HALF-CASTE CHILDREN. 107 



accommodation the building affords, and I 

 hope to complete it in the ensuing spring. 

 We have a considerable number of half-caste 

 children, and some adult Indian women, mar- 

 ried to Europeans, who attend a Sunday- 

 school, for gratuitous instruction ; and I have 

 no doubt that their numbers will increase 

 considerably in the spring. These children 

 have capacity, and would rival Europeans, 

 with the like instruction, in the developement 

 of their mental faculties. Extensive plans 

 might be devised, and carried into effect, if 

 patronized by an active co-operation, which 

 would ultimately result in producing great 

 benefits to the half-caste population, and 

 the Indians in general. There is an open- 

 ing for schools on the banks of the Saskas- 

 hawan, where the soil is good for cultivation, 

 as well as on the banks of the Athabasca river ; 

 and frequent applications reached me to for- 

 ward their establishment in those quarters, 

 under the prospect of their being supported 

 through the produce that might be raised from 

 the soil, and the supplies to be obtained from 

 the waters and the chase. 



The winter has again set in, and many of 

 the settlers are threshing out their crops ; and 

 from the best information I can obtain, the 



