Minnesota and the far West

Front matter

MINNESOTA

AND

THE FAK WEST

Preface

At a time when the greatest Powers of Europe have combined to resist barbarian aggression, and public interest is concentrated upon the East, the rapid advance of civilisation in the West possesses claims upon our notice which are in danger of being overlooked. I have therefore ventured to direct attention to the revolution which is now being effected in the physical and moral condition of a great country, and which is likely to be attended with results scarcely less important to the interests of humanity, than those that are expected to follow from the war in which we are now engaged — where the ploughshare, and not the sword, is used as the precursor of civilisation.

In the course of the narrative of an expedition

Vlll

PREFACE.

which I made last year through a portion of North America hitherto but little visited by travellers, I have accordingly endeavoured to give some account of the present condition and prospects of the country, and to convey some idea of those resources whose rapid development will before long exercise a material influence upon the wealth and importance of the United States. For the very brief and imperfect manner in which I have done this, I have only to plead the more pressing interests which have since attracted me to another part of the world, and which have so occupied my time as to compel me to bring these observations to a close before I was enabled to devote to the subject that careful consideration which it deserved.

Constantinople, August 1855.

Chapter I. Across The Frontier — Reciprocity

Go-ahead notions — Portland — Trade of Portland: its various attractions — Railway through the White Mountains — Across the border — The Reciprocity Treaty : its benefit to Canada : its general effects — Railway through Lower Canada — Arrive at Quebec, ..... 1-12

Chapter II. Canadian Politics

The Commons of Canada — Political parties — Loyalty of sentiment general —

Lord Elgin’s policy — The two last questions — The ministerial crisis — Constitutional government, ...... 13-20

Chapter III. Canadian Society

The gay season — The attractions of Quebec — The philosophy of pic-nics : the way to go to them — The use of a companion — Sleighing by moonlight— Traboggining — Winter traject of the St Lawrence : its duration, 21-30

Chapter IV. Canadian Statistics

The Grand Trunk Railway — The Victoria Bridge — Belleville : Bay of Quints — The Lake of the Mountain — Belleville : Trenton : Coburg — Growing prosperity of Upper Canada — Great attractions presented by Canada to the emigrant — Upper and Lower Canada contrasted, . 31-40

Chapter V. Canadian Backwoods

Prom Toronto to Lake Simcoe — The Northern Railroad — Grasspoint — Orillia: Polling-day — A Canadian “ Vet.” at the poll — Political apathy of constituents — A vixen of a hostess — Indian village of Rama — Social condition of the Indians, . . . . . .41-49

X

CONTENTS.

Chapter VI. A Bark-canoe Voyage Down The Severn

Scenery about Lake Simcoe — A first experiment at shooting the rapids — Camping for the night — Dressed for dinner — A poetical effusion — Disenchantment : J ohn Storm — An Indian warrior’s story — The Falls of the Severn — A dismal night — Unsuccessful trolling — Sturgeon Bay — Loafers — A difficulty — A well-timed spring — Penetanquishene — Collingwood — Sydenham, ........ 50-67

Chapter VII. A Ride To The Indian Village Oe Saugeen

From Sydenham to Saugeen — A logging “bee” — A brilliant sunset — Scotch entertainers — Saugeen — Rivalry of towns — A grand council of Indians — Indian trail — A short cut — Lost in the wood — Feeling for the “blaze” — Sydenham again — Land-hunters — Inventing names for cities, 68-80

Chapter VIII

THE ANNUAL DISTRIBUTION OE INDIAN PRESENTS AT MANITOULIN — GEORGIAN BAY.

Physical aspect of Indians — A process of civilisation — Petit Courant — Interesting Sabbath service — Chebonaning — La Cloche — The Bruce copper mines — Indian settlement on Garden River — Yankee pre-eminence —

The Chippeway House, ....... 81-90

Chapter IX

THE SAULT STE. MARIE.

A delusion dispelled — A group of Americans — The j>o-litest man at the Soo — A characteristic view — A public dinner — Fort Brady — A family of half-breeds — Shooting the Sault rapids — A valuable life — The Hudson’s Bay Company’s fort — Departure from the Sault — Near “busting up” — The Sault canal: probable traffic along it — The “Sam Ward” — Lake Superior, ........ 91-107

Chapter X. The Pictured Rocks — Father Marquette

The Pictured Rocks — The Chapel — Le Grand Portail — The Grand Sable — Marquette — The iron region — Explorations of Father Marquette— His discovery of the Mississippi — His devotional exercises — His death, 108-118

CONTENTS.

