Part 47
His lordship’s tour has been an extended one of some sixty-four days. His up voyage to Abbitibi has already been described in our columns. The story of the trip from Abbitibi northwards will be narrated in a series of articles containing, besides the description itself, copious and reliable information on the agricultural, mineral and timber interests of this vast expanse of virgin soil. Suffice it to say now that the Temiscamingue region is represented as waiting colonization; and that from the height of land northwards, a stretch of 150 miles across, extending indefinitely east and west, gains, by lowness of the situation, a mildness of temperature that probably lasts long enough to mature the luxuriant growth of early vegetation. Around Hudson Bay and for a considerable distance southwards, the land is low, swampy, and impoverished; the soil unproductive and the timbers dwarfed. Geological specimens have been brought back by the party, and sketches of the more picturesque points have been taken by the master hand of Father Paradis. Travelling through these northern wilds, while it may have its interest for the geologist or the artist, is by no means the embodiment of physical happiness. On water and on land the inconveniences are many and annoying. To paddle over rough waves and through beating rain, to portage a hundred rapids, some of them three miles in length, over rocks and ravines and fallen trees, through wet and tangled grass and brushwood; to camp in swarms of mosquitoes and sand-flies, on swampy ground, where more than once after the tents had been beaten through by nights of falling rain, a half a foot of water has flooded the tent-floor, branches and blankets; to wade knee deep for a mile or even two miles through sharp cut stones and slough and water, in the endeavour to reach the shore and wait the tide that alone can give sufficient depth on certain parts of James Bay, to bear along a laden canoe; to endure all this and more, is but a specimen of the hardships gone through by travellers to these northern districts. Though the Indians are cool intrepid guides, the most provoking shortcomings have to be accepted from their hands, no matter how reluctantly, still with silence and patience. On the water they work well, but once on shore, to camp for the night, or to get out of catching gales, or at the posts where missions are given, it is almost impossible to get them under way again; teasing disappointments and delay, an axe, a blanket, a tin pan left behind prolong the stay, and time is killed, and programmes spoiled, and patience tried. The fiercest storm encountered, perhaps, was on the 24th of June, the day after the party left Abbitibi, when the thermometer fell 43°, and the north-western extremity of the lake rolled mountain high before the sweeping hurricane. To advance was impossible; the camp was pitched, and beneath the swaying trees, and storming rain, the day was passed wretchedly beyond description. Disappointments like this have often to be encountered on the trip. They are annoying in more ways than one. Even the provisions stand a chance of running short, the more so as the Indians, during these delays, pass the time in gorging, being content with nothing less than half a dozen meals each day. The portages from Abbitibi to Moose Factory are twenty-one in number; some of them may be run in a canoe, but the greater number have to be footed. From the 25th to the 27th of June the voyage was agreeable enough, excepting that at times, and for a distance, during these days, of fifteen miles, the oft repeated feat of wading waist deep through water and struggling along rugged banks, had to be resorted to through sheer necessity of making any headway. On the 28th the hair-breadth escape of the journey occurred. It was the _Rapide de L’Île_. Ordinarily the rapid is run without imminent risk by keeping aloof from the whirling eddy half way down its course; but the bowsman did slovenly work, and before the approach of danger was realized the canoe was sucked into the engulfing seething pool, and was spun twice around as on a pivot, in the very centre of the rapid where the broken waves leaped high, and the foam splashed fiercely, blinding the paddlers and filling the boat. Two feet more and the canoe was beyond all rescue. It was a thrilling moment. Death, swift and sure, was but the moiety of a minute off; but the long-made resolves of coolness in case of such an accident stood well to the occupants of the boat. The steersman—the most intrepid perhaps on the northern waters—muttered one short monosyllable, and in the twinkling of an eye every paddle was in its position, and the canoe leaped forward, rocked in the hollows of the waves and forced sideways up the billows to be hurled down again below, till the main current was reached, one stroke of the brave steersman swung it half round and sent it dashing down to the more placid waters at the foot of the rapids. “God be