"The practical result of all this may be stated in a few words. After the expedition starts there is not a man-servant or maid-servant to be found in the colony. At any season but seed-time and harvest-time, the settlement is literally swarming with idlers; but at these urgent periods money cannot procure them. "The actual money value expended on one trip, estimating also their lost time, is as follows:-- 1210 carts (in 1840) £1815 620 hunters (two months) at 1_s._ a day 1860 650 women (two months) at 9_d._ 1460 360 boys and girls (two months) at 4_d._ 360 403 buffalo runners (horses) at 15_l._ 6045 655 cart horses at 8_l._ 5240 586 draught oxen at 6_l._ 3516 Guns, gunpowder, knives, axes, harness, camp equipage, and utensils (estimate approaching) 3700 ----- Say £24,000 "From Fort Garry, June 15th, 1840, the cavalcade and followers went crowding on to the public road, and thence, stretching from point to point, till the third day in the evening, when they reached Pembina (sixty miles south of Fort Garry), the great rendezvous on such occasions. When the hunters leave the settlement it enjoys that relief which a person feels on recovering from a long and painful sickness. Here, on a level plain, the whole patriarchal camp squatted down like pilgrims on a journey to the Holy Land in ancient days, only not quite so devout, for neither scrip nor staff were consecrated for the occasion. Here the roll was called and general muster taken, when they numbered on this occasion 1,630 souls; and here the rules and regulations for the journey were finally settled. The officials for the trip were named and installed into office, and all without the aid of writing materials. "The camp occupied as much ground as a modern city, and was formed in a circle. All the carts were placed side by side, the trams outward. Within this line of circumvallation, the tents were placed in double, treble rows, at one end, the animals at the other, in front of the tents. This is the order in all dangerous places, but where no danger is apprehended, the animals are kept on the outside. Thus the carts formed a strong barrier, not only for securing the people and their animals within, but as a place of shelter and defence against an attack of the enemy from without. In 1820 the number of carts assembled for the first trip was 540 " 1825 " " " " " " " " " " 680 " 1830 " " " " " " " " " " 820 " 1835 " " " " " " " " " " 970 " 1840 " " " " " " " " " " 1210