XI

Chapter XI. The Mineral Region Of Lake Superior

PAGE

Northern peninsula of Michigan — Keewenaw Point — Copper Harbour — The Cliff Mines — Traces of former excavations — Father Ren6 Mesnard — The Minnesota Mine — Process of “ stamping,” .... 119-127

Chapter XII. Ontonagon — The “ Sam Ward.”

A speculative colonel — The art of whittling — Ontonagon — Far West fixings — LeVin; le Jeu; les Belles — A “Superior” cotillon — Our vis-a-vis —

La Pointe — A war party of Chippeways — Fond du Lac — Land in Minnesota— An Indian wigwam, ...... 128-142

Chapter XIII. The City Of Superior — Land Speculation

An invisible city — First settlers — A Far West greeting — First sensations —

A cool inhabitant — Superior quarters — The Far West as a field for investment— Land speculation — Eligibility of Superior : its future prospects — Bright visions, ....... 143-155

Chapter XIV. Wisconsin — Bed And Board In The Far West

Wisconsin as a field for emigration : its capabilities — An imaginary city —

The table d’hfite — A “prospecting” judge — Novelty of our night’s quarters— Routes from Superior to St Paul — Preparations for the journey —

A multitude of counsellors — Yankee promptitude, . . 156-166

PAKT III. — MINNESOTA.

Chapter XV. Camping Out On The St Louis

Fond du Lac — An Indian tomahawked — A striking view — Immense burdens borne by Indians — Culinary operations — The “knife portage” — Our servants instructed, and a good understanding established : their boatchants — A feast on “ tender bar” — Dexterity of voyageurs : their character and temperament, . . . . . .167-179

CHAPTER XYI.

THE SAVANNAHS.

A sacred rock — The Great Savannah — A wild man of the lakes — Tryingcircumstances — Effect of sleeping on poisonous ivy — An awakeningscreech — The North-west Trail — The Savannah Lake— Prairie River — A cheering anticipation, ...... 180-190

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CONTENTS.

Chapter XVII. Sandy Lake

PAGE

Soothing influences — A Chippeway village — Novel style of paddling — War between the Chippeways and Sioux — Treaty of Traverse des Sioux — Numbers and condition of Chippeways — Yoyageurs relate our proceedings : they dispute our arrangements — Island camp at Sandy Lake — Home thoughts : the 12th of August — Source of the Mississippi : expeditions for its discovery — Two classes of lakes, . . . 191-204

Chapter XVIII. Early Traders— Coureurs Des Bois— Chippeways

Michael Ako, and Picard du Gay — Le Sueur. — The North-west Company —

The American Fur Company — The Mississippi itself : characteristics of its banks — Indian pictographs — Indian mode of catching fish — A highlyfavoured country, ....... 205-213

Chapter XIX

THE HEAD WATERS OP THE MISSISSIPPI — SHOOTING THE LITTLE PALLS IN A BARK CANOE.

Crow Wing — Luxurious fare — Safe pay — Indian traders’ profits — The chief of the Chippeways — An impressive scene — Fort Ripley — Abstinence advantageous to travellers — A deserter’s history — The Painted Rock — Shooting the Little Falls — Art of shooting rapids — The “ Chenei” — A softer couch than usual, ...... 214-227

Chapter XX. Winnebagoes— Indian Affairs — The Sauk Rapids

Winnebagoe rites — Winnebagoe characteristics — Diminution of their numbers— Deportation system retards the progress of Indian civilisation — System pursued in Canada — The Osakis or Sac River — The village of Sauk — Shooting the Sauk rapids — A predicament — The Elk River —

Signs of civilisation — Our last portage — Our past and our prospective voyage, ........ 228-242

Chapter XXI. The Palls Op St Anthony

Town of St Anthony : its rapid growth — Magnificent scenery surrounding the Falls of the Mississippi — Fort Snelling — The capital of Minnesota — Highly esteemed citizens — Low water, .... 243-251

CONTENTS.

