214 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



a Roman Catholic school in Canada, and at one time 

 it was hoped he would have entered the Church. 

 Instead of doing so, however, he became a clerk in a 

 shop at St Paul's, Minnesota, where he resided for a 

 few years, but was eventually dismissed for dishonesty. 

 His prospects being thus under a cloud, he returned 

 to the neighbourhood of Fort Garry, and lived in the 

 greatest poverty with his mother. So indigent were 

 their circumstances that, finding himself succeeding 

 in his role of demagogue, and considering it necessary 

 to be the possessor of a black cloth coat, he was 

 obliged to sell his mother's only cow to procure the 

 money required for that purpose. He is a man of 

 considerable moral determination, although all who 

 know him say that he is wanting in physical courage. 

 His command of language is great, and his power 

 over his audience immense. He speaks English in- 

 telligibly, and his proclamations denote considerable 

 talent and power of thought. 



The first overt act of resistance was in October 

 1869, when Eiel, followed by a few half-breeds, 

 warned a surveying party to desist from their work, 

 and insisted on their moving their camp out of the 

 district where they were employed. Meetings were 

 then called in the various parishes where the French 

 predominated, at which Eiel and others made in- 

 flammatory speeches. The people were thoroughly 

 aroused ; and even the priests, who generally kept 

 as much as possible in the background, preached re- 



