stations had been built, lent a great charm to it, which all have 

 felt who have in summer traversed this route. At Georgetown, 

 so named after Sir George Simpson, I inspected the craft 

 which was to take us by the river about 500 miles to Fort 

 Garry. It was a miniature edition of the Mississippi steamer, 

 but there was an ominous look about the wheel-house, how- 

 ever, which was on all sides heavily protected by four inch 

 oak planks, which the captain did not allay by saying " Of 

 course you have your gun along with you." Further investi- 

 gation shewed an arrangement by which cord wood for fuel 

 could be so piled while the vessel was steaming on her course 

 as to protect the lower deck from bullets. The good-natured 

 engineer also shewed me a contrivance by which, at a mo- 

 njent's notice, he could turn a stream of hot water and scald- 

 ing steam upon any body of Indians who might strive to take 

 possession of the boat in case it should accidentally strike the 

 bank, or land for additional fuel. All this was very new, very 

 strange and very attractive to a young fellow who had only 

 heard of such matters from incidental reading of Indian wars 

 and forays, and when iui'ther explained, it appeared that the 

 Red Lake Indians, after further thought, had become dissatis- 

 fied with the conditions of the treaty made with them by 

 Governor Ramsay, of the then Territory of Minnesota, and 

 proposed to prevent whites passing through or occupying their 

 country till a new arrangement had been made. 



Near Abercrombie I met the noted frontiersman George 

 North rup, in whose log cabin were a few books which siiow- 

 ed superior culture. He had made himself familiar with the 

 Ojibway tongue, and his home was secured by the presence of 

 the forces at Fort Abercrombie ; he had run the gauntlet of 

 the forays between the Sioux and the Ojibwa3's and yet re- 

 tained the scalp which, poor fellow, he was afterwards to lose 

 when acting as a scout for the General commanding the 

 column, which, after the Sioux massacre of 1862, followed the 

 Sioux to the crossing of the Missouri. He was to be one of 

 the defenders of the boat; and his knowledge of their lang- 