Xll]

Chapter XXII

ST PAUL — LOCOMOTIVE DOINS IN MINNESOTA. PAGb

Origin of the town of St Paul — Progress and prosperity of St Paul — Capabilities of Minnesota — Indian trade at St Paul — Scenery around St Paul — Valley of the St Peter’s River — Projected railways : St Paul and New Orleans scheme : St Paul and Superior railway — A new channel of commerce— The North Pacific scheme — Rapidity of railway extension in the United States, ....... 252-265

Chapter XXIII. Manners, Customs, And Political Opinions Op The St Paul Public

Our canoe, &c., sold by auction — Sabbath observance — Post-prandial enjoyments — The Minnesota constitution — Probable origin of whittling — Feeling in favour of slavery : its extension unjustifiable — Annexation : Canada and Cuba — Public opinion in reference to the present European war — American liberty of speech — Sympathisers with the Western Powers — Slavery : the Cuba question — A Babel of languages — Pembina and Red River settlers, ...... 266-282

Chapter XXIV. Steamboat Life On The Mississippi— The Bluffs

The “Pig’s Eye” shallow — The settlement of Wild Land — Lake St Croix — Lake Pepin — The story of Winona — Burying-places of Indians — * Scenery below Lake Pepin — Prairie La Crosse — Minnesota versus the World, 283-292

Chapter XXV. Across The Prairies— Chicago— Niagara

An imperturbable purser — Village of Winona — Town of Dubuque : its progress and prosperity — Ox waggons : “ making tracks” — An interesting family: “ Crowded out : ” No elbow-room — A run upon the prairies —

An interesting traveller — Warren — Chicago — The oldest inhabitants of Chicago — Once more upon British ground — Listening to the Falls of Niagara, ......... 293-306

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Falls of St Anthony, — Frontispiece.

M PAGE

Arms of Minnesota, ...... vi

Kabeshquum, Bonaquum, and Babehwum, ... 67

Chebonaning, . . . . . . . 86

Our Bark Canoe, . . . - . . . 190

Little Falls of Mississippi, ..... 224

Camping out on the Mississippi, ..... 227

WlNNEBAGOE LODGES, . . . . 242

Fort Snelling, . . . . . .251

Steamer Snagged, . . . . • 292

Map of the North-west Province of America, including Minnesota.

MINNESOTA AND THE FAR WEST.

PART I.— CANADA.

Chapter I

The impressions of a traveller visiting the United States of America for the first time are so totally unlike those which he has experienced in the course of his rambles in the Old World, that he at once perceives that, in order to the due appreciation of the country he is about to explore, an entire revolution must be effected in those habits of thought and observation in which he has hitherto indulged. He finds that, instead of moralising over magnificence in a process of decay, he must here watch resources in a process of development — he must substitute the pleasures of anticipation for those of retrospection — must be more familiar with pecuniary speculations than with historical associations — delight himself rather in statistics than in poetry — visit docks instead of ruins — converse of dollars, and not antique

A

GO-AHEAD NOTIONS.

coins — prefer printed calico to oil-paintings, and admire the model of a steam-engine more than the statue of a Venus. He looks on scenery with an eye for the practical, as well as the picturesque ; when gazing on a lovely valley or extensive plain, he discerns at a glance the best line for a railway ; and never sees a waterfall without remembering that it is a mill-site.

But if it is necessary for a stranger to become imbued with go-ahead notions, in order to travel profitably in America, a corresponding frame of mind is only to be expected from those who read the results of his experience and observation ; it is indeed always some consolation to him to feel that, however imperfectly he lays these before the public, the rapid progress of the country affords him the advantage of giving new facts and new figures, which may form premises for new inferences, and sources of interesting speculation.

It is perhaps fortunate that the change to the “smart” mode of thinking, to which I have alluded, is not made so suddenly as it might be ; since, by watching the more gradual advancement of the Eastern States, we may be in some degree prepared for the almost incredible increase in wealth and population of those farther west — and be better able to appreciate a mushroom city on the Mississippi after visiting a seaport on the Atlantic.

It is only natural that Americans should imagine that foreigners visiting their country should be as

PORTLAND.

interested in its development as they are themselves. I had not been an hour in Portland, the principal commercial city in the State of Maine, and perhaps one of the best specimens upon the coast of a go-ahead seaport, before I observed a paragraph in one of the three ne wspapers daily published there, to the effect that “ the fleet of magnificent ships now lying in our bay or at our wharves, is the most attractive object to a stranger which our city affords.” As a stranger, then, with a taste for shipping, I may be permitted to observe that there were forty ships built at Portland last year, registering 22,873 tons, or more than one-third of the total amount registered in the whole Union during the same period. Its exports consist at present chiefly of lumber, ice, fish, &c. ; but the future mercantile prosperity of Portland depends not on the produce of the State in which it is situated, but upon the transit trade which must pass through it, now that it is connected with Canada and the Far West by railways, and with Liverpool by steamers. It is situated upon a narrow but hilly promontory about three miles long, which juts into a deep and capacious bay studded with green islets ; — these, while they are a most charming feature of the scenery, form an admirable breakwater, and are so numerous as entirely to shut out a view of the sea from the town. From the highest point of the promontory, however, a most enchanting prospect is obtained. On the one side a richly-diversified country, watered by fine rivers, and where countless lakes

TRADE OF PORTLAND.

glisten amid dark pine-woods, extends to the base of the White Mountains, which rise to a height of six thousand feet and form a noble background ; on the other lies the bay set with its green gems, and with the broad Atlantic beyond.

