210 



RED RIVER EXPLORING EXPEDITION. 



neat little carriages, or on horseback from comfortable 

 well-furnished homes, enforces the expectation that in 

 proportion to their means, they would at least endeavour 

 to prepare the way for the spread of Christianity among 

 the thousands of heathens who frequent the settlement ; 

 that such is not the case there is too strong ground for 

 belief. 



In the present condition of the country, with the 

 interests of the fur trade to be upheld, the whole sub- 

 ject of missionary enterprise in Eupert's Land is full of 

 difficulty. This much appears certain : the Indians must 

 be induced to settle in one place for a few months of the 

 year at least ; schools must be founded, and their children 

 taught the truths of Christianity ; missionaries must learn 

 the Indian language ; and then the spread of Christianity 

 among the heathens may be in some degree commensurate 

 with the charity which animates the different supporting 

 societies in Great Britain and Ireland. In the settlements 

 at Eed Eiver, and on the Assinniboine, all the services are 

 conducted in the English tongue ; and among the clergy 

 of the Church of England at Eed Eiver, but one only 

 speaks one Indian language with the fluency and ease ne- 

 cessary to make himself understood by the natives. Of 

 course the Indian Mission below the settlements is not in- 

 cluded in this enumeration. 



The Hudson's Bay Company continue to be very liberal 

 in their support of missionaries, as far as money is con- 

 cerned; their contributions will be seen in the foregoing 

 table ; but the impression was irresistibly forced upon me, 

 and I found it strongly felt by some residents in Eed Ei- 

 ver, that the progress of Christianity among Indians would 

 be rather aided than otherwise, if missionaries were not 

 to receive any assistance in the form of an annual stipend 



