The new era., 1860-05-17

for seasoning. The corn was hulled
[by boiling in a weak lye, and then dried
1t was cooked by boiling in water ill il
became soft. They seldom saw any
-four, or bread, or meat, except occa-
sionaliys piece Of wild meat, after they
had been1a week from Mackinaw till
their return there the next season.
Their living, in the interior, was primer
lpally corn, wild rice, and fish without
salt. At some the stations they got
a few potatoes. a uo
I The men employed by the traders as
royageurs were Canadian Frenchm en-
or half-breeds descended from them
No other class of peop,e in the world,
Eprobably, would be so well adapted to
this business. They could endure an
incredible amount ofhardship and pri-
walton, and would submit to it without
murmuring. They were strong for
packing, and could travel long dis
tance in day, carrying a heavy load
They were generally faithful to their
employer, and obeyed his orders with
alacrity. With perfect ease they as
simulated them selves to the habits Of the
Indians, soon acquired their langua =, e..
and not mnfrequently formed matrimo-
nial alliances with them. They were
ignorant on almost all subjects, hardly
one being able to read, and never hav-
ing seen much of the world or of civili-
zation. They were Roman Catholics
in religion, some Of them very bigotted
and always ready to fight for the Virgin,
when any one presumed to speak dis
paragingly of their religion.
The principal traders were educated
in the Protestant filth. They all re-
spected evangelical religion outwardly,
and one of them was a member of
church. They all heartily seconded
our mission, and afforded us in various
ways mnch valuable aid They were
men Of intelligence and enterprise. -
Some Of their. clerks were Catholics,
but none of them openly opposed US
All treated us with much respect.
When we reached the place where
our boat was to leave us and return TO
Mackinaw, the traders seemed disposed
to relieve US of the unpleasantness of re-
naming encamped for two or three
weeks on the lake shore till a boat could
return for us, and proposed to distribute
Us and our baggage among their sever
al boats, and take all along with them
We most gratefully accepted the offer
glad to avoid so tedious delay as we
had anticipated.
We had determined before we left
This was understood between Mr. War
ren and u.s. We made known our pur-
pose to one of the other divisions which
was with us on the first Sabbath on the
lake, and they also remained with US.
The other boats were then behind US.
The day vas bright and beautiful We
gave notice that there would be relig-
ious worship at our tent at certain
hour, and invited all who felt disposed
to attend We had a considerable
number in attendance, who were seated
on the ground under the tent and the
shade Of the trees which hung over u.s.
The day was spent quietly by the whole
company as day of religious rest, and
it was probably the first time the stiffness
of that solitude had ever been broken on
the Christian Sabbath by the voice of
prayer and praise from an assembly of
Christian worshipers Two other Sab
baths were spent on the shore before we
reached Lapointe, when all the boats
were together. On each we had pub
ic worship with those who were dispos-
ID to attend.
We were several times wind bound
IN our passage, and were compelled to
ie by for day or two at a. time. But
We always found safe harbor for our
boats, and never were put in jeopardy
BY being overtaken by storm. At
ength on the 3oth of August we came
N sight of Magdalen Island, some fifteen
niles distant. At the same time a fair
Wind sprang up; we spread our sails
md in few hours it brought us toi La
,ointe at its southern extremity. which
vas to be our home for the next twenty
me years. We felt that we had album
liant cause of gratitude to kind Prov
dence that had protected and prospered I
is on our jourhey;pand brought Us toll
bur future field Of labors. e g sa sa "A