This trade has assumed a most important character since permission to pass goods in bond through to Canada has been granted. Some idea of its increased extent during the last five years, at Boston, may be formed from the following figures, which show its value, in 1850, to have amounted to £27,240, and in 1855, to £1,326,055. If, as is anticipated, the proximity of Portland to Canada, and the excellence of its harbour, which never freezes, attracts the larger share of this traffic, it is evident that in this respect alone it will prove a formidable rival to Boston, from which it is distant about a hundred miles. In addition to the Canadian trade, it is quite possible that the rapidly developing provinces of Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Minnesota, may choose it as the outlet for their products ; but it is impossible now to form any estimate of the probable value of these.

A considerable coasting trade is also developing itself between Portland and St John's, New Brunswick, and powerful steam-vessels now run four times a-week between these ports.

But while Portland offers so many advantages in a commercial point of view to the merchant, it is by no means devoid of attractions to the tourist. The

ITS VARIOUS ATTRACTIONS.

town is remarkably clean and well laid out ; there are avenues of trees in most of the streets : these are composed of handsome and comfortable houses, which, if the place continues to increase as it has hitherto done, will soon cover the entire peninsula. Portland has nearly doubled its population within the last fifteen years, and now contains about twenty-five thousand inhabitants.

After “the stranger” has followed the advice of the newspaper, and been to inspect the shipping, and the instincts of his own nature by going to look at the view, there still remains an inducement for him to linger a while in the city ; and this, if he is a man of taste, would be the most powerful — for Portland is celebrated for the beauty of the fairer portion of its inhabitants. If, however, Quebec be his destination, it may be consolatory to him to know that the shipping there is just as numerous, the views just as enchanting, and fascinations of another sort just as irresistible ; and the traveller must be a novice indeed if he has not discovered that, in order really to enjoy his vocation, he must depend more upon the variety and intensity of the sensations in which he indulges than upon the length of their duration.

It takes about fourteen hours to get to Quebec by the railway, which has just been opened; and during this time, if our “ stranger” takes advantage of the liberty which is allowed him, by the peculiar construction of American cars, of walking about in them, until he comes across an intelligent Yankee, he will

6 RAILWAY THROUGH THE WHITE MOUNTAINS.

be able to discuss with him the merits of the line, and pick up some information about the country through which it passes. At first it runs through a well-populated district, past fields of Indian corn, oats, potatoes, hay, &c. ; then it follows the course of the Androscoggin into the White Mountains, winding up romantic glens, along the shores of secluded lakes, through dense pendulous forests, as though a mountain six thousand feet were not the slightest obstacle to a locomotive in search of the picturesque, and which consequently disdains to bury itself in a tunnel. Of course the traveller does not at first fully appreciate the beauties of mountain scenery which he traverses like lightning, and sees through a dirty pane of glass ; but in America he learns to be as smart at this as at other things, and before he leaves the country he can enjoy a landscape which he glides past at the rate of thirty miles an hour, as easily as digest a dinner which he eats in seven minutes and a half.

The woods consist chiefly of pine, oak, beech, and birch, and it is evident that the vast forest opened up by means of this railway must prove a source of great wealth to the inhabitants * while the line itself must benefit extensively, by affording so ready a mode of conveyance to the sea, of timber from the interior.

Indeed these results are no longer matter of speculation. Already the magic influence of steam communication has made itself felt. The population

ACROSS THE BORDER.

inhabiting a hundred and fifty miles of the country through which this railway now passes, did not, in July 1853, exceed three hundred persons. It has increased tenfold within eighteen months, and it is now upwards of three thousand. These are chiefly settlers of an active and energetic class, engaged almost exclusively in the lumber trade. No less than twenty-eight saw-mills have sprung up, and many more are in process of erection, — the reciprocity treaty lately concluded by Lord Elgin having operated as a powerful inducement to timber speculators to commence operations upon such advantageous terms, and under circumstances which cannot fail to secure a handsome return upon their capital and labours.

