At the time of which we are about to treat, that
is, between the years eighteen hundred and fourteen
and eighteen hundred and twenty, the country
west of the Mississippi, from the fortyninth degree
of latitude to the Frozen Ocean, was the scene of
bitter contention and fierce strife, between two rival
trading companies; the Hudson's Bay, and the
North-west. The former, existing as a body corporate
under a charter granted by the second
Charles to Prince Rupert and others, found its
ancient privileges and possessions invaded by a new
association, which at first supplied the want of experience
by superior energy, and a double share
of activity. It soon acquired an influence over the
Indians, that gave it a considerable advantage in

[figure description] Page 085.[end figure description]

the trade. Fraud and deception became matters
of boast on both sides, and fortunate would it have
been, had the opposition extended to no greater
excess. But being beyond the reach of law, the
traders came ere long to open hostility, and bloodshed
was the order of the day. The Earl of Selkirk
was at the head of the Hudson's Bay Company,
and whoever is desirous to learn the history of
these dissensions, may read it in a book which that
nobleman gave to the world; though it must be allowed
that the work is partial.

The half breeds of the North-west are physically
a fine race of men. The mixture of blood seems
an improvement on the Indian and the white. By
it, the muscular strength of the one, and the easy
grace, and power of endurance of the other, are
blended. They are the offspring of intermarriages
of the white traders, and their subordinates, with
Indian women. Good boatmen, expert hunters,
and inimitable horsemen, as they all are, they are
sometimes engaged in the service of the actual Indian
traders; but more frequently subsist by fishing,
trapping, and hunting the buffalo. It is impossible
to ascertain their number, so widely are
they scattered; but probably it amounts to four or
five thousands. Each speaks French, and the language
of his mother; or to define more accurately,
of his mother's tribe. They receive just enough
religious instruction from their fathers, to despise
the belief and superstitions of their savage kindred,
but are as ignorant of Christianity as Hottentots.
In manners and morals, they are on a par with the
Indians.

[figure description] Page 086.[end figure description]

The contending parties found in these people
apt instruments of evil. For small pay they were
ready to act as spies, boatmen, hunters, or banditti;
as they were ordered. If a trader was to
be killed or plundered, or a trading fort attacked,
they were willing and unscrupulous. If a courier
was to be intercepted, they would ease him of his
despatches, and even of his life, when commanded.
If a post was to be established, they could build
log houses, and feed the inmates with buffalo
meat, from one end of the year to the other. The
Scotsmen and Canadians who controlled the trade,
could not have found fitter tools wherewith to
make mischief.

Besides the Indians and half breeds, there are
other inhabitants of the prairies. Canadians, reluctant
to labor, and unwilling to return to places
where the restraints of law and religion are in
force; or perhaps retained in the country by Indian
connexions, mix with the half breeds, and
live the same life. When hired by the traders,
they are termed engagés: when out of employment,
they call themselves `les gens libres,' or free
men. It would seem, from the number of these
last, that ten civilized men degenerate into barbarism,
where one savage is reclaimed from it. Metaphysicians
may speculate upon such a propensity
as much and as long as they please, and devise
means to counteract it; but the fact is thus, and it
is believed, always will be.

This is a long preamble, but in order to a right
understanding of the following story, it will be necessary
to extend it still farther. By some strange

[figure description] Page 087.[end figure description]

infatuation, the Earl of Selkirk conceived the plan
of establishing a colony at the junction of the Pembinaw
and Red Rivers, at the fortyninth degree of
latitude. For this purpose he sent an agent to
Scotland, and another to Neufchatel in Switzerland,
to procure colonists. A prospectus was
printed, and circulated among the mountaineers of
either country; describing the promised land in
terms that might with more propriety have been
applied to the garden of Eden. The trees, it said,
broke down under the weight of their fruit. The
buffaloes presented themselves at the doors, every
morning, to be killed; and the climate was like
that of the north of Spain, or of the Langue d'Oc.
Not a word of this statement is true. There are
trees on the water courses, indeed; but they are
elms, or such other products of the soil as have
never borne fruit since the days of Adam. There
are buffaloes; but to be eaten, they must be hunted
and killed. The climate is hot enough in summer;
but the summer is brief, and in winter, Siberia
is not colder. That the Scotch and Swiss
ladies might not want an inducement to emigrate,
the prospectus furthermore held forth that `l'on
avoit besoin de cinquante ou cent jeunes femmes,
saines et robustes; pour unir en mariage avec
autant de colons déja etablis.' Deceived by the
missionaries of colonization, and their promises of
assistance, some hundreds came to Hudson's Bay,
and thence to Ossinneboia, as the settlement was
called. There they found their error. The river
rose every spring, and destroyed their plantations;
and such as had ploughed above high water mark,