blessed,” went up from the hearts of the bishop and his missionaries; and flowing bowls of strong tea rewarded the proud Indians. On the 29th June the party arrived at New-Post, a fort of the Hudson Bay Company, some 150 miles from Abbitibi, and 120 from Moose Factory. Here a mission was given during the day, and at evening the start was made for Moose Factory. Four portages more are passed ere the party reaches Moose Factory on the 2nd July. This fort is the headquarters of the company, and is by far the most important on the whole route. The following morning the canoe heads for Albany, another post of the H. B. Company, situated on the river Albany, which flows into James Bay. But neither the heavens nor the sea was propitious, and nine miles from the Factory the canoe was brought to a stand-still by a face-beating wind, and by a low tide, whose influence is felt even twenty-five miles up the Moose river. For three days the camp is pitched on the river bank, the wind blows, the rain pours down, a tempest rages, it hails and even snows; till a consultation being held, the whole party picked up their effects and put back to Moose. This was on Sunday, the 6th July. On Tuesday a new and more successful departure is made for Albany, which is reached on the 11th of the month. A mission, most gratifying in its results, was given here till the 15th, when the home trip was begun. At Albany there is a magnificent wooden church, 50 feet by 26; tower-crowned, gothic style, and bell-decked. Some 500 Indians are attached to this mission church. On the 18th July, Moose Factory was reached on the home voyage. The next day the canoe is off again for New-Post, but more disappointment is ahead. A high tide coming in at night submerges the canoe and cargo lying on the river shore; and for the following days so strong is the current that 15 miles have to be tramped on foot before New-Post comes in sight. To walk 15 miles is nothing in itself, but to walk 15 miles, up to the waist in cold water, piercing one’s feet with the sharp cornered pebbles of the river bottom, and to drag along a boat and its effects through the opposing stream, all this is something. New-Post is entered on the 25th, and is left the next evening, a large number of Indians accompanying to 15 miles from the post, where, after a portage of three miles in length has been made, mass is celebrated for the crowd on Sunday morning. On the 2nd August the return party arrives at Abbitibi, where a large congregation of Indians are assembled to attend divine services on the following Sunday. On Monday, the 4th August, the prow points towards Temiscamingue, which gives glad welcome to the party on the 7th. The three following days are devoted to the mission; and on Monday afternoon a start is made. The next day, after running five rapids and portaging over three, the party paddled into Mattawa at 8 o’clock in the evening. The voyage home, and reception, we have referred to in the beginning of this article. The trip has been fraught with spiritual blessings for 1,400 Indians, that are proud to be the subjects of the zealous and hard-working bishop of Pembroke. _Non recuso laborem_, “I flee not work,” we read on his coat-of-arms two years ago, when he took possession of his See in this town. His heart, even then, when he devised this motto, must have beat love for the poor Indians of Hudson Bay.
In 1887, Mgr. Lorrain travelled 1,700 miles on his pastoral visit to the Indian missions on the Upper Ottawa, Rupert’s Land and the Upper St. Maurice. His route was from Ottawa, _via_ Pembroke, to Lakes Temiscamingue, Obaching, Kepewa, etc., thence to the source of the River du Molhe; from here through a chain of lakes to the “Lac Barrière” mission, now on Lake Wapous; thence to Lake Wassepatebi, lying between the province of Quebec and Rupert’s Land; through Cypress Lake, River Pekeskak, by a chain of five lakes, the Laloche river to Lake Waswanipi. The return trip was made by the same route as far as Lake Waswanipi, to the Mekiskan river and the upper waters of the St. Maurice; thence through various lakes, Lake Long, Lake Coucoucache and others to the Grand Piles. This involved a trip of 1,700 miles, mostly by water in bark canoe, occupying two months and six days, and 1,172 miles being travelled by canoe. The portages were from an arpent to four miles long, and there were 157 of them. During the five years Bishop N. Z. Lorrain has been in Pembroke he has paid an old debt of $11,000 on the church; built a magnificent episcopal residence at a cost of $18,000, upon which sum $8,000 has been paid; bought twenty-nine acres of land for a graveyard; purchased plots of sixteen acres of ground in the most beautiful part of the town, as sites for charitable institutions in the future. Mgr. Lorrain is an eminent English scholar. There is no doubt he is destined to do a great work for his country, and that his wise counsel will always have weight in the periodical councils of his church.
