ants.

The rivers, which are crossed in wooden canoes, in the absence of
bridges, are well stocked with fish, the principal kinds being goldeyes,
sturgeon, and catfish. Of these, I think the goldeyes the best; at any
rate, they are the most numerous. The wild animals inhabiting the woods
and prairies are much the same as in the other parts of North America--
namely, wolves, foxes, brown and black bears, martens, minks, musquash,
rabbits, etcetera; while the woods are filled with game, the marshes and
ponds with ducks, geese, swans, cranes, and a host of other water-fowl.

Red River was first settled upon by the fur-traders, who established a
trading-post many years ago on its banks; but it did not assume the
character of a colony till 1811, when Lord Selkirk sent out a number of
emigrants to form a settlement in the wild regions of the North-West.
Norwegians, Danes, Scotch, and Irish composed the motley crew; but the
great bulk of the colonists then, as at the present time, consisted of
Scotchmen and Canadians. Unlike other settlements in a wild country
inhabited by Indians, the infant colony had few difficulties to contend
with at the outset. The Indians were friendly, and had become
accustomed to white men, from their previous contact for many years with
the servants of the Hudson Bay Company; so, with the exception of one or
two broils among themselves and other fur-traders, the colonists plodded
peacefully along. On one occasion, however, the Hudson Bay Company and
the North-West Company, who were long at enmity with each other, had a
sharp skirmish, in which Mr Semple, then Governor of the Hudson Bay
Company, was killed, and a number of his men were killed and wounded.

The whole affair originated very foolishly. A body of men had been
observed from the walls of Fort Garry, travelling past the fort; and as
Governor Semple wished to ascertain their intentions, he sallied forth
with a few men to intercept them, and demand their object. The
North-West party, on seeing a body of men coming towards them from the
fort, halted till they came up; and Cuthbert Grant, who was in command,
asked what they wanted. Governor Semple required to know where they
were going. Being answered in a surly manner, an altercation took place
between the two parties (of which the North-West was the stronger); in
the middle of which a shot was unfortunately fired by one of the Hudson
Bay party. It was never known who fired this shot