[figure description] Page 088.[end figure description]

saw their corn devoured in the milk before their
eyes, by swarms of grasshoppers, more voracious
than the locusts of Egypt. To cap the climax of
their distress, the North-west Company began to
look upon the colony as a part of a deep laid
scheme of Lord Selkirk to ruin their trade, and
threatened the harmless emigrants with fire and
sword.

At this period our story commences. One clear
afternoon in October, a boat might be seen making
its way up the Red River, propelled by six oars,
lustily plied by as many stout Canadians. It was
laden with settlers for Pembinaw. There were a
few men, and about twenty women and children.
Their speech was truly a confusion of tongues:
no two of the families spoke the same language:
one addressed his neighbor in French, and was
answered in German; and a third supported his
share of the conversation in one of the patois dialects
of the Canton of Berne. Add to this, the
voices of some half dozen infants, crying with cold
and hunger, (for the Swiss were beginning to discover
the futility of the promises of his lordship's
agent,) and the description is complete.

Two men stood on the bow of the boat. One
of them, who was clad in a blanket coat, and wore
an otter skin cap, was Governor Semple; on his
way to assume the reins of government over a population
of five hundred souls, the inhabitants of
the flourishing colony of Ossinneboia; in virtue of
powers vested in him by the Earl of Selkirk. His
age might be forty, or upwards, and his features
were indicative of his character; too gentle and

[figure description] Page 089.[end figure description]

humane to live in such a country, at such a time.
The other was a tall, good looking youth, with
sparkling dark eyes, and coarse, straight hair, as black
as the raven's wing. His somewhat high cheek
bones, and olive complexion, bespoke him of aboriginal
descent, yet he would have been thought
eminently handsome in any part of the civilized
world. He was dressed in the costume of the
bois brulés. (1) His nether man was invested with
a pair of elk skin trowsers, the seams of which
were ornamented with fringes. Over these he
wore a capot, or surtout, of coarse blue cloth,
reaching to the mid leg, and bound round the waist
with a scarlet woollen sash, in which was stuck a
dague, or broad two edged knife, used in that
country to divide the carcass of the buffalo. Buck
skin moccasins, and a capuchon of one piece with
the surtout, completed his attire. He leaned on a
short gun, such as the Indians in that quarter carry,
and waited for Governor Semple to speak.

Roused from his meditations by a shrill cry from
one of the children, that gentleman broke silence.
`William,' said he to the young man, `I trust these
good folk will find accommodations at Pembinaw,
that will make them forget their present hardships.'

`No, sir;' replied the youth, `unless some of
those who are already housed take them in, they
will not find a roof to shelter them. As to food,
their chance is a poor one. When I was at Pembinaw,
three weeks since, the settlers had nothing
to eat but the fish they caught daily from the river.
The ice will soon make, and then they will be deprived
even of that resource.'

[figure description] Page 090.[end figure description]

`That proves great neglect or mismanagement
in them: there are plenty of cattle in the plains,
and they have had the whole summer to make
pemican (2) and raise corn.'

`With due respect for your better judgment, I
should say it proves no such thing. It proves the
folly, or wickedness of those who have persuaded
them to leave their homes for such a country as
this. They have planted; and the blackbirds (3)
and grasshoppers have reaped the harvest. There
are buffaloes for all the world, but the poor creatures
are not hunters; nor do they know how to
cure the meat when it is killed. If they could all
ride and shoot as well as myself, they have no
horses; and how could they, without the guns and
ammunition that were promised? More than
that, the Indians will not suffer them to hunt: it
is not a month since the Yanktons drove a party
of them in. In these circumstances, I should find
some difficulty to live myself; bois brulé as I am.'

To these reasons, Governor Semple had nothing
to reply. He drew his cap lower over his
brows, and covered his face with his hands. A
moment after, he opened his liquor case, and distributed
brandy to the men, and wine and cordials
to the women.

The young man now left his station in the bow
of the boat, and took his place at the side of a girl
who was busied in tending a sick child. `Flora,'
said he, `for heaven's sake, take more care of
yourself. Give the child to its mother, and let
me throw this cloak over you: it is growing
colder fast.'

