t)8 EXPEDITION TO THE 



wise entertained that the colony would civilize the In- 

 dians, and divert them from hunting. From these and 

 other causes, the new settlers became involved in the quar- 

 rel. There were probably provocations and wrongs on 

 both sides ; finally the colony was assaulted by a party of 

 Bois Brules, supposed to be connected with the North-west 

 Company ; and in 1815, the inhabitants were all dispersed ; 

 they returned, however, to their homes, and were again 

 assaulted in IS 16, and again driven from their settlements, 

 after the murder of their governor, and of about twenty of 

 the colonists. From this moment a real civil war may be 

 said to have been carried on between the servants of the 

 two companies. Both appealed to the government of Ca- 

 nada, and to the British Ministers. For a while these com- 

 plaints were unheeded, but finally the evil became so great 

 that a remedy was sought for, and found in a combina- 

 tion of the two companies on terms which were not made 

 public. A general amnesty ensued. The evil which has 

 been done to this country, twenty years will not obliterate. 

 The immense sums of money incurred in prosecutions, re- 

 criminations, &c. may be forgotten, but the lawless spirit 

 inculcated on the Bois Brules, who were engaged on either 

 side, will require years to tame it. Even at this day the 

 traveller feels that he treads upon dangerous ground if 

 he alludes to it ; for the spirit of party is not eradicated. 

 We may, however, hope that the instructive lesson, that 

 commercial rivalry must be kept within bounds, will not 

 be forgotten, and that by the wise and conciliatory steps 

 which the company has taken, the seeds of discord will be 

 completely removed, and that the country will rise to 

 that prosperity, to which its fine soil and good climate en- 

 title it. 



The terms upon which the colonists were brought hither, 



