striking contrast to the wild scenery around as we approached, rowing up
the river in one of the ship's boats. We pitched our tent in a cleared
spot just across the river, opposite to the Post and near to some Indian
wigwams. During our stay, which lasted about ten days, I visited every
day among the people, and at nightfall we would meet together in one of
their wigwams for reading the Scripture and prayer. The name of the
Chief was Tootoomenaun; he lived like the rest of his people in a simple
wigwam made of a circle of sticks sloping to a point, and covered with
birch-bark; and there, with his family and his dogs, he lay by the fire
and smoked his pipe, while I read or talked to them, the smoke
circulating about our heads and then finding its escape among the
blackened pole-ends at the apex of the little domicile. Another Chief
from the neighbouring settlement of Batcheewanig, about 90 miles
distant, was on a visit, and I had many a long talk with these two red-
skinned brethren. They said they had had no minister to visit them,
either Jesuit or Protestant, since the previous summer, and they seemed
very anxious to be taught, and listened very attentively when I read or
expounded the Scriptures. Finding the people all so anxious to learn, I
opened a little day-school in the Chief's wigwam. I had a box for my
seat, and the young people squatted round on mats. There was an
attendance of eleven scholars. Two of the young men I found already knew
the alphabet, so I set them on to commence the first book while the
others were kept busy with the A, B, C. They were sharp at learning, and
nearly all of them, with the exception of one or two of the youngest
children, knew the capital letters and figures from 1 to 10 by the time
the two hours of study were over. This school teaching was continued
every day until the steamboat arrived which was to take us the remainder
of our homeward voyage to the Sault.

It is interesting to me to recall this, my first missionary visit to