Summer Days--The English Cathedral--Icelandic
Emigrants--_Tableaux_--In chase of our Dinner--The Indian
Summer--Blocked up--Gigantic Vegetables--Fruitfulness of the
Country--Iceland Maidens--Rates of Wages--Society at
Winnipeg--Half-castes--Magic of the Red River Water--A Happy
Hunting-ground--Where is Manitoba?
The summer passed uneventfully. Day after day we watched for the
white-covered mail-waggon, pails dangling underneath it, dogs trotting
behind, rousing as they passed countless wild brethren from every quarter
of the prairie. At sight of the waggon, we put on our hats and went to the
post-office for letters from home; then drove across the prairie to Silver
Heights, or down to the English cathedral, which stood on the fairest
bend of the river, and in a pretty, wooded dell--but, alas, it was
encircled by a tangled, uncared-for churchyard, overgrown with weeds and
thistles, the tombstones broken and prostrate, the fences so dilapidated
that stray cattle leaped over them and grazed amongst the unrecognized
graves. I was told that arrangements had been made for a city cemetery on
the prairie, but the ground was merely staked off. A man who asked his
way there was directed to go straight across the prairie to the east,
until he came to where grass and sky met. Forgetting that as he advanced
the horizon receded, he thanked his informant, and went on his fruitless
search; but after wandering many hours, like the boy after the pot of
gold at the end of the rainbow, he returned weary and unsuccessful.
At the cathedral we heard the chorister boys chant the evening psalms;
then went on to the little village of Kildonan, standing among green
fields and thriving farms; or turned in another direction across the
Assineboine, up a lovely road leading for miles through the woods. One
morning we went to the emigrant sheds to see several hundred Icelanders
embark in their flat-bottomed boats, with their quaint wooden chests, on
their way to Gimli. On another occasion we helped to organize a
Sunday-school festival, and after giving the children an unlimited supply
of cake, strawberries, and lemonade, we amused them with some
_tableaux_. Taking possession of a disused old church, we made an
_impromptu_ stage; by laying boards across the chancel railings; and
the effect was so good, that some play-loving people enlarged on our idea
by putting up rough side-scenes, and giving a series of entertainments
there during the following winter, with the average amount of amateur
skill.
One very hot Sunday, when we were without a servant, I rashly left our
joint of roast beef on the kitchen table, while we discussed the pudding.
Suddenly an ominous noise was heard. "Oh, Miss F----!" exclaimed my
hostess, starting up, "Do stop that dog! The wretch has stolen the
beef--_all_ to-morrow's dinner!"
To rush out of the house and over the prairie after the brute was the
work of an instant; not so to catch him. On I ran, urged to redoubled
exertions by Mrs. C----, who pursued me, excitedly flourishing her table
napkin, while her little girl scrambled after her, screaming at being
left behind. Every now and then the dog would stop to take breath,
sitting still with aggravating coolness till I almost touched him, when
off he would start again, at redoubled speed. At last, after wildly
throwing two or three handfuls of stones at him and all the sticks I
could pick up as I passed, I aimed furiously at the barracks and hit the
dog on the head, when he dropped the beef, and I returned, hot and
breathless, but triumphant.
The days were sultry, but the nights cool enough to make a blanket
necessary, except just before the frequent thunderstorms. Well might the
Indians call the province "Manitoba" (God speaking), in their awe of the
Great Spirit whose voice alone is so terrible. October is the most
beautiful month in that region, bright, clear, and balmy--the true Indian
summer, with cool, dewy nights, when the aurora sent its long streaks of
white and red light from the horizon to the zenith, to fall again in a
shower of sparks, each night more beautiful than the last. Till, early in
November, a storm of rain, succeeded by snow and frost, ended our Indian
summer, and in forty-eight hours we had winter. Not weeks of slushy snow,
changeable temperature, chilling rains, and foggy skies, as in Ontario,
but cold, frosty, bracing winter at once. By the end of November the
river was blocked, the boats had stopped running, and our only
communication with the outside world was by means of the daily stage. But
the wretchedness of a journey over the prairie to the nearest railway
station was only encountered by those whose business made it unavoidable.
Before navigation had quite ceased, a provincial exhibition of the
agricultural and other products of the country was held in the town-hall.
Many of the vegetables were so large, that a description of them was
treated with incredulity until some specimens were sent to Ottawa, to
be modelled for the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. One Swedish
turnip weighed over thirty-six pounds; some potatoes (early roses and
white) measured nine inches long and seven in circumference; radishes
were a foot and a half long and four inches 'round; kail branched out to
the size of a currant bush; cabbages, hard, white, and good, grew to a
foot and a half in diameter, and there were cauliflowers as large.
Neither Indian corn, melons, nor tomatos were exhibited, chiefly because
most of the farmers in Manitoba have cultivated wheat-growing rather than
market-gardening, as the former brings in the largest returns for the
least labour.
Corn is grown in Manitoba larger and far taller than any I saw in
Ontario. Tomatos will grow in profusion in a dry spot, especially where,
as in Kuwatin, a hundred miles from Winnipeg, a southern exposure on
sandy soil can be found; the same may he said of melons. Fruit trees are
most difficult to cultivate, the frosts being so severe. Yet with care
that obstacle may be overcome, and a few apples, grown and ripened in Mr.
