims. We have never broken a treaty with them, and whenever a change is desired the land is purchased and commissioners treat with the natives at their own home. During the present century we have not been wholly free from arbitrary measures, yet our policy in the main has been just and kind. An Indian is punished if he breaks the law of the land; and if even a native woman or child has been injured by a white man, the culprit is sought out and punished. In the administration of the law, if we err at all, it is on the side of leniency toward the red race.


INDIAN SUMMER CAMP ON LADY EVELYN LAKE.

Barbarism has rights which civilized men must respect. In the struggle for supremacy the red man has not the opportunity nor has he the advantages of the centuries of experience enjoyed by the white race, consequently he must suffer in the contest. Believing and teaching the Gospel of brotherhood, we are not at liberty to kill him, nor even to pauperize him; but we may and can civilize and Christianize him. In the struggle for existence he has labored under the sternest conditions. Incessant war, continual hardship, and uncertain means of subsistence, have kept the tribes at the lowest numbers compared with the vast regions over which they roamed. Our aim must be to save the man, for he is worth saving, and to seek to solve the problem of their continuance and civilization by striving to change their social conditions and develop their latent energies. They cannot be saved in one generation. Justice and humanity compel us to treat them well, always aiming at self-support. With the watchful care of the Government and the churches during his progress from savagery to civilization, the transfer and guidance of his energies toward cattle raising and agriculture, the enlightening and strengthening of his intellect by means of schools and missionaries, and confidence in our motives and measures, we may not in our day see the native fully civilized, but we shall enjoy the consciousness of having done our duty, and some progress toward his ultimate salvation will have been gained.

The Battle of Batoché
By Darcy John Bouchard (pdf)


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