( 32 ) RED-RIVER COLONY-ARRIVAL OF THE BISHOP OF RUPERT'S LAND. THE North-West parts of British America, beyond the boundaries of Canada, called Rupert's Land, consist of large lakes, arms of the sea running far inland, rivers, wide plains called prairies, without a tree, and barren hills and hollows tossed together in a strange and confused manner. By one person it was called the fag end of the world. Here and there are spots which, with much labour, may be made productive; but the country generally is barren, and how to rear and preserve a sufficient quantity of food is a source of constant care to the inhabitants. In many parts no corn can be grown; and the potatos and other crops which can be raised are often cut off by summer frosts. The Indians, who are the Natives of this country, are divided into many tribes, and are thinly scattered over it. They have no settled habitations, but as they live principally by hunting and fishingwander about from place to place. They are naturally unsettled, thoughtless, and wasteful: they are also drunken when they can succeed in getting spirituous liquors. Aged parents are entirely neglected; and one-half of the aged men and women are left to starve, or perish of cold and want. The drudgery and heavy labour are thrown upon the women. An Indian, in moving from place to place, if he travel on foot, loads his wives with the heavy burdens, and spares himself. War and hunting alone rouse him to effort: at other times the women toil, while he lounges smoking and basking in the sun the live-long day. Quarrelsome and revengeful, the different tribes have deadly strifes with each other. On the banks of one river, called the Saskatchawan, about forty Indians were killed the summer before last, at no very great distance from one of our Missionary Stations. Nineteen Blackfeet Indians having ventured near the camp of another tribe, called the Crees, the latter sprang to their weapons and horses, and in less than one hour the whole party of nineteen were killed, their scalps floating in the air, suspended to long poles, and their hands and feet hung to the tails and necks of the horses. For such a sad state of things there is but one remedy — the Gospel of Peace; and our Church Missionary Society has been engaged for many years in this good work. It is impossible that a Missionary could wander about with the Indians, or while doing so be able to teach them. In order that they may have line upon line, and precept upon precept, they must be persuaded to settle down in villages, and till the ground. An attempt of this kind was made by our Missionary, the Rev. W. Cockran, in 1832, at Red River, to the south of Lake Winnipeg, at a short distance from a Colony of British settlers who were first planted there in 1811. Many looked upon it as a very wild scheme; and, no doubt, to try and persuade men to change their habits of life while their hearts and incli RED-RIVER COLONY-ARRIVAL OF THE BISHOP. 33 nations remain the same is a discouraging task. The plan which the Christian Missionary pursues is very different. While he is teaching a wild Indian to build a log house, or dig a garden, or sow seed, he is also teaching him the Gospel of Christ. This, by the blessing of God, changes the heart; and when the heart is changed, and the man's desires become different from what they were before, his way of life will soon change. It was thus with some of the Indians amongst whom Mr. Cockran was labouring: they built houses and prepared the ground, and they did not wish to stray away, because they found the word which they heard to be sweet to their taste. They remained themselves, and encouraged others to do the same, and thus the work prospered. The Indian Settlement at the Red River is now like an Indian parish. There is a nice Church-a wooden building painted white, fifty feet or more in length, with a cupola over the entrance attended on the Sunday mornings by a regular Congregation of 350 Indians, except when a portion of them are absent on hunting expeditions. The Services are conducted with the greatest order and regularity: the singing is altogether Indian, and very sweet. The Indians behave most properly, joining in the prayers, and listening attentively to the instructions given them. They are not the The blessed same people there, which they are in their wild state. Gospel has changed them, and the Red-River Settlement shows what may be done with a savage Indian. Other Settlements were afterward formed; one at Cumberland Station, a little to the north-west of Lake Winnipeg, 500 miles distant from the Red River; and another at Lac-la-Ronge, 200 miles further north-west from Cumberland Station. The Indians in different directions are anxious to be taught. They feel themselves to be wretched, and that they want something to better their state, and many of them come long journeys to inquire. At a place called Fort Chippewyan, more than a thousand miles from the Red River, they are wishing for instruction. Our great difficulty has been the want of Missionaries. If God would graciously enable us to raise up Teachers from amongst the Indians themselves, who might be able to instruct their countrymen, then we could help many a suffering tribe, and visit many a distant place which the Gospel has not yet reached. It is with the view of raising up such help, and providing for the spiritual wants of the Indian tribes, that a Bishop has gone out to Rupert's Land. He landed at York Fort, in Hudson's Bay, in August last, and after remaining there a fortnight, proceeded Two boats were placed by the Hudson's-Bay to the Red River. Company at the disposal of the Bishop and his party, which included his three children and his sister, and our Missionary, the Rev. R. Hunt, and Mrs. Hunt. The boats, or canoes, used on these occasions are made of birch-rind: the largest are about thirty-six feet long, and are manned by a crew of fourteen men. 34 VISIT TO A BOILING SPRING IN NEW ZEALAND. The Bishop had hoped to reach the Indian Settlement by the last Sunday in September, but was delayed by contrary winds in Lake Winnipeg. It was not until Wednesday, the 3d of October, that the Indian Settlement was reached. What pleasant, thankful