* * * * *
=Coleman, Arthur Philemon=, Ph.D., Professor of Geology and Natural History, Victoria University, Cobourg, was born on the 4th of April, 1852, at Lachute, province of Quebec. His father was the Rev. Francis Coleman, a minister of the Methodist Church of Canada, and his mother, Emmeline Maria Adams, was a descendant of John Quincy Adams. His early education was obtained in various public and high schools of Ontario, according to the station occupied by his father, as an itinerant Methodist minister; and this ended in a course of two years in Cobourg Collegiate Institute. In 1872, he matriculated in Victoria University, Cobourg, and after four years’ residence, graduated in 1876 as Bachelor of Arts, taking honours and a gold medal. On the advice of Dr. Haanel, whose eloquence and ability as a professor had inspired him to study science, he sailed for Europe, and in 1880, matriculated in the University of Breslau, in Prussia, Dr. Haanel’s _alma mater_. During four semesters he studied geology, mineralogy, botany, histology, chemistry, etc., under such distinguished men as Roemer, Cohn, Goeppert, Dilthey, Poleck, Liebisch, and others. His dissertation which was on the “Melaphyres of Lower Silesia,” and demanded hard work in microscopic petrography, as well as some months geologizing in the Giant Mountains, on the border between Silesia and Bohemia, was accepted, and after examination he was admitted to the degree of Doctor Philosophiae (_cum laude_) in 1882. While in Europe, Professor Coleman made numerous geological expeditions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Scandinavia, and most of one summer he spent in Norway, wandering on foot over the mountains and fields collecting specimens, and observing the results of glacial action. The most notable points in this journey were the ascent of Galdhoepig, the highest mountain in Norway, and a voyage along the coast to Hammerfest and the North Cape, to see the Lapps and the midnight sun. At Knivskjaerodden, a few miles from the North Cape, the ship on board of which he was, _The Nordstjern_, went ashore in a fog, and became wrecked on that bleak coast. The misfortune occurred at about two o’clock in the morning, but aided by the perpetual daylight, the passengers and crew succeeded in reaching shore, and within twenty-four hours thereafter, they were rescued by another steamer and landed at Hammerfest. After a short visit to France and England, he returned to Ontario, and towards the end of 1882, was inaugurated as professor of geology and natural history in Victoria University, Cobourg. Since that date he has continued in the same position, varying his life by journeys with geological ends in view; in this way he visited the Rocky Mountains, the valley of the Columbia, and the Selkirks, before the Canadian Pacific Railway was built, travelling by pack pony, canoe or on foot. The professor belongs to the Methodist church, and in politics is a Liberal.
* * * * *
=Macdonnell, Rev. Daniel James=, B.D., Pastor of West St. Andrew’s (Presbyterian) Church, Toronto. This popular minister was born at Bathurst, New Brunswick, on the 15th January, 1843. His father, the Rev. George Macdonnell, who was born in Kirkcaldy, Fifeshire, Scotland, came in childhood to Halifax, Nova Scotia, received his early educational training in the schools at Halifax, and finished his course of studies at the Edinburgh University. He afterwards was minister of St. Luke’s Church, (Church of Scotland), at Bathurst, from 1840 to 1851; spent two years in Scotland; came to Upper Canada in 1853, and was settled successively in Nelson and Waterdown, Fergus and Milton, and died at the latter place in 1871. His mother was Eleanor Milnes, who was born at Pictou, Nova Scotia, and belonged to a branch of the family of Milnes, of Derbyshire, England. Daniel James Macdonnell, the subject of our sketch, began his education at Bathurst when but a lad of six years of age,—the study of Latin being included in his course at this unreasonably early age. He was afterwards sent to Scotland, and pursued his studies for some time at Kilmarnock and Edinburgh, and on his return to Canada, at Nelson, under the care of the late Dr. Robert Douglas, of Port Elgin, who taught at “The Twelve,” while he was prosecuting his studies. Mr. Macdonnell was then taken in hand by the late Dr. Tassie, then head master of the Galt Grammar School, who prepared him for the university. In October, 1855, when in his thirteenth year, he entered Queen’s College, Kingston, and he held the first place in classics and mathematics during his course there. In 1858 he graduated B.A., and two years later M.A. Some time after he took a portion of his theological course in the Queen’s Divinity Hall, Kingston, under Principal Leitch and Professor Mowat, and spent the session of 1863-64 in Glasgow, where Dr. Caird was professor of divinity. He completed his course in Edinburgh, having attended the classes of the late Professor