use, were
the women and girls. While the men were in many instances well and
often brilliantly dressed in their finery, the women and girls were
wretchedly clothed, and miserable in appearance.

The house was filled, with the exception of a small space reserved at
the right hand of the principal chief for the visitors. With a good
deal of ceremony we were escorted to our seats. For me they had
obtained a little box, on which a fur robe was placed, as they said
afterwards, that they had heard that white men cannot sit comfortably on
the ground. On this I seated myself next to the chief, and my attendant
Indians ranged themselves beside me. During the profound silence that
lasted for several minutes after our entrance, I had a good opportunity
to grasp the situation. I breathed an earnest prayer to God for the
much-needed wisdom, and that I might here preach the Gospel in such a
way that it might be understood and accepted by this people, the
majority of whom had not as yet heard the glad tidings of salvation.

Then I rose up and, addressing the chief, I said: "I have come at your
request from across the great Winnipeg, to visit you and to meet you at
your council fire. I will preach to you and discuss treaty matters with
you, and will help you all I can with the Government. I want to find
out your views about giving up your old paganism and becoming
Christians. I also want to know how many children you have among you,
and if you desire a school for them. So I am here for these reasons."

When I sat down, the calumet, the pipe of peace, was gravely lit, and
after the chief had puffed away at it, he handed it to me. As I have
not as yet acquired the art of smoking, I adopted the plan of taking
hold of the long stem, which is over a yard in length, by the middle.
The result was that when my hand was near my mouth, the mouthpiece of
the pipe was a foot or so behind my head. As previously arranged, one
of my obliging Indians was always on hand to do my smoking.

After the pipe ceremony was over, the chief began his address of
welcome. He said a good many kind things, and told me of their
anxieties as to their future and that of their children. The fire-canoe
(the steamboat) was rushing through the waters, destroying their
fisheries. The white hunters, with their fire guns and steel traps,
were fast killing off the game. The surveyor was driving his lines of
stakes into the ground, and the white people, more