24 



suit and if possible cut off their passage and oblige them to 

 turn back. When the Metis saw the Governor and his men 

 approaching they sent an envoy to ask what was required and 

 why they were being followed. As the deputation came up, 

 either through malice or imprudence a gun went off and one 

 of the half breeds who was with them was killed. This was 

 the signal for battle. The mounted Metis accustomed to shoot 

 from horseback while hunting the buffalo charged the enemy 

 and in a very few moments twenty of them lay dead, Gover- 

 nor Semple being among the first who fell. The Hudson's 

 Bay Company's employees upon hearing of this disaster, the 

 news of which was almost immediately brought to the Fort, 

 believed that the Metis would attack the post and that they 

 would all be massacred. 



A friendly Indian named Peguis came to Madame La- 

 jimoniere in the evening and said, " Listen Frenchwoman ! 

 Not later than to-morrow the Metis will take the Fort, but I 

 will save you and your children, leave this place to-night and 

 come to my tent on the other side of the river where you can 

 live in safety." Trembling with fear Madame Lajimoniere 

 hastened with her children and what clothing she could carry 

 to the bank of the river where the Indian and his squaw wait- 

 ed for her with the canoe. She was so unnerved by the fright 

 that just as she was stepping into the frail little craft she 

 fainted and upset the canoe, tipping herself and the children 

 into the water. Happily three or four Indians who were help- 

 ing in the escape rescued them and once more safely in the 

 canoe they crossed the river and took up their abode in the 

 camp with Peguis' family. 



The day following the North-West Company people took 

 the fort without further loss of life. The prisoners and a 

 certain number of colonists were embarked in canoes and sent 

 to York* in Upper Canada. 



Madame Lajimoniere passed the summer in the lodge of 

 the Indians, sharing their food which consisted chiefly of what 

 fish they could catch. As long as the warm weather lasted 

 she did not suffer as she was accustomed to a camp life, but 

 when the first frost came she had to think of leaving Peguis' 

 tent for some warmer abode. 



On the east side of the river opposite Fort Gibraltar an 

 old Canadian named Bellehumeur had built a wooden hut. 

 This was not a castle by any means, but it would be warmer 



* Jack Fish River.— Ed. 



