The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-04-10


building of the stone church so many years
ago and so far up the Ottawa river on the
then wilderness, shows the zeal and persever-
ance of the Jesuits Of past times. For near
Iy two centuries religious services have been
heid In the church, and hundreds and thou
SANDS OF the sons and daughters of the forest
VINO worshipped there have died and their
. ,'a''les aud deeds have lcng since passed from
human memory.
'"ooa'h morning we enoyed the noy-
eity OF attending worship in this ancient
church. The house was well filed for II was
a bright morning in the month of .Juna com.
ten years ago. There were two French nr;es,o
who officiated on the occasion. Thav nra,o,,-
ed both in French and Indian. Sucb ,
congregation we never saw before The au-
dience was chiefly made up of Iudisns. men.
women and children. There were some
Frenchmen present, rough looking fellows
who eyed the Indian girls with much compla-
cency. The priests were very active in the
performance of the ceremonies. The church
was decently well furnished with the appara-
tus usually employed in such meetings.
1t was warm day, yet many of the Indian
women were wrapped in blue broadcloth
blankets. All who had them wore them. No
matter how high the mercury runs, these gar
ments are always in demand. Several of the
elder squaws sat upon the floor, and some
were upon their knees. They, apparently
were quite devotional, while the younger ones
appeared more Indifferent, or cast their dark
eyes towards the Frenchmen who clleerfully
returned their gaze. The priests were bob
bing about and chanting in more lugubrious
tones than we ever heard from a Babbi in a
Jewish synagogue. When singing was called
for the Indian women engaged in that service
with great zeal and enthusiasm. Ssch music
we have never heard in church or out of 1t.
The women screeched and screamed to the
full extent of their vocal powers, and the
men added those gutteral tones which have
their homes in the Indians throats. The har-
mony grated harshly upon the car, but there
was one characteristic in their music worthy
of note, and that is time. The indians are
wonderfully gifted with a perception of time
and measure. During their musical perform
ances they kept most admirable time and
seemed to be moved by a single impulse.
That was the only redeeming feature in their
music
Among the singers there were two or three
female voices which with proper training
might have been made rich and musical.
There was one voice especially that found its
way through the screeching jargon and fell
on tbe ear in sweetest cadences. That voice
came from a young mother in whose veins
flowed good share of French blood. She
was called a half breed, but we think there
was more of French than Indian blood that
made her heart beat and that French blood
once coursed through aristocratic veins. As
it is with many negroes of the South, so it Is
with some of the Indians of the North, the
blood Of the noble and aristocratic gives them
beauty and animation. We have never seen
more beautiful woman than this young
mother. Her form was iaultless and her
counte nance all that an artist could wish for
a amodel of facial beauty. Her features were
finely chiseled, her eyes were dark and full of
heavens own light, her forehead was Grecian,
and just high and broad enough to be beauti-
full, her teeth perfect and white as pearl, her
lips expressive of much good humor, her
face oval and her complexion a brunette of
the softest hue. The reader must not consid-
er us too extravagant and enthusiastic in
praise of this young mothers personal beau
ty; for it was all and more than Our words
can paint 1t must be so, for the lapse of ten
years has not driven her image from our men,
ory.
BY her side was a papoose, fastened to a
highly ornamented cradle-board, wrought in
curious figures with beads and the quilts of
the "frettul porcupine." From its head stream
ed many ribbons Of various brilliant colors.-
The little brunette babe was stretched at full
length on this beautiful board, covered with a
flannel whittier than the Canadian SHOWS, and
ornamented with beads all round the border
The infants arms were Lot confined, but the
rest of the body was bound fast to the cradle
board SO that 1t could scarcely move, yet it
was quiet as a lamb, and occasionally gazed
upon its handsome mother and smiled. Such
sight was interesting, and we had some Gu
nosity to know who was the fortunate man to
have such wife.
When the meeting was over she passed out
with her babe ard walked on the sandy shore
OF the lake in front of the church, where
gentle breeze from the water played with the
long, dark hair that fell over her neck
and shoulders in shining masses. The
bright ribbons that omamented her babes
cradle-board streamed out and floated in the
wind. She wore fine blue blanket over her
shoulders, but her head was uncovered Her
small feet were eneased in moccasins of most
beautiful workmanship. Softly she trod on
the beach, and locked away across the lakeas
il she expected some one to come. But who
could she be? That question was answer
ed. Soon light canoe, padded by stalwart
arms, was seen skimming across the lake,
gracefully rounded up to the shore, aud the
beautiful young mother and her babe were ia
ken on board and away they passed up the
lake to their lodge. She was the wife of
young chief. The mystery was solved and
the spell was brokenl .i ...
The word Ottawa is pronounced by the In
dians as IL written Ot-taw-waw, the accent
being on the second syllable, with the broad
sound of A. This word is soft and musical as
spoken by the Indians. The meaning of 1t Is
the ear; so French priest informed us. But
he confessed he could give no satisfactory rea-
son for such an Interpretation and yet such it
is in the Indian language. 1t is very long
ear, for the Ottawa river courses from the
source to the st. Lawrence abont eight hun
dred miles. The stream divides about thirty
miles from the city of Montreal, one branch
running into the St. Lawrence twenty miles
above that city and the other branch mingles
with it fifteen miles below, thus forming the
island of Montreal which is one Of the most
valuable tracts of land in the Canadas. Per-
haps it is destined to be to the British North
American possessions what Manhattan Island
is to the United States, b.
The Public Debt.
The public debt as shown by the books and
returns in the Treasury Department on the LIST
of the current month, stood as follows:
DEBT BEARING COIN INTEREST.
. II. ann. h,pds $198, ,09l 1850
2 y cent bonds OF 1861 q 1868, 154s2,6 ,642
v X "A. 2S3. 745 600