The Attractions of York Factory. 155 



the hair cut off* is, among these Indians, a mark of the greatest 

 disgrace. 



As soon as Nancy had served out her thirty days, she lost no 

 opportunity in exciting the feelings of the natives. They sympa- 

 thised with her, and she took every possible method of showing that 

 she appreciated their sympathy. On a Sunday morning, while on her 

 way to the church, walking ei'ect and stately, she was frequently 

 honoured by special marks of attention : the Indians, men and wo- 

 men, drawn up in open file near the Fort, so as to attract the atten- 

 tion of the Hudson's Bay Company people, shook hands with her 

 one after another, and took every method to fully reinstate her in 

 the good graces of the "best society." Nancy's hair gradually 

 renewed its existence, and, to-day, it is half as long as it was before 

 the penalty was administered, and she is quite indifferent to all that 

 has happened, notwithstanding that, in a wide sense, she committed 

 a double murder. As I have stated, the child died from the effects of 

 his injuries, and the child's mother, whom Nancy endeavoured to 

 inj ure, died soon after her child, from the fright. She was in a delicate 

 state of health at the time, and never recovered from the shock. 



This affair must not be looked upon as characteristic of the 

 Indians on Hudson's Bay. They are a quiet, peaceable set, very 

 obedient to the Hudson's Bay Company's officials, and altogether very 

 industrious. They are anxious ^to make the most of their oppor- 

 tunities, educationally, and put to the best use what little knowledge 

 they have been able to acquire. They are already sufficiently in- 

 formed to know that their condition ought to be still more improved 

 by the advance of civilization, and they are very anxious to see the 

 iron horse coming through from Winnipeg. They have heard some- 

 thing of a locomotive, but have no ideas of a railway ; and, so far as 

 I could judge from what they said, they think the great iron ship 

 would come snorting over the rocks to their very doors, provided 

 Canada and the Hudson's Bay Company agree to allow it. Several 

 years ago, when they were told that the Canadians were about to 

 send out an Expedition, a number of them set to work and built 

 houses to sell to the expected new settlers. They never came, and 

 the Indians now occupy them themselves ; but they stand ready to 



