324 TRAVEL, ADVENTUEE, AND SPOET. 



"been sent on the previous evening to the village of 

 "Winnipeg joined us here with information that Kiel 

 and his gang were still in the Fort, and that the 

 current rumour was that he intended to fight. He 

 had distributed additional ammunition amongst his 

 men, and the gates were closed and the guns 

 loaded. 



The men were quickly ashore, and advanced to- 

 wards the Fort under cover of a line of skirmishers. 

 It was heavy work marching through the deep mud 

 with a driving rain beating in our faces, making it 

 very difficult to see more than a few hundred yards 

 before us. Notwithstanding all these drawbacks, the 

 men's pace was most elastic, and they were in the 

 highest spirits at the prospect of a fight, which all 

 the inhabitants we encountered now assured us we 

 were certain of having. The village of Winnipeg is 

 a small collection of houses, chiefly of wood, situated 

 about 800 yards north of the Fort, with which a 

 straight road connects it. The Fort is in the right 

 angle formed by the junction of the Assinaboine with 

 the Eed River, being north of the former and west 

 of the latter stream. It was known that there was 

 a boat -bridge over the Assinaboine, immediately 

 opposite the southern gate of the Fort. It was 

 therefore desirable to draw our line of attack round 

 it, so as to command the two rivers, and so getting 

 the enemy into the corner formed by them, prevent 

 his escape. 



