14 THE HAMILTON ASSOCIATION. 
tertainingly sketched the history of the early struggle of the Iro- 
quois against the Algonquins, Hurons and the French. 
She also entered extensively into the struggle of the Iroquois 
with the Eries, which culminated in the complete absorption of the 
latter tribe. The tribes of the neutral confederacy, of which the 
Eries were the chief and most numerous, were settled in this part of 
Ontario, and in 1616 number€d 39 villages, 4,000 warriors, and 
about 12,000 souls in all, and had 12 strongly fortified places, the 
most important being Buffalo. 
The Eries were the custodians of the national pipe of peace, 
which was lighted by their Queen, the great Mother of the Nations. 
They were the only Indian Confederacy ever governed by a woman. 
The paper concluded by tracing the origin and course of the war of 
the Iroquois against the neutral confederacy, which ultimately re- 
sulted in the annihilation of the tribe of the Eries. ; 
The next paper was read by Mr. C. R. McCulloch and was 
written by Mr. Arthur Heming. It was entitled “The Last Fur 
Brigade.” In a vivid descriptive manner, the writer sketched the 
picturesque trip of the only remaining voyaguers of the Hudson Bay 
Company, of the Abitibi in the Ottawa river district. 
Another of Mr. Heming’s interesting papers was read by Mr. 
McCulloch, entitled ‘‘The Riders of the Plains,” It was a well 
written article on Canada’s famous body of Northwest mounted po- 
lice, a body of men who owing to their valor and impartiality and 
by their hardihood and discretion have won the reputation of being 
the finest organization of the kind inthe world. ‘They are called 
upon to patrol an area covering 1,000 miles from east to west, 
and 2,000 from north to south. The spirit of cordiality existing be- 
tween the police and the settlers enables this handful of men to en- 
force order over a tract of country three quarters the area of Russia. 
Mr. Heming enumerated many stirring experiences in the his- 
tory of the force, and concluded by paying a glowing tribute to the 
value of the corps, and commented on the fact that the country over 
which they exercise jurisdiction has never, since the organization of 
the corps, had a lynching or a train robbery. 
The last paper was read by the recording secretary and gave a 