As we are in the act of crossing the border which divides the two most progressive countries in the world, it may not be uninteresting to notice the effect, in a commercial and political point of view, of a treaty which permits of a free interchange of the raw produce of each. Some notion may be formed of the magnitude of the trade between Canada and the United States, and of the importance of the reciprocity clauses of the treaty as bearing upon that trade, from the following figures, extracted from Lord Elgin’s Eeport upon the subject, and from which it appears that, of a grand total of exports of Canadian produce and manufacture, amounting in 1853 to £4,890,678, 14s. 3d., the exports to the United States are given at £2,205,706, 17s. 4d.

THE RECIPROCITY TREATY.

The staple products of the colonies, and those which will no doubt enter the American markets most largely under this treaty, are mainly wheat, coal, fish, and timber. For some of these, as of coal and fish — of which the home supply is very limited indeed — there is a constant demand in the States ; the removal of high duties on their importation will, therefore, obviously be a great benefit to the Canadian exporter ; and although, on the other hand, the amount of wheat raised in the States exceeds the internal consumption, still it has been found that the free admission of colonial wheat into the American market is the greatest possible boon to the Canadian farmer. The price of Canadian wheat has always been lower than that of American; and although the difference has not invariably been so great as to enable the producer to send it to the American market when burdened with a duty, still, even prior to the treaty, it has often happened that it was more profitable for the Canadian farmer to sell his wheat in the New York market than to export it in bond to England.

Besides these articles, there can be no doubt that one effect of the treaty will be to introduce into the American market many colonial products which under the previous tariff were not regarded as profitable articles of commerce. In return for the advantages which the colonists have thus gained, they concede to the United States the unrestricted right of fishing in British waters. Although this concession

ITS BENEFIT TO CANADA.

has been much coveted by the United States, there is no doubt that the value and importance of the fisheries, to a legal participation of which Americans are now admitted, has been considerably over-estimated, while there is every reason to hope that the introduction of American enterprise into our fisheries will be attended with benefit rather than loss to the colonists themselves, and that the operation of the treaty will be far more advantageous to these provinces than the retention of their old monopoly.

While the reciprocal treaty has thus removed any further cause for apprehension of disputes arising between ourselves and the United States, it confers, at the same time, great and lasting benefits upon the colonies, and, by uniting their interests with those of so powerful a neighbour, will render still more remote the possibility of a rupture between the two nations. In addition to this, the river St Lawrence, and the canals pertaining thereto, have been opened up to vessels of the United States, and it is needless to go into any argument to show that such a concession must be advantageous to both countries. Indeed, the best proof of the favour with, which this treaty has been regarded by those whose interests it most materially concerned, lies in the fact that it passed through the Congress of the United States, and through the colonial legislatures of Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward's Island, and Newfoundland, with a total of only twenty-one dissentient votes. In the Report of the late Gover-

ITS GENERAL EFFECTS.

nor -general of Canada, to which I have already alluded, Lord Elgin thus sums up his opinion of the effects of the treaty : t£ On the whole, I am inclined to think that, while a certain change in the import and export trade of Canada is likely to take place under the operation of the reciprocity treaty, the admission of the natural products of the province into the same markets as those of the United States, and on similar terms, will very sensibly affect the value of property within the colony, and tend to attract to it capital and emigrants of a superior class. A powerful effect in the same direction will no doubt be produced by the completion of the great lines of railway now in course of execution, which will render distant markets more accessible, and cause the province to become the channel of a great transit trade, while they stimulate the productive capabilities of the districts through which they pass. Similar results may be expected to follow in the adjoining colonies, when, under the operation of these combined causes, all commercial reasons for inferiority in the value of land on the British side of the boundary line disappear. There is, therefore, every reason to hope that, if the great powers now wielded by the local legislatures be exercised with judgment, the prosperity of these provinces, which has been so noticeable of late, will continue to advance with even accelerated speed for years to come, subject, of course, to such occasional fluctuations as affect the commercial world generally.”

RAILWAY THROUGH LOWER CANADA.

