^ 



8 ESSAYS ON WHEAT 



the end of the year ; and, after this second expulsion, no 

 colonist was permitted to remain to gather in the crops. 



Early in 1817, in the depth of winter, a force sent from 

 Tort William by Lord Selkirk wrested Fort Douglas from 

 the Xorth-West Company. A surprise attack was made 

 in the dead of night : the walls were scaled, and the sixteen 

 men within were all made prisoners. When daylight 

 came, the flag of the Hudson's Bay Company was agaiii 

 hoisted on the staff. ^^ With the arrival of spring, an ex- 

 press canoe was dispatched to Jack River with the news 

 that Fort Douglas had been taken. The settlers were per- 

 suaded to return, and, in the hope that peace might finally 

 be established, resumed their agricultural pursuits. How- 

 ever, the facilities for tilling the soil were extremely lim- 

 ited and it was still necessary to use the hoe in place of 

 the plow.^*^ Wheat was sown although late in the year 

 and, owing to its scarcity, in small quantity. It grew well 

 but, in the autumn, the crop was almost ruined by a violent 

 hurricane. So short of cereals were the colonists during 

 the winter of 1817-18 that they had to rely upon the 

 buffalo as a chief source of food.^'^ 



III. Visit of Lord Selkirk 



Lord Selkirk, who was an experienced agriculturist, ar- 

 rived at the Settlement in the summer of 1817, and for 

 four months exercised a wise and generous supervision over 

 its affairs. -^^ His heart was in this work, for he had great 

 visions of the future. His belief in the possibilities of the 

 western prairie-land he once expressed in a remarkable 

 prophecy : " It is a very moderate calculation to say that 



15 Chester Martin, loc. cit., p. 127. 



16 John Macoun, loc. cit., p. 437. 



17 Chester Martin, loc. cit., p. 140. 

 ^slbid., p. 133. 



