6 ESSAYS ON WHEAT 



breed assailants, who were on horseback, could not face this 

 piece of artillery and soon desisted from their attacks. In 

 the end, McLeod and his little garrison were left in peace 

 to care for the crops and prepare for the return of their 

 fr lends. ^^ 



Colin Robertson, in charge of an expedition sent out by 

 Lord Selkirk from Montreal, arrived at the Eed Eiver a 

 few weeks after the expulsion of the colonists. On learn- 

 ing what had happened, he immediately pushed up Lake 

 Winnipeg to the Jack Eiver, persuaded the settlers to 

 return, and brought them back in triumph. They were 

 delighted to find that, during their absence, the crops had 

 made good progress ; and within a few weeks the first suc- 

 cessful harvest was duly gathered in. 



The new Governor, Eobert Semple, who had been sent 

 out from Scotland by the Hudson Bay route, arrived at 

 the Eed Eiver Settlement on JSTovember 3, 1815. On 

 finding that there were one hundred and twenty persons 

 committed to his care, he at once began to feel anxious 

 about the food-supply for the winter. Straightway he 

 went to the granary where a rapid inspection revealed that 

 the stores of grain consisted of from 12 to 14 stacks of 

 wheat and barley. Would this satisfy the needs of the 

 settlers and keep famine from their doors until the next 

 harvest? A resort to mathematics could alone settle the 

 question. Taking each stack as representing 50 bushels 

 each, he calculated that he had 400 bushels of wheat plus 

 200 bushels of barley. From these 600 bushels he de- 

 ducted 40 for spring seed and so had 560 left. Counting 

 50 pounds to the bushel, he calculated that the grain which 

 could be used as food amounted to 28,000 pounds. He 

 then reckoned that 120 persons at 2 pounds per day would 



11 Chester Martin, loc. cit., pp. 85-89 ; also G. Bryce, loc. cit., p. 

 105. 



