204 RED RIVER EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 



were ducks, fowls, turkeys, pigs, sheep, with some excel- 

 lent milking cows, and, through the politeness of Mrs. 

 Cowley, I was enabled to form a very favourable opinion 

 of several varieties of preserve from the wild strawberry, 

 cranberries and plums, which grew in profusion not far 

 from the village. Among many kinds of wild fruits 

 common here and much sought after by the Indians, are 

 red and black currants, high and low bush cranberries, . 

 two kinds of raspberries, two kinds of gooseberries, moss- 

 berries, blueberries, summer berry, choke cherry, stone 

 cherry, &c. ; these are the common names by which they 

 are known in the settlements. 



In the garden around the house some flowering shrubs 

 and annuals were still in bloom on the 3rd October. The 

 air was fragrant with the perfume of mignonette, and the 

 bright orange-yellow eschscholtzia shone pre-eminent 

 among asters and sweet peas, which had escaped the 

 autumn frosts. 



I was introduced to Peguis, the great Ojibway chief, 

 who at one time commanded three hundred warriors, and 

 about whom so much has been written by the missionaries. 

 He is now a quiet old man, a good Christian, and happy, 

 as he states, in his belief. 



Up to the day of my visit, October 4th, there had been 

 fifty-one baptisms, exclusively Indian, in Mr. Cowley's 

 mission, during 1857 ; and in the same period, twenty-six 

 deaths, six of the number being adults. The population 

 of the mission in 1855 was 473 baptized Indians, and 203 

 heathens ; only four adult baptisms were celebrated in 

 1855. 



Next to the Indian settlement, Prairie Portage is the 

 most interesting illustration of a Christian settlement, in 

 a wilderness still inhabited by roving bands of Indians, 

 who, as of old, occupy themselves in barbarous warfare, 