[figure description] Page 091.[end figure description]

`No, William,' replied the lady, in a slightly
Scottish accent; `let me take care of the poor
baby: its mother is unwell, and not able to do it
herself. It would do me more harm, believe me,
to hear their complaints, and witness their sufferings,
than any hardship or privation that I am
likely to undergo.'

`This is but the beginning of their misery. I
am afraid all will suffer bitterly when winter
comes. If your father had had but a little common
sense, you would have been exempt from it.'

`Alas! I know his prejudices too well. Though
you are a Gordon by the father's side, he cannot
overcome his dislike to your Indian blood. For
your own sake, then, seek a fairer and richer bride
than poor Flora Cameron.'

She spoke with evident effort, and turned away
her head to conceal her emotion. We are inclined
to believe that she was not very earnest in
her request, nor displeased at the answer that
followed. Gordon replied, in a whisper, `Forsake
you! may God forsake me if I do! Would
you drive me mad, Flora? When you accepted
the offer of my hand, you were ignorant of my
family, but I know that the discovery has not lowered
me in your opinion. I never sought to deceive
you: I thought my descent was as plainly stamped
on my features, as the mark on the brow of
the first homicide. It seems I was mistaken. If
your heart is still unchanged, why should the folly
of an old dotard sunder us? True, he gave you
life; but did I not save it, and his too? I have
therefore as strong a claim on you, as he. My

[figure description] Page 092.[end figure description]

blood is tainted, forsooth! ay, that was the rub
always. At the Catholic College, the boys, who
were glad of my assistance at their tasks, called
me “cursed Indian” when we quarrelled. I could
hardly refrain from proving my right to the appellation
with my dirk. And when I became a
man, those who extended their courtesies to
me, did it as though they thought it condescension.
I had even thought to abjure the society
of civilized man, and seek a refuge from his
scorn in the tents of my Assinneboin kindred.
But I saw Flora Cameron, and my purpose was
changed. And having your plighted faith, do you
think I will relinquish it? No, never! I will not
give over the hope of obtaining your hand, till I
hear the command so to do from your own lips.
Seek a fairer bride, indeed! And where can such
be found?'

`Do you think I believe such gross flattery?
Beauty and I are strangers. You must either be
mad, or exercising your wit at my expense. But
why, if you apprehend so much hardship at Pembinaw,
do you make it your place of residence?
You have yet time to return to Montreal before
the cold weather sets in, and I assure you it will
be a consolation to me to know that you are well.
Do not fear for me: if you wish it, I will again
swear to you, never to marry another. Let that
content you; and if you value my good opinion,
do not again speak of my father as you have done.
He is a good man, and it may be that his family
pride will yield to affection; for what love is like
the love of a parent for an only child? Why have

[figure description] Page 093.[end figure description]

you, contrary to my desire, attached yourself to
my footsteps, to make him doubt me? Why will
you remain in this unhappy land, where cold and
hunger are the least evils? Return to Montreal,
I entreat you.'

`If I have acted contrary to your desire, it was
for your own sake. You are not safe in any part
of this country. You have heard of the outrages
already committed: more, and worse, are to happen.
This winter, some will die of starvation, and
some by violence. Your father cannot follow the
elk and buffalo; but I need not tell you that I am
the best hunter here; even among the half breeds.
My skill shall be exerted for you and your father,
and he shall be indebted to me for life again,
whether he will or not. Do you think I could
enjoy a moment's rest at Montreal, knowing as I
do, that you need support and protection? Flora,
speak to me no more of leaving you.'

`What you say is but too true. We have good
reason to tremble. I have not eaten a morsel today,
and there are women in the boat who need
food more than I.'

`What then have you done with your portion
of the provisions, and with what I added to it?'

`I have given it to these poor famishing women;
but if I had known that what I gave was yours, I
would not have taken it.'

`And have you indeed acted thus? Thank
heaven; there is the track of a buffalo that has
been to the river to drink within the hour! I will
go ashore and try to bring a load of his flesh to
the boat.'

[figure description] Page 094.[end figure description]

`But William, dear William; do not go far.
Those cruel People of the Pole are abroad; and
if you meet them you will never return. Stay,
stay, I beseech you: I am not at all hungry: I
can fast very well till the next allowance is distributed.
'

He did not hear her. He had already commanded
the steersman to set him on shore, and
the latter had cried allume! (4) The half breed
mounted the bank, waved his hand to Flora, and
disappeared.

