RED RIVER SETTLEMENT. 



2] 



services to the settlers in their distress, de- 

 serves to be treated with favour and distinction 

 by the officers of the Hudson's Bay Company, 

 and by all the friends of peace and good order." 



(Signed.) SELKIRK. 



Fort Douglas, July 17, 1820. 



As we proceeded, the banks were covered 

 with oak, elm, ash, poplar, and maple, and rose 

 gradually higher as we approached the Colony, 

 when the praries, or open grassy plains, pre- 

 sented to the eye an agreeable contrast with 

 the almost continued forest of pine we were 

 accustomed to in the route from York Factory. 

 On the 14th of October we reached the settle- 

 ment, consisting of a number of huts widely 

 scattered along the margin of the river; in 

 vain did I look for a cluster of cottages, 

 where the hum of a small population at least 

 might be heard as in a village. I saw but few 

 marks of human industry in the cultivation of 

 the soil. Almost every inhabitant we passed 

 bore a gun upon his shoulder and all appeared 

 in a wild and hunter-like state. The colonists 

 were a compound of individuals of various 

 countries. They were principally Canadians, 

 and Germans of the Meuron regiment; who 



