42 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



The company on the march and in close order extended over half 

 a mile. Each of the constituent parties kept together, taking the 

 lead in rotation, thus giving to each impartially the opportunity to 

 obtain game and also the use of the road before the soft places had 

 been churned up and rendered difficult to cross. If in the day's 

 march any accident happened the unfortunate cart simply turned 

 aside and fell in at the rear after the repairs had been effected, rejoining 

 its special party at camping time. 



At the outset the day's travel consisted of a forenoon and an 

 afternoon drive; the former from five o'clock till noon, the latter 

 from two o'clock till six o'clock, subject, of course, to alteration if 

 suitable camping sites were, or were not, found. Experience soon 

 showed that better results could be obtained by dividing the day's 

 journey of ten hours into three parts. It being the period of long 

 daylight on the greater part of the journey to Edmonton, the camp 

 was alive at 2.30 each morning, and the whole company in motion by 

 the advent of day. After driving for about three hours a halt of two 

 hours was made for breakfast; about eight o'clock the journey was 

 resumed until noon, when a halt of two hours was made for dinner; 

 and about two o'clock the final afternoon drive began, extending until 

 five or six o'clock. In this way, with far less exertion, twenty-five 

 miles a day were easily covered. 



Each night the camping place was selected with an eye to the 

 vital questions of wood and water. Preliminary symptoms of the 

 uneasiness amongst the Indians, which culminated during the summer 

 in the uprising in Minnesota, were already apparent. This restive 

 spirit had for some years been growing more pronounced. Hind 

 records that, in 1859, between the Assiniboine and the Saskatchewan 

 he found the Indians determined to establish a toll of tobacco and tea 

 for passing through their lands . Warned by the officers of the Hudson's 

 Bay Company, our emigrants were constantly on the alert against 

 Indian depredations. For protection at night the carts were drawn 

 up in the form of a triangle, within which the horses and cattle were 

 secured. The tents were set up outside the triangle, and a close 

 watch kept by sentries — two on each side — during the hours of dark- 

 ness. This vigilance, doubtless, contributed largely to their freedom 

 from thefts and other annoyances. 



The first two hundred miles, from Fort Garry to Fort Ellice at 

 the confluence of the Assiniboine and the Qu'appelle, was along a 

 road well-marked and way-worn. Crossing the Assiniboine at the 

 Prairie Portage, as they called Portage la Prairie, the emigrants 

 followed the chord of the arc almost due west. Just after leaving 



