The party halted for the night some forty miles below Pembina. The
description given by Mr. Black's travelling companion of the camp on the
river bank is graphic: "The night is very clear and fine, the face of
heaven is smiling amid myriads of twinkling stars; the northern horizon
is lit up with the rays of dancing beams of an aurora, while the woods
and silent-flowing river are illuminated by our camp fire; our voyageurs
are fast asleep upon the ground before us, and not a sound is heard save
that of the leaping, crackling flames and the low tone of our own voices
as we chat merrily. And now, as my companion reads a chapter in his
French pocket Bible, and I pencil down these sketches of fact and fancy
by the light of the burning fagots--but hark! we have company, it seems,
and are not so lonely as I thought; that was the hoot-owl's cry, and
sounds like the wailing of a fiend in misery; that was the cry, long
drawn out and dismal, of a distant wolf; and near, the pack like hungry
curs are heard yelping and barking furiously. In the bushes beside the
camp I see two gleaming, fiery eyeballs. "Take that, to light you to
better quarters!" I hurl a blazing firebrand toward the beast, who, with
a dismal cry, leaves us to repose and quiet sleep."
Another day and still another night of camping, and next morning the
party started on the home stretch. With a head wind the voyageurs toiled
on, and both passengers relieved the monotony by landing on the right
bank, walking along it, and cutting off the bends kept ahead of the
canoe. During the day they found by the appearance of houses along the
banks that they were approaching their destination. The vivid
description given by Mr. Bond fell, in some way, into the hands of the
American poet, Whittier, and he has left us a sweet poem, with which we
should be acquainted. The scene is that of the voyageurs coming down the
stream, and as they approach their destination there is first the sound
of bells, and then the sight of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St.
Boniface with the two towers.
A picture much like this was seen as the voyageurs in the old days left
Ste. Anne on the Ottawa, not far from Montreal, and took their leave,
under the protection of Providence, for their long journey to the
interior. Thomas Moore, the Irish poet, was much impressed by the sight,
on his visit to Canada, when he wrote the Canadian boat song:
"Faintly as tolls the evening chime,
Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time."
So the weary voyageurs approaching St. Boniface are filled with
expectation and delight at the end of their journey by the cheery chimes
of the Roman Mission.
THE RED RIVER VOYAGEUR
Out and in the river is winding
The links of its long red chain,
Through belts of dusky pine land
And gusty leagues of plain.
Only at times a smoke wreath
With the drifting cloud-rack joins--
The smoke of the hunting lodges
Of the wild Assiniboins!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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