The stationary condition of the Red River colony is not, however, to be entirely attributed to the despotic rule of the Hudson’s Bay Company, but in some measure also to the incorrigible idleness and want of thrift exhibited by the French Canadians, and their relatives, the French half-breeds, who form the largest section of the inhabitants. The latter, the most numerous of the two, are also the most unreliable and unprofitable members of society. Desultory, fickle, mercurial, and passionately fond of gaiety and finery, they have an utter distaste for all useful labour, and rarely succeed in raising themselves into any permanent position of comfort and independence. They are so admirably delineated by Mr. Ross, in his “History of the Red River Settlement,” that we shall be excused for quoting his description. He says, “The Canadians and half-breeds are promiscuously settled together, and live in much the same way. They are not, properly speaking, farmers, hunters, or fishermen, but rather compound the three occupations together, and follow them in turn, as whim and circumstances may dictate. They farm to-day, hunt to-morrow, and fish the next day, without anything like system, always at a nonplus, but never disconcerted. They are great in adventuring, but small in performing, and exceedingly plausible in their dealings. Still, they are oftener useful to themselves than others, and get through the world as best they can, without much forethought or reflection. Taking them all in all, they are a happy people.” They spend much of their time in singing, dancing, and gossiping from house to house, getting drunk when the opportunity offers. They are a merry, light-hearted, obliging race, recklessly generous, hospitable, and extravagant. Dancing goes on nearly every night throughout the winter, and a wedding, or “noce” as it is called, is celebrated by keeping open house, and relays of fiddlers are busily employed playing for the dancers all through the night, and often far on into the next day. By that time most of the guests are incapacitated from saltatory exercise; for rum flows freely on these occasions, and when a half-breed drinks he does it, as he says, _comme il faut_--that is, until he obtains the desired happiness of complete intoxication. Vanity is another of their besetting sins, and they will leave themselves and their families without the common necessaries of life to become the envied possessors of a handsome suit, a gun, a horse, or a train of dogs, which may happen to attract their fancy. Being intensely superstitious, and firm believers in dreams, omens, and warnings, they are apt disciples of the Romish faith. Completely under the influence of the priests in most respects, and observing the outward forms of their religion with great regularity, they are yet grossly immoral, often dishonest, and generally not trustworthy.