ever one finds the gentlemen of the Hudson Bay Company, one is sure of a good reception. They do not stop with demonstrations of politeness and affability, they anticipate your.wishes in order to be of service to you. In this case, the commandant of the fort, Mr. Macdonald,' a Scot by birth, went so far as to have his lady prepare and put among our provisions, without my knowledge, all sorts of little extras, such as sugar, coffee, tea, chocolate, butter, crackers, flour, poultry, ham and candles.
Besides the instruction that I gave during mass to the Canadians employed at the fort, I had several conferences with the chief of the Skoyelpi or Kettle Indians, an intelligent man, who invited me to come and evangelize his nation. We left the fort on the 18th. Nothing very n.:)teworthy happened during the return journey, unless it be a matter, which I will set down for the instruction of any who might be going our way; it only shows how useful it is sometimes to be distrustful, and that children of Eve are to be found everywhere. We had left with the Pend d'Oreilles five bales of dried meat. On our return we found only two; I asked the chief what had become of the others. " I am ashamed, Black-robe," he answered; " I am afraid to speak to you. You know that I was absent when you left your bales in my lodge. My wife opened them to see whether the meat had molded; the depouilles (that is, the fat) looked so fair and so good that she tasted. IVhen I came in, she offered me thereof, and to our children as well; the news was spread through the village;
the neighbors came, and we all ate together." A few days more, and we would have found none at all. If this honest man had tried to imitate the history of our first parents, he could not have played his part better. This adventure
e Archibald Macdonald, for twenty years previous to this time in the service of the Hudson Bay Company; founder of Fort Nisqually; entrusted with many important positions. In 1828 he accompanied George Simpson (later Sir George) on his tour of inspection, and afterward published a journal of the voyage.