at savages, too, are they, the successors of the old
race--savages! not less barbarous because they do not scalp, or
war-dance, or go out to meet the Ojibbeway in the woods or the
Assineboine in the plains.

We had passed a beautiful sheet of water called Lake Osakis, and reached
another lake not less lovely, the name of which I did not know.

"What is the name of this place?" I asked the driver who had stopped to
water his horses.

"I don't know," he answered, lifting a bucket of water to his thirsty
steeds; "some God-dam Italian name, I guess." This high rolling land
which divides the waters flowing into the Gulf of Mexico from those of
Hudson Bay lies at an elevation of 1600 feet above the sea level. It is
rich in every thing that can make a country prosperous; and that portion
of the "down-trodden millions," who "starve in the garrets of Europe,"
and have made their homes along that height of land, have no reason to
regret their choice.

On the evening of the second day we stopped for the night at the old
stockaded post of Pomme-de-Terre, not far from the Ottertail River. The
place was foul beyond the power of words to paint it, but a "shake down"
amidst the hay in a cow-house was far preferable to the society of man
close by.

At eleven o'clock on the following morning we reached and crossed the
Ottertail River, the main branch of the Red River, and I beheld with joy
the stream upon whose banks, still many hundred miles distant, stood Fort
Garry. Later in the day, having passed the great level expanse known as
The Breckenridge Flats, the stage drew up at Fort Abercrombie, and I saw
for the first time the yellow, muddy waters of the Red River of the
North. Mr. Nolan, express agent, stage agent, and hotel keeper in the
town of McAulyville, put me up for that night, and although the room
which I occupied was shared by no less than five other individuals, he
nevertheless most kindly provided me with a bed to myself. I can't say
that I enjoyed the diggings very much. A person lately returned from Fort
Garry detailed his experiences of that place and his interview with the
President at some length. A large band of the Sioux Indians was ready to
support the Dictator against all comers, and a vigilant watch was
maintained upon the Pembina frontier for the purpose of excluding
strangers who might attempt to enter from the United States; and
altogether M. Riel was as securely established in Fort Garry as if there
had n