The village of the Lake of Two Mountains is inhabited by two distinct
tribes of the aborigines--viz. the Iroquois and the Algonquins; the
latter are a tribe of the Sauteux nation, or Ojibbeway, and live
principally by the chase. The former cultivate the soil, and engage as
voyageurs, or in any other capacity that may yield them the means of
subsistence. They are a very hardy industrious race; but neither the
habits of civilized life, nor the influence of the Christian religion,
appear to have mitigated, in any material degree, the ferocity that
characterized their pagan ancestors. Although they do not pay great
deference to the laws of God, they are sufficiently aware of the
consequences of violating the laws of man, and comport themselves
accordingly.

The Catholic seminary and church, along with the gardens of the
establishment, almost divide the village into two equal parts; yet
this close proximity does not appear to encourage any friendly
intercourse between the two tribes. They in fact seldom pass their
respective limits, and, with few exceptions, cannot converse together,
the language of the one being unintelligible to the other.

The Company established a post here in the spring of 1819, and when I
arrived it was in charge of Mr. Fisher, then a senior clerk. He had
two other clerks under him, besides myself, a like number of
_attachés_, two interpreters, two servants, and a horse to ride upon.
With such an establishment to rule over, need it be matter of surprise
that our _bourgeois_ was in his own estimation a magnate of the first
order? _N'importe_,--whatever might be his vanity, he possessed those
qualities which constitute a first-rate Indian trader, and he required
them to fill successfully his present situation. A number of petty