thoughts, must have been awakened in the minds of the Bishop and his companions! The neat Church and Parsonage, the nice laidout garden and premises, the village, and its Christian Indians coming down to welcome the Bishop, with their Pastor at their head, as seen in our Frontispiece-what an evidence of the power of the Gospel! how agreeable to the gracious promise, "I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it." Pigwys, the old Indian Chief, who has been many years a Christian, had hoisted his flag in honour of the Bishop's arrival. He afterward came up the river to see the Bishop at the Colony, who on that occasion presented him with two handsome bows which he had brought from England, and also with some books, with which he was much pleased: nor was he less delighted at hearing some sacred music played by the Bishop's sister on an instrument which had come out with them from England. The Chief wore a medal, one of George III., which is with them a badge of royalty, the same as a crown with us. The Bishop expects, after the necessary arrangements have been made, to have, as a commencement, six Natives under his instruction. But this, and other interesting particulars of his arrival, we must reserve to another Number. VISIT TO A BOILING SPRING IN NEW ZEALAND. WE extract the following from a recent Journal of the Rev. R. Taylor, one of our Missionaries in New Zealand— March 19, 1849-I arose early, and after prayers, accompanied by Mr. Lowry, I went to see the large puia, or boiling spring, called Te Tarata. Its first appearance is that of an immense flight of steps, of a circular form, with water running over them, which seems to have frozen as it fell, assuming the colour of snow. The water is of a different character from that of the Tukupurangi puia +: it is of a blueish milky hue, and has a very soft and slightly saline taste. I pulled off my shoes and stockings the better to ascend it, as an inch or two of water was constantly trickling down the steps. I found that in some parts the water was quite cold; in others, warm or hot. On some of the steps A gentleman who was travelling in New Zealand, and had accompanied Mr. Taylor from Wanganui. † An account of Mr. Taylor's visit to this spring is given in pp. 279, 280 of the "Church Missionary Intelligencer" for April last. VISIT TO A BOILING SPRING IN NEW ZEALAND. 35 there was a very slippery deposit-a brown ochre; on others, a formation closely resembling a kind of moss slightly petrified. As I ascended, I found the steps increase in height and width, each containing one or more baths, some of cold water, others of warm, and some of both in the same basin. In one of the largest my companion, and some of the As I wished to ascend to the Natives who accompanied us, entered. higher steps to see the boiling gulf, I requested Mr. Lowry to call his dog to stay with him, which he did, and the animal immediately ran to him. In going up I found the water almost too hot for the naked feet, and therefore crept up along the sides, where the manuka and fern were growing luxuriantly; and, strange to say, though hanging over the steaming water, it felt extremely cold to the feet, and was dripping with dew. On ascending to the top step I found the siliceous deposit had formed a level pavement, over which about one or two inches of very hot water was flowing; beyond which was a small pool, and close to that the profound gulf from which the boiling stream proceeded, sending forth volumes of steam which completely concealed it from the view. In the middle of this platform was a rocky mound, which, overhanging the chasm, enabled those who could reach it to gain a nearer view of the abyss. To facilitate this, a row of stepping-stones had been laid for the As I was going along these, the poor dog-which, visitor to pass over. without our being aware, had followed me-ran past, and, finding the water scald his feet, he bounded on with a yell of pain, splashing my naked feet as he went, and causing me nearly to lose my balance. In an instant he plunged into a pool of hot water several feet deep he made a vain attempt to get out, and then rolled over and over, and in a minute or less was dead, and sank to the bottom. The poor creature's agonizing struggles quite unnerved me: it was one of the most distressing and painful sights I ever witnessed. We could render no aid, and knew, if we had, we should only have prolonged its torments. We therefore retraced our steps, when we saw it lying at the bottom of the clear water which had thus suddenly become its grave. I had its dying struggles constantly before my eyes the rest of the day, and offered up a silent prayer of thanksgiving for that protecting care which had preserved me from the fearful death which overtook the poor dumb creature. As I returned, I could not help meditating upon the different views which different circumstances give us of death. The Christian, when called forth to meet it by the gun, the sword, or the hatchet, may do so with unshrinking courage; but, standing on the verge of a boiling gulf, death appears most horrible. I learned that two poor children met a similar end some few years back in a neighbouring puia. The elder one, who was carrying an infant, went to take out a basket of potatos which had been cooked in it, and, when standing on the verge, the infant struggled in its little bearer's arms, and, it is supposed, fell in: the other, without thinking, The place has ever since been tapu. jumped after it to try and save it. The poor dog's death seems to teach us a lesson which should never be lost sight of. When we find we have left the right path, we should immediately strive to retrace our steps. It first got its feet into hot water an inch or two deep; but instead of going back, he bounded madly on, and plunged into a boiling pool. One false step thus led to another, and 36 POETRY-THE GOSPEL. to certain death. How many, like the poor dog, have persisted, and so perished, when, had they stayed to reflect, they would have returned and been safe! The prodigal, when he reflected, returned, and again was clasped in his father's bosom. Message of mercy from above, The words which love of Christ to tell- |