RED SEA 



4955 



REDSTART 



way to assume the governorship of this new 

 territory, Riel and his followers determined to 

 prevent him, if possible, from organizing a 

 new government. The metis seized Fort Garry 

 (now Winnipeg), set up a "provisional govern- 

 ment," and prepared to resist the authority of 

 the Dominion government. McDougall was 

 stopped at the boundary of Rupert's Land, and 



forbidden to enter. Fortunately he had 

 the good sense to see that the metis had a real 

 grievance and obeyed Kiel's order as a means 

 of preserving peaceful relations. 



But an inexplicable act of Kiel's ended the 

 prospect of a friendly settlement. In order to 

 terrorize his opponents, Riel imprisoned a few 

 "enemies of the provisional government," 

 among them a young fellow named Thomas 

 Scott. For some reason Scott was picked as 

 an example, was condemned as a traitor to the 

 provisional government, and was shot. This 

 was cold-blooded murder, and created tremen- 

 dous indignation in Eastern Canada. Under the 

 command of Colonel Garnet Wolseley a force 

 of 700 men, both regulars and volunteers, made 

 the long and wearisome journey westward by 



of Lake Superior. At the approach of the 

 troops Riel seemed to lose all joy in his office 

 as head of the "provisional government" and 

 promptly fled to the United States. His flight 

 mdrd the rebellion. 



. while Wolseley and his men were 

 marching westward, the Dominion Parliament 

 admitted Manitoba as a province of the Con- 

 federation. The claims of the half-breeds were 

 met by setting aside 1,400,000 acres for their 

 use. Unfortunately many of the half-breeds 

 continued to wander westward, and a few years 

 later again caused difficulty. See SASKATCHE- 

 W\N RKHELLJON. W.F.Z. 



RED SEA, an arm of the Indian Ocean, 

 about 1,200 miles long, which separates the 

 Arabian Peninsula from Northeastern Africa 

 (see colored map of Asia, following page 416). 

 the construction of the Suez Canal (which 

 flee), the Red Sea has been the great water 

 lnuhway between Europe and the Orient. It 

 has many disadvantages as a trade route, be- 

 cause, except for a central channel twenty 

 iiulrs wide, the sea is very dangerous even to 

 .-in. ill \tsscls, and tin- climate is damp and 

 made intensely hot by the burning winds oft 

 tin African desert; yet, were it not for this 

 passage the enormous volume of trade between 



European countries and Japan, China and 

 India would follow an overland route, as it 

 centuries ago, or proceed by way of the Cape 



of Good Hope. The sea is long and narrow, 

 never exceeding 200 miles in width, and its av- 

 erage depth is about 2,000 feet. 



Geologically, the Red Sea is nothing but a 

 great crack in the solid rock that has filled up 



THE RED SEA 



with water. The shore is barren, and there are 

 few harbors. On the east are high mountain 

 ranges, on the west low sand hills and rocky 

 table-lands, skirted by coral reefs. Because of 

 the great evaporation resulting from high winds 

 and the excessive heat, and owing to the fact 

 that, until the opening of the Suez Canal, the 

 Red Sea was practically an inland sea, its 

 waters are very salty. The story of the passage 

 of the Children of Israel across this sea is one 

 of the most interesting of Bible narratives. It 

 is told in Exodus XIV. 



Vanou.s explanations are offered for the ori- 

 gin of t he naino A' d. Among these arc the color 

 of the surrounding hills, of the coral reefs, of 

 the H a weed and of the water, which has been 

 affected by the presence of myriads of animal 

 organisms. Edom. the name of a country ad- 

 joining the Gulf of Akabah, is the Hebrew word 

 fur r<d, and may have suggested the name. 



RED 'START, the. most graceful of Ameri- 



'Icrs. It is known to the inhabitants 



of Cuba, from its quick, darting movements 



among the dark forests, as "Cand.lua." the 



iiill< It is a summer resident over the 