Bannatyne's garden, in Winnipeg, were exhibited. Every other kind of
garden and farm produce was shown in abundance. The prairie soil is so
rich that it yields a hundredfold, and the absence of the great
preliminary labour of "clearing," which the early settlers in Ontario had
to contend with, renders it a most advantageous country for emigrants.
The chief difficulty is the scarcity of labour. All men not going out to
take up land for themselves are employed on the railway; and women either
are married and obliged to work on the farms with their husbands, or get
married before they have been long in Manitoba. Many were the complaints
I heard from people who had taken out female servants, paying their
expenses and giving them high wages, only to lose them before they had
been a month in the province. Their sole resource then was to employ
Icelanders, who often could not speak a word of English, so that all
directions had to be given by pantomime. Any one seeing the strange
gesticulations and frantic efforts of some of the more energetic
mistresses might be excused for thinking himself let loose in a city of
lunatics.
Mrs. C---- had one of these Icelanders as nursemaid, and she did very
well, picking up enough English in a few weeks to understand all we
wanted. But I noticed that, however quickly she walked about the rest of
the house, the stairs were as carefully traversed as though she had been
an Indian. One day, hearing her in great distress on the kitchen stairs,
I went to see what was the matter. The staircase was a narrow one between
two walls, but without banisters; on the third or fourth step from the
top sat one of the children, aged four years, and a few steps below stood
the maid clinging to the smooth wall, her face white with terror as,
whenever she attempted to advance, the child made a feint to oppose her
passage and push her back. Afraid either to turn round or retreat
backwards, she stood trembling and calling for help, and it was
impossible to avoid feeling amused at the absurdity of that big girl
being intimidated by such a mite--who, with the original depravity of
human nature, was enjoying the fun.
A friend of mine went through some odd experiences with these Iceland
maids. Upon the arrival of a fresh domestic she was ordered to wash down
the hall and door-steps. Next day, at the same hour, while a party of
visitors were in the drawing-room, the door burst open, and Christian,
scrubbing-pail and brush in hand, plumped down on her knees in the middle
of the floor, and went through a vigorous pantomime of scrubbing. Her
mistress was too astonished to speak for a moment or two, until the girl,
surprised at her silence, looked up, uttering an indescribable "Eh?" of
anxious inquiry, which was well-nigh too much for the gravity of her
listeners.
Often, after ten minutes' patient endeavour to explain something, one was
rewarded by a long drawn out "Ma'arum?" infinitely trying to one's
patience. Yet, in time, they often make excellent servants, and many
people prefer them to Ontario or English emigrants. And certainly in
point of economy they are infinitely superior to both; for not only will
an Iceland maid waste nothing, but she is content with five or six
dollars a month in wages (£1 5s. or £1 10s.), while girls from Ontario or
England expect nine or ten dollars. Servants taken out on the line of
railway demand and receive from fifteen to thirty dollars (£3 15s. to £7
10s.) a month. These exorbitant wages are, however, lessening as
immigration increases.
Society at Winnipeg is very pleasant; composed chiefly of the old
families who formed the Hudson Bay Company and their descendants, many of
whom have Indian blood in their veins. Their education, carefully begun
by their parents, is often completed in Scotland, and they are well-read,
intelligent people, as proud of their Indian as of their European
descent. Many of them are handsome and _distingué_-looking. Their
elegant appearance sometimes leads to awkward mistakes. One of these
ladies, meeting a young Englishman fresh from the old country, and full
of its prejudices, was entertained by him with reflections on race, and
condolences at having to associate with half-castes. At last he inquired
how long she had been in the country? Making him a stately curtsy, she
answered--
"All my life! _I_ am one of these despised half-breeds," and
instantly left him. She said afterwards she was sorry for the poor
fellow's discomfiture; but he brought it upon himself by disregarding all
her efforts to change the conversation.
When younger sons of good families are sent to seek their fortunes in the
New World, their social standing is not fixed by their occupation, and a
man who has served behind a counter all day is as well received in a
drawing-room as one who has sat on the bench or pleaded a case in court.
Of course in such a state of society impostors often effect an entrance,
and their detection makes their entertainers chary of strangers
afterwards. But so long as a man behaves himself like a gentleman he is
treated as one. Many officials, sent by the Canadian Government
temporarily to fill responsible posts, and officers whose regiments have
been disbanded, remain in Winnipeg, preferring it to any other part of
Canada, and illustrating the adage, "He who once drinks of the Red River
water cannot live without it." It is a very muddy stream, however, and
not at all inviting as a beverage.
A great many visitors, chiefly Englishmen, go to Manitoba for the
shooting and fishing, which are excellent. A friend of mine last year
bagged four hundred ducks, several geese, great numbers of partridges,
loons, and as many hares as he would waste shot on in a fortnight's
holiday. No doubt, when Manitoba and its capabilities become better
understood, and the line of railway is completed, the number of tourists
in search of sport will much increase.
How little the new province has been known hitherto the following fact
will show. A letter for me, mailed in a county town in England, in
September, and merely addressed to Winnipeg, Manitoba, omitting Canada,
travelled to France, where it received sundry postmarks, and such
sensible hints by the post-office officials as, "Try Calcutta." At last,
some one better acquainted with the geography of this side of the globe
added, "Nouvelle Amerique," and my letter reached me, _viâ_ New
York, in Christmas week, richly ornamented with postmarks, and protests
from officials that it "came to them in that condition," tied together
with two varieties of string, and frankly exhibiting its contents--a pair
of lace sleeves, which, but for the honesty of the mail service, might
easily have been abstracted.