INDEX TO VOL. XVIII. OF LITTELL'S LIVING AGE.

337 Ghosts and Ghost Seers, 490

Brougham's Last Escapade,' 129 Ireland, Rebellion Improved, 385

France and England in, 610 Royal Classes, Distress among

263 Lamartine and the Republic, 226 Russia, Thompson's Life in, 359

Miami Expedition,
Mexico and the Treaty, 526, 527
Mental Faculties Suspended, 553
Nasalogy,

Niagara Falls, Bridge at,
New Brunswick, Wilderness
of, .

271, 555

283, 324

Pope's Works and Character, 501
POETRY-

Armada, The Invincible,. 60
Boat Horn, by Gen. Butler,
Cavaignac,

6018-4

LITTELL'S LIVING AGE.-No. 216.-1 JULY, 1848.

From the Spectator.

LIFE IN THE HUDSON'S BAY SERVICE. *

66

are somewhat overdone. We might have spared the details of that last journey from Lake Winne.

One of the most valuable parts of the book is that devoted to an exposition of the character, economy, and management of the service; for it presents in a brief compass a good deal of useful information. The standard and money of the com of wood. pany seem to be a beaver represented by a counter

It is to be observed, however, that the

Mr. Ballantyne is a young man, who in 1841 peg to Tadousac; and the adventures afterwards are only redeemed from tedium by their hardships was appointed an apprentice-clerk" "of the Hudand dangers. son's Bay Company; and, after voyaging to York Factory through ice in summer, remained in the territories of the great fur-traders till 1847, when he returned to England. During this interval he became acquainted with the routine of the Hudson's Bay business; made various journeys, from factory to factory, in the territory of the company lying between the 50th and 60th degrees of latitude; and passed his leisure hours in sporting excursions, in observing the habits of the Indians, or partaking of the rough, rollicking pleasures of the company's servants. As the term of his service approached its close, he made a long journey from Lake Winnipeg along the frontiers of Canada to Quebec, and thence down the St. Lawrence to the stations of Tadousac and Seven Islands-as comfortless places as one would wish an enemy to be in, especially the latter.

Hudson's Bay, or Every-day Life in the Wilds of North America, contains an account of Mr. Ballantyne's journeys and adventures during his six years' absence, some of the most remarkable incidents that occurred, sketches of the Indians and their customs, together with descriptions of his own hunting adventures or those of his friends, and the general results of his observation on the country and the service. From the novelty of the subject -very few but Arctic explorers entering the Hudson's Bay territories, and then only bestowing a passing glance upon the people-the matter is mostly new as well as informing. Mr. Ballantyne has some literary skill, and he appropriately varies his composition with his subject; the boyish excitement, the troubles of his voyage, the flat landscapes and level life of Hudson's Bay, are told in a manner very different from that which describes the Indian's night visit to his traps-the journeys by land and water-the bivouack-the Christmas festivities with the thermometer below zero, and the Indian stories with which the author varies his other matter. Still, the attraction of the book is greatly owing to the novelty of its subject. Mr. Ballantyne's style is somewhat literal; and the repetition of journeys, which, though they have an end, have no object for the reader after he becomes acquainted with the first descriptions of the manner of travel, infuse into the Hudson's Bay book a little of that monotony which seems very greatly to prevail in Hudson's Bay life. Perhaps, too, the narratives

* Hudson's Bay, or Every-day Life in the Wilds of North America, during six years' residence in the territories of the Honorable Hudson's Bay Company; with Illustrations. By Robert M. Ballantyne.

VOL. XVIII. 1

Hudson's Bay issues are immediately returned upon them; the whole trade with the Indians being a barter, and the tokens a mere substitute for

accounts.

THE MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE.

Trade is carried on with the natives by means of a standard valuation, called in some parts of the country a castor. This is to obviate the necessity of circulating money, of which there is little or none excepting in the colony of Red River. Thus an Indian arrives at a fort with a bundle of furs, with which he proceeds to the Indian trading-room. There the trader separates the furs into different lots, and, valuing each at the standard valuation, adds the amount together, and tells the Indian (who has been gazing all the time at the procedure with great interest and anxiety) that he has got fifty or sixty castors; at the same time he hands the Indian that the latter may know, by returning these in payfifty or sixty little bits of wood in lieu of cash, so ment of the goods for which he really exchanges his. skins, how fast his funds are decreasing. The Indian then proceeds to look round upon the bales of cloth, powder-horns, guns, blankets, knives, &c., with which the shop is filled; and after a good This being given him, the trader tells him that the while makes up his mind to have a small blanket. price is six castors; the purchaser hands back six of his little bits of wood, and proceeds to select something else. In this way he goes on till all his wooden cash is expended; and then, packing up his goods, departs to show his treasures to his wife, and another Indian takes his place. The value of a castor is from one to two shillings. The natives twice a year-once in October, when they bring in generally visit the establishments of the company the produce of their autumn hunts, and again in March, when they come in with that of the great winter hunt.

The number of castors that an Indian makes in

a winter hunt varies from fifty to two hundred, acpart of the country in which he hunts. The largest cording to his perseverance and activity, and the amount I ever heard of was made by a man called Piaquata-Kiscum, who brought in furs on one occasion to the value of two hundred and sixty castors. his relatives, who were jealous of his superior abiliThe poor fellow was soon afterwards poisoned by ties as a hunter, and envied him for the favor shown him by the white men.