When the boat had again put off, Mr Semple
called to Flora to take her seat beside him. He
was informed of the attachment between her and
Gordon, and had endeavored to persuade old
Duncan Cameron to consent to their union. The
clansman was deaf to all reasoning on the subject.
`I am a gentleman born,' he said. `The blood
of Lochiel and Sir Evan Dhu runs in my veins,
and it shall not be contaminated with my consent.
The boy is a good boy, and the Gordons are an
ancient and a noble race, but his mother is an insuperable
objection. So, sir, it is of no use to
argue. I cannot consent to it.'

Flora, notwithstanding her disavowal of all pretensions
to beauty, was an uncommonly beautiful
girl, and was as well aware of it as her lover. At
the time when our tale begins, she had seen seventeen
summers. She was such a maiden, in appearance
at least, as the novelists of the last century
usually took for a heroine. Her figure,
though slight, was active, and perfectly symmetrical.
Imagine a neck like a swan's, down which

[figure description] Page 095.[end figure description]

light hair fell in natural ringlets; a brilliant complexion;
a forehead like Juno's; eyes rather mild
than piercing; a straight and well formed nose;
such a mouth as limners delight to delineate; and
a faultless chin. Then add cheeks indented with
such dimples as Love loves to lurk in: form a
combination of these particulars, and you have a
good picture of Flora Cameron.

Before we proceed farther in this history, we
will give some account of its principal characters.
Duncan Cameron was one of that class denominated
originals. His father, who according to
Highland ideas, was a gentleman, because collaterally
descended from Sir Evan Dhu, had amassed
money enough in his vocation of travelling
packman, or pedlar, to enable him to send young
Duncan to school, and afterwards to the University
of Aberdeen. There the youthful Cameron
made a reasonable progress in the humanities.
But he most delighted to listen to Highland genealogies
and traditions, and the tales of seneachies.
He would go to Luckie M'Laughlin's change
house, in the North Wynd, and having ensconced
himself beyond the reach of interruption, in her
cosey back parlor, he would call for a Scots pint
of Glenlivat, and send for Donald Ben Lean Cameron.
Inspired by the beverage, the piper would
relate to him the traditional glories of the Camerons.
The pedlar's son was by nature enthusiastic,
and his early recollections co-operated with
this intellectual study, to convince him that Scotland
was the first and greatest nation in the world;
the clan Cameron the noblest clan in Scotland;

[figure description] Page 096.[end figure description]

and himself intimately connected with the honor
of the clan Cameron. His father dying shortly
after he graduated, he found himself in possession
of a thousand pounds sterling. Much and long
did he deliberate how to sustain the dignity of his
name. While he hesitated between physic and
divinity, the blind god stept in and counselled him
to espouse the daughter of a farmer, a tenant of
the Duke of Buccleugh. His father in law was
embarrassed, and Duncan's thousand pounds were
very useful. They managed the farm in tacit
partnership, and the Cameron soon imagined himself
the first agriculturalist in the three kingdoms;
but notwithstanding, nothing that he undertook
succeeded. He would sow wheat on the wettest
soil on the farm, justifying his doings with a quotation
from the Bucolics.

Twentyfive years after, his father in law died.
His wife followed, leaving him a daughter, the sole
fruit of their wedlock. Five years from this event,
poor Duncan was obliged to sell his stock, and
throw up his lease of the farm, to pay his debts.
He found himself with a beautiful girl of fifteen
hanging upon his arm, forty pounds in his pocket,
and


`The world all before him,
Where to choose.'
His pride had increased with his poverty. Yet
he had considerable powers of conversation, and
still remembered something of his classical education.
When reduced to his last guinea, he had
the good fortune to be introduced to the Earl of

[figure description] Page 097.[end figure description]

Selkirk, who after some confabulation, judged
him to be a very proper person to superintend his
infant colony, and to instruct the new comers in
the mysteries of husbandry. He was much of
the same opinion himself. The terms were agreed
upon, and he embarked at Glasgow for Quebec,
where he arrived in due time, without accident.

