1906-7. TRANSACTIONS. 103 



deliver an impromptu address which in its way was a masterpiece. 

 He told them that he and his young men had long been in want 

 of many things which he saw the traders possessed in abundance ; 

 he reminded them that he had them in his power, and that even 

 if they escaped now he would catch them on their way down; 

 and that, under all the circumstances, generosity would be their 

 best policy. To avoid any misunderstanding he mentioned 

 what the presents should consist of: three casks of gunpowder; 

 four bags of shot and ball; two bales of tobacco; three kegs of 

 rum; three guns; together with knives, flints and other trifles. He 

 was, he said, a peaceable man, and one that contented himself 

 with moderate views — in order to avoid quarrels; but they must 

 agree to his suggestion before they left their seats. After a 

 hasty consultation the traders promised to comply. There was 

 really nothing else to be done, for the worthy Chatique had them 

 absolutely cornered. Having gracefully accepted their "pre- 

 sents," this gentlemanly river baron conducted them to their 

 canoes, and wished them a pleasant voyage. Of Henry's sub- 

 sequent adventures in the west nothing need be said here. 



Alexander Henry's nephew and namesake entered the 

 west some time before the year 1799, following the usual route 

 from Montreal to Grand Portage and Lake Winnipeg. His 

 journals open in that year, at Riviere Terre Blanche, about 

 forty miles west-north-west of Portage la Prairie. The following 

 year he ascended Red River with the intention of building a 

 trading post in the Sioux country — a very dangerous under- 

 taking. One gathers from the narrative the wholesome dread 

 in which this fierce and implacable tribe of the plains was held 

 by both whites and Indians. As they ascend the river, Henry's 

 men, anything but cowards in most things, become nervous and 

 almost unmanageable. He has the utmost difficulty in prevent- 

 ing them from turning back. Scarcely a day passes but false 

 alarms are raised; horsemen are seen far out on the plains, who 

 resolve themselves into a herd of buffalo; foot-prints are dis- 

 covered on the river's bank, which prove to be those of their 

 own party; and so the story goes from day to day. Even when 

 they have reached their destination, and are jengaged in building 

 their fort, the same deadly fear haunts the men — not an unmixed 

 evil, as Henry viewed it. "Fear," he remarks, "is an excellent 

 overseer, and the work went on with expedition." The men 

 cared not how hard they worked, if they could only manage to 

 get a stout wall between them and the devils of the plains. 



