190 RED RIVER EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 



3rd. Obedience to all laws of the Company. 4th. Contri- 

 butions to expenses of public establishments in due pro- 

 portion. 5 th. All trade or traffic in any kind of skins, 

 furs, peltry, or dressed leather, except under licence of the 

 Company, forbidden. 6th. Land not to be disposed of, or 

 let, or assigned, without the consent of the Company. 

 These are the main features of the lease ; the document is 

 long, otherwise it would have been inserted in full; it is 

 contained in the minutes of evidence taken before the 

 Select Committee on the Hudson's Bay Company. 



It is necessary here to remark, that I did not see this 

 lease in the hands of any one of the settlers of whom I 

 made inquiries respecting their tenure. I heard of its 

 existence, and saw a copy, through one of the resident 

 clergy, but in no single instance could I find any half- 

 breed, in possession of a farm, acquainted with its exist- 

 ence. In very many instances the settlers did not know 

 the number of their lots, and had no paper or document 

 of any kind to show that they held possession of their 

 land from the Company, or any other authority. These 

 inquiries were necessary for the purpose of ascertaining 

 the exact position of a line of section across the valley 

 of Eed Eiver, which I caused to be made for the purpose 

 of ascertaining the level of the swamps, &c. The re- 

 quired information was obtained through Mr. Smith, 

 the Clerk of the Council, but from the people themselves 

 no information of the kind could be obtained. They 

 knew that they had paid a certain sum for their land, 

 or it had been given them in return for services, or 

 that they had squatted upon it, and that they were now 

 in possession, but of title-deeds or receipts they knew 

 nothing. These remarks refer only to those from whom 

 the information was sought for the purposes mentioned 

 above. 



