VOYAGE IN THE WINNIPEG REGION 93 



it. Somehow, by some means, I would have fulfilled my 

 will. 



Although Norway House lies in a ravine, or hollow, 

 its foundations are placed on rock, and the whole district 

 is rocky. The gardens, which are well kept, and sur- 

 round the stockades of the fort, as well as the huts, seem 

 to have been made, with great labour, of the sandy mud 

 of the river. It is impossible to see the fort until you 

 are just on it, and it is commanded by a huge rock close 

 to the stockades, so that the place is not tenable from a 

 military point of view. The river swells into a lake here, 

 which, although small for this part of the world, is in 

 reality so extensive that the eye cannot reach the oppo- 

 site shore by a very long vv^ay. It is called Play-green 

 Lake, and the scenery about it begins again to become 

 very picturesque. 



At the time of our visit there was much bustle at 

 Norway House, for in addition to many Indians who 

 had arrived with their bundles of pelts, there was a 

 " brigade" of canoes temporarily halting, and waiting to 

 be joined by others. Many of the voyageurs were well 

 known to Achil, and for a day or two we had a very 

 merry party. 



The Canadian voyageur is a good chum, as a rule, 

 and would be a downright fine fellow if it were not for 

 his confounded political opinions. Whoever imagines 

 that the majority of the French Canadians are loyal to 

 the British makes a woeful mistake. Eighty per cent, of 

 them at least have made up their minds that the Britisher 

 must go, and they will never lose an opportunity to be a 

 thorn in our sides, especially should we have a war with 

 France. 



But this feeling apart, the voyageur is, as I say, a 

 very good fellow — a desperately hard worker, patient and 

 faithful to his employer. He has usually an exceedingly 

 pleasant face, is polite, like his French ancestors, and, 

 though inclined to be penurious, is not so selfish as 



