13 



to England. He was an author of some note, an officer of exper- 

 ience, and moreover a man of amiable and generous disposi- 

 tion. Too good a man he was for the lawless region to which 

 he was sent. He was appointed by the Hudson's Bay Com- 

 pany as their governor, and with all the powers conferred by 

 their charter. 



"As soon as spring was open the movement was begun. 

 Governor Semple had dismantled the Nor'-Wester Fort, on 

 account of the alarming rumours heard by him, but more 

 especially because of definite information obtained from the 

 letters intercepted by Colin Robertson during the winter. 

 We shall allow an eye-witness of the event to tell his own 

 tale as given on oath in Montreal, in 1818. 



"It is the account of a gentleman in the Canadian Voye- 

 geurs — the corps that had so distinguished itself in the war 

 against the United States in 1812-15. At the close of the 

 war he entered the service of the Hudson's Bay Company as 

 a trader. He gives a very clear account of the expedition 

 from Fort Qu'Appelle against the colony. 



Stot^y of Piet'Pe Chpysologue Pambfun. 



" I had been for some time under the orders of Mr. 

 Semple, and on the V2t\i of April, 1816, I left Fort Douglas 

 under his directions, to go to the Hudson's Bay Company's 

 house on River Qu'Appelle. I set out with as much provis- 

 ions as would last us six days, when we would get to Bran- 

 don House, about 120 miles west of Red River. To this place, 

 according to my instructions, I was to go first, and from 

 thence, if prudent, to the Hudson's Bay foit at Qu'Appelle. 

 On the 1st of May I left Qu'Appelle with five boat-loads of 

 pemican and furs. As we were going down the river on the 

 5th of May, near the Grand Rapids, I made the shore in a 

 boat, and a party of armed Bois-Brules immediately came and 

 surrounded me, and forced me to give up the boats and furs, 

 and the pemican. The pemican was landed and the boats 



