80 THROUGH CANADA 



surprise at the great change that has taken place in 

 his spirit and temper. The wild child of Nature, 

 unrestrained as the mountain torrent ; savage in 

 instinct, with no law, but a law unto himself; con- 

 signed to the rules and restrictions of modern civiliza- 

 tion, as he has been ; is it any wonder that his nature 

 should chafe and deteriorate ? The ample provision 

 for his needs in itself made for deterioration. The rifle 

 in exchange for the bow, the shack for the wigwam, 

 the purchase power of money in store and saloon ; 

 all this, so contrary to the environment of the rugged 

 mountain, the entangled forest, and the struggle for 

 life they imposed, civilized the North American 

 Indian, and at the same time inaugurated the rapid 

 extinction of the species. 



A short portage brought us to French River. 

 It is high above the level of Pickerel and narrow 

 where it debouches into it, broadening out again as 

 progress is made up-stream. It probably differs 

 little from the river which Champlain descended two 

 centuries ago. History records how he pressed his 

 way across land from Lake Nipissing and struck 

 French River after exploring the Ottawa. Working 

 his way down-stream, he found a tribe of naked 

 Indians gathering berries on the island rocks. They 

 were Ojibwas, the tribe to which my guide belonged. 

 With the exception of an occasional trapper or 

 lumberman, few Europeans have since shot its rapids 

 or camped on its banks. 



