1^6 EXPEDITION TO THE 



contents of one parcel to pay a debt which he had con- 

 tracted there, and, having done so, was about to go with 

 his other parcel of furs, to discharge, in like manner, a 

 debt which he had contracted with a neighbouring trader 

 of the Hudson's Bay Company; some opposition to the 

 taking away of his furs was made, by the person in charge 

 of the North-west Company's fort, who endeavoured to 

 prevail on Tanner to sell the whole to him. When per- 

 suasion failed, threats were resorted to by the trader, and 

 as Tanner still persisted in doing as he pleased with his 

 own property, a pistol was presented to his breast ; on 

 which, pointing to his bare bosom, he undauntedly told 

 the trader to fire, declaring that, although but a stranger 

 and a slave in that country, he would not be so much of a 

 woman as to raise a weapon against any man, and after- 

 wards, through fear, desist from killing him. By this bold 

 conduct he maintained his right to the disposal of his furs, 

 which he immediately applied to the payment of a just 

 debt." 



Of his attachment to his children, he gave a strong proof 

 by the long and perilous journey which he undertook to 

 visit his daughters ; and the distress which he felt, when they 

 had disappeared, was among the most heart-rending scenes 

 which we have ever witnessed. His language was the na- 

 tural expression of grief deeply felt. If the abandonment, 

 which he had meditated of his wife, presents him to our 

 consideration in a less deserving light as a husband, it 

 must be borne in mind, in extenuation, that the woman 

 who could, under any circumstances, be induced to plan, 

 and instigate another person to so atrocious a crime as 

 that in which she afterwards shared, could not be an amia- 

 ble companion, and could probably have no claim upon his 

 affections. 



