SOURCE OP ST. Peter's river. 43 



lion is now fast going to decay. The settlement consists of 

 about three hundred and fifty souls, residing in sixty 

 log houses or cabins ; they do not appear to possess the 

 qualifications for good settlers ; few of them are farmers ; 

 most of them are half-breeds, who having been educated 

 by their Indian mothers, have imbibed the roving, unset- 

 tled, and indolent habits of Indians. Accustomed from 

 their early infancy to the arts of the fur trade, which may 

 be considered as one of the worst schools for morals, they 

 have acquired no small share of cunning and artifice. 

 These form at least two-thirds of the male inhabitants. 

 The rest consist of Swiss and Scotch settlers, most of the 

 former are old soldiers, as unfit for agricultural pursuits as 

 the half-breeds themselves. The only good colonists are 

 the Scotch, who have brought over with them, as usual, 

 their steady habits, and their indefatigable perseverance. 

 Although the soil about Pembina is very good, and will, 

 when well cultivated, yield a plentiful return, yet, from 

 the character of the population, as well as from the infant 

 state of the colony, it does not at present yield sufficient 

 produce to support the settlers, who therefore devote 

 much of their time to hunting ; this, which perhaps in the 

 origin was the effect of an imperfect state of agriculture, 

 soon acted as a cause ; for experience shows, that men ad- 

 dicted to hunting never can make good farmers. At the 

 time when we arrived at the colony, most of the settlers 

 had gone from home, taking with them their families, 

 horses, &c. They were then chasing the buffalo in the 

 prairies, and had been absent forty-five days without be- 

 ing heard from. The settlement was in the greatest need 

 of provisions ; fortunately for us, who were likewise desti- 

 tute, they arrived the next day. Their return afforded us 

 a view of what was really a novel and interesting specta- 