At Montreal, his situation as homme d'affaires
to his Lordship, and his daughter's beauty, procured
him many attentions from the M'Gillivrays,
M'Leods, and other worthies concerned in the
Indian trade. Many were the swains who sighed
for Miss Cameron. Among these was William
Gordon, with whom our readers are already a little
acquainted. He was introduced to Cameron
as the only son of a half brother of the Marquis of
Huntly, then disputing the inheritance of a considerable
estate, at law, with another member of
the family in Scotland. The young man had been
educated at the Catholic Seminary in Quebec.
His gentlemanly demeanor, and implicit deference
to the opinions of Duncan Cameron, made him a
favorite with the old man; while his polite address,
elegant person, and constant attention, awakened
a stronger feeling in the bosom of his daughter.
With all his good qualities, Flora remarked that
his temperament was melancholy, and that he was
subject to sudden starts of passion. The least
appearance of neglect appeared to cut him to the
soul. Once, in a large company, an outrage
lately committed by an Indian of the St Regis
tribe, was the subject of conversation. A young
Georgian planter, who had visited Montreal for

[figure description] Page 098.[end figure description]

the benefit of his health, observed, that might he
hazard an opinion, he thought the whole tribe
should be transported to the West Indies as slaves;
and added, that the Aborigines were scarcely entitled
to the rank of human beings, at any rate.

Flora at this moment turned towards William
Gordon, who was standing behind her chair. His
arms were folded across his breast, his teeth
gritted, and he gazed upon the speaker with an
expression of intense ferocity that appalled her
very soul. His eyes gleamed like those of the
rattle-snake, when about to strike. When he saw
that she observed him, his features relaxed, and
he resumed his wonted manner. This did not,
however, prevent her from being as much pleased
as ever with him. Her father remarked their
growing intimacy, and rejoiced. He liked William
Gordon, and judged from the style in which
he lived, that he would be a very suitable partner
for Flora, in a worldly point of view. The youth
had now become a daily visiter at their lodgings.

An occurrence took place, that brought matters
to a crisis. A sleighing party was to go to the
mouth of the Utawas, on the ice, and our friends
were invited to join it. The whole started in high
spirits; Duncan Cameron, with his daughter, taking
the lead, and Gordon following. About two
miles from the city, there was a large open space,
or air hole, in the ice. Cameron was driving his
horse thirty yards above it, at the speed of ten
miles an hour, when suddenly the sleigh and
the persons in it broke through, and were swept
under by the current.

[figure description] Page 099.[end figure description]

The gentlemen of the party stopped their horses,
and the ladies screamed. All stood aghast.
But Gordon pulled off his boots, cast down his
cloak, and plunged into the hole without saying a
word: the whole passed in a moment. The
frolickers now watched the air hole below, in
breathless anxiety. They had begun to think
that all three had perished, when Gordon emerged,
holding Cameron up by the collar with one
hand, and his daughter by the hair with the other;
both too far exhausted to help themselves in the
least.

As he attempted to gain a footing on the edge
of the ice, it broke away under him, and it seemed
that their death was inevitable. None dared
approach. But luckily two Canadian habitants
were crossing with a horse load of planks. They
hastened to his aid. Laying the boards one at
the end of another, the stronger of the two reached
Gordon, now ready to sink: yet he insisted
that Flora should be the first saved. With little
difficulty, the Canadian raised her upon the ice,
and drew her to a safe distance. He then returned,
and extricated the old man in like
manner; and last of all, Gordon was taken from
the water, chilled almost to death, and unable to
walk or stand. The sufferers were immediately
wrapped in buffalo robes, and conveyed with all
the speed the horses could make, to the city,
where medical aid was instantly procured.

Cameron and his daughter had been insensible
while what we have related took place, but tongues
were not wanting to inform them how they had

[figure description] Page 100.[end figure description]

been rescued, and to magnify Gordon's gallantry.
That was needless, for he had indeed ran a fearful
risk. In about a week, all three had recovered
from the effects of their submersion.

In a few days, Gordon made a formal proposal
for the hand of Miss Cameron. Her father made
inquiry of Governor Semple, who was known to
be the young man's guardian, concerning his
character. On this point, the Governor's testimony
was in the highest degree satisfactory, but
the fact which he communicated, that Gordon was
a half breed, roused the family pride of the Cameron,
and determined him at once to reject the
suit. At the interview in which this decision was
communicated to Gordon, his indignation and
disappointment broke all restraint; a quarrel ensued,
and the Scot forbade his daughter to hold
any further intercourse with her lover.

She could not obey. Through the instrumentality
of a friend of Gordon, she had an interview
with him, and plighted her word never to
marry another. With this he was obliged to
satisfy himself, for he could not persuade her to
an elopement.