Of the railway lines here adverted to, the one upon which we were now travelling seems to he the most important ; and it is highly probable that, as it offers greater facilities for the conveyance of Canadian produce generally to Boston, than do those which connect Montreal with that city via Lake Champlain (since it is not exposed to the inconveniences arising from opposing interests), a large portion of this increasing trade will be diverted along it ; while the completion of the Victoria Bridge over the St Lawrence at Montreal will enable the produce of the North-western States to reach the sea by a route which is infinitely the shortest, and which will only involve one transhipment. The journey from Montreal to Boston will be made this summer in fourteen hours. The distance from Portland to the Canadian frontier is about a hundred and fifty miles. This portion of the line has been leased by the Grand Trunk Kailway Company of Canada.

At Kichmoncl, fifty-four miles on the Canadian side of the frontier, the line divides — one branch going to Montreal, the other to Quebec. The character of the country, after leaving the White Mountains, until we approach the banks of the St Lawrence, is somewhat monotonous ; it is one boundless forest. Sometimes an acre or two of stumps marks the industry of some enterprising settler ; but stiff uninteresting pine-trees are everywhere, either forming interminable avenues or log cabins.

But if the process of passing from the United

ARRIVE AT QUEBEC.

States into Canada be somewhat dreary, it only enables the traveller to appreciate more highly the scenery amid which the present seat of the government of that province is placed. As, however, its merits have received justice at the hands of innumerable travellers, I shall present Quebec rather under its political and social than its picturesque aspect, and describe the manner in which the surrounding scenery should be enjoyed, instead of the character of the scenery itself.

Chapter II. Canadian Politics

The aversion with which the British public regards all questions of colonial policy, no doubt arises, in a great measure, from the extraordinary ignorance which prevails among the educated classes of this country of what may be termed political geography generally, and which extends even to those parts of the world in which their own interests are more directly at stake. It is a pity that this should be so, for the indifference of the public, not unnaturally, sometimes extends to those charged with the administration of colonial affairs, while it is an inevitable consequence of our system that colonial ministers should be infinitely more engrossed with those political combinations at home which affect their tenure of office, than with those political combinations abroad which affect the allegiance of the colonies to the mother country. Now and then the public become suddenly interested in some one department, discover abuses, and raise a cry of administrative reform ; but they are too ill in-

THE COMMONS OF CANADA.

formed generally to be competent to form an opinion of what needs reform, and what does not, in colonies ; at all events, it is well known that the ignorance and apathy of people in England may be presumed upon to any extent with the most perfect impunity by those who manage their affairs. Under these circumstances, it would be quite unjustifiable in me to inflict upon an unfortunate Englishman, desiring only to be amused, a history of Canadian politics even for the last ten years ; I shall therefore confine myself to describing, in as few words as possible, the present state of parties in that colony.

Her Majesty's faithful Commons of Canada are composed of a hundred and thirty members ; the upper and lower provinces are equally represented. The French and English languages are used indiscriminately in debate, the majority of the Lower Canadian members being French. The present Speaker is a Frenchm an. The ministry are composed, as nearly as may be, of Upper and Lower Canadians in equal proportions. Sir Allan M‘Nab, a name celebrated in the history of Canada, is the premier, — he is the leader of the old Conservative party of Upper Canada ; his colleague, Colonel Tache, is the leader of the French reform party of Lower Canada : from which it is evident that it is a coalition ministry. In addition to the reformers and moderate conservatives, a large proportion of the ultra-reformers of Upper Canada support the ministry.

It would be somewhat tedious to describe the various

POLITICAL PARTIES.

shades of political opinion represented in the Assembly, or to discuss the merits of the different “ tickets,” upon which members have “ run” at divers periods, and which, to a stranger, are sometimes a little incomprehensible. I looked with some curiosity upon a gentleman of whom I had read in the newspapers during the last general election, that he had “ swallowed the whole Clear Grit platform, and a plank or two over.” Mr Hincks, the late premier, is perhaps the most remarkable man in the house : with a strong will, capacious lungs, and a mode of expression more pointed than polished, he possesses great qualifications for influencing a somewhat democratic assembly, and giving due effect to his undoubted talents, while their value is considerably enhanced by a large personal following. But here everybody aspires to lead a party, however insignificant : and there are all sorts of “ ites ” and “ ists.” It is wonderful to hear how many members indulge themselves in the belief that they have tails, which are found wanting on the day of trial. There is no mistake, however, about that flourished by the member for Montreal ; it is indeed the only one worthy of notice, rather on account of its colour than its dimensions : it is called the Rouge party, and is composed of enthusiastic young Frenchmen of that species of ardent temperament which, in young ladies at the same period of life, manifests itself in a desire to enter nunneries, but which, with the other sex, takes an opposite development, and finds expression in socialist opinions and black beards.