ASCENDING RAPIDS.

as

like a cask. Our second attempt proved more suc-
cessful; and, after a good deal of straining and
puffing, we arrived at the top; where the sight of
rewarded us for our exertions during the day.
a longer stretch than usual of calm and placid water

From the Spectator.

BRITISH COLONIES.

The reasons he gives for publication are, that most other books on colonies and emigration are devoted to some single settlement; or are written by persons with insufficient information, or who have some ulterior objects that prevent them from truly advising upon the question-which is the best colony to go to? Mr. Byrne, on the other hand, brings together in one work New Zealand, New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, Port Phillip, South Australia, and Swan River. He also vouches for his own practical knowledge, the extent of his experience, and the soundness of his advice.

the stern slipped, and almost before I knew what had happened, we were floating down the stream Rapid after rapid was surmounted; yet still, we rounded every point and curve, rapids and falls about a hundred yards below the fall. Fortunately the canoe went stern foremost, so that we got down rose, in apparently endless succession, before our in safety. Had it turned round even a little in its wearied eyes. My Indians, however, knew exactly the number they had to ascend; so they set them-descent, it would have been rolled over and over selves manfully to the task. I could not help admiring the dexterous way in which they guided the canoe among the rapids. Upon arriving at one, the old Indian, who always sat in the bow, (this being the principal seat in canoe travelling,) rose up on his knees, and stretched out his neck to take a look before commencing the attempt; and then, sinking down again, seized his paddle, and pointing signifi- BYRNE'S TWELVE YEARS' WANDERINGS IN THE cantly to the chaos of boiling waters that rushed swiftly past us, (thus indicating the route he intended to pursue to his partner in the stern,) dashed MR. BYRNE has been "wandering" for the last into the stream. At first we were borne down with twelve years through the British colonies of the the speed of lightning, while the water hissed and southern hemisphere, and has turned his experience boiled to within an inch of the gunwale, and a per- to account in the form of two goodly octavos. son unaccustomed to such navigation would have thought it folly our attempting to ascend; but a second glance would prove that our Indians had not acted rashly. In the centre of the impetuous current a large rock rose above the surface, and from its lower end a long eddy ran like the tail of a comet for about twenty yards down the river. It was just opposite this rock that we entered the rapid and paddled for it with all our might. The current, however, as I said before, swept us down; and when we got to the middle of the stream, we just reached the extreme point of the eddy, and after a few vigorous strokes of the paddles were floating quietly in the lee of the rock. We did not stay long, however-just long enough to look for another stone; and the old Indian soon pitched upon one a few yards higher up, but a good deal to one side; so, dipping our paddles once more, we pushed out into the stream again, and soon reached the second rock. In this way, yard by yard, did we ascend for miles; sometimes scarcely gaining a foot in a minute, and at others, as a favoring bay or curve presented a long piece of smooth water, advancing more rapidly. In fact, our progress could not be likened to anything more aptly than to the ascent of a salmon as he darts rapidly from eddy to eddy, taking advantage of every stone and hollow that he finds; and the simile may be still further carried out; for as the salmon is sometimes driven back tail foremost in attempting to leap a fall, so were we in a similar attempt driven back by the overpowering force of the water. It happened thus. We had surmounted a good many rapids, and made a few portages, when we arrived at a perpendicular fall of about two feet in height, but from the rapidity of the current it formed only a very steep shoot. Here the Indians paused to breathe, and seemed to doubt whether it was possible to ascend; however, after a little conversation on the subject, they determined to try it, and got out their poles for the purpose, poles being always used when the current is too strong for the paddles. We now made a dash, and turning the bow to the current, the Indians fixed their poles firmly in the ground, while the water rushed like a mill-race past us. They then pushed forward, one keeping his pole fixed while although honesty and morals are no doubt as the other refixed his a little more ahead. In this bad as well can be. The advantages of Australia way we advanced inch by inch, and had almost got Felix in point of climate and society are superior up; the water rushed past us in a thick black body, hissing sharply in passing the side of our canoe, to either of its neighbors; but its close vicinity to which trembled like a reed before the powerful the old penal settlements favors an influx of the current; when suddenly the pole of the Indian in felonry leaven. South and Western Australia

The value of Twelve Years' Wanderings in the British Colonies is scarcely equal to the time it has cost and the space it occupies. If not brought together in one book, probably the substance of Mr. Byrne's facts and information has been already published on various occasions; as regards form, he pursues the usual routine of books on the colonies-a history of the settlement, done in encyclopædic style; its statistics, exhibited pretty much after the same fashion; and then, a general account with of the capabilities and customs of the country, the character of its people for morality, honesty, manners, and other social characteristics; winding up with the pros and cons in favor of emigration or against it. And we may here state, that Southern or Western Australia (Swan River) are the only two colonies that Mr. Byrne's description New Zealand he would induce one to settle at. represents as unfavorable to the reception of members, from the mountainous nature of the country and the cost of clearing. New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land are objectionable on moral grounds; Mr. Byrne repeating, with additions, the pictures of Mudie's "Felonry of New South Wales;" but sometimes, perhaps, in each case, crimes, peculiar to individuals, and such as may be matched at home, are attributed to the country