inferior for the blending. In appearance
they were inane, in speech laconic; they were shy in
manners, and reserved, to boorishness, while in intellectual
alertness they were inferior to the boisterous savage,
or the shrewd, dignified white. But the woman perpetuated
the shy, winning coyness of her red mother, and the arts,
and somewhat of the refinements of her white father. The
eye was not so dusk; it gleamed more: as if the ray from
a star had been shot through it. There was the same olive
cheek; but it was not so tawny, for the dawn of the white
blood had appeared in it. She gained in symmetry too,
being taller than her red mother, while she preserved
the soft, willowy motion of the prairie-elk.

But the women were not good housekeepers; and many a
traveller has gone into the house of a Metis and seen
there a bride witchingly beautiful, with her hair unkempt
and disordered about her shoulders, her boots unlaced, and
her stocking down revealing her bare, exquisitely-turned
ankle.

"A Cinderella!" he would exclaim, "but, by heaven, I
swear, a thousand times more lovely!" If she had a child
it would likely be found sprawling among the coals, and
helping itself to handfuls of ashes. The little creature
would be sure to escape the suspicion of ever having been
washed. Ask the luminous-eyed mother for anything, for
a knife to cut your tobacco, for a cup to get a drink of
water, and the sweet sloven would be obliged to ransack
two-thirds of the articles of the house to find what you
sought.

The dresses worn by herself, as well as by her husband
or her brother, would not be less astonishing to the
unaccustomed eye. The men wear a common blue capote a
red belt and corduroy trousers. This, however, soon became
the costume of every male in Red River, whether Metis or
new-come Canadian. There, is however, a distinction in
the manner of wearing. Lest the Canadian should be taken
for a Metis he wears the red belt over the capote, while
the half-breed wears it beneath. The women are fond of
show, and like to attire themselves in dark skirts, and
crimson bodices. Frequently, if the entire dress be dark,
they tie a crimson or a magenta sash around their handsomely
shapen waists; and they put a cap of some denomination
of red upon their heads. Such colours, it need not be
said, add to their beauty, and it is by no means uncertain
that this is the reason why they adopt these colours.
Some writers say that their love of gl