154 EXPLORATION OF THE PRAIRIES, 1879 



of fifty-eight consecutive hours from Winnipeg to Fargo, which I 

 took in 1875, made a most lasting impression upon my mind. 

 Night and day we kept on and enjoying a nap, in a stage coach 

 with the temperature at zero, was the greatest luxury we had. 

 Our waking moments were filled with torture, but sleep, such as 

 it was, made us oblivious to suffering to the very marrow in our 

 bones, which seemed to be freezing and, as I think of it, I shudder 

 at the recollection. We had a very pleasant trip on the present 

 journey to Belleville and reached there in due season, and I found 

 my family all well. 



On my arrival home, I very soon saw that my life, as hitherto, 

 would advance a stage and I would take a more prominent place 

 in the eyes of the public. On this account, I will write a short 

 summary of the causes that produced those changes that took 

 place in Canada, after 1850. I wish more particularly to state 

 my connection with the North West as I soon saw that my life 

 was now passing from that of a teacher to that of a public man. 



