actually put off the expedition for another year.

The last act of the Canadian Parliament before the recess had been the passing of a bill constituting a portion of the North-West Territory into a new province, under the title of the Province of Manitoba.1 Amongst other things, this bill provided for the appointment of a LieutenantGovernor to rule over the new province; and the selection of the man for this office was a subject of much debate and difficulty. The whole of the press of Ontario was in favour of the nomination of a British officer, and pointed out that that officer ought to be the Commander of the expeditionary force, Colonel Wolseley. This view was supported by the Premier, Sir John A. Macdonald; by Sir Stafford Northcote, the President of the Hudson's Bay Company, who was then in Canada; and by Sir Clinton Murdoch, who had been sent out on a diplomatic mission by Lord Granville, and was entrusted with the views of the Home Government on the North-West question. But the French Canadian party were vehemently opposed to such a nomination, desiring that a French Canadian and a Roman Catholic should

1 See Appendix C.

be appointed.

At this juncture, unfortunately, the Premier fell sick, so dangerously that his life was despaired of: during his illness the whole power of the Cabinet fell into the hands of the French Canadian Minister, Sir George Etienne Cartier. His influence was so great that a compromise between the two parties was effected, and in place of a British officer or a French Canadian, the Honourable Mr. Archibald, of Nova Scotia, was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba.

CHAPTER III.

FROM TORONTO TO THUNDER BAY.

AFTER a stay of seventeen days in Toronto, every hour of which had been busily spent in the multitudinous details of preparation, matters were at length in a sufficiently forward state to enable the first start to be made; and accordingly, on the morning of the 21st of May, Colonel Wolseley and staff, and the advanced guard of the expeditionary force, left Toronto for Thunder Bay. It consisted of Captain Ward's company of the 60th Rifles, and was followed on the afternoon of the same day by the Head-quarters, and four companies of the same regiment, under command of Major Robertson. The embarkation of the troops took place at Collingwood, the port of departure, that same evening, on board the steamships Chicora and Frances Smith, together with

a quantity of stores of all kinds, and about sixty-four horses with waggons and teamsters for the Land Transport Service. On board the former vessel also proceeded Mr. Irvine, the Assistant Controller in sub-charge of that department, and Dr. Young, the principal medical officer.vessel was crowded with men, horses, boats, and stores, having on board besides the troops a large number of voyageurs and workmen for the road under the charge of Mr. S. J. Dawson, C.E.

The

The voyage was unmarked by any incident of peculiar interest, though the scenery was beautiful and diversified. For some distance the route lay among islands, now passing through narrow channels and anon opening out into wide expanses of water, dotted with innumerable rocky islands of all shapes and sizes. In the narrowest and prettiest of these channels the steamer stopped at a little settlement rejoicing in the romantic name of Killarney. The deep, narrow channel, the rocky islets covered with a stunted growth of pines, the pretty little knot of houses clustering round the village church, all combined to render the scene highly picturesque and pleasing to the eye. The charm of novelty, too, was not wanting: here for the first time we came across evidences of Indians-a birch-bark

canoe, with two squaws and a "papoose" in it, and three or four copper-coloured fellows lounging on the wharf close by. One of the women had fine regular features of the Circassian type, the other and the child were certainly ugly, even repulsively so.

The northern portion of Lake Huron is covered with innumerable islands; the largest of these, Great Manitoulin Island, is as large as the Isle of Wight, with " Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark (as the school-books say) thrown in. Most of these islands have no name, and are uninhabited, but at one of them, called "Raspberry Island," the steamer stopped for a few minutes. Here an enterprising Yankee had "located" himself for the cultivation of that delicious fruit, which grows wild all over Canada, but with more than ordinary luxuriance on this island. His business consisted in converting the fruit into jam, which he exported in enormous quantities to all parts of Canada and the States, thereby making unto himself a considerable profit. He came on board the steamer, and was most affable and amusing, and invited us to walk up to his house, which was close by the landing-place, and visit his establishment. The chief attraction, however, which he held out to us was a view of his better