Crawford and Robert Lee, and received the degree of Bachelor of Divinity. The winter of 1865-66 he spent in Berlin in acquiring some knowledge of the German language, and picking up whatever theological instruction he could gather from the imperfectly understood lectures of Professors Dörner and Hengstenberg. On the 14th June, 1866, he was ordained by the Presbytery of Edinburgh (Church of Scotland); and returning to Canada he was inducted to the charge of St. Andrew’s Church, Peterboro’, Ontario, on the 20th November, 1866, where he spent four years. He was then called to St. Andrew’s Church, Toronto, and inducted on the 22nd December, 1870. The advent of Mr. Macdonnell was the signal for an immediate revival of the condition of the church. He was young, energetic, and more than all, earnest and original in his preaching. Within a few years it was found that the old building was inadequate for the purpose, and a new and imposing structure was built at the corner of King and Simcoe streets, at the cost of $86,000 for building and $14,000 for additional ground. It is one of the finest and most complete in all details of the many fine church edifices in Toronto, and is built of stone in the Norman style, with a massive tower on the south-west angle. Mr. Macdonnell’s popularity has steadily increased year by year since he came to Toronto, and although some are inclined to consider him, from “the Westminster Confession” standpoint, rather liberal in his theological views, yet his large congregation listen with great satisfaction to his gospel of common sense, and are most sincerely attached to him. Rev. Mr. Macdonnell was one of the most cordial supporters of Presbyterian union, and contributed largely to its consummation in 1875. He is a member of the Senate of Toronto University, having been appointed by the Ontario government. He also takes an active part in works of charity, and indeed in everything that has a tendency to help and elevate humanity. During his college career, Rev. Mr. Macdonnell taught for about three years; was head master of Vankleek Hill Grammar School for six months, when only seventeen years of age; was assistant to Mr. Campbell (now Rev. Robert Campbell, D.D., minister of St. Gabriel street Church, Montreal) for a year in the Queen’s College Preparatory School, and head master of the Wardsville High School for a year and a half. While a student in Scotland, Mr. Macdonnell, during vacation, took a couple of walking tours with fellow students through Switzerland and parts of Germany, and since he settled in Canada he has taken several trips to Great Britain. On the 2nd of July, 1868, he was married to Elizabeth Logie Smellie, eldest daughter of the Rev. George Smellie, D.D., of Fergus. Rev. Dr. Smellie was one of the pioneer Presbyterian ministers of Western Ontario, and although now in his seventy-sixth year, he still preaches every Sunday to the people to whom he has ministered for forty-four years. There are four sons and a daughter in St. Andrew’s manse. Mr. Macdonnell’s eldest boy, George Frederick, aged fifteen, is attending Upper Canada College, and, taking after his father, occupies the position of head boy in his form.
* * * * *
=Hunton, Sidney Walker=, M.A., Professor of Mathematics in the University of Mount Allison College, Sackville, New Brunswick, was born in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, on the 4th July, 1858. His father, Thomas Hunton, was for a long time a leading merchant at the capital, and died a few years ago. His mother, Amelia Hunton, is still alive and resides at Ottawa. Professor Hunton was educated at the Collegiate Institute, Ottawa, where, in 1875, he won the two medals offered by Lord Dufferin for mathematics and classics. In September, 1876, he entered McGill College, Montreal, where he studied for two years, and won first scholarship in each year. In September, 1878, he won the Canadian Gilchrist scholarship of the value of £100 stg. per annum, tenable for three years, and then proceeded to London, England, where he studied at University College, making a specialty of mathematics. In June, 1881, he won the Rothschild scholarship of the value of £56, which was awarded for the greatest proficiency in mathematics in University College. He graduated at the University of London, in Oct., 1881, and was appointed assistant to the professor of mathematics in University College, and held the position for two years. In 1882 he became lecturer on mathematics in the Electrical Engineering College, London, which position he resigned in 1883, on being appointed to the professorship of mathematics at Mount Allison College, N.B. During his stay in Europe he also studied at Cambridge, England, and Heidelberg, Germany. He was married on December 25th, 1884, to Annie Inch, daughter of J. R. Inch, LL.D., president of Mount Allison College. Professor Hunton is a credit to “Young Canada,” and we hope many will be found imitating his